Terms of Use

1Agreement to these Terms

These Terms of Use (the "Terms") are a binding agreement between you and Def24 Inc. ("Def24", "we", "us", "our"). They govern your access to and use of:

• the PDFMate application for macOS, including its updates and documentation, as we distribute it, on the Website or through the Mac App Store (the "App"); and
• the website at pdfmate.org (also served at pdfmate-org.web.app) and the downloads offered there (the "Website").

The App and the Website together are the "Services".

By ticking the box in the download dialog, or by downloading, installing, accessing or using the App or the Website, you confirm that you have read, understood and agree to be bound by these Terms, including the binding arbitration agreement and class-action waiver in section 18. If you do not agree, do not download, install or use the App.

When PDFMate first starts, it shows you these Terms and our Privacy Policy and asks you to click "Agree and Continue". By clicking it, or by downloading, installing or using PDFMate (including a copy from the Mac App Store), you accept these Terms. PDFMate's Help menu (Help ▸ Terms of Use and Help ▸ Privacy Policy) and our Mac App Store listing link to them.

If you accept these Terms for a company or other organisation, you represent that you have the authority to bind it, and "you" also means that organisation.

You must be at least the age of majority where you live to accept these Terms. If you are not, a parent or legal guardian must accept them for you and is responsible for your use of the Services. The Services are not directed to children under 13.

2What PDFMate is

PDFMate is a PDF editor for macOS. It runs on your Mac, without an account, and is free of charge. It requires a Mac with Apple silicon (M1 or later) and macOS 14 Sonoma or later; it does not run on Macs with Intel processors. Some features need more:

• copying and exporting tables needs macOS 26;
• suggestions from Apple Intelligence (such as suggested file names) need macOS 26 with Apple Intelligence turned on.

The features and limits described on the Website and in the App describe what PDFMate does. They are not a promise of any particular result, quality or availability.

3Licence

3.1 The software is MIT-licensed. The PDFMate software is licensed under the MIT License, reproduced in the Appendix. On the conditions it states, chiefly that the copyright and licence notice is kept in all copies or substantial portions of the software, the MIT License lets anyone who obtains a copy use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense and sell copies of the software.

3.2 How these Terms relate to the MIT License.

• These Terms do not restrict any right the MIT License gives you. If these Terms and the MIT License conflict about your rights to use, copy, modify or distribute the software, the MIT License governs.
• These Terms govern everything else between you and us: your use of the Website, the copies of the App that we distribute, our name and logo, and our responsibility to you. That includes the disclaimer of warranties (section 12), the limitation of liability (section 13), indemnification (section 14), governing law (section 17) and dispute resolution by arbitration (section 18).
• The MIT License's own disclaimer of warranty and liability applies in addition to sections 12 and 13. Each protects us independently of the other.

3.3 Copies from others. We distribute PDFMate on the Website and through our listing on the Mac App Store; a copy from either comes from us. If you obtained PDFMate, or a modified version of it, from anyone other than us, we did not provide that copy and have not checked it. We are not responsible for it, and sections 12 and 13 apply to any claim relating to it.

3.4 Copies from the Mac App Store. If you get PDFMate from the Mac App Store, that copy is licensed to you under Apple's Licensed Application End User License Agreement (the "Standard EULA"). These Terms apply to that copy as well. Where the Standard EULA and these Terms conflict about what you may do with that copy, the Standard EULA governs. Everything else between you and us about that copy, including sections 12 and 13 and how disputes are resolved (sections 17 and 18), is governed by these Terms, to the extent the law allows. The Standard EULA and the MIT License (section 3.1) are separate licences from us: the restrictions in the Standard EULA do not take away the rights the MIT License gives you, and these Terms do not reduce them either (section 3.2). For a copy from the Mac App Store, you also acknowledge and agree that:

