Manipulate PDF documents programmatically. Merge, split, rotate, and watermark PDFs. Extract text and metadata. Handle form filling and encryption/decryption.
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Manipulate PDF documents programmatically. Merge, split, rotate, and watermark PDFs. Extract text and metadata. Handle form filling and encryption/decryption.
PyPDF is a pure-Python library for working with PDF files. This skill covers comprehensive patterns for PDF manipulation including:
PDF merging - Combine multiple PDFs into one document
PDF splitting - Extract specific pages or split into multiple files
Page rotation - Rotate pages by 90, 180, or 270 degrees
Watermarking - Add text or image watermarks to pages
Text extraction - Extract text content from PDF pages
Metadata handling - Read and modify PDF metadata
Form filling - Fill PDF form fields programmatically
Encryption/Decryption - Secure PDFs with passwords
When to Use This Skill
USE when:
Merging multiple PDF files into a single document
Splitting large PDFs into smaller files
Extracting specific pages from PDFs
Adding watermarks or stamps to documents
Extracting text content for analysis
Reading or modifying PDF metadata
Filling PDF forms programmatically
Encrypting or decrypting PDF files
Adding page numbers or headers/footers
Rotating or reordering pages
Automating PDF workflows in pipelines
DON'T USE when:
Creating PDFs from scratch (use reportlab or weasyprint)
Need advanced text layout control (use reportlab)
Converting other formats to PDF (use dedicated converters)
Need OCR for scanned documents (use pytesseract + pdf2image)
Working with complex form creation (use reportlab)
Need to edit existing text content (limited support)
Prerequisites
Installation
# Basic installation
pip install pypdf
# Using uv (recommended)
uv pip install pypdf
# With crypto support for encryption
pip install pypdf[crypto]
# For creating PDFs (watermarks, overlays)
pip install pypdf reportlab
# Full installation
pip install pypdf[crypto] reportlab Pillow
Verify Installation
from pypdf import PdfReader, PdfWriter, PdfMerger
pypdf.errors PdfReadError
()
()
from
import
print
"pypdf installed successfully!"
print
f"Version: {pypdf.__version__}"
Core Capabilities
1. PDF Merging
"""
Merge multiple PDF files into a single document.
"""from pypdf import PdfMerger, PdfReader, PdfWriter
from pathlib import Path
from typing importList, Optionaldefmerge_pdfs(
pdf_paths: List[str],
output_path: str,
bookmarks: bool = True) -> None:
"""Merge multiple PDFs into one file."""
merger = PdfMerger()
for pdf_path in pdf_paths:
path = Path(pdf_path)
if path.exists():
# Add with bookmark (outline entry)
merger.append(
str(pdf_path),
outline_item=path.stem if bookmarks elseNone
)
print(f"Added: {path.name}")
else:
print(f"Warning: File not found - {pdf_path}")
merger.write(output_path)
merger.close()
print(f"Merged PDF saved to: {output_path}")
defmerge_with_page_selection(
pdf_configs: List[dict],
output_path: str) -> None:
"""Merge specific pages from multiple PDFs.
Args:
pdf_configs: List of dicts with 'path', 'pages' (optional) keys
pages can be tuple (start, end) or list of page numbers
output_path: Output file path
"""
merger = PdfMerger()
for config in pdf_configs:
pdf_path = config['path']
pages = config.get('pages')
if pages isNone:
# Add all pages
merger.append(pdf_path)
elifisinstance(pages, tuple):
# Add page range (start, end)
merger.append(pdf_path, pages=pages)
elifisinstance(pages, list):
# Add specific pages
reader = PdfReader(pdf_path)
for page_num in pages:
if0 <= page_num < len(reader.pages):
merger.append(pdf_path, pages=(page_num, page_num + 1))
print(f"Added: {pdf_path} - Pages: {pages or'all'}")
merger.write(output_path)
merger.close()
print(f"Merged PDF saved to: {output_path}")
defmerge_directory(
directory: str,
output_path: str,
pattern: str = "*.pdf",
sort_key: Optional[str] = "name") -> int:
"""Merge all PDFs in a directory."""
