pdftk.1.txt

PDFTK(1)							      PDFTK(1)



NAME
       pdftk - A handy tool for manipulating PDF

SYNOPSIS
       pdftk <input PDF files | - | PROMPT>
	    [ input_pw <input PDF owner passwords | PROMPT> ]
	    [ <operation> <operation arguments> ]
	    [ output <output filename | - | PROMPT> ]
	    [ encrypt_40bit | encrypt_128bit ]
	    [ allow <permissions> ]
	    [ owner_pw <owner password | PROMPT> ]
	    [ user_pw <user password | PROMPT> ]
	    [ flatten ] [ need_appearances ]
	    [ compress | uncompress ]
	    [ keep_first_id | keep_final_id ] [ drop_xfa ] [ drop_xmp ]
	    [ verbose ] [ dont_ask | do_ask ]
       Where:
	    <operation> may be empty, or:
	    [ cat | shuffle | burst | rotate |
	      generate_fdf | fill_form |
	      background | multibackground |
	      stamp | multistamp |
	      dump_data | dump_data_utf8 |
	      dump_data_fields | dump_data_fields_utf8 |
	      dump_data_annots |
	      update_info | update_info_utf8 |
	      attach_files | unpack_files ]

       For Complete Help: pdftk --help

DESCRIPTION
       If PDF is electronic paper, then pdftk is an electronic staple-remover,
       hole-punch, binder, secret-decoder-ring, and X-Ray-glasses.  Pdftk is a
       simple tool for doing everyday things with PDF documents.  Use it to:

       * Merge PDF Documents or Collate PDF Page Scans
       * Split PDF Pages into a New Document
       * Rotate PDF Documents or Pages
       * Decrypt Input as Necessary (Password Required)
       * Encrypt Output as Desired
       * Fill PDF Forms with X/FDF Data and/or Flatten Forms
       * Generate FDF Data Stencils from PDF Forms
       * Apply a Background Watermark or a Foreground Stamp
       * Report PDF Metrics, Bookmarks and Metadata
       * Add/Update PDF Bookmarks or Metadata
       * Attach Files to PDF Pages or the PDF Document
       * Unpack PDF Attachments
       * Burst a PDF Document into Single Pages
       * Uncompress and Re-Compress Page Streams
       * Repair Corrupted PDF (Where Possible)

OPTIONS
       A summary of options is included below.

       --help, -h
	      Show this summary of options.

       <input PDF files | - | PROMPT>
	      A list of the input PDF files. If you plan to combine these PDFs
	      (without using handles) then list files in the order you want
	      them combined.  Use - to pass a single PDF into pdftk via stdin.
	      Input files can be associated with handles, where a handle is
	      one or more upper-case letters:

	      <input PDF handle>=<input PDF filename>

	      Handles are often omitted.  They are useful when specifying PDF
	      passwords or page ranges, later.

	      For example: A=input1.pdf QT=input2.pdf M=input3.pdf

       [input_pw <input PDF owner passwords | PROMPT>]
	      Input PDF owner passwords, if necessary, are associated with
	      files by using their handles:

	      <input PDF handle>=<input PDF file owner password>

	      If handles are not given, then passwords are associated with
	      input files by order.

	      Most pdftk features require that encrypted input PDF are accom-
	      panied by the ~owner~ password. If the input PDF has no owner
	      password, then the user password must be given, instead.	If the
	      input PDF has no passwords, then no password should be given.

	      When running in do_ask mode, pdftk will prompt you for a pass-
	      word if the supplied password is incorrect or none was given.

       [<operation> <operation arguments>]
	      Available operations are: cat, shuffle, burst, rotate, gener-
	      ate_fdf, fill_form, background, multibackground, stamp, multi-
	      stamp, dump_data, dump_data_utf8, dump_data_fields,
	      dump_data_fields_utf8, dump_data_annots, update_info,
	      update_info_utf8, attach_files, unpack_files. Some operations
	      takes additional arguments, described below.

	      If this optional argument is omitted, then pdftk runs in 'fil-
	      ter' mode.  Filter mode takes only one PDF input and creates a
	      new PDF after applying all of the output options, like encryp-
	      tion and compression.

	  cat [<page ranges>]
		 Assembles (catenates) pages from input PDFs to create a new
		 PDF. Use cat to merge PDF pages or to split PDF pages from
		 documents. You can also use it to rotate PDF pages. Page
		 order in the new PDF is specified by the order of the given
		 page ranges. Page ranges are described like this:

		 <input PDF handle>[<begin page number>[-<end page num-
		 ber>[<qualifier>]]][<page rotation>]

		 Where the handle identifies one of the input PDF files, and
		 the beginning and ending page numbers are one-based refer-
		 ences to pages in the PDF file.  The qualifier can be even or
		 odd, and the page rotation can be north, south, east, west,
		 left, right, or down.

