PDF Workflow Order: Repair, Compress, Protect
Workflows runs a list of PDF steps against one document, in the order the lines appear. Each line names a tool and can carry its own settings, so the chain is a small program rather than a set of remembered clicks.
Why this comes up
Repeatable jobs usually involve several tools that depend on each other: a repair makes compression possible, a watermark must follow rotation, and protection has to come after every edit. Writing the order down once is what makes the next file predictable.
Check before you run it
- Put repair before anything that reads the pages. A damaged file may not survive compression or stamping. Repair first, then let the later steps work on a readable document, and save protection for the end.
- Check which steps depend on orientation or size. Rotate before watermarking if the mark must sit upright. Steps run top to bottom, so every line sees the result of the lines above it.
- Use the supported step names and test one file. Write one step per line as name or name:key=value. Supported steps include rotate, crop, resize, n-up, flip, grayscale, deskew, watermark, header-footer, page-numbers, bates, metadata, bookmarks, remove-annotations, compress, repair, flatten, protect and unlock.
When to reach for it
- A filing set needs the same sequence every time. Repair, Bates-number and compress each file through one saved chain instead of opening three tools per document.
- A public copy must be cleaned before release. Remove annotations, set metadata and apply protection as the final steps, with the order saved for the next document.
One question we get
What can a workflow chain together?
Several tools in one pass — rotate then compress, watermark then protect, and so on. Build the chain once and run any document through it; the chain runs in your browser.
Where it fits
The tools people usually open next to Workflows:
- Resize — Change PDF page size and add margins/padding.
- PDF to Text — Extract text from PDF. Copies all text from the PDF document and extracts it to a separate text file
- Alternate & Mix — Mixes pages from 2 or more documents, alternating between them.
Every tool works on a copy, so the original file is never touched. Uploads are stored under an unguessable id and deleted automatically two hours after you last open them; nothing is listed, shared or indexed. More on the security page.