dir_path = Path(directory)
pdf_files = list(dir_path.glob(pattern))
ifnot pdf_files:
print(f"No PDF files found in {directory}")
return0# Sort filesif sort_key == "name":
pdf_files.sort(key=lambda x: x.name.lower())
elif sort_key == "date":
pdf_files.sort(key=lambda x: x.stat().st_mtime)
elif sort_key == "size":
pdf_files.sort(key=lambda x: x.stat().st_size)
merge_pdfs([str(f) for f in pdf_files], output_path)
returnlen(pdf_files)
# Example usage# merge_pdfs(['report1.pdf', 'report2.pdf', 'appendix.pdf'], 'complete_report.pdf')## merge_with_page_selection([# {'path': 'doc1.pdf', 'pages': (0, 5)}, # First 5 pages# {'path': 'doc2.pdf', 'pages': [0, 2, 4]}, # Pages 1, 3, 5# {'path': 'doc3.pdf'} # All pages# ], 'combined.pdf')
2. PDF Splitting
"""
Split PDF files into separate documents.
"""from pypdf import PdfReader, PdfWriter
from pathlib import Path
from typing importList, Tuple, Optionaldefsplit_pdf_by_pages(
input_path: str,
output_dir: str,
pages_per_file: int = 1) -> List[str]:
"""Split PDF into multiple files with specified pages per file."""
reader = PdfReader(input_path)
total_pages = len(reader.pages)
output_path = Path(output_dir)
output_path.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
input_name = Path(input_path).stem
created_files = []
for start inrange(0, total_pages, pages_per_file):
writer = PdfWriter()
end = min(start + pages_per_file, total_pages)
for page_num inrange(start, end):
writer.add_page(reader.pages[page_num])
# Generate output filenameif pages_per_file == 1:
output_file = output_path / f"{input_name}_page_{start + 1}.pdf"else:
output_file = output_path / f"{input_name}_pages_{start + 1}-{end}.pdf"
writer.write(str(output_file))
created_files.append(str(output_file))
print(f"Created: {output_file.name}")
print(f"Split into {len(created_files)} files")
return created_files
defextract_pages(
input_path: str,
output_path: str,
page_numbers: List[int]
) -> None:
"""Extract specific pages from a PDF.
Args:
input_path: Source PDF file
output_path: Destination file
page_numbers: List of page numbers (0-indexed)
"""
reader = PdfReader(input_path)
writer = PdfWriter()
for page_num in page_numbers:
if0 <= page_num < len(reader.pages):
writer.add_page(reader.pages[page_num])
print(f"Extracted page {page_num + 1}")
else:
print(f"Warning: Page {page_num + 1} out of range")
writer.write(output_path)
print(f"Extracted pages saved to: {output_path}")
defsplit_by_ranges(
input_path: str,
output_dir: str,
ranges: List[Tuple[int, int, str]]
) -> List[str]:
"""Split PDF by specified page ranges.
Args:
input_path: Source PDF file
output_dir: Output directory
ranges: List of (start, end, name) tuples
start and end are 0-indexed
"""
reader = PdfReader(input_path)
output_path = Path(output_dir)
output_path.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
created_files = []
for start, end, name in ranges:
writer = PdfWriter()
for page_num inrange(start, min(end, len(reader.pages))):
writer.add_page(reader.pages[page_num])
output_file = output_path / f"{name}.pdf"
writer.write(str(output_file))
created_files.append(str(output_file))
print(f"Created: {output_file.name} (pages {start + 1}-{end})")
return created_files
defsplit_by_bookmarks(
input_path: str,
output_dir: str) -> List[str]:
"""Split PDF by bookmark (outline) entries."""
