Stirling PDF

beginner

Self-hosted PDF manipulation tool.

Overview

Stirling PDF is an open-source, web-based PDF manipulation tool developed by Anthony Stirling that provides comprehensive document processing capabilities through a clean browser interface. Built with Spring Boot and designed with privacy as a core principle, Stirling PDF performs all operations locally without sending data to external servers, making it ideal for organizations handling sensitive documents. The application offers an extensive suite of PDF tools including merging, splitting, compression, OCR, digital signing, and format conversion all accessible through an intuitive web interface. This Docker configuration deploys Stirling PDF with Tesseract OCR integration for text recognition capabilities, utilizing persistent volumes to maintain OCR language data and configuration settings across container restarts. The setup includes security configurations that can be toggled based on deployment requirements, with the application running on port 8080 for easy access. The containerized deployment ensures consistent performance across different environments while maintaining the privacy-focused architecture that makes Stirling PDF valuable for document processing workflows. This stack is perfect for small businesses, home office users, developers, and organizations that need reliable PDF manipulation tools without relying on cloud-based services. IT departments will appreciate the self-hosted nature for compliance requirements, while individual users benefit from having professional-grade PDF tools available locally. The combination of comprehensive functionality, privacy protection, and simple deployment makes this an excellent alternative to expensive commercial PDF software or privacy-concerning online tools.

Key Features

Complete PDF manipulation suite including merge, split, rotate, and page extraction operations
OCR text recognition with Tesseract integration supporting multiple languages and custom tessdata
Digital signature capabilities with certificate management for document authentication
PDF compression and optimization tools to reduce file sizes while maintaining quality
Format conversion supporting PDF to/from images, Word documents, and other common formats
Batch processing capabilities for handling multiple documents simultaneously
Privacy-first architecture with all processing performed locally without external data transmission
Web-based interface accessible from any modern browser without software installation requirements

Common Use Cases

1Small business document workflows requiring PDF merging for invoices, contracts, and reports
2Home office users needing to split, merge, and convert PDFs without subscription-based online tools
3Educational institutions processing student documents, forms, and academic materials privately
4Legal firms handling sensitive documents that require local processing for compliance
5Healthcare organizations processing patient forms and medical documents with privacy requirements
6Government agencies needing secure document manipulation without cloud dependencies
7Development teams requiring PDF generation and manipulation capabilities for application integration

Prerequisites

Docker and Docker Compose installed with at least 1GB RAM available for PDF processing operations
Port 8080 available on the host system for web interface access
Sufficient disk space for PDF processing temporary files and persistent volume storage
Modern web browser with JavaScript enabled for optimal interface functionality
Basic understanding of PDF document structure for advanced manipulation features
Network access configuration if deploying on remote servers for team access

For development & testing. Review security settings, change default credentials, and test thoroughly before production use. See Terms

docker-compose.yml

1services: 
2  stirling-pdf: 
3    image: frooodle/s-pdf:latest
4    container_name: stirling-pdf
5    restart: unless-stopped
6    environment: 
7      DOCKER_ENABLE_SECURITY: "false"
8    volumes: 
9      - stirling_data:/usr/share/tessdata
10      - stirling_configs:/configs
11    ports: 
12      - "8080:8080"
13
14volumes: 
15  stirling_data: 
16  stirling_configs:

.env Template

.env

1# All processing done locally

Usage Notes

1Access at http://localhost:8080
2Merge, split, convert PDFs
3Privacy-focused

Quick Start

terminal

1# 1. Create the compose file
2cat > docker-compose.yml << 'EOF'
3services:
4  stirling-pdf:
5    image: frooodle/s-pdf:latest
6    container_name: stirling-pdf
7    restart: unless-stopped
8    environment:
9      DOCKER_ENABLE_SECURITY: "false"
10    volumes:
11      - stirling_data:/usr/share/tessdata
12      - stirling_configs:/configs
13    ports:
14      - "8080:8080"
15
16volumes:
17  stirling_data:
18  stirling_configs:
19EOF
20
21# 2. Create the .env file
22cat > .env << 'EOF'
23# All processing done locally
24EOF
25
26# 3. Start the services
27docker compose up -d
28
29# 4. View logs
30docker compose logs -f

One-Liner

Run this command to download and set up the recipe in one step:

terminal

1curl -fsSL https://docker.recipes/api/recipes/stirling-pdf/run | bash

Troubleshooting

OCR operations failing or producing poor results: Verify tessdata volume mount and ensure required language packs are installed in the tessdata directory
Large PDF uploads timing out or failing: Increase Docker container memory limits and check available disk space for temporary file processing
Web interface not loading at localhost:8080: Confirm port mapping is correct and no other services are using port 8080 on the host system
Security features not working properly: Review DOCKER_ENABLE_SECURITY environment variable setting and restart container after changes
Converted files not downloading or appearing corrupted: Check browser download settings and ensure sufficient disk space in stirling_data volume
Container failing to start with permission errors: Verify Docker has proper permissions to create and mount the persistent volumes

Community Notes

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