Acro-Data is public: the PDF toolbox I rebuilt so strangers can read, build and fork it

Acro-Data (AcroD) is a free, open-source Windows toolbox for everyday PDF and file chores: it merges, splits and optimizes PDFs, reorganizes their pages, and renames or moves files in bulk. Its source went public today on GitHub under the MIT licence, and everything it does runs on your own computer.

I searched the source for networking code before writing that last claim. There is none: the only outward calls are opening a local folder in Explorer and opening the Windows Default apps page. There is no account, no update check and no telemetry.

Where it came from

The first version was two small tools for a legal-support office: a merger that appends a standing reference PDF to a batch of files, and a bulk file mover. The fifteen-second problem covers why those were worth building. It then gained a splitter, a bulk renamer, an optimizer that replaced a manual compress-and-clean routine in a commercial PDF editor (the wrong turns are written up here), and a page organizer with a full-size reader (here is what a naive-user walkthrough found). The earlier PDF Tools page describes the two-tab original. This post is about what it took to hand the whole thing to strangers.

What changed to make it shareable

An internal tool carries assumptions that a public one cannot. Five things changed:

• A neutral identity. A new name and icon (a vermilion page with a folded corner and a knocked-out D), every employer reference removed, network paths made generic, and the rename templates built for one office’s naming rules replaced by user-defined Profiles.
• A layout that stays out of the way. Each tool’s buttons sit in an Actions column on the right that collapses with Ctrl+J and can move to the left in Settings. The file tray is still there but hidden until you ask for it, because it only earns its space when you reuse files across tools.
• Open with. A PDF opened from Windows now lands in the Page Organizer’s reader at full size instead of making you go find it.
• A first-run guide. It offers a look and can register Acro-Data as a PDF app. Windows will not let an app quietly make itself the default, so the guide writes per-user registry entries (no administrator rights) and then opens the Default apps page for you to confirm.
• A splash screen and an optional installer script. The splash is built into the single-file executable. AcroD.iss is an Inno Setup script for Start Menu entries and an uninstaller, also per user.

How it was checked

The repository ships its test suite. On a fresh clone of the committed repository, the suite finished with 1,016 passed and 2 skipped, run headless on Linux with Qt’s offscreen platform. A separate scan for Qt objects that outlive their windows reported zero findings. A walkthrough of every workflow as a first-time user produced a batch of fixes, with regression tests in tests/test_walkthrough_fixes.py.

The Linux run covers the logic. The Windows build, the first-run guide and the default-app step have since been verified on a real desktop and work.

Try it or fork it

The source, README and licence are in the AcroD repository. To build it, install 64-bit Python 3.14 and double-click BUILD double click me.bat (two spaces in the filename). It creates an isolated environment, installs the libraries, builds one AcroD.exe and checks that it starts. THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.txt lists those libraries and their licences. Bug reports go to the repository’s Issues tab, and the MIT licence lets you fork it. The feature overview is on the Acro-Data project page.