diff --git a/build/datatools.spec b/build/datatools.spec
index 5b3212c..b5d3268 100644
--- a/build/datatools.spec
+++ b/build/datatools.spec
@@ -58,6 +58,18 @@ hidden_imports += collect_submodules("charset_normalizer")
 hidden_imports += collect_submodules("openpyxl")
 hidden_imports += collect_submodules("loguru")
 
+# PDF Extractor stack. ``streamlit_drawable_canvas`` and
+# ``pypdfium2`` both have their own PyInstaller hooks under
+# ``build/hooks/`` that pull in the native binary + frontend
+# assets — keep the ``collect_submodules`` calls here for
+# belt-and-braces.
+hidden_imports += collect_submodules("pdfplumber")
+hidden_imports += collect_submodules("pdfminer")
+hidden_imports += collect_submodules("pypdfium2")
+hidden_imports += collect_submodules("streamlit_drawable_canvas")
+hidden_imports += collect_submodules("PIL")
+hidden_imports += collect_submodules("pytesseract")
+
 # Our own engine + GUI modules. Even though we import them directly
 # at the top of ``launcher.py`` / ``app.py``, the Streamlit
 # session-state and per-page page discovery layers re-import via
@@ -77,6 +89,17 @@ datas += collect_data_files("streamlit", include_py_files=False)
 # phonenumbers ships its country/area-code metadata as resources.
 datas += collect_data_files("phonenumbers", include_py_files=False)
 
+# PDF Extractor data files. ``pypdfium2`` ships a native PDFium
+# shared library (``.dll`` / ``.so`` / ``.dylib``) under its package
+# dir; ``streamlit-drawable-canvas`` ships a built JS bundle that
+# Streamlit serves from the package dir at runtime; pdfminer ships
+# the Adobe CMap tables it uses for character mapping. Hooks
+# under ``build/hooks/`` mirror these calls for explicit
+# documentation and survive ``collect_data_files`` regressions.
+datas += collect_data_files("pypdfium2", include_py_files=False)
+datas += collect_data_files("streamlit_drawable_canvas")
+datas += collect_data_files("pdfminer", include_py_files=False)
+
 # Our application files. PyInstaller's bundler treats source as code
 # (.pyc) by default; we add it again as data so the launcher's
 # ``Path(sys._MEIPASS) / "src" / "gui" / "app.py"`` resolution works.
diff --git a/build/hooks/hook-pypdfium2.py b/build/hooks/hook-pypdfium2.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c62b427
--- /dev/null
+++ b/build/hooks/hook-pypdfium2.py
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+"""PyInstaller hook for pypdfium2.
+
+``pypdfium2`` ships the native PDFium shared library as a data file
+inside its package directory (``pdfium``-prefixed ``.dll`` on
+Windows, ``.so`` on Linux, ``.dylib`` on macOS). PyInstaller's
+default discovery picks up Python ``.py``/``.pyc`` but can miss
+the binary if the package is wheel-installed and the shared lib
+isn't on the ``__init__``'s module-level path it scans.
+
+This hook is belt-and-braces — the main spec already calls
+``collect_data_files("pypdfium2")`` and ``collect_submodules``,
+but PyInstaller's hook-discovery-by-name is the documented
+escape hatch for native-bundled libraries. Without this, the
+visual picker (which renders PDF pages via
+``pypdfium2.PdfDocument(...).render(...)``) silently fails on
+installed builds with a ``FileNotFoundError`` for the PDFium
+shared library.
+"""
+
+from PyInstaller.utils.hooks import (
+    collect_all,
+    collect_data_files,
+    collect_dynamic_libs,
+)
+
+datas, binaries, hiddenimports = collect_all("pypdfium2")
+# Make absolutely sure the bundled PDFium .dll/.so/.dylib is
+# carried over — PyInstaller treats it as a dynamic lib, not data.
+binaries += collect_dynamic_libs("pypdfium2")
+# And its raw data files (the type stubs + metadata file).
+datas += collect_data_files("pypdfium2", include_py_files=False)
diff --git a/build/hooks/hook-streamlit_drawable_canvas.py b/build/hooks/hook-streamlit_drawable_canvas.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..17483ab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/build/hooks/hook-streamlit_drawable_canvas.py
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+"""PyInstaller hook for streamlit-drawable-canvas.
+
+Streamlit components are Python packages that also ship a built
+JavaScript/CSS bundle Streamlit serves from disk at component-
+render time. Without those assets in the bundle the canvas
+iframe loads blank — the user sees the page render fine but the
+visual picker shows no image and no drawing controls.