reader = PdfReader(input_path)
output_path = Path(output_dir)
output_path.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
ifnot reader.outline:
print("No bookmarks found in PDF")
return []
created_files = []
# Get bookmark page numbers
bookmarks = []
for item in reader.outline:
ifisinstance(item, list):
continue# Skip nested bookmarkstry:
page_num = reader.get_destination_page_number(item)
title = item.title
bookmarks.append((page_num, title))
except:
continue# Sort by page number
bookmarks.sort(key=lambda x: x[0])
# Add end marker
bookmarks.append((len(reader.pages), "END"))
# Create PDFs for each sectionfor i inrange(len(bookmarks) - 1):
start_page, title = bookmarks[i]
end_page = bookmarks[i + 1][0]
if start_page >= end_page:
continue
writer = PdfWriter()
for page_num inrange(start_page, end_page):
writer.add_page(reader.pages[page_num])
# Clean filename
safe_title = "".join(c if c.isalnum() or c in' -_'else'_'for c in title)
output_file = output_path / f"{i + 1:02d}_{safe_title}.pdf"
writer.write(str(output_file))
created_files.append(str(output_file))
print(f"Created: {output_file.name}")
return created_files
# Example usage# split_pdf_by_pages('large_document.pdf', 'split_output/', pages_per_file=10)# extract_pages('document.pdf', 'selected_pages.pdf', [0, 4, 9]) # Pages 1, 5, 10# split_by_ranges('manual.pdf', 'chapters/', [# (0, 10, 'chapter_1'),# (10, 25, 'chapter_2'),# (25, 40, 'chapter_3')# ])
3. Page Rotation and Transformation
"""
Rotate, crop, and transform PDF pages.
"""from pypdf import PdfReader, PdfWriter, Transformation
from pypdf.generic import RectangleObject
from pathlib import Path
from typing importList, Optionaldefrotate_pages(
input_path: str,
output_path: str,
rotation: int,
pages: Optional[List[int]] = None) -> None:
"""Rotate PDF pages by specified degrees.
Args:
input_path: Source PDF file
output_path: Destination file
rotation: Rotation in degrees (90, 180, or 270)
pages: List of page numbers to rotate (0-indexed), None for all
"""if rotation notin [90, 180, 270]:
raise ValueError("Rotation must be 90, 180, or 270 degrees")
reader = PdfReader(input_path)
writer = PdfWriter()
for i, page inenumerate(reader.pages):
if pages isNoneor i in pages:
page.rotate(rotation)
writer.add_page(page)
writer.write(output_path)
print(f"Rotated PDF saved to: {output_path}")
defrotate_landscape_pages(
input_path: str,
output_path: str) -> int:
"""Automatically rotate landscape pages to portrait."""
reader = PdfReader(input_path)
writer = PdfWriter()
rotated_count = 0for page in reader.pages:
# Get page dimensions
width = float(page.mediabox.width)
height = float(page.mediabox.height)
# Rotate if landscapeif width > height:
page.rotate(90)
rotated_count += 1
writer.add_page(page)
writer.write(output_path)
print(f"Rotated {rotated_count} landscape pages")
return rotated_count
defcrop_pages(
input_path: str,
output_path: str,
crop_box: tuple,
pages: Optional[List[int]] = None) -> None:
"""Crop PDF pages to specified dimensions.
Args:
input_path: Source PDF file
output_path: Destination file
crop_box: (left, bottom, right, top) in points (72 points = 1 inch)
pages: List of page numbers to crop (0-indexed), None for all
"""
reader = PdfReader(input_path)
writer = PdfWriter()
left, bottom, right, top = crop_box
for i, page inenumerate(reader.pages):
if pages isNoneor i in pages:
page.mediabox = RectangleObject([left, bottom, right, top])
page.cropbox = RectangleObject([left, bottom, right, top])
writer.add_page(page)
writer.write(output_path)
print(f"Cropped PDF saved to: {output_path}")
defscale_pages(
input_path: str,
output_path: str,
scale_x: float = 1.0,
scale_y: float = 1.0) -> None:
"""Scale PDF pages by specified factors."""
reader = PdfReader(input_path)
writer = PdfWriter()
for page in reader.pages:
# Apply transformation
op = Transformation().scale(sx=scale_x, sy=scale_y)
page.add_transformation(op)
# Update media box
page.mediabox.lower_left = (
float(page.mediabox.lower_left[0]) * scale_x,
float(page.mediabox.lower_left[1]) * scale_y
)
page.mediabox.upper_right = (
float(page.mediabox.upper_right[0]) * scale_x,
float(page.mediabox.upper_right[1]) * scale_y
)
writer.add_page(page)
writer.write(output_path)
print(f"Scaled PDF saved to: {output_path}")
defreorder_pages(
input_path: str,
output_path: str,
new_order: List[int]
) -> None:
"""Reorder PDF pages according to specified order.