		 If a PDF handle is given but no pages are specified, then the
		 entire PDF is used. If no pages are specified for any of the
		 input PDFs, then the input PDFs' bookmarks are also merged
		 and included in the output.

		 If the handle is omitted from the page range, then the pages
		 are taken from the first input PDF.

		 The even qualifier causes pdftk to use only the even-numbered
		 PDF pages, so 1-6even yields pages 2, 4 and 6 in that order.
		 6-1even yields pages 6, 4 and 2 in that order.

		 The odd qualifier works similarly to the even.

		 The page rotation setting can cause pdftk to rotate pages and
		 documents.  Each option sets the page rotation as follows (in
		 degrees): north: 0, east: 90, south: 180, west: 270, left:
		 -90, right: +90, down: +180. left, right, and down make rela-
		 tive adjustments to a page's rotation.

		 If no arguments are passed to cat, then pdftk combines all
		 input PDFs in the order they were given to create the output.

		 NOTES:
		 * <end page number> may be less than <begin page number>.
		 * The keyword end may be used to reference the final page of
		 a document instead of a page number.
		 * Reference a single page by omitting the ending page number.
		 * The handle may be used alone to represent the entire PDF
		 document, e.g., B1-end is the same as B.
		 * You can reference page numbers in reverse order by prefix-
		 ing them with the letter r. For example, page r1 is the last
		 page of the document, r2 is the next-to-last page of the doc-
		 ument, and rend is the first page of the document. You can
		 use this prefix in ranges, too, for example r3-r1 is the last
		 three pages of a PDF.

		 Page Range Examples without Handles:
		 1-endeast - rotate entire document 90 degrees
		 5 11 20 - take single pages from input PDF
		 5-25oddwest - take odd pages in range, rotate 90 degrees
		 6-1 - reverse pages in range from input PDF

		 Page Range Examples Using Handles:
		 Say A=in1.pdf B=in2.pdf, then:
		 A1-21 - take range from in1.pdf
		 Bend-1odd - take all odd pages from in2.pdf in reverse order
		 A72 - take a single page from in1.pdf
		 A1-21 Beven A72 - assemble pages from both in1.pdf and
		 in2.pdf
		 Awest - rotate entire in1.pdf document 90 degrees
		 B - use all of in2.pdf
		 A2-30evenleft - take the even pages from the range, remove 90
		 degrees from each page's rotation
		 A A - catenate in1.pdf with in1.pdf
		 Aevenwest Aoddeast - apply rotations to even pages, odd pages
		 from in1.pdf
		 Awest Bwest Bdown - catenate rotated documents

	  shuffle [<page ranges>]
		 Collates pages from input PDFs to create a new PDF.  Works
		 like the cat operation except that it takes one page at a
		 time from each page range to assemble the output PDF.	If one
		 range runs out of pages, it continues with the remaining
		 ranges.  Ranges can use all of the features described above
		 for cat, like reverse page ranges, multiple ranges from a
		 single PDF, and page rotation.  This feature was designed to
		 help collate PDF pages after scanning paper documents.

	  burst  Splits a single input PDF document into individual pages.
		 Also creates a report named doc_data.txt which is the same as
		 the output from dump_data.  If the output section is omitted,
		 then PDF pages are named: pg_%04d.pdf, e.g.: pg_0001.pdf,
		 pg_0002.pdf, etc.  To name these pages yourself, supply a
		 printf-styled format string via the output section.  For
		 example, if you want pages named: page_01.pdf, page_02.pdf,
		 etc., pass output page_%02d.pdf to pdftk.  Encryption can be
		 applied to the output by appending output options such as
		 owner_pw, e.g.:

		 pdftk in.pdf burst owner_pw foopass

	  rotate [<page ranges>]
		 Takes a single input PDF and rotates just the specified
		 pages.  All other pages remain unchanged.  The page order
		 remains unchaged.  Specify the pages to rotate using the same
		 notation as you would with cat, except you omit the pages
		 that you aren't rotating:

		 [<begin page number>[-<end page number>[<qualifier>]]][<page
		 rotation>]

		 The qualifier can be even or odd, and the page rotation can
		 be north, south, east, west, left, right, or down.