+
+``collect_data_files`` covers the frontend bundle directory
+(named ``frontend`` or ``frontend/build`` depending on the
+component version). Hidden imports are picked up by the main
+spec's ``collect_submodules`` call, repeated here for the same
+belt-and-braces reason as ``hook-pypdfium2.py``.
+"""
+
+from PyInstaller.utils.hooks import collect_data_files, collect_submodules
+
+datas = collect_data_files("streamlit_drawable_canvas")
+hiddenimports = collect_submodules("streamlit_drawable_canvas")
diff --git a/requirements-dev.txt b/requirements-dev.txt
index 173e3b3..84ec15d 100644
--- a/requirements-dev.txt
+++ b/requirements-dev.txt
@@ -1,2 +1,6 @@
 pytest>=8.0,<9
 pytest-cov>=5.0,<6
+# Test-only: generate small fixture PDFs in
+# tests/test_pdf_extract_smoke.py so we can exercise pdfplumber +
+# pypdfium2 end-to-end without committing binary fixtures.
+fpdf2==2.8.7
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 59557d4..226b13d 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -8,8 +8,12 @@ tqdm>=4.66,<5
 typer>=0.12,<1
 phonenumbers>=8.13,<9
 streamlit>=1.35,<2
-streamlit-drawable-canvas>=0.9,<1
 cryptography>=41,<49
-pdfplumber>=0.10,<1
-pypdfium2>=4,<6
-pytesseract>=0.3,<1
+# PDF Extractor stack — pinned to exact tested versions so a future
+# upstream release can't change the visual picker's coordinate model
+# or pdfplumber's word-position behavior mid-build. Bump these
+# explicitly when re-testing against a new release.
+pdfplumber==0.11.9
+pypdfium2==5.8.0
+pytesseract==0.3.13
+streamlit-drawable-canvas==0.9.3
diff --git a/tests/test_pdf_extract_smoke.py b/tests/test_pdf_extract_smoke.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5b3fe15
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_pdf_extract_smoke.py
@@ -0,0 +1,315 @@
+"""End-to-end smoke tests for the PDF extraction stack.
+
+These tests run real ``pdfplumber`` + ``pypdfium2`` calls against
+a small PDF generated in-memory with ``fpdf2``. They exist to
+catch the failure mode the user hit on first install — a missing
+or mismatched native dependency that doesn't show up until the
+extractor actually tries to open a PDF.
+
+Per ``project-pdf-extractor`` memory: ``test_pdf_extract.py``
+covers the parsing logic on synthetic ``WordBox`` data with no
+PDF dep involved. This file is the layer above: it confirms the
+deps themselves work, that hooks bundled them correctly (the
+versions pinned in ``requirements.txt`` matter here), and that
+the extractor's pipeline survives a round-trip through real
+``pdfplumber.extract_words`` and real ``pypdfium2.render``.
+
+Generation note: ``fpdf2`` is a test-only dep listed in
+``requirements-dev.txt``. We don't ship it.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import io
+
+import pytest
+
+
+def _build_tiny_statement_pdf() -> bytes:
+    """Render a one-page PDF that looks roughly like the simplest
+    possible bank statement: a header line + three transaction
+    rows + a closing-balance footer. Word positions are stable
+    enough that the parser can identify columns by x-position."""
+    from fpdf import FPDF
+
+    pdf = FPDF(orientation="P", unit="pt", format="letter")
+    pdf.add_page()
+    pdf.set_font("Helvetica", size=12)
+    # Header
+    pdf.set_xy(40, 50)
+    pdf.cell(0, 14, "ACME BANK STATEMENT", new_x="LMARGIN", new_y="NEXT")
+    # Transaction-table header row
+    pdf.set_xy(40, 100)
+    pdf.cell(120, 14, "Date")
+    pdf.set_xy(160, 100)
+    pdf.cell(200, 14, "Description")
+    pdf.set_xy(360, 100)
+    pdf.cell(80, 14, "Amount")
+    # Three rows
+    rows = [
+        ("01/15/2026", "Coffee Shop",   "(4.50)"),
+        ("01/16/2026", "Refund Vendor", "$12.00"),
+        ("01/17/2026", "ATM Withdrawal","(40.00)"),
+    ]
+    y = 130
+    for date, desc, amt in rows:
+        pdf.set_xy(40, y)
+        pdf.cell(120, 14, date)
+        pdf.set_xy(160, y)
+        pdf.cell(200, 14, desc)
+        pdf.set_xy(360, y)
+        pdf.cell(80, 14, amt)
+        y += 20
+    # Closing-balance footer
+    pdf.set_xy(40, y + 20)
+    pdf.cell(0, 14, "Closing balance: $1,000.00")
+    return bytes(pdf.output())
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Dependency import smoke
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+class TestDependencyImports:
+    """Each runtime PDF dep must be importable.