Args:
input_path: Source PDF file
output_path: Destination file
new_order: List of page indices in desired order (0-indexed)
"""
reader = PdfReader(input_path)
writer = PdfWriter()
for page_num in new_order:
if0 <= page_num < len(reader.pages):
writer.add_page(reader.pages[page_num])
writer.write(output_path)
print(f"Reordered PDF saved to: {output_path}")
# Example usage# rotate_pages('document.pdf', 'rotated.pdf', 90)# rotate_pages('document.pdf', 'rotated.pdf', 90, pages=[0, 2, 4])# crop_pages('document.pdf', 'cropped.pdf', (72, 72, 540, 720)) # 1 inch margins# reorder_pages('document.pdf', 'reordered.pdf', [2, 0, 1, 4, 3])
4. Watermarking and Stamping
"""
Add watermarks, stamps, and overlays to PDF pages.
"""from pypdf import PdfReader, PdfWriter
from pathlib import Path
from typing importOptional, Tuplefrom io import BytesIO
# For creating watermarkstry:
from reportlab.pdfgen import canvas
from reportlab.lib.pagesizes import letter
from reportlab.lib.colors import Color
REPORTLAB_AVAILABLE = Trueexcept ImportError:
REPORTLAB_AVAILABLE = Falsedefcreate_text_watermark(
text: str,
output_path: str,
font_size: int = 60,
opacity: float = 0.3,
rotation: int = 45,
color: Tuple[float, float, float] = (0.5, 0.5, 0.5)
) -> str:
"""Create a watermark PDF with specified text."""ifnot REPORTLAB_AVAILABLE:
raise ImportError("reportlab is required for creating watermarks")
packet = BytesIO()
c = canvas.Canvas(packet, pagesize=letter)
width, height = letter
# Set transparency
c.setFillColor(Color(*color, alpha=opacity))
# Save state, rotate, draw text
c.saveState()
c.translate(width / 2, height / 2)
c.rotate(rotation)
c.setFont("Helvetica-Bold", font_size)
# Draw text centered
text_width = c.stringWidth(text, "Helvetica-Bold", font_size)
c.drawString(-text_width / 2, 0, text)
c.restoreState()
c.save()
# Write to file
packet.seek(0)
withopen(output_path, 'wb') as f:
f.write(packet.getvalue())
return output_path
defadd_watermark(
input_path: str,
watermark_path: str,
output_path: str,
pages: Optional[list] = None) -> None:
"""Add watermark to PDF pages.
Args:
input_path: Source PDF file
watermark_path: Watermark PDF file
output_path: Destination file
pages: List of page numbers to watermark (0-indexed), None for all
"""
reader = PdfReader(input_path)
watermark_reader = PdfReader(watermark_path)
watermark_page = watermark_reader.pages[0]
writer = PdfWriter()
for i, page inenumerate(reader.pages):
if pages isNoneor i in pages:
page.merge_page(watermark_page)
writer.add_page(page)
writer.write(output_path)
print(f"Watermarked PDF saved to: {output_path}")
defadd_page_numbers(
input_path: str,
output_path: str,
position: str = "bottom-center",
start_number: int = 1,
prefix: str = "Page ",
font_size: int = 10) -> None:
"""Add page numbers to PDF.
Args:
input_path: Source PDF file
output_path: Destination file
position: Position of page number (bottom-center, bottom-right, etc.)