• Between you and us. These Terms are between you and Def24 only, not Apple. Def24, not Apple, is solely responsible for PDFMate and its content.
• No support from Apple. Apple has no obligation to provide any maintenance or support for PDFMate. Def24, not Apple, is solely responsible for any maintenance and support, to the extent section 11 or applicable law provides for it.
• Warranty. Any warranty for PDFMate that is not effectively disclaimed under section 12 is ours alone, not Apple's. If PDFMate fails to conform to such a warranty, you may notify Apple, and Apple will refund the purchase price, if any (PDFMate is free). To the maximum extent permitted by law, Apple has no other warranty obligation for PDFMate.
• Claims. As between Def24 and Apple, Def24, not Apple, is responsible for addressing any claim by you or a third party relating to PDFMate or your possession and use of it, including product liability claims, claims that PDFMate fails to meet a legal or regulatory requirement, and claims under consumer protection, privacy or similar laws. As between Def24 and Apple, Def24 alone is also responsible for investigating, defending, settling and discharging any third-party claim that PDFMate, or your possession and use of it, infringes that party's intellectual property rights. This does not extend our liability to you beyond what sections 12 and 13 allow.
• Legal compliance. You represent that you are not located in a country that is subject to a U.S. Government embargo or that the U.S. Government has designated as a "terrorist supporting" country, and that you are not on any U.S. Government list of prohibited or restricted parties (see also section 10).
• Questions and claims. Send questions, complaints and claims about PDFMate to us at info@def24.com (section 20). Apple's only part is the refund described above.
• Third-party beneficiary. Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these Terms as they relate to your licence of PDFMate from the Mac App Store. Once you accept these Terms, Apple has the right (and is deemed to have accepted the right) to enforce them against you as a third-party beneficiary.

4Ownership, name and logo

The MIT License covers the software, not our names, logos or Website. "PDFMate", "Def24", the PDFMate logo and app icon, and the design, text and images of the Website belong to Def24 Inc. or its licensors. All rights not expressly granted are reserved.

You may name PDFMate truthfully, for example in a review or a link. You may not use our names or logos in a way that suggests we made, endorse or support something we did not. If you distribute a modified version, give it a different name and icon.

5Your documents, your responsibility

PDFMate works on files that are yours, on your Mac. We never receive them, cannot see them and cannot recover them. You are solely responsible for:

• Backups. Keep a backup of every document before you edit, redact, split, combine, compress, convert, protect or batch-process it. PDFMate changes files and can save changes to the original file automatically (macOS autosave). Undo is available only while the document is open in PDFMate.
• Checking results. Check every result and every automatic suggestion (section 6) before you rely on it, save it, share it, or delete anything because of it.
• The content and its use. Make sure you have the rights and consents needed to open, change, copy, recognise, redact, sign and share each document, and that you keep any duty of confidentiality, privacy or professional secrecy that applies to it.
• Passwords. If you encrypt a document and lose the password, nobody, including us, can recover its content. Digital ID passwords cannot be recovered either.
• Your Mac. Its security, updates and storage space, and its settings, including Apple Intelligence.

6Automatic features and suggestions: check every result

Several PDFMate features analyse your documents automatically and suggest or make changes. They are aids, not guarantees. They can be wrong, incomplete or inconsistent, and you must check every result before you rely on it, save it, share it or delete anything because of it. In particular:

6.1 Redaction.

• Marks you place (by hand, with Find Text & Redact, or with Mark Sensitive Data) hide nothing until you choose Apply Redactions. Until then, the text is still in the file and other PDF readers ignore the marks.
• Applying redactions removes content only inside the marked areas and turns those pages into images. It does not by itself remove matching information elsewhere: in unmarked parts of the page, other pages, bookmarks, document properties (title, author, subject, keywords), comments outside the marks, form data, attachments, or earlier versions and copies of the file (macOS versions, backups, synced or sent copies).
• Before you share a redacted document, open the saved file, search it, and check all of the above.

6.2 Mark Sensitive Data.

• It looks for IBANs, payment card numbers, tax IDs, phone numbers, email addresses, postal addresses and links, and on request dates and names.
• It will miss some data and mark some things that are not sensitive. It finds only data in the document's text. Pages without text, such as scans that have not been through text recognition, are not searched. Name detection is experimental.
• It does not decide what the law, a court or your organisation requires you to redact. That is your decision.

6.3 Recognised text (OCR), Capture Text and tables.

• Recognised text can contain wrong, missing or reordered characters, words, numbers and cells, especially in handwriting, small print, poor scans and unusual layouts.
• Check figures, names, amounts and dates against the original before you use them.
• A searchable text layer added by PDFMate can be wrong even where the page looks right.

6.4 Blank, sideways and duplicate pages; splitting at separator sheets.

• PDFMate can treat a page with faint content as blank, misjudge a page's orientation, treat two similar pages as duplicates, or cut a document in the wrong place.
• PDFMate deletes, rotates or splits only when you confirm, and pages marked "possibly blank" are never deleted unless you select them yourself. Look at the pages before you confirm, and check the result before you discard the original.

6.5 Suggested names, dates, titles, subjects and keywords.

• Suggestions, including those made with Apple Intelligence, can pick the wrong date, the wrong topic or misleading words.
• Apple's language model is not under our control and can produce inaccurate output. Review every suggestion before you accept it.

