diff --git a/src/gui/pages/10_PDF_Extractor.py b/src/gui/pages/10_PDF_Extractor.py
index cd81750..49dd68f 100644
--- a/src/gui/pages/10_PDF_Extractor.py
+++ b/src/gui/pages/10_PDF_Extractor.py
@@ -32,11 +32,26 @@ if str(_project_root) not in sys.path:
 from src.audit import log_event, log_page_open
 from src.gui.components import hide_streamlit_chrome, render_sticky_footer
 from src.pdf_extract import (
+    PdfDependencyMissing,
     apply_template,
     extract_pages_auto,
     ocr_available,
     render_page_image,
 )
+
+
+def _pdf_deps_status() -> tuple[bool, list[str]]:
+    """Probe each runtime PDF dep without forcing the user to hit the
+    extract button. Returns ``(ok, missing_names)``."""
+    missing: list[str] = []
+    for name in ("pdfplumber", "pypdfium2"):
+        try:
+            __import__(name)
+        except ImportError:
+            missing.append(name)
+    return (not missing), missing
+
+
 from src.pdf_templates import (
     SCHEMA_VERSION,
     VALID_TARGETS,
@@ -94,6 +109,19 @@ st.caption(
     "every statement that follows the same layout."
 )
 
+_pdf_ok, _pdf_missing = _pdf_deps_status()
+if not _pdf_ok:
+    st.error(
+        "**PDF dependencies are not installed.** "
+        f"Missing module(s): `{', '.join(_pdf_missing)}`.\n\n"
+        "Install them into the same Python that launches DataTools:\n\n"
+        "```\npip install pdfplumber pypdfium2 "
+        "streamlit-drawable-canvas pytesseract\n```\n\n"
+        "Then **fully restart the launcher** to pick up the new modules. "
+        "(Templates you've already saved are unaffected.)"
+    )
+    st.stop()
+
 _ocr_ok, _ocr_reason = ocr_available()
 c_mode, c_ocr = st.columns([3, 2])
 with c_mode:
diff --git a/src/pdf_extract.py b/src/pdf_extract.py
index 059b706..2d853eb 100644
--- a/src/pdf_extract.py
+++ b/src/pdf_extract.py
@@ -39,7 +39,44 @@ from datetime import datetime
 from typing import Any
 
 import pandas as pd
-import pdfplumber
+
+
+# Lazy imports for the heavy PDF deps so a fresh ``pip`` that hasn't
+# picked up the new ``requirements.txt`` lines yet doesn't crash the
+# module-import path. The GUI page surfaces a friendly install message
+# when these come back missing instead of throwing an ImportError
+# traceback over the whole tool. Pure helpers (parse_amount, parse_date,
+# cluster_rows, …) keep working with no PDF dep installed.
+
+
+class PdfDependencyMissing(ImportError):
+    """Raised when a runtime PDF dependency is missing.
+
+    Carries an actionable ``hint`` for the GUI to show to the user."""
+
+    def __init__(self, missing: str, hint: str = ""):
+        self.missing = missing
+        self.hint = hint or (
+            f"Install the PDF dependencies: ``pip install "
+            f"pdfplumber pypdfium2 streamlit-drawable-canvas pytesseract``"
+        )
+        super().__init__(f"{missing} is not installed. {self.hint}")
+
+
+def _require_pdfplumber():
+    try:
+        import pdfplumber  # noqa: PLC0415
+        return pdfplumber
+    except ImportError as e:
+        raise PdfDependencyMissing("pdfplumber") from e
+
+
+def _require_pdfium():
+    try:
+        import pypdfium2  # noqa: PLC0415
+        return pypdfium2
+    except ImportError as e:
+        raise PdfDependencyMissing("pypdfium2") from e
 
 
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -81,6 +118,7 @@ def extract_pages(pdf_bytes: bytes) -> list[Page]:
     groups them into rows by ``top`` clustering and into columns
     by template-defined x-boundaries.
     """
+    pdfplumber = _require_pdfplumber()
     out: list[Page] = []
     with pdfplumber.open(io.BytesIO(pdf_bytes)) as pdf:
         for i, page in enumerate(pdf.pages, start=1):
@@ -528,7 +566,7 @@ def render_page_image(
     sensible size for the visual picker — bank statements at 100%
     can be 800–1200 pts wide; we want ~900px on screen.
     """
-    import pypdfium2 as pdfium
+    pdfium = _require_pdfium()
 
     pdf = pdfium.PdfDocument(pdf_bytes)
     try:
@@ -554,9 +592,9 @@ def ocr_pdf_to_pages(pdf_bytes: bytes, dpi: int = 200) -> list[Page]:
     to recover per-word bounding boxes so the same column-assignment
     pipeline keeps working.
     """
-    import pypdfium2 as pdfium
-    import pytesseract
-    from PIL import Image  # noqa: F401  (transitively required)
+    pdfium = _require_pdfium()
+    import pytesseract  # noqa: PLC0415
+    from PIL import Image  # noqa: F401, PLC0415  (transitively required)
 
     pages: list[Page] = []
     pdf = pdfium.PdfDocument(pdf_bytes)