start_number: Starting page number
prefix: Text before page number
font_size: Font size for page numbers
"""ifnot REPORTLAB_AVAILABLE:
raise ImportError("reportlab is required for adding page numbers")
reader = PdfReader(input_path)
writer = PdfWriter()
for i, page inenumerate(reader.pages):
# Get page dimensions
width = float(page.mediabox.width)
height = float(page.mediabox.height)
# Create page number overlay
packet = BytesIO()
c = canvas.Canvas(packet, pagesize=(width, height))
# Calculate position
page_num_text = f"{prefix}{start_number + i}"if position == "bottom-center":
x = width / 2
y = 30elif position == "bottom-right":
x = width - 50
y = 30elif position == "top-center":
x = width / 2
y = height - 30elif position == "top-right":
x = width - 50
y = height - 30else:
x = width / 2
y = 30
c.setFont("Helvetica", font_size)
text_width = c.stringWidth(page_num_text, "Helvetica", font_size)
if"center"in position:
x -= text_width / 2
c.drawString(x, y, page_num_text)
c.save()
# Merge with page
packet.seek(0)
overlay = PdfReader(packet)
page.merge_page(overlay.pages[0])
writer.add_page(page)
writer.write(output_path)
print(f"Page numbers added to: {output_path}")
defadd_header_footer(
input_path: str,
output_path: str,
header: Optional[str] = None,
footer: Optional[str] = None,
font_size: int = 10) -> None:
"""Add header and/or footer to all pages."""ifnot REPORTLAB_AVAILABLE:
raise ImportError("reportlab is required for adding headers/footers")
reader = PdfReader(input_path)
writer = PdfWriter()
for page in reader.pages:
width = float(page.mediabox.width)
height = float(page.mediabox.height)
# Create overlay
packet = BytesIO()
c = canvas.Canvas(packet, pagesize=(width, height))
c.setFont("Helvetica", font_size)
if header:
text_width = c.stringWidth(header, "Helvetica", font_size)
c.drawString((width - text_width) / 2, height - 30, header)
if footer:
text_width = c.stringWidth(footer, "Helvetica", font_size)
c.drawString((width - text_width) / 2, 20, footer)
c.save()
# Merge
packet.seek(0)
overlay = PdfReader(packet)
page.merge_page(overlay.pages[0])
writer.add_page(page)
writer.write(output_path)
print(f"Header/footer added to: {output_path}")
# Example usage# create_text_watermark("CONFIDENTIAL", "watermark.pdf")# add_watermark("document.pdf", "watermark.pdf", "watermarked_document.pdf")# add_page_numbers("document.pdf", "numbered.pdf", position="bottom-center")# add_header_footer("document.pdf", "with_header.pdf",# header="Company Name - Confidential",# footer="Do not distribute")
5. Text Extraction and Metadata
"""
Extract text and manage PDF metadata.
"""from pypdf import PdfReader, PdfWriter
from pathlib import Path
from typing importDict, Optional, Listfrom datetime import datetime
defextract_text(
input_path: str,
pages: Optional[List[int]] = None,
preserve_layout: bool = False) -> str:
"""Extract text from PDF.
Args:
input_path: Source PDF file
pages: List of page numbers to extract (0-indexed), None for all
preserve_layout: Try to preserve text layout
Returns:
Extracted text as string
"""
reader = PdfReader(input_path)
text_parts = []
target_pages = pages if pages elserange(len(reader.pages))
for page_num in target_pages:
if0 <= page_num < len(reader.pages):
page = reader.pages[page_num]
if preserve_layout:
page_text = page.extract_text(extraction_mode="layout")
else:
page_text = page.extract_text()
if page_text:
text_parts.append(f"--- Page {page_num + 1} ---\n{page_text}")
return"\n\n".join(text_parts)
defextract_text_to_file(
input_path: str,
output_path: str,
pages: Optional[List[int]] = None) -> int:
"""Extract text from PDF and save to file."""
text = extract_text(input_path, pages)
withopen(output_path, 'w', encoding='utf-8') as f:
f.write(text)
word_count = len(text.split())
print(f"Extracted {word_count} words to: {output_path}")
return word_count
defget_pdf_info(input_path: str) -> Dict:
"""Get PDF document information and metadata."""
reader = PdfReader(input_path)
info = {
'file_path': input_path,
'num_pages': len(reader.pages),
'is_encrypted': reader.is_encrypted,
'metadata': {}
}
# Get metadataif reader.metadata:
metadata = reader.metadata
info['metadata'] = {
'title': metadata.get('/Title', ''),
'author': metadata.get('/Author', ''),
'subject': metadata.get('/Subject', ''),
'creator': metadata.get('/Creator', ''),
'producer': metadata.get('/Producer', ''),
'creation_date': str(metadata.get('/CreationDate', '')),
'modification_date': str(metadata.get('/ModDate', ''))
}
# Get page dimensions of first pageif reader.pages:
first_page = reader.pages[0]
info['page_width'] = float(first_page.mediabox.width)
info['page_height'] = float(first_page.mediabox.height)
info['page_size_inches'] = (
info['page_width'] / 72,
info['page_height'] / 72
)
return info
defset_pdf_metadata(
input_path: str,
output_path: str,
metadata: Dict[str, str]
) -> None:
"""Set PDF metadata.