6.6 Bookmarks from headings, Compare, and other automatic results.

• Generated bookmarks can miss or misplace headings.
• Compare can miss differences.
• Reduce File Size, Flatten, image or grayscale conversion, and exporting to other formats can change the appearance or quality of a document, or remove features such as text, forms, links or layers.

6.7 Protection and signatures.

• Whatever you choose in the "Encryption level" menu, PDFMate writes password-protected files with 128-bit AES encryption. It can open files protected with RC4 or with AES of up to 256 bits. When you save changes to a file that is already protected, PDFMate can keep that file's existing encryption, which may be an older, weaker kind such as RC4. To protect it with 128-bit AES instead, remove its security with File ▸ Protect Using Password ▸ Remove Security, then protect it again with Encrypt with Password… in the same menu.
• Permission settings in a PDF (for example "no printing" or "no copying") are honoured only by cooperating PDF readers and can be bypassed. Only an open password stops others from reading the content.
• A self-signed Digital ID does not prove anyone's identity to others. PDFMate does not add trusted timestamps, and a signature made with it is not a qualified or certified electronic signature. Whether a signature meets the requirements of a particular law, court, authority or recipient is for you to determine.
• Signature verification shows what PDFMate could check. It is not a legal assessment of whether a document or signature is valid.

7No professional or legal advice

PDFMate and the Website do not give legal, tax, financial, privacy, records-management or other professional advice. Nothing the App detects, marks, suggests or reports is advice, or a statement that a document is complete, accurate, compliant, anonymised, securely redacted or legally valid. Do not rely on the Services as a substitute for a qualified professional.

8Third-party components and services

PDFMate is built on frameworks that are part of Apple's macOS, such as PDFKit, Vision, Natural Language and Foundation Models, and it uses Apple Intelligence where available. These are provided by Apple, not by us. The same applies to:

• macOS, the Mac App Store, Apple Intelligence and its models, iCloud Drive, Handoff, Universal Clipboard, Look Up, speech voices, printing and sharing;
• our hosting provider, Google Firebase Hosting, which serves the Website and the downloads;
• any website, app or service that a link or attachment in a document opens, or that you share a document with.

We do not control these and are not responsible or liable for their availability, accuracy, security, privacy practices or results. Their own terms apply, including Apple's. If Apple changes or withdraws a function, the matching PDFMate feature may stop working, and we have no obligation to replace it.

9Acceptable use

You are responsible for using the Services lawfully. In particular, do not use them:

• to infringe anyone's copyright, privacy or other rights;
• to forge or falsify documents, signatures or records;
• to remove protection from documents you are not authorised to unlock;
• to attack, overload or misuse the Website.

10Export compliance

PDFMate is subject to United States export control and sanctions laws, including the Export Administration Regulations and the sanctions programmes of the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control. PDFMate contains encryption functions: it saves password-protected PDF files encrypted with 128-bit AES, opens PDF files encrypted with RC4 or with AES of up to 256 bits and can keep that encryption when it saves changes to them, stores the private keys of Digital IDs on your Mac encrypted with a key derived from your password (AES-256), and creates and verifies digital signatures.

You may not download, use, export, re-export or transfer PDFMate:

• to any country or region subject to a comprehensive U.S. embargo;
• to anyone on a U.S. government list of restricted parties, such as the Specially Designated Nationals List or the Entity List; or
• for any end use prohibited by U.S. law.

By downloading or using PDFMate you represent that you are not located in such a country or region and are not on such a list. You are also responsible for complying with the import and export laws of your own country.

11Free of charge; availability, changes and updates

PDFMate is currently free. We may change, suspend or discontinue the App, the Website or any feature, or introduce paid features or pricing, at any time and without liability. Copies you have already downloaded remain usable under the MIT License. We have no obligation to provide updates, fixes, support, or continued availability of the Website or the downloads. If we provide an update, these Terms apply to it unless it comes with other terms. For an update from the Mac App Store, these Terms apply together with the Standard EULA, as section 3.4 describes.

The copy of the App downloaded from the Website can check our Website for new versions. It only tells you that a new version exists; it never downloads or installs anything. You can turn this off in Settings ▸ General ▸ "Check for updates automatically". See the Privacy Policy, section 7. The copy from the Mac App Store has no such check: Apple delivers its updates through the Mac App Store.

12Disclaimer of warranties

13Limitation of liability

13.5 Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of certain warranties, or the exclusion or limitation of certain damages or liability, so some of the exclusions and limitations in sections 12 and 13 may not apply to you. In those jurisdictions, they apply to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, and our liability is limited to the fullest extent that law permits. Nothing in these Terms limits any right you have that cannot be waived or limited by contract.

