I’ve worked remotely since 2019. Different companies, different time zones, always the same problem — PDFs. Someone needs something merged. Someone can’t open a file. Someone’s document is too big to email. It’s like being IT support except nobody’s paying me for it.
In an office there’s usually one person with Acrobat on their computer and everyone goes to them. Working from home? You’re that person. Except you don’t have Acrobat either because who’s paying $23/month to merge a PDF once a week.
So here’s what I actually use and what keeps coming up.
Signing contracts and offer letters
Every new client, every new project, every NDA — someone sends a PDF and says “sign and return.” In an office you’d print, sign, scan. At home most people don’t have a printer-scanner setup.
Open the PDF in the editor. Click where the signature line is. Drop in your signature — I have mine saved as a PNG file so I just upload it every time. Takes 10 seconds. Export. Email back.
I’ve signed probably 30+ documents this way. NDAs, consulting agreements, SOWs, tax forms. Nobody has ever asked if it was a “real” signature. It is real — it’s my actual signature, just placed digitally instead of with ink.
Filling out onboarding forms
New job, new client — here’s 8 PDF forms to fill out. W-9, direct deposit authorization, emergency contact, NDA, equipment request, IT access request. None of them are fillable. They’re just flat PDFs that someone made from a Word template 10 years ago.
The expected workflow: print all 8, fill by hand, scan all 8, email back. That’s 30 minutes and requires a printer.
My workflow: open each in the PDF editor, type in each field, sign where needed, export. 8 forms in about 15 minutes. No printer. No scanner. No leaving my desk.
Sending invoices
Freelancers and contractors — you send invoices. Sometimes the client wants the invoice plus a signed timesheet plus a W-9, all in one PDF. Three separate files? No. Merge them. One clean attachment.
I helped a friend who freelances as a designer. She was sending three separate attachments every month. Her client’s accounts payable team kept losing one of the three. After she started merging everything into one file, payments started coming on time. Coincidence? Maybe. But one file is harder to lose than three.
Compressing files for Slack and email
Slack’s free plan has upload limits. Email has the eternal 25MB cap. When your team shares documents through these channels, file size matters.
SOWs with embedded images. Design mockups exported as PDF. Scanned receipts for expense reports. They’re all bigger than they need to be.
Compress before sharing. I’ve had managers thank me for being “the only person who sends attachments that actually load.” It’s not a skill — I just compress things first.
Converting screenshots and mockups
Remote meetings generate a lot of screenshots. Whiteboard captures, Figma screenshots, Miro board exports, Zoom chat screenshots. Sometimes you need to compile these into a document for meeting notes or a project record.
Convert images to PDF — drop all the screenshots in, arrange in order, get one clean PDF. Way more professional than sending 12 loose PNGs in a Slack thread.
I also use image compression before uploading screenshots to project management tools like Jira or Notion. A 4MB screenshot becomes 300KB. Pages load faster. Everyone’s happier.
Extracting pages from long documents
Someone shares a 60-page company handbook but you only need the expense policy on pages 23-25. Don’t forward the whole 60 pages to your accountant. Extract just those pages. Faster to send, faster to read, and you’re not sharing 57 pages of internal company information unnecessarily.
Same with client deliverables. A 100-page report where the client only needs the executive summary (pages 1-5) and the financial analysis (pages 45-52). Split, merge the relevant sections, send. Client gets exactly what they need.
Working across time zones
When you’re remote and your team is in different time zones, you can’t always ask someone to resend a document or fix a file. It’s 2 AM their time. You need to handle it yourself.
Having tools that work offline and don’t require accounts means you’re never blocked. PDF needs merging at midnight before a 6 AM deadline? Handle it yourself in 30 seconds. No waiting for IT, no waiting for a colleague to wake up.
The privacy consideration for remote work
When you work from home, you’re processing company documents on your personal or work laptop. Your home network. Your ISP.
Uploading client deliverables, internal memos, financial documents, or HR forms to an online tool adds another party to that chain. Your company’s security policy might not even allow it — many enterprises prohibit uploading internal documents to third-party cloud services.
Browser-based tools that process locally don’t have this problem. The file stays on your machine. Nothing goes to any server. ConvertKr works this way. So does the desktop app if you want fully offline.
My actual daily toolkit
After 6+ years of remote work, here’s what I actually use regularly:
- PDF merge — 2-3 times per week. Invoices, document packages, combining notes.
- PDF editor — once a week. Filling forms, adding signatures, quick annotations.
- Image compress — almost daily. Screenshots for tickets, Slack, documentation.
- PDF compress — once a week. Before emailing anything over 5MB.
- Split PDF — twice a month. Extracting relevant pages from long documents.
Everything else — rotate, watermark, page numbers, convert — maybe once a month each. But when you need them, you need them right then. Having them available without installing anything or paying for anything is the point.
FAQ
Can my employer see what I’m processing in ConvertKr?
No. Everything runs in your browser locally. There are no server logs because there’s no server processing. Your employer can only see that you visited convertkr.com, not what files you processed there.
Is this secure enough for enterprise documents?
For the processing itself — yes, files never leave your device. But check your company’s security policy. Some enterprises require all tools to be on an approved list. The desktop app might be easier to get approved since it’s a local application with no network activity.
What about DocuSign for signatures?
DocuSign is the standard for legally-binding e-signatures with audit trails. Use it when the other party requires DocuSign specifically. For everything else — internal forms, NDAs, simple agreements — a signature placed in the PDF editor works fine and doesn’t cost $25/month.
Working remotely and need PDF tools? ConvertKr — free, local, no account needed.