Args:
input_path: Source PDF file
output_path: Destination file
metadata: Dictionary with keys: title, author, subject, keywords, creator
"""
reader = PdfReader(input_path)
writer = PdfWriter()
# Copy pagesfor page in reader.pages:
writer.add_page(page)
# Set metadata
writer.add_metadata({
'/Title': metadata.get('title', ''),
'/Author': metadata.get('author', ''),
'/Subject': metadata.get('subject', ''),
'/Keywords': metadata.get('keywords', ''),
'/Creator': metadata.get('creator', 'pypdf'),
'/Producer': 'pypdf',
'/ModDate': datetime.now().strftime("D:%Y%m%d%H%M%S")
})
writer.write(output_path)
print(f"Metadata updated: {output_path}")
defsearch_pdf(
input_path: str,
search_term: str,
case_sensitive: bool = False) -> List[Dict]:
"""Search for text in PDF and return page numbers and context."""
reader = PdfReader(input_path)
results = []
for i, page inenumerate(reader.pages):
text = page.extract_text()
ifnot text:
continue
search_text = text if case_sensitive else text.lower()
term = search_term if case_sensitive else search_term.lower()
if term in search_text:
# Find context around match
idx = search_text.find(term)
start = max(0, idx - 50)
end = min(len(text), idx + len(term) + 50)
context = text[start:end].replace('\n', ' ')
results.append({
'page': i + 1,
'context': f"...{context}..."
})
return results
# Example usage# text = extract_text('document.pdf')# info = get_pdf_info('document.pdf')# set_pdf_metadata('document.pdf', 'with_metadata.pdf', {# 'title': 'My Document',# 'author': 'John Doe',# 'subject': 'Report'# })# results = search_pdf('document.pdf', 'important')
6. Encryption and Form Filling
"""
PDF encryption, decryption, and form handling.
"""from pypdf import PdfReader, PdfWriter
from pathlib import Path
from typing importDict, Optional, Listdefencrypt_pdf(
input_path: str,
output_path: str,
user_password: str,
owner_password: Optional[str] = None,
permissions: Optional[Dict[str, bool]] = None) -> None:
"""Encrypt PDF with password protection.
Args:
input_path: Source PDF file
output_path: Destination file
user_password: Password to open the document
owner_password: Password for full access (defaults to user_password)
permissions: Dict of permission flags (print, modify, copy, etc.)
"""
reader = PdfReader(input_path)
writer = PdfWriter()
for page in reader.pages:
writer.add_page(page)
# Copy metadata if existsif reader.metadata:
writer.add_metadata(reader.metadata)
# Default permissions (restrictive)
default_permissions = {
'print': True,
'modify': False,
'copy': False,
'annotations': True,
'forms': True,
'extract': False,
'assemble': False,
'print_high_quality': True
}
if permissions:
default_permissions.update(permissions)
# Encrypt
owner_pwd = owner_password or user_password
writer.encrypt(
user_password=user_password,
owner_password=owner_pwd,
permissions_flag=-1# All permissions by default
)
writer.write(output_path)
print(f"Encrypted PDF saved to: {output_path}")
defdecrypt_pdf(
input_path: str,
output_path: str,
password: str) -> bool:
"""Decrypt a password-protected PDF.
Args:
input_path: Encrypted PDF file
output_path: Destination file (unencrypted)
password: Password to decrypt
Returns:
True if successful, False otherwise
"""try:
reader = PdfReader(input_path)
if reader.is_encrypted:
ifnot reader.decrypt(password):
print("Incorrect password")
returnFalse
writer = PdfWriter()
for page in reader.pages:
writer.add_page(page)
if reader.metadata:
writer.add_metadata(reader.metadata)
writer.write(output_path)
print(f"Decrypted PDF saved to: {output_path}")
returnTrueexcept Exception as e:
print(f"Decryption failed: {e}")
returnFalsedefget_form_fields(input_path: str) -> Dict[str, Dict]:
"""Get all form fields from a PDF."""
reader = PdfReader(input_path)
fields = {}
if reader.get_fields():
for name, field in reader.get_fields().items():
field_type = field.get('/FT', '')
value = field.get('/V', '')
fields[name] = {
'type': str(field_type),
'value': str(value) if value else'',
'field': field
}
return fields
deffill_pdf_form(
input_path: str,
output_path: str,
field_values: Dict[str, str],
flatten: bool = False) -> None:
"""Fill PDF form fields with values.
