PDF Ink

Handwrite on PDFs in VS Code with a pen display.

PDF Ink: writing, highlighting, erasing, lasso, find and table of contents

Getting started

Right-click a PDF → Open with PDF Ink.

Tested with an iPad and Apple Pencil as a pen display for a Mac (via Sidecar).

Tools

Tool	Key
Pen (pressure-sensitive)	`P`
Highlighter	`H`
Eraser (whole stroke or partial)	`E`
Lasso (move, delete, recolor)	`L`
Pan	`V` or hold `Space`

Table of contents (☰ button, top left): the PDF's own outline as a dropdown. Type to filter, click an entry to jump.
Find (⌘F / Ctrl+F or 🔍): highlights every match. Enter / ⇧Enter for next / previous, Esc closes.

Undo with ⌘Z, redo with ⇧⌘Z. Zoom by pinching or with ⌘ + scroll.

Pen only makes your finger scroll while only the pen draws. Smooth evens out shaky handwriting.

Your ink

Ink saves automatically to yourfile.pdf.ink.json next to the PDF. The PDF itself is never changed. Keep the two files together when you move or rename them.

Export creates a copy of the PDF with your ink in it, for example to share.

Privacy

Everything runs locally. No data leaves your computer.

MIT License. Third-party licenses are in THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md. Build from source: npm install && npm run package.

PDF Ink

Nik Lehmann

PDF Ink

Getting started

Tools

Navigation

Your ink

Privacy