14Indemnification

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, you agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless the Def24 Parties from and against any and all claims, demands, liabilities, damages, losses, costs and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or in any way connected with:

• (a) your use or misuse of the Services;
• (b) the documents and content you open, create, change, redact, sign or share with PDFMate;
• (c) your breach of these Terms; or
• (d) your violation of any law or of the rights of any third party.

We may take over the exclusive defence and control of any matter for which you must indemnify us, and you agree to cooperate with that defence.

15Changes to these Terms

We may revise these Terms from time to time. We will post the revised Terms on the Website with a new effective date. The download dialog, PDFMate's first-launch screen and Help menu, and our Mac App Store listing all link to the current version. Revised Terms apply from their effective date to downloads, updates and use of the Services after that date; they do not apply to a dispute that arose before it. Changes to the arbitration agreement are also subject to section 18.9. By downloading or installing PDFMate or an update, or by continuing to use the Services after revised Terms take effect, you accept them. If you do not agree to the revised Terms, stop using the Services. Earlier versions are available on request.

16Termination

These Terms remain in effect until terminated. Your rights under these Terms end automatically, without notice, if you fail to comply with them. We may also suspend or end your access to the Website and the downloads at any time, for any reason, without liability. You may stop using PDFMate and delete it at any time. Termination does not take away the rights the MIT License gives you in copies of the software you already have.

Sections 3.2 to 3.4, 4 to 8, and 12 to 20, and any other provision that by its nature should survive, survive termination.

17Governing law and courts

These Terms, and any dispute arising out of or relating to them or the Services, are governed by the laws of the state in which Def24 Inc. has its principal place of business, and by applicable U.S. federal law, without regard to conflict-of-laws principles. The Federal Arbitration Act governs section 18. The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods does not apply.

Disputes are resolved by arbitration as section 18 describes. Any dispute that is not arbitrated (because you opted out under section 18.8, or because section 18.4 or 18.7 sends it to court) must be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in the state in which Def24 Inc. has its principal place of business, except that a small-claims case may also be brought where section 18.4 allows. You and we consent to the personal jurisdiction and venue of those courts and waive any objection that they are an inconvenient forum.

18Dispute resolution: binding individual arbitration and class-action waiver

18.1 What this section covers. This section 18 (the "Arbitration Agreement") applies to every dispute, claim or controversy between you and Def24 Inc. or any other Def24 Party (as defined in section 12) that arises out of or relates to these Terms, the App, the Website or the Services, whether it is based on contract, tort (including negligence), statute, fraud, misrepresentation or any other legal theory (a "Dispute"). Except as section 18.7 provides, the arbitrator decides all questions about the scope, applicability, interpretation, validity and enforceability of this Arbitration Agreement.

18.2 Informal resolution first. Before either of us starts an arbitration or a small-claims case, we both agree to try to resolve the Dispute informally. (This step does not apply to a court action for an injunction under section 18.4(b).) The party with the Dispute sends the other a written notice (a "Notice of Dispute"). You send yours by email to info@def24.com, with the subject line "Notice of Dispute". We send ours to the email or postal address you have given us, if any. The notice gives the sender's name and contact details, describes the Dispute and states the relief sought. If the Dispute is not resolved within 60 days after the notice is received, either of us may start an arbitration or, where section 18.4 allows, a small-claims case. Statutes of limitation and filing deadlines are paused (tolled) for those 60 days.

18.3 Binding individual arbitration. If a Dispute is not resolved informally, you and we agree to resolve it only by final and binding arbitration on an individual basis, and not in court, except as section 18.4 allows. These Terms involve interstate commerce, and the Federal Arbitration Act (9 U.S.C. § 1 and following) governs the interpretation and enforcement of this Arbitration Agreement. In arbitration there is no judge or jury, and a court's review of an award is limited. The arbitrator may award, on an individual basis, the same damages and other relief as a court could, but only in favour of the individual party seeking relief and only to the extent needed to provide the relief that party's individual claim warrants. The arbitrator must follow these Terms as a court would. Judgment on the award may be entered in any court with jurisdiction.

18.4 Exceptions. Instead of arbitrating, either of us may:

• (a) bring an individual claim in a small-claims court, in the county where you live or in the state in which Def24 Inc. has its principal place of business, if the claim qualifies and stays there as an individual case, not a class, collective or representative one; and
• (b) bring an action in court for an injunction or other equitable relief to stop the actual or threatened infringement, misappropriation or misuse of copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, patents or other intellectual property rights.

