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PDFTK Examples

pdftk server examples

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3K views

PDFTK Examples

pdftk server examples

Uploaded by

Karls
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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PDFtk Server Examples https://www.pdflabs.

com/docs/pdftk-cli-examples/

PDF Labs

PDFtk Server Examples


These examples show you how to perform common PDF tasks from the command-line using
pdftk.

Looking for a friendly Windows GUI?


Try our PDFtk Free!

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 permissions (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

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PDFtk Server Examples https://www.pdflabs.com/docs/pdftk-cli-examples/

When using the Windows command-prompt, it helps to use drag-and-drop from the file
manager: drag the input PDF file from the file manager onto the command-prompt, and
its full pathname will appear at the prompt.

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 output 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
Article Author: Sid Steward

Notes
Pdftk is a command-line program, so you should use your computer terminal or command
prompt when first testing these examples.

About PDF Labs


Our mission is to make PDF easier to use.
PDF Labs is operated by Sid Steward, author of PDF Hacks (O’Reilly) and the popular
PDF Toolkit.
Please contact Sid Steward by email. Include PDF Labs in the subject to ensure prompt
delivery:

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PDFtk Server Examples https://www.pdflabs.com/docs/pdftk-cli-examples/

[email protected]

About PDF Hacks

"If you like pdftk, then you’ll appreciate the other 25 programs and scripts I created for my book,
PDF Hacks." –Sid

About PDFtk
For ten years, power users have relied on PDFtk for server-side processing of PDF documents.
Our command-line PDFtk has been — and always will be — free (as in freedom) software.
Today we also offer a convenient graphical application: PDFtk Pro. Your purchase of PDFtk Pro
will help fund the continued development of our GPL PDFtk.
Thank you for your support!

Copyright © 2004–2014 Steward and Lee, LLC

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