Skip to content

Early releaseFree forever · Version 0.1.0 · Windows (64-bit)

Every PDF.
A better experience.

A faster, cleaner way to read and work with documents. Everything you need, without the clutter.

Download FolioExplore Features
Folio
Reading in quiet interfaces.pdf
Q3 report.pdf
100% 3 / 24 Search commandsCtrl K
PagesOutline
1
2
3
4
5
Working paper · 14
Notes on attention, markup and the reading surface

Every document is an invitation to concentrate. When the surrounding interface recedes, attention settles on the page itself, and the reader can follow an argument without negotiating with the tools around it.

3.2 Annotation without interruption

Marginal annotation has always been part of how people read. A reader underlines a claim, circles a term, and returns later. The most effective annotation tools make this gesture cheap: one selection, one action, and the page remains the page.

In practice, annotation works best when it is reversible. Each mark is a small commitment, and the cost of undoing it should be close to zero. Navigation follows the same rule: moving through a long document should never feel like travel.

Figure 4. Time spent per page, by reading task.

We therefore treat annotation, search and navigation as one system. Search results appear where the reader already is, annotation survives a round trip through any other viewer, and the outline is always one key away.

  • Designed for focused reading
  • Documents are processed on your device
  • Free, forever
  • Keyboard-first, with a command palette

Features

Everything you need. Nothing in the way.

A focused set of tools, built into one considered interface.

A better reading experience

Continuous or single-page reading, fit-to-width or fit-to-page, and dark or light themes. The interface steps back so the document leads.

Working paper · 14
Notes on attention, markup and the reading surface

Every document is an invitation to concentrate. When the surrounding interface recedes, attention settles on the page itself, and the reader can follow an argument without negotiating with the tools around it.

3.2 Annotation without interruption

Marginal annotation has always been part of how people read. A reader underlines a claim, circles a term, and returns later. The most effective annotation tools make this gesture cheap: one selection, one action, and the page remains the page.

In practice, annotation works best when it is reversible. Each mark is a small commitment, and the cost of undoing it should be close to zero. Navigation follows the same rule: moving through a long document should never feel like travel.

Figure 4. Time spent per page, by reading task.

We therefore treat annotation, search and navigation as one system. Search results appear where the reader already is, annotation survives a round trip through any other viewer, and the outline is always one key away.

Fit widthFit page100%ContinuousSingle

Navigate long documents

Page thumbnails, the document outline, tabs and a command palette keep you oriented.

  • 1 Introduction
  • 2 Method
  • 3 Reading surfaces
  • 3.1 Typography
  • 3.2 Annotation
  • 4 Discussion
  • 5 References

Search your documents

Find text with highlighted matches, step through results, and match case or whole words. Run OCR on scans to make them searchable.

annotation2 of 5
  • p. 3Marginal annotation has always been part of how…
  • p. 3The most effective annotation tools make this gesture cheap…
  • p. 3In practice, annotation works best when it is reversible…
  • p. 4We therefore treat annotation, search and navigation…
  • p. 4…search results appear where annotation survives a round trip…

Markup that stays a PDF

Highlight, underline and strike through text, or draw with a pen, lines, arrows and shapes. Marks are saved as real PDF annotations.

Working paper · 14
Notes on attention, markup and the reading surface

Every document is an invitation to concentrate. When the surrounding interface recedes, attention settles on the page itself, and the reader can follow an argument without negotiating with the tools around it.

3.2 Annotation without interruption

Marginal annotation has always been part of how people read. A reader underlines a claim, circles a term, and returns later. The most effective annotation tools make this gesture cheap: one selection, one action, and the page remains the page.

In practice, annotation works best when it is reversible. Each mark is a small commitment, and the cost of undoing it should be close to zero. Navigation follows the same rule: moving through a long document should never feel like travel.

Figure 4. Time spent per page, by reading task.