18.5 Rules, fees and hearings.

• Administrator and rules. The arbitration is administered by the American Arbitration Association ("AAA") under its Consumer Arbitration Rules in effect when the arbitration starts, together with any AAA supplementary rules for multiple or mass case filings that apply (the "AAA Rules"), as modified by this section 18. The AAA Rules are available at www.adr.org. If the AAA cannot or will not administer the arbitration, you and we will agree on another arbitration provider, or a court will appoint one under 9 U.S.C. § 5.
• Starting an arbitration. A party starts an arbitration by filing a demand with the AAA as the AAA Rules describe, and sends a copy to the other party (to us at info@def24.com). A single arbitrator decides the Dispute.
• Fees. Filing, administration and arbitrator fees are paid as the AAA Rules provide for consumer arbitrations; under them, we pay most of these fees. Each party pays its own attorneys' fees and costs, unless the arbitrator awards them under applicable law. We will not seek our attorneys' fees or costs from you in arbitration unless the arbitrator finds that your claim was frivolous or brought for an improper purpose.
• Hearings. The arbitration may be decided on written submissions, or with a hearing by video or telephone, as the AAA Rules provide. Any in-person hearing takes place in the state in which Def24 Inc. has its principal place of business, unless you and we agree on another place or the AAA Rules call for a place that is reasonably convenient for you.
• Language and award. The arbitration is conducted in English. The arbitrator issues a written decision that states the essential findings and conclusions on which the award is based.

18.7 If part of this section is unenforceable.

• If the class-action waiver in section 18.6 is found unenforceable for all or part of a Dispute, or a court decides that a class, collective or representative proceeding may go ahead, then that part of the Dispute is not arbitrated. It must be decided by a court as section 17 provides. You and we do not agree to class, collective or representative arbitration.
• If a court decides that applicable law does not allow a limitation in this section 18 to apply to a particular claim for relief (for example, a claim for public injunctive relief), that claim, and only that claim, is severed from the arbitration and decided by a court as section 17 provides.
• In both cases, any individual claims are arbitrated first, and the court case is paused (stayed) until the arbitration ends.
• Only a court, not an arbitrator, may decide whether section 18.6 is enforceable and any question under this section 18.7.
• If any other part of this section 18 is held unenforceable, the rest of it remains in effect.

18.8 Your right to opt out. You may opt out of this Arbitration Agreement by emailing info@def24.com within 30 days after you first agree to these Terms (for example, by ticking the box in the download dialog or by clicking "Agree and Continue" when PDFMate first starts). Use the subject line "Arbitration Opt-Out", and give your name and a clear statement that you opt out of the arbitration agreement in the PDFMate Terms of Use. We will confirm that we received it. If you opt out, this section 18 does not apply to you, and Disputes are decided by the courts named in section 17. Opting out does not affect any other part of these Terms and has no other consequence: you may keep downloading and using PDFMate. If you opted out of an earlier version of this Arbitration Agreement, you remain opted out.

18.9 Changes to this section. Despite section 15, if we change this section 18 after you have agreed to it, the change does not apply to any Dispute of which either of us gave notice before the change took effect. You may also reject the change by emailing info@def24.com within 30 days after it takes effect. This section 18 then continues to apply to you in the last version you accepted.

18.10 Survival. This section 18 survives the termination of these Terms, the deletion of PDFMate from your Mac and the end of your use of the Services.

19General

• Entire agreement. These Terms and the MIT License, and for a copy from the Mac App Store also the Standard EULA as section 3.4 describes, are the entire agreement between you and us about the Services and replace any earlier agreement about them. Our Privacy Policy explains how we handle personal information; it is a notice and is not part of this agreement.
• Severability. If any provision of these Terms is held invalid or unenforceable, it is enforced to the maximum extent permissible, and the rest of these Terms remains in full force and effect. For the arbitration agreement, section 18.7 applies instead.
• No waiver. If we do not enforce a right or provision, we have not waived it.
• Assignment. You may not assign these Terms without our prior written consent; this does not limit your right to pass PDFMate on under the MIT License. We may assign these Terms freely.
• Events beyond our control. We are not liable for any delay or failure caused by events beyond our reasonable control.
• Headings and language. Headings are for convenience only. These Terms are written in English. If we provide a translation and the versions differ, the English version prevails.

20Contact

Questions about these Terms, notices of dispute (section 18.2), arbitration opt-outs (section 18.8) and rejections of changes to section 18 (section 18.9): info@def24.com · Def24 Inc. See also: Privacy Policy.

Appendix: MIT License

MIT License

Copyright (c) 2026 Def24 Inc.

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.