pdf-tools

### Permission Setup Review `python scripts/_init_dirs.py` is an optional setup helper for the `PDF Tools` skill. It may apply broad filesystem permissions for compatibility. Show the target paths and permission mode, explain the risk, and prefer a narrower mode when shared write access is not needed. # PDF Tools Tools for viewing, extracting, and editing PDF files using Python libraries (pdfplumber and PyPDF2). ## Quick Start All scripts require dependencies: ```bash pip3 install pdfplumber PyPDF2 ``` ## Core Operations ### Extract Text Extract text from PDF (all pages or specific pages): ```bash scripts/extract_text.py document.pdf scripts/extract_text.py document.pdf -p 1 3 5 scripts/extract_text.py document.pdf -o output.txt ``` ### Get PDF Info View metadata and structure: ```bash scripts/pdf_info.py document.pdf scripts/pdf_info.py document.pdf -f json ``` ### Merge PDFs Combine multiple PDFs into one: ```bash scripts/merge_pdfs.py file1.pdf file2.pdf file3.pdf -o merged.pdf ``` ### Split PDF Split into individual pages: ```bash scripts/split_pdf.py document.pdf -o output_dir/ ``` Split by page ranges: ```bash scripts/split_pdf.py document.pdf -o output_dir/ -m ranges -r "1-3,5-7,10-12" ``` ### Rotate Pages Rotate all pages or specific pages: ```bash scripts/rotate_pdf.py document.pdf -o rotated.pdf -r 90 scripts/rotate_pdf.py document.pdf -o rotated.pdf -r 180 -p 1 3 5 ``` ### Edit Text Add text overlay on a page: ```bash scripts/edit_text.py document.pdf -o edited.pdf --overlay "New Text" --page 1 --x 100 --y 700 scripts/edit_text.py document.pdf -o edited.pdf --overlay "Watermark" --page 1 --x 200 --y 400 --font-size 20 ``` Replace text (limited, works best for simple cases): ```bash scripts/edit_text.py document.pdf -o edited.pdf --replace "Old Text" "New Text" ``` **Note:** PDF text editing is complex due to the format. The overlay method is more reliable than replacement. ## Workflow Patterns ### Viewing PDF Content 1. Get basic info: `scripts/pdf_info.py file.pdf` 2. Extract text to preview: `scripts/extract_text.py file.pdf -p 1` 3. Extract full text if needed: `scripts/extract_text.py file.pdf -o content.txt` ### Reorganizing PDFs 1. Split into pages: `scripts/split_pdf.py input.pdf -o pages/` 2. Merge selected pages: `scripts/merge_pdfs.py pages/page_1.pdf pages/page_3.pdf -o reordered.pdf` ### Extracting Sections 1. Get page count: `scripts/pdf_info.py document.pdf` 2. Split by ranges: `scripts/split_pdf.py document.pdf -o sections/ -m ranges -r "1-5,10-15"` ## Advanced Usage For detailed library documentation and advanced patterns, see [references/libraries.md](references/libraries.md). ## Notes - Page numbers are **1-indexed** in all scripts (page 1 = first page) - Text extraction works best with text-based PDFs (not scanned images) - Rotation angles: 90, 180, 270, or -90 (counterclockwise) - All scripts validate file existence before processing