		 Each option sets the page rotation as follows (in degrees):
		 north: 0, east: 90, south: 180, west: 270, left: -90, right:
		 +90, down: +180. left, right, and down make relative adjust-
		 ments to a page's rotation.

		 The given order of the pages doesn't change the page order in
		 the output.

	  generate_fdf
		 Reads a single input PDF file and generates an FDF file suit-
		 able for fill_form out of it to the given output filename or
		 (if no output is given) to stdout.  Does not create a new
		 PDF.

	  fill_form <FDF data filename | XFDF data filename | - | PROMPT>
		 Fills the single input PDF's form fields with the data from
		 an FDF file, XFDF file or stdin. Enter the data filename
		 after fill_form, or use - to pass the data via stdin, like
		 so:

		 pdftk form.pdf fill_form data.fdf output form.filled.pdf

		 If the input FDF file includes Rich Text formatted data in
		 addition to plain text, then the Rich Text data is packed
		 into the form fields as well as the plain text.  Pdftk also
		 sets a flag that cues Reader/Acrobat to generate new field
		 appearances based on the Rich Text data.  So when the user
		 opens the PDF, the viewer will create the Rich Text appear-
		 ance on the spot.  If the user's PDF viewer does not support
		 Rich Text, then the user will see the plain text data
		 instead.  If you flatten this form before Acrobat has a
		 chance to create (and save) new field appearances, then the
		 plain text field data is what you'll see.

		 Also see the flatten and need_appearances options.

	  background <background PDF filename | - | PROMPT>
		 Applies a PDF watermark to the background of a single input
		 PDF.  Pass the background PDF's filename after background
		 like so:

		 pdftk in.pdf background back.pdf output out.pdf

		 Pdftk uses only the first page from the background PDF and
		 applies it to every page of the input PDF.  This page is
		 scaled and rotated as needed to fit the input page.  You can
		 use - to pass a background PDF into pdftk via stdin.

		 If the input PDF does not have a transparent background (such
		 as a PDF created from page scans) then the resulting back-
		 ground won't be visible -- use the stamp operation instead.

	  multibackground <background PDF filename | - | PROMPT>
		 Same as the background operation, but applies each page of
		 the background PDF to the corresponding page of the input
		 PDF.  If the input PDF has more pages than the stamp PDF,
		 then the final stamp page is repeated across these remaining
		 pages in the input PDF.

	  stamp <stamp PDF filename | - | PROMPT>
		 This behaves just like the background operation except it
		 overlays the stamp PDF page on top of the input PDF docu-
		 ment's pages.	This works best if the stamp PDF page has a
		 transparent background.

	  multistamp <stamp PDF filename | - | PROMPT>
		 Same as the stamp operation, but applies each page of the
		 background PDF to the corresponding page of the input PDF.
		 If the input PDF has more pages than the stamp PDF, then the
		 final stamp page is repeated across these remaining pages in
		 the input PDF.

	  dump_data
		 Reads a single input PDF file and reports its metadata, book-
		 marks (a/k/a outlines), page metrics (media, rotation and
		 labels), data embedded by STAMPtk (see STAMPtk's embed
		 option) and other data to the given output filename or (if no
		 output is given) to stdout.  Non-ASCII characters are encoded
		 as XML numerical entities.  Does not create a new PDF.

	  dump_data_utf8
		 Same as dump_data excepct that the output is encoded as
		 UTF-8.

	  dump_data_fields
		 Reads a single input PDF file and reports form field statis-
		 tics to the given output filename or (if no output is given)
		 to stdout. Non-ASCII characters are encoded as XML numerical
		 entities. Does not create a new PDF.

	  dump_data_fields_utf8
		 Same as dump_data_fields excepct that the output is encoded
		 as UTF-8.

	  dump_data_annots
		 This operation currently reports only link annotations.
		 Reads a single input PDF file and reports annotation informa-
		 tion to the given output filename or (if no output is given)
		 to stdout. Non-ASCII characters are encoded as XML numerical
		 entities. Does not create a new PDF.

	  update_info <info data filename | - | PROMPT>
		 Changes the bookmarks and metadata in a single PDF's Info
		 dictionary to match the input data file. The input data file
		 uses the same syntax as the output from dump_data. Non-ASCII
		 characters should be encoded as XML numerical entities.

