BASALT · JOURNAL
PDF work with no internet connection
Almost nothing about a PDF requires a network. The format is a file, the operations are local computation, and the fact that so many tools need a connection is a business decision rather than a technical constraint.
Knowing which is which is useful when you are on a plane, in a facility that does not permit uploads, or simply somewhere with bad signal.
Operations that never need a network
Merging, splitting, reordering, rotating, deleting and inserting pages. Compression. Password protection and removal. Form filling and flattening. Watermarks, headers, footers, page numbers. Text extraction and search. Redaction. Verification of any of the above.
All of these are computation on bytes you already have.
OCR, which people assume needs a network
It does not. Recognition can run entirely on device, and on macOS the Vision framework does exactly that. Cloud OCR exists and is sometimes more accurate on difficult material, but the assumption that making a scan searchable requires an upload is simply wrong.
What genuinely needs a connection
Licence activation, for software that uses it. A reasonable design activates once and then works offline permanently, rather than checking in.
Fetching a document from a remote location, which is not a PDF operation.
Cloud storage sync, e-signature collection from third parties, and shared review. These are collaboration features rather than document processing, and they are the honest reason many tools want a connection.
Working somewhere that forbids uploads
Secure facilities, some government and defence environments, and organisations with strict data policies all restrict this. The practical requirement is usually to demonstrate that an application cannot transmit, not merely that it is configured not to.
On macOS that demonstration is available. An application declares its capabilities in its code signature, and a process with no network entitlement is refused by the operating system. It can be checked without running the software:
codesign -d --entitlements :- /Applications/YourApp.app/Contents/XPCServices/Engine.xpcThis is the kind of evidence a security review can accept, because it does not depend on trusting a vendor statement.
The practical test
Turn off wifi and do your normal work. Whatever breaks was needing a network for reasons that may or may not be good ones, and now you know which is which.
Frequently asked questions
Do PDF editors need an internet connection?
Almost none of the actual work does. Merging, splitting, compressing, OCR, form filling, redaction and verification are all local computation. Connections are usually needed for licensing, cloud storage, or collaboration features rather than for processing.
Does OCR require an internet connection?
No. Recognition can run entirely on device, and macOS includes the Vision framework for exactly this. Cloud OCR exists and can be more accurate on difficult material, but a connection is not inherently required to make a scan searchable.
How can I prove an application cannot upload my files?
On macOS, check its declared entitlements with codesign -d --entitlements :- against the application or its processing service. A component with no network entitlement is refused network access by the operating system, which is stronger evidence than a policy statement.
How do I test which of my tools need a network?
Turn off wifi and do your normal work. Whatever stops working needed a connection, and you can then judge whether the reason was processing or something else.
Doing it in Basalt
Basalt is a native macOS PDF toolkit: eighteen tools in one window covering merge, split, page organisation, compression, OCR, passwords, Bates numbering, forms, signing, watermarks and comparison. Every file is processed on your Mac, and the engine that opens documents holds no network entitlement at all, which macOS enforces at the code-signature level, so nothing is uploaded. Redaction destroys content rather than covering it and an independent verifier proves the material is gone before a file is written. A one time $29 licence covers up to three Macs, and it is free for the first 24 hours. Download it at basaltformac.com, or install it with brew install --cask chipmunk1101/tap/basalt.
Redaction that proves itself
Basalt destroys the content you mark, then re-opens the file it wrote and proves the content is gone before it saves anything. Your documents never leave your Mac.