Pixel-level fidelity
The final processing stage — precision rendering that makes the streamed preview match your PDF pixel for pixel. Included with every paid plan, even Tiny.
What it is
Every file you upload moves through a sequence of processing stages, shown as the segmented progress bar in your dashboard: Upload, Range, Metadata, Pages, and finally Pixels — Pixel-level fidelity, the last stage in the pipeline.
The Pixels stage is the precision-rendering pass. It verifies and optimizes how every pixel of every page is drawn, so the streamed preview matches the original document as closely as possible.
Why it is a paid stage
Pixel-level validation requires substantially more compute than streaming and page analysis — additional render engines, image encoding and byte-by-byte comparison. To keep the Free plan genuinely free, this heavy pass is included with every paid plan (Tiny, Lite and Pro) and is not executed for Free accounts.
What Free users see
The Pixels stage stays visible on the progress bar, but it is shown as a locked, amber-striped segment with a lock icon and a PAID tag instead of a completion check. It never runs and its timer stays empty. Processing completes after the Pages stage and the file enters your library normally.
In the collapsed bar, a small lock icon next to the completion time marks the locked stage; expanding the bar shows the full explanation and a link back to this page.
Does locking it affect my preview?
No. Byte-range streaming, metadata and page analysis all run on the Free plan, so your PDFs open and preview with the standard rendering engine exactly as before. The lock simply means pixel-level fidelity is not applied — your file is not blocked, degraded, or watermarked.
How to unlock it
Upgrade to any paid plan — Tiny, Lite or Pro, starting at just $1/month — and the Pixels stage runs automatically for every new upload.
Run it on older files
Files you processed on the Free plan are not reprocessed automatically. After upgrading, open the file’s progress bar in your dashboard: the Pixels segment shows a dashed track with a Run button. Click it to run pixel-level fidelity on that file on demand — it takes about two seconds, and the file is moved to the top of your list once the run finishes.
You can run it on as many older files as you like, one at a time. A file that has already been processed with pixel-level fidelity shows a completed segment and no Run button.
FAQ
- Can I still open and read my PDFs on the Free plan?
- Yes. Fast streaming previews work on every plan; only the final precision-rendering pass is paid.
- Which plans include pixel-level fidelity?
- Every paid plan — Tiny, Lite and Pro. The stage is locked only on the Free plan.
- Does the locked stage make processing slower?
- No. The segment is purely a status indicator; no pixel work is performed on Free, so nothing is queued or delayed.
- Can I run pixel-level fidelity on files uploaded before I upgraded?
- Yes. After upgrading, expand the file’s progress bar and click Run on the Pixels segment. The run takes about two seconds, and the file is moved to the top of your list when it finishes.
- Will older files be reprocessed automatically after I upgrade?
- No — runs are started manually so you stay in control. Every Free-plan file keeps its Run button until you choose to run it.
Ready to unlock pixel-perfect previews?
Paid plans start at $1/month and run the Pixels stage for every upload.