Our evolution to Nutrient from an engineering perspective

It’s now been a month since PSPDFKit rebranded to Nutrient. Given that I’m someone who has been with the company since its more humble beginnings, the old name does hold some sentimental value. It stems from our first product: the iOS SDK. In the days of Objective-C, developers had to add prefixes to framework names to avoid naming collisions. Hence, Peter Steinberger PDF Kit was born (contrary to the common misconception of it being Post Script PDF Kit).

Despite obvious issues, like being unpronounceable for regular people, the name still managed to get notable recognition over the years. However, after the expansion of our SDK offering to multiple new platforms and the merger with Muhimbi, Aquaforest, ORPALIS, and Integrify, our product horizon became much broader, so it was due time for a change.

Impact on Product and Engineering teams

From an engineering perspective, the rebrand brought both challenges and excitement. It provided an opportunity to unite the various teams that joined through mergers under a single, cohesive identity. To reinforce this unity, we even renamed our internal team structures to remove all traces of past segregation.

While the Marketing and Design teams bore the brunt of the initial rebrand challenges, the Engineering team also had to overcome some technical hurdles. Merging five complex websites into one, while ensuring content remained accessible, provided to be a massive undertaking. The team really exceeded expectations with its hard work and dedication to overcoming these challenges.

The rebrand also sparked a wave of product updates and consolidations. This is a process that in some ways has just begun, and that will have a long tail of followups through the next weeks and months — including updating product names, visual identity, and documentation, all while ensuring backward compatibility and avoiding disruption for our customers as much as possible.

Implications for Nutrient customers

For our customers, the rebrand signifies more than just a new name and visual identity. It represents a commitment to a more cohesive and comprehensive product offering, where customers can expect to see gradual changes and improvements across our product line.

The consolidation goes beyond superficial updates. As our product portfolio expands, we’re identifying more opportunities for synergies. Features previously limited to specific platforms are being made available across our entire portfolio. This process often reveals ways to make the whole greater than the sum of its parts, leading to enhanced functionality and a better user experience.

Customers can look forward to a more integrated suite of tools, with consistent branding and improved interoperability between different products. The rebrand has also given us an opportunity to reassess and streamline our offerings, simplifying product selection and implementation for our customers.

Conclusion

The transformation from PSPDFKit to Nutrient represents more than just a name change. It’s a reflection of our company’s growth, diversification, and commitment to providing comprehensive document solutions.

As we move forward under the Nutrient brand, our Product and Engineering teams are excited about the possibilities that lie ahead. The rebrand has not only refreshed our image, but has also reinvigorated our approach to product development and innovation. We can’t wait to show you what we have in stock for you!