+
+    These tests will fail fast on a stripped/broken install — most
+    valuable as a CI gate when the requirements.txt pins are
+    bumped, so we know the new pin still installs cleanly across
+    the matrix."""
+
+    def test_pdfplumber(self):
+        import pdfplumber  # noqa: F401
+
+    def test_pypdfium2(self):
+        import pypdfium2  # noqa: F401
+
+    def test_streamlit_drawable_canvas(self):
+        # Don't instantiate the canvas — that needs a Streamlit
+        # script-run context. Just confirm the module loads.
+        import streamlit_drawable_canvas  # noqa: F401
+
+    def test_pytesseract(self):
+        # The Python binding must import even when the Tesseract
+        # binary isn't installed — the OCR availability check
+        # handles binary absence separately.
+        import pytesseract  # noqa: F401
+
+    def test_PIL(self):
+        # Transitively required by pdfplumber + pypdfium2 + canvas.
+        # Pinning explicit confirms hooks pull it through.
+        from PIL import Image  # noqa: F401
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Real-PDF round-trip
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+class TestRealPdfRoundTrip:
+    """``extract_pages`` + ``apply_template`` against a real PDF."""
+
+    @pytest.fixture
+    def pdf_bytes(self) -> bytes:
+        return _build_tiny_statement_pdf()
+
+    def test_extract_pages_returns_words(self, pdf_bytes):
+        from src.pdf_extract import extract_pages
+        pages = extract_pages(pdf_bytes)
+        assert len(pages) == 1
+        assert pages[0].width > 0 and pages[0].height > 0
+        # At minimum we should have the words from the header and
+        # one transaction row — proves pdfplumber wired up.
+        all_text = " ".join(w.text for w in pages[0].words)
+        assert "ACME" in all_text
+        assert "Coffee" in all_text
+        assert "01/15/2026" in all_text
+
+    def test_apply_template_extracts_three_rows(self, pdf_bytes):
+        from src.pdf_extract import apply_template, extract_pages
+        # The template's column boundaries are tuned to fpdf2's
+        # x-coordinates above (40 / 160 / 360 pt).
+        tpl = {
+            "pages": {"range": "all"},
+            "table": {
+                "header_text": "Date Description Amount",
+                "end_markers": ["Closing balance"],
+                "column_boundaries": [150, 350],
+                "y_tolerance": 3.0,
+            },
+            "columns": [
+                {"source": 0, "target": "date"},
+                {"source": 1, "target": "description"},
+                {"source": 2, "target": "amount"},
+            ],
+            "parse": {
+                "date_format": "%m/%d/%Y",
+                "amount_negative_in_parens": True,
+                "merge_multiline_description": True,
+            },
+        }
+        pages = extract_pages(pdf_bytes)
+        df = apply_template(pages, tpl)
+        assert len(df) == 3, f"expected 3 rows, got {len(df)}:\n{df}"
+        assert list(df["date"]) == [
+            "2026-01-15", "2026-01-16", "2026-01-17",
+        ]
+        # Parens-negative + currency-positive both round-trip
+        assert df.iloc[0]["amount"] == -4.50
+        assert df.iloc[1]["amount"] == 12.00
+        assert df.iloc[2]["amount"] == -40.00
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# pypdfium2 rendering (powers the visual picker)
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+class TestRenderPageImage:
+    """``render_page_image`` is what feeds the drawable canvas.
+
+    Catches the most common installer-bug: native PDFium .dll/.so
+    missing from the bundle. If this test crashes with a
+    ``FileNotFoundError`` it almost always means the
+    ``hook-pypdfium2.py`` didn't pick up the shared lib."""
+
+    def test_renders_a_real_pil_image(self):
+        from src.pdf_extract import render_page_image
+        pdf_bytes = _build_tiny_statement_pdf()
+        image, scale = render_page_image(pdf_bytes, page_no=1)
+        # Letter-size at scale ≈ 900/612 ≈ 1.47 → ~900px wide.
+        assert image.width > 800
+        assert image.height > 800
+        assert scale > 0
+        # PIL Image is duck-typed; check the attrs we depend on.