We therefore treat annotation, search and navigation as one system. Search results appear where the reader already is, annotation survives a round trip through any other viewer, and the outline is always one key away.

Page tools, with undo

Rotate, delete, duplicate, reorder by drag and drop, extract, split, merge, crop and resize — every step can be undone.

Rotate Duplicate Delete Split Merge Crop Watermark Extract

Built for long documents

Folio draws only the pages near your viewport and keeps rendering memory bounded, so a long file doesn’t have to be fully drawn at once.

Drawn: pages near your viewportIllustration

Private by design

Documents are processed by a native engine on your machine. Folio has no remote services, and this website never sees your files.

Your PDF
Opened from your disk
Folio, on your device
Rendered by a native engine
No remote services

Keyboard-first

Nearly every action has a shortcut, and Ctrl+K finds the rest.

  • Command paletteCtrlK
  • Find in documentCtrlF
  • Open fileCtrlO
  • Fit pageCtrl0
  • Fit widthCtrl2
  • Toggle sidebarF4
  • Reorder pagesCtrlShiftO
  • Next tabCtrlTab

And more, in the same window

  • Merge
  • Split
  • Extract pages
  • Crop & resize pages
  • Watermark
  • Page backgrounds
  • Edit text
  • Edit pictures
  • Edit links
  • OCR
  • Reduce file size
  • Print layouts
  • Images → PDF
  • PDF → images
  • Export text
  • Word / Excel / PowerPoint
  • Web page → PDF
  • Batch processing
  • Password-protected files
  • Document properties

Product

See it in action.

Five everyday moments, from opening a file to reorganizing it.

01

Open a document. Disappear into it.

A calm reading surface with thumbnails alongside, text you can select and copy, and zoom that fits the page the way you like.

  • Select & copy text
  • Fit width / fit page
  • Tabs for multiple files
Folio
Reading in quiet interfaces.pdf
Q3 report.pdf
100% 3 / 24 Search commandsCtrl K
PagesOutline
1
2
3
4
5
Working paper · 14
Notes on attention, markup and the reading surface

Every document is an invitation to concentrate. When the surrounding interface recedes, attention settles on the page itself, and the reader can follow an argument without negotiating with the tools around it.

3.2 Annotation without interruption

Marginal annotation has always been part of how people read. A reader underlines a claim, circles a term, and returns later. The most effective annotation tools make this gesture cheap: one selection, one action, and the page remains the page.

In practice, annotation works best when it is reversible. Each mark is a small commitment, and the cost of undoing it should be close to zero. Navigation follows the same rule: moving through a long document should never feel like travel.

Figure 4. Time spent per page, by reading task.

We therefore treat annotation, search and navigation as one system. Search results appear where the reader already is, annotation survives a round trip through any other viewer, and the outline is always one key away.

02

Go anywhere with a few keystrokes.

Press Ctrl+K and type what you want to do. Every command is searchable, and its shortcut is shown right beside it.

  • Command palette
  • Page shortcuts
  • Ctrl+Tab between files
Folio
Reading in quiet interfaces.pdf
Q3 report.pdf
100% 3 / 24 Search commandsCtrl K
PagesOutline
1
2
3
4
5
Working paper · 14
Notes on attention, markup and the reading surface

Every document is an invitation to concentrate. When the surrounding interface recedes, attention settles on the page itself, and the reader can follow an argument without negotiating with the tools around it.

3.2 Annotation without interruption

Marginal annotation has always been part of how people read. A reader underlines a claim, circles a term, and returns later. The most effective annotation tools make this gesture cheap: one selection, one action, and the page remains the page.

In practice, annotation works best when it is reversible. Each mark is a small commitment, and the cost of undoing it should be close to zero. Navigation follows the same rule: moving through a long document should never feel like travel.

Figure 4. Time spent per page, by reading task.