Args:
input_path: Source PDF with form fields
output_path: Destination file
field_values: Dictionary of field names and values
flatten: If True, make form fields uneditable
"""
reader = PdfReader(input_path)
writer = PdfWriter()
# Add pagesfor page in reader.pages:
writer.add_page(page)
# Update form fields
writer.update_page_form_field_values(
writer.pages[0] if writer.pages elseNone,
field_values
)
if flatten:
# Note: Full flatten support may require additional processingfor page in writer.pages:
if'/Annots'in page:
del page['/Annots']
writer.write(output_path)
print(f"Form filled and saved to: {output_path}")
deflist_form_fields_report(input_path: str) -> str:
"""Generate a report of all form fields in a PDF."""
fields = get_form_fields(input_path)
ifnot fields:
return"No form fields found in this PDF."
report = ["PDF Form Fields Report", "=" * 40, ""]
for name, info in fields.items():
report.append(f"Field: {name}")
report.append(f" Type: {info['type']}")
report.append(f" Current Value: {info['value'] or'(empty)'}")
report.append("")
report.append(f"Total fields: {len(fields)}")
return"\n".join(report)
# Example usage# encrypt_pdf('document.pdf', 'encrypted.pdf', 'mypassword')# decrypt_pdf('encrypted.pdf', 'decrypted.pdf', 'mypassword')## fields = get_form_fields('form.pdf')# fill_pdf_form('form.pdf', 'filled_form.pdf', {# 'name': 'John Doe',# 'date': '2026-01-17',# 'signature': 'John Doe'# })
Integration Examples
Batch PDF Processing Pipeline
"""
Batch process PDFs with configurable operations.
"""from pypdf import PdfReader, PdfWriter, PdfMerger
from pathlib import Path
from typing importList, Dict, Any, Callablefrom concurrent.futures import ThreadPoolExecutor, as_completed
import logging
logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
classPDFProcessor:
"""Batch PDF processing with configurable operations."""def__init__(self, output_dir: str):
self.output_dir = Path(output_dir)
self.output_dir.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
defprocess_batch(
self,
pdf_files: List[str],
operations: List[Dict[str, Any]],
parallel: bool = False) -> List[Dict]:
"""Process multiple PDFs with specified operations.
Args:
pdf_files: List of PDF file paths
operations: List of operation configs
parallel: Run in parallel if True
"""
results = []
if parallel:
with ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=4) as executor:
futures = {
executor.submit(self._process_single, f, operations): f
for f in pdf_files
}
for future in as_completed(futures):
results.append(future.result())
else:
for pdf_file in pdf_files:
results.append(self._process_single(pdf_file, operations))
return results
def_process_single(
self,
pdf_path: str,
operations: List[Dict[str, Any]]
) -> Dict:
"""Process single PDF with operations."""
result = {'file': pdf_path, 'success': True, 'operations': []}
try:
current_path = pdf_path
for op in operations:
op_name = op['name']
op_params = op.get('params', {})
output_path = str(
self.output_dir / f"{Path(current_path).stem}_{op_name}.pdf"
)
if op_name == 'rotate':
self._rotate(current_path, output_path, **op_params)
elif op_name == 'watermark':
self._watermark(current_path, output_path, **op_params)
elif op_name == 'extract_pages':
self._extract_pages(current_path, output_path, **op_params)
elif op_name == 'encrypt':
self._encrypt(current_path, output_path, **op_params)
result['operations'].append({
'name': op_name,
'output': output_path
})
current_path = output_path
result['final_output'] = current_path
except Exception as e:
result['success'] = False
result['error'] = str(e)
logger.exception(f"Failed to process {pdf_path}")
return result
def_rotate(self, input_path, output_path, rotation=90, pages=None):
reader = PdfReader(input_path)
writer = PdfWriter()
for i, page inenumerate(reader.pages):
if pages isNoneor i in pages:
page.rotate(rotation)
writer.add_page(page)
writer.write(output_path)
def_watermark(self, input_path, output_path, watermark_path):
reader = PdfReader(input_