		 This operation does not change the metadata stored in the
		 PDF's XMP stream, if it has one. (For this reason you should
		 include a ModDate entry in your updated info with a current
		 date/timestamp, format: D:YYYYMMDDHHmmSS, e.g. D:201307241346
		 -- omitted data after YYYY revert to default values.)

		 For example:

		 pdftk in.pdf update_info in.info output out.pdf

	  update_info_utf8 <info data filename | - | PROMPT>
		 Same as update_info except that the input is encoded as
		 UTF-8.

	  attach_files <attachment filenames | PROMPT> [to_page <page number |
	  PROMPT>]
		 Packs arbitrary files into a PDF using PDF's file attachment
		 features. More than one attachment may be listed after
		 attach_files. Attachments are added at the document level
		 unless the optional to_page option is given, in which case
		 the files are attached to the given page number (the first
		 page is 1, the final page is end). For example:

		 pdftk in.pdf attach_files table1.html table2.html to_page 6
		 output out.pdf

	  unpack_files
		 Copies all of the attachments from the input PDF into the
		 current folder or to an output directory given after output.
		 For example:

		 pdftk report.pdf unpack_files output ~/atts/

		 or, interactively:

		 pdftk report.pdf unpack_files output PROMPT

       [output <output filename | - | PROMPT>]
	      The output PDF filename may not be set to the name of an input
	      filename. Use - to output to stdout.  When using the dump_data
	      operation, use output to set the name of the output data file.
	      When using the unpack_files operation, use output to set the
	      name of an output directory.  When using the burst operation,
	      you can use output to control the resulting PDF page filenames
	      (described above).

       [encrypt_40bit | encrypt_128bit]
	      If an output PDF user or owner password is given, output PDF
	      encryption strength defaults to 128 bits.  This can be overrid-
	      den by specifying encrypt_40bit.

       [allow <permissions>]
	      Permissions are applied to the output PDF only if an encryption
	      strength is specified or an owner or user password is given.  If
	      permissions are not specified, they default to 'none,' which
	      means all of the following features are disabled.

	      The permissions section may include one or more of the following
	      features:

	      Printing
		     Top Quality Printing

	      DegradedPrinting
		     Lower Quality Printing

	      ModifyContents
		     Also allows Assembly

	      Assembly

	      CopyContents
		     Also allows ScreenReaders

	      ScreenReaders

	      ModifyAnnotations
		     Also allows FillIn

	      FillIn

	      AllFeatures
		     Allows the user to perform all of the above, and top
		     quality printing.

       [owner_pw <owner password | PROMPT>]

       [user_pw <user password | PROMPT>]
	      If an encryption strength is given but no passwords are sup-
	      plied, then the owner and user passwords remain empty, which
	      means that the resulting PDF may be opened and its security
	      parameters altered by anybody.

       [compress | uncompress]
	      These are only useful when you want to edit PDF code in a text
	      editor like vim or emacs.  Remove PDF page stream compression by
	      applying the uncompress filter. Use the compress filter to
	      restore compression.

       [flatten]
	      Use this option to merge an input PDF's interactive form fields
	      (and their data) with the PDF's pages. Only one input PDF may be
	      given. Sometimes used with the fill_form operation.

       [need_appearances]
	      Sets a flag that cues Reader/Acrobat to generate new field
	      appearances based on the form field values.  Use this when fill-
	      ing a form with non-ASCII text to ensure the best presentation
	      in Adobe Reader or Acrobat.  It won't work when combined with
	      the flatten option.

       [keep_first_id | keep_final_id]
	      When combining pages from multiple PDFs, use one of these
	      options to copy the document ID from either the first or final
	      input document into the new output PDF. Otherwise pdftk creates
	      a new document ID for the output PDF. When no operation is
	      given, pdftk always uses the ID from the (single) input PDF.

       [drop_xfa]
	      If your input PDF is a form created using Acrobat 7 or Adobe
	      Designer, then it probably has XFA data.	Filling such a form
	      using pdftk yields a PDF with data that fails to display in
	      Acrobat 7 (and 6?).  The workaround solution is to remove the
	      form's XFA data, either before you fill the form using pdftk or
	      at the time you fill the form. Using this option causes pdftk to
	      omit the XFA data from the output PDF form.

	      This option is only useful when running pdftk on a single input
	      PDF.  When assembling a PDF from multiple inputs using pdftk,
	      any XFA data in the input is automatically omitted.