We therefore treat annotation, search and navigation as one system. Search results appear where the reader already is, annotation survives a round trip through any other viewer, and the outline is always one key away.

page
Next pageGoPageDown
Previous pageGoPageUp
First pageGoHome
Last pageGoEnd
Reorder pagesViewCtrl+Shift+O
Delete pagesPagesCtrl+Shift+Del

03

Find a phrase. See every match.

Search highlights each match on the page, and the find bar steps through them. Match case or whole words when you need to be exact.

  • Highlighted matches
  • Match case
  • Whole word
Folio
Reading in quiet interfaces.pdf
Q3 report.pdf
100% 3 / 24 Search commandsCtrl K
PagesOutline
1
2
3
4
5
Working paper · 14
Notes on attention, markup and the reading surface

Every document is an invitation to concentrate. When the surrounding interface recedes, attention settles on the page itself, and the reader can follow an argument without negotiating with the tools around it.

3.2 Annotation without interruption

Marginal annotation has always been part of how people read. A reader underlines a claim, circles a term, and returns later. The most effective annotation tools make this gesture cheap: one selection, one action, and the page remains the page.

In practice, annotation works best when it is reversible. Each mark is a small commitment, and the cost of undoing it should be close to zero. Navigation follows the same rule: moving through a long document should never feel like travel.

Figure 4. Time spent per page, by reading task.

We therefore treat annotation, search and navigation as one system. Search results appear where the reader already is, annotation survives a round trip through any other viewer, and the outline is always one key away.

annotation2 of 5

04

Mark up the page, not the interface.

Select text to highlight, underline or strike through. Draw with a pen, or add lines, arrows, rectangles and ellipses.

  • Real PDF annotations
  • Pick any colour
  • Select & delete
Folio
Reading in quiet interfaces.pdf
Q3 report.pdf
100% 3 / 24 Search commandsCtrl K
PagesOutline
1
2
3
4
5
Working paper · 14
Notes on attention, markup and the reading surface

Every document is an invitation to concentrate. When the surrounding interface recedes, attention settles on the page itself, and the reader can follow an argument without negotiating with the tools around it.

3.2 Annotation without interruption

Marginal annotation has always been part of how people read. A reader underlines a claim, circles a term, and returns later. The most effective annotation tools make this gesture cheap: one selection, one action, and the page remains the page.

In practice, annotation works best when it is reversible. Each mark is a small commitment, and the cost of undoing it should be close to zero. Navigation follows the same rule: moving through a long document should never feel like travel.

Figure 4. Time spent per page, by reading task.

We therefore treat annotation, search and navigation as one system. Search results appear where the reader already is, annotation survives a round trip through any other viewer, and the outline is always one key away.

05

Rearrange pages by dragging them.

Reorder, rotate, duplicate, extract or delete pages in a visual grid. Changed your mind? Undo and redo are always there.

  • Drag & drop reorder
  • Extract & split
  • Undo / redo
Folio
Reading in quiet interfaces.pdf
Q3 report.pdf
PagesOutline
1
2
3
4
5
Reorder pages· 2 selected Rotate Duplicate Extract Delete
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Interface shown with sample content.

Why Folio

A more considered way to work with PDFs.

We started from the frustrations many people have with everyday PDF software, and designed around them.

  • Toolbars that compete with the document

    A quiet interface where the page is the focus and tools stay out of the way.

  • Hunting through menus for common actions

    A command palette (Ctrl+K) that finds any action by name, with shortcuts for the rest.

  • Page work that needs a separate app

    Rotate, reorder, split, merge, crop and more in the same window, with full undo and redo.

  • Unclear where your files go

    Everything runs on your machine. Folio has no remote services.

Your documents deserve better.

Meet a more considered way to work with PDFs.

Download coming soon

Free forever · Windows (64-bit) · Version 0.1.0 (early release)

FAQ

Questions, answered.

  • Folio is a desktop PDF application built around a fast, clean reading experience. Beyond viewing, it can annotate, reorder and edit pages, search text, run OCR and convert files — all locally.