📄 BB Docs Documentation

Getting Started

System Requirements

Before installing BB Docs, ensure your system meets these requirements:

• Operating System: Windows 10 or Windows 11 (64-bit)
• Framework: .NET 8.0 Runtime (included in installer)
• Memory: 4 GB RAM minimum (8 GB recommended)
• Storage: 500 MB available disk space
• Display: 1280x720 resolution or higher
• Internet: Required for initial activation

Installation

Follow these steps to install BB Docs:

1 Download the installer from the BinaryBridge Client Portal

2 Run the installer (PDFStudio_Setup.exe)

3 Follow the installation wizard to complete setup

4 Launch BB Docs from the Start menu or desktop shortcut

First Launch

When you first launch BB Docs, you'll be prompted to activate your license. Enter your license key from the Client Portal to unlock all features.

Interface Overview

BB Docs features a clean, modern interface organized into several key areas:

Title Bar

The title bar displays the application name, document title, and quick access buttons for Undo, Redo, and Print.

Ribbon Tabs

The ribbon is organized into tabs for easy access to features:

• Home: Common tools - text, annotations, shapes, redaction
• Insert: Add images, signatures, and stamps
• Page: Page operations - rotate, delete, extract, merge
• Tools: Advanced features - OCR, compression, security
• View: Display options - zoom, thumbnails, split view

Tool Panel

The left side panel contains categorized tools:

Properties Panel

The right side panel shows properties for the selected tool including stroke color, width, opacity, and document information.

Page Thumbnails

The left panel can also display page thumbnails for quick navigation. Click any thumbnail to jump to that page.

Status Bar

The bottom status bar shows the current zoom level, page number, file size, and page dimensions.

Opening Files

Opening a PDF

There are several ways to open a PDF file:

• Menu: Go to File → Open
• Shortcut: Press Ctrl + O
• Drag & Drop: Drag a PDF file onto the application window
• Double-click: Double-click a PDF file if BB Docs is set as default
• Recent Files: Click the Recent dropdown in the ribbon

Tabs & Split View NEW

Working with Tabs

BB Docs now supports opening multiple documents in tabs:

• Open multiple PDFs - each opens in a new tab
• Click a tab to switch to that document
• Right-click a tab for options: Close, Close Others, Close All, Open in New Window
• Use Ctrl + Tab to cycle through tabs
• Use Ctrl + W to close the current tab

Split View

Compare two documents side by side:

1 Open at least two PDF documents

2 Go to View → Split View or click the split view button

3 The first two documents will display side by side

4 Click the X on either pane to exit split view

Navigation & Viewing

Navigating Pages

Action	Method
Next Page	Page Down or click ▶ button
Previous Page	Page Up or click ◀ button
First Page	Home
Last Page	End
Go to Page	Ctrl + G

Zooming

Action	Method
Zoom In	Ctrl + + or Ctrl + mouse wheel up
Zoom Out	Ctrl + - or Ctrl + mouse wheel down
Fit Page	Ctrl + 0
Actual Size (100%)	Ctrl + 1
Full Screen	F11

Touch & Stylus Support

BB Docs supports touch screens and stylus input:

• Pinch to Zoom: Use two fingers to zoom in and out
• Stylus Drawing: Use a stylus for precise freehand annotations and signatures
• Swipe Navigation: Swipe to scroll through pages

Annotations

Highlight Tool

Highlight text to emphasize important content:

1 Select the Highlight tool from the annotation toolbar

2 Choose a color from the properties panel

3 Click and drag over the area you want to highlight

4 Release to apply the highlight

Underline & Strikethrough

Similar to highlighting, select the underline or strikethrough tool and drag over text to apply the markup.

