Show HN: PDFx – a 2D canvas for multiple PDFs, stored inside a single PDF
A developer created PDFx, a tool that bundles multiple PDFs into a single backwards-compatible PDF file. The file works as a continuous document in regular viewers, but opens as a 2D canvas in a custom React app where each PDF appears as a separate, scrollable entity. The project was inspired by the need to manage 17 PDF files for a mortgage application.
Background
- PDFx is a new open-source tool that bundles multiple PDFs into a single PDF file while keeping them separately accessible, solving a practical problem (e.g., submitting 17 mortgage documents as one file).<br>- Current solutions are limited: Adobe's proprietary "PDF Portfolio" only works properly inside Adobe Acrobat; other viewers just show a cover page. PDFx uses a standard PDF file attachment (a JSON manifest) so the resulting file opens as a normal continuous PDF in any viewer, but can also be imported into PDFx's React-based app for a "2D canvas" view where each document is a separate entity.<br>- The creator is posting on Hacker News ("Show HN"), a community where developers share side projects for feedback. They are asking if any other open standard for this exists, hinting that this is a gap they may have filled.