+        assert hasattr(image, "save")
+        assert hasattr(image, "tobytes")
+
+    def test_invalid_page_number_clamps(self):
+        from src.pdf_extract import render_page_image
+        pdf_bytes = _build_tiny_statement_pdf()
+        # PDF has 1 page; page_no=99 should clamp, not raise.
+        image, scale = render_page_image(pdf_bytes, page_no=99)
+        assert image.width > 0
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Graceful-fallback behavior
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+class TestPdfDependencyMissing:
+    """The page should see a clean exception when a dep is absent,
+    not a raw ``ImportError`` that leaks into the Streamlit traceback."""
+
+    def test_require_pdfplumber_raises_typed_on_absence(self, monkeypatch):
+        from src import pdf_extract
+        # Simulate "pdfplumber not installed" without uninstalling.
+        # ``_require_pdfplumber`` does its own ``import pdfplumber``
+        # at call time; patch ``__import__`` to throw for that one
+        # name only.
+        import builtins
+        real_import = builtins.__import__
+
+        def fake_import(name, *a, **kw):
+            if name == "pdfplumber":
+                raise ImportError("simulated absent dep")
+            return real_import(name, *a, **kw)
+
+        monkeypatch.setattr(builtins, "__import__", fake_import)
+        with pytest.raises(pdf_extract.PdfDependencyMissing) as exc_info:
+            pdf_extract._require_pdfplumber()
+        assert "pdfplumber" in str(exc_info.value)
+        assert exc_info.value.hint  # actionable hint must be populated
+
+    def test_require_pdfium_raises_typed_on_absence(self, monkeypatch):
+        from src import pdf_extract
+        import builtins
+        real_import = builtins.__import__
+
+        def fake_import(name, *a, **kw):
+            if name == "pypdfium2":
+                raise ImportError("simulated absent dep")
+            return real_import(name, *a, **kw)
+
+        monkeypatch.setattr(builtins, "__import__", fake_import)
+        with pytest.raises(pdf_extract.PdfDependencyMissing):
+            pdf_extract._require_pdfium()
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Requirements-pin consistency
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+class TestPinnedVersionsMatchInstalled:
+    """If someone bumps the pin in ``requirements.txt`` without
+    actually reinstalling, this test points it out before CI does.
+
+    Uses ``importlib.metadata`` rather than each library's
+    ``__version__`` attribute because not every PDF dep exposes
+    one (``pypdfium2`` keeps version info on a submodule)."""
+
+    def _parse_pins(self) -> dict[str, str]:
+        from pathlib import Path
+        text = (
+            Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent / "requirements.txt"
+        ).read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+        pins: dict[str, str] = {}
+        for line in text.splitlines():
+            line = line.strip()
+            if not line or line.startswith("#"):
+                continue
+            if "==" in line:
+                name, _, version = line.partition("==")
+                pins[name.strip()] = version.strip()
+        return pins
+
+    def _installed(self, dist_name: str) -> str:
+        import importlib.metadata as md
+        return md.version(dist_name)
+
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize("dist_name", [
+        "pdfplumber",
+        "pypdfium2",
+        "pytesseract",
+        "streamlit-drawable-canvas",
+    ])
+    def test_pin_matches_installed(self, dist_name):
+        pins = self._parse_pins()
+        if dist_name not in pins:
+            pytest.skip(f"{dist_name} not exact-pinned in requirements.txt")
+        installed = self._installed(dist_name)
+        assert installed == pins[dist_name], (
+            f"installed {dist_name}=={installed} but requirements.txt "
+            f"pins {pins[dist_name]} — bump the pin, or reinstall."
+        )
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# OCR availability runtime probe
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+class TestOcrAvailability:
+    """``ocr_available`` is the linchpin of the UI's OCR banner.
+    Returns ``(bool, str)`` — both branches must round-trip."""
+
+    def test_returns_a_tuple(self):
+        from src.pdf_extract import ocr_available
+        result = ocr_available()
+        assert isinstance(result, tuple)
+        assert len(result) == 2
+        ok, reason = result
+        assert isinstance(ok, bool)
+        assert isinstance(reason, str)
+
+    def test_extract_pages_auto_skips_ocr_when_disabled(self):
+        from src.pdf_extract import extract_pages_auto
+        # With allow_ocr=False, no OCR even if pages are blank.
+        pdf_bytes = _build_tiny_statement_pdf()
+        pages, warnings = extract_pages_auto(pdf_bytes, allow_ocr=False)
+        assert len(pages) == 1
+        # No OCR-disabled warning on a text PDF, since pages have text.
+        assert not any("OCR is disabled" in w for w in warnings)