Text Notes

Add comments and notes to your PDF:

1 Select the Text tool

2 Click on the location where you want to add the note

3 Type your comment in the text box

4 Click outside to finalize

Freehand Drawing

Draw freely on your PDF using the draw tool:

• Select the Draw tool
• Choose color and stroke width from properties
• Click and drag to draw
• Release to finish the stroke

Digital Signatures

Creating a Signature

BB Docs offers multiple ways to create signatures:

Drawn Signature

1 Select the Signature tool

2 Click on the document where you want to sign

3 In the signature dialog, draw your signature with mouse or stylus

4 Click Apply to place the signature

Typed Signature

1 Select the Signature tool

2 Choose Type in the signature dialog

3 Enter your name

4 Select a font style (script, formal, casual)

5 Click Apply

Certificate-Based Digital Signature NEW

For legally binding digital signatures:

1 Go to Tools → Digital Sign

2 Browse and select your certificate file (.pfx or .p12)

3 Enter the certificate password

4 Add signing reason and location (optional)

5 Choose whether to show a visible signature

6 Click Sign PDF

OCR Text Extraction NEW

Using OCR Selection

1 Go to Tools → OCR Selection or select the OCR tool

2 Click and drag to draw a rectangle around the text you want to extract

3 Release the mouse button

4 The extracted text will appear in a dialog

5 Click Copy to copy to clipboard or Insert as Text to add to document

Best Practices for OCR

• Ensure the document is not too tilted or skewed
• Higher resolution scans produce better results
• Good contrast between text and background improves accuracy
• Zoom in for better selection accuracy on small text

Redaction Tools NEW

Whiteout Tool

Cover content with a white rectangle:

1 Select Whiteout from the Home ribbon

2 Click and drag over the content to cover

3 A white rectangle will cover the area

Redact & Replace Tool

Cover content and add replacement text in one step:

1 Select Redact & Replace (or press R)

2 Click and drag over the content to redact

3 In the popup dialog, enter replacement text

4 Choose font, size, and color for the replacement text

5 Click Apply

Text & Shapes

Adding Text

To add new text to your PDF:

1 Select the Text tool

2 Click where you want to add text

3 Type your content

4 Use the properties panel to adjust font, size, and color

Text Properties

Property	Description
Font Family	Select from available system fonts
Font Size	Adjust text size (6-72 pt)
Font Color	Choose text color
Bold/Italic	Apply text styling

Adding Shapes

Insert shapes to highlight areas or create diagrams:

Available Shapes

• Rectangle: Draw rectangular boxes
• Circle/Ellipse: Draw circular shapes
• Line: Draw straight lines
• Arrow: Draw arrows for pointing

Shape Properties

• Border Color: Color of the shape outline
• Fill Color: Interior color (or transparent)
• Border Width: Thickness of the outline
• Opacity: Transparency level

Working with Images

Inserting an Image

1 Go to Insert → Image or use the image tool

2 Browse and select an image file (PNG, JPG, BMP, GIF)

3 Click on the document to place the image

4 Resize by dragging the corner handles

5 Drag to reposition as needed

Supported Image Formats

• PNG (recommended for logos and graphics)
• JPEG/JPG (photos and complex images)
• BMP (bitmap images)
• GIF (simple graphics)

Form Filling

Interactive Forms

BB Docs automatically detects interactive form fields. When you open a PDF form:

• Text Fields: Click to type text
• Checkboxes: Click to check/uncheck
• Radio Buttons: Click to select an option
• Dropdown Menus: Click to select from list

Navigating Form Fields

Use Tab to move to the next field and Shift + Tab to move to the previous field.

Page Operations

Rotating Pages

To rotate pages:

1 Go to Page tab → Rotate Left or Rotate Right

2 The current page will rotate 90 degrees

Reordering Pages

Move pages within the document:

• Ctrl + ↑ - Move current page up
• Ctrl + ↓ - Move current page down
• Ctrl + Home - Move to start
• Ctrl + End - Move to end

Deleting Pages

1 Go to Page → Delete Page

2 Confirm deletion

Extracting Pages

Save selected pages as a new PDF:

1 Go to Page → Extract Pages

2 Specify page range

3 Choose destination and filename

Merging PDFs

Combine multiple PDFs into one:

1 Go to Page → Merge PDFs

2 Add files using Add Files button

3 Arrange order using up/down arrows

4 Click Merge and save

PDF Compression NEW

Compressing a PDF

1 Go to Tools → Compress PDF

2 View the current file size

3 Choose compression level:

• Low: Best quality, smaller size reduction
• Medium: Balanced quality and size (recommended)
• High: Smallest size, lower quality