       [drop_xmp]
	      Many PDFs store document metadata using both an Info dictionary
	      (old school) and an XMP stream (new school).  Pdftk's
	      update_info operation can update the Info dictionary, but not
	      the XMP stream.  The proper remedy for this is to include a
	      ModDate entry in your updated info with a current date/time-
	      stamp. The date/timestamp format is: D:YYYYMMDDHHmmSS, e.g.
	      D:201307241346 -- omitted data after YYYY revert to default val-
	      ues. This newer ModDate should cue PDF viewers that the Info
	      metadata is more current than the XMP data.

	      Alternatively, you might prefer to remove the XMP stream from
	      the PDF altogether -- that's what this option does.  Note that
	      objects inside the PDF might have their own, separate XMP meta-
	      data streams, and that drop_xmp does not remove those.  It only
	      removes the PDF's document-level XMP stream.

       [verbose]
	      By default, pdftk runs quietly. Append verbose to the end and it
	      will speak up.

       [dont_ask | do_ask]
	      Depending on the compile-time settings (see ASK_ABOUT_WARNINGS),
	      pdftk might prompt you for further input when it encounters a
	      problem, such as a bad password. Override this default behavior
	      by adding dont_ask (so pdftk won't ask you what to do) or do_ask
	      (so pdftk will ask you what to do).

	      When running in dont_ask mode, pdftk will over-write files with
	      its output without notice.

EXAMPLES
       Collate scanned pages
	 pdftk A=even.pdf B=odd.pdf shuffle A B output collated.pdf
	 or if odd.pdf is in reverse order:
	 pdftk A=even.pdf B=odd.pdf shuffle A Bend-1 output collated.pdf

       Decrypt a PDF
	 pdftk secured.pdf input_pw foopass output unsecured.pdf

       Encrypt a PDF using 128-bit strength (the default), withhold all per-
       missions (the default)
	 pdftk 1.pdf output 1.128.pdf owner_pw foopass

       Same as above, except password 'baz' must also be used to open output
       PDF
	 pdftk 1.pdf output 1.128.pdf owner_pw foo user_pw baz

       Same as above, except printing is allowed (once the PDF is open)
	 pdftk 1.pdf output 1.128.pdf owner_pw foo user_pw baz allow printing

       Join in1.pdf and in2.pdf into a new PDF, out1.pdf
	 pdftk in1.pdf in2.pdf cat output out1.pdf
	 or (using handles):
	 pdftk A=in1.pdf B=in2.pdf cat A B output out1.pdf
	 or (using wildcards):
	 pdftk *.pdf cat output combined.pdf

       Remove page 13 from in1.pdf to create out1.pdf
	 pdftk in.pdf cat 1-12 14-end output out1.pdf
	 or:
	 pdftk A=in1.pdf cat A1-12 A14-end output out1.pdf

       Apply 40-bit encryption to output, revoking all permissions (the
       default). Set the owner PW to 'foopass'.
	 pdftk 1.pdf 2.pdf cat output 3.pdf encrypt_40bit owner_pw foopass

       Join two files, one of which requires the password 'foopass'. The out-
       put is not encrypted.
	 pdftk A=secured.pdf 2.pdf input_pw A=foopass cat output 3.pdf

       Uncompress PDF page streams for editing the PDF in a text editor (e.g.,
       vim, emacs)
	 pdftk doc.pdf output doc.unc.pdf uncompress

       Repair a PDF's corrupted XREF table and stream lengths, if possible
	 pdftk broken.pdf output fixed.pdf

       Burst a single PDF document into pages and dump its data to
       doc_data.txt
	 pdftk in.pdf burst

       Burst a single PDF document into encrypted pages. Allow low-quality
       printing
	 pdftk in.pdf burst owner_pw foopass allow DegradedPrinting

       Write a report on PDF document metadata and bookmarks to report.txt
	 pdftk in.pdf dump_data output report.txt

       Rotate the first PDF page to 90 degrees clockwise
	 pdftk in.pdf cat 1east 2-end output out.pdf

       Rotate an entire PDF document to 180 degrees
	 pdftk in.pdf cat 1-endsouth output out.pdf

NOTES
       The pdftk home page permalink is:
       http://www.pdflabs.com/tools/pdftk-the-pdf-toolkit/
       The easy-to-remember shortcut is: www.pdftk.com

AUTHOR
       Sid Steward (sid.steward at pdflabs dot com) maintains pdftk.  Please
       email him with questions or bug reports.  Include pdftk in the subject
       line to ensure successful delivery.  Thank you.



				 July 24, 2013			      PDFTK(1)