4 Select options:

• Compress images: Reduce image quality/resolution
• Remove metadata: Strip author, creation date, etc.
• Remove bookmarks: Delete navigation bookmarks

5 Click Compress

Watermarks & Stamps

Adding a Text Watermark

1 Go to Insert → Watermark

2 Enter watermark text (e.g., "CONFIDENTIAL", "DRAFT")

3 Configure appearance: font, size, color, opacity, rotation

4 Choose pages to apply

5 Click Apply

Using Stamps

Apply pre-made stamps to your document:

1 Go to Insert → Stamp

2 Choose from built-in stamps (APPROVED, DRAFT, CONFIDENTIAL, etc.)

3 Click on the document to place the stamp

Security & Encryption

Password Protection

Protect your PDF with a password:

1 Go to Tools → Protect PDF

2 Enable Require password to open document

3 Enter and confirm your password

4 Click Protect PDF and save

Permission Settings

Control what users can do with your PDF:

1 In the Protect PDF dialog, enable Restrict document permissions

2 Set a permissions password

3 Choose which actions to allow:

Permission	Description
Printing	Allow or prevent printing
Copying Text	Allow or prevent copying content
Editing	Allow or prevent modifications
Form Filling	Allow or prevent form field entry
Annotations	Allow or prevent adding annotations

Print Preview NEW

Accessing Print Preview

Press Ctrl + P or go to File → Print

Print Options

Option	Description
Printer	Select from available printers
Pages	All pages, current page, or custom range
Copies	Number of copies and collation
Scaling	Fit to page, actual size, or custom scale
Orientation	Portrait or landscape
Paper Size	Letter, Legal, A4, A3, A5
Color Mode	Color or grayscale

Preview Navigation

• Use ◀ ▶ buttons to navigate pages
• Use + - buttons to zoom preview
• Click ⊡ to fit to window

Saving & Exporting

Saving Your Work

• Save: Ctrl + S - Save changes to current file
• Save As: Ctrl + Shift + S - Save as a new file

Flattening Annotations

Flatten annotations to merge them permanently into the PDF:

1 Go to File → Save As Flattened

2 Choose filename and location

3 Click Save

Exporting to Images

Export PDF pages as image files:

1 Go to File → Export as Images

2 Select page range

3 Choose format (PNG, JPG) and resolution

4 Select output folder

5 Click Export

Keyboard Shortcuts

File Operations

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl + N	New document
Ctrl + O	Open file
Ctrl + S	Save
Ctrl + Shift + S	Save As
Ctrl + P	Print
Ctrl + W	Close current tab

Editing

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl + Z	Undo
Ctrl + Y	Redo
Delete	Delete selected annotation

Navigation

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl + +	Zoom in
Ctrl + -	Zoom out
Home	First page
End	Last page
Page Up	Previous page
Page Down	Next page
F11	Full screen

Tabs

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl + Tab	Next tab
Ctrl + Shift + Tab	Previous tab

Page Operations

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl + ↑	Move page up
Ctrl + ↓	Move page down

Pricing & Licensing

BB Docs Desktop is available with three licensing options. Every new account starts with a free 30-day trial with full access to all features.

How to Get a License Key

1 Register for a free account at the BinaryBridge Client Portal

2 Once your registration is approved, a 30-day trial key is automatically activated

3 To purchase a 1-Year or Lifetime key, contact us or email sales@binarybridge.ca

4 Enter your license key in BB Docs → Help → Activate License

Troubleshooting

PDF Won't Open

• Ensure the file is a valid PDF document
• Check if the file is corrupted (try opening in another viewer)
• If password-protected, enter the correct password
• Try restarting BB Docs

Application is Slow

• Large PDFs with many pages may take longer to load
• Close other applications to free up memory
• Consider compressing the PDF to reduce size
• Ensure your system meets the minimum requirements

Changes Not Saving

• Ensure you have write permissions to the file location
• Check if the PDF is read-only
• Try using Save As to save to a different location

OCR Not Working

• Ensure the selected area contains visible text
• Try selecting a smaller, clearer area
• Zoom in for better selection accuracy
• Low quality scans may produce poor results

License Activation Issues

• Ensure you have an active internet connection
• Verify your license key is entered correctly
• Check if your license has expired
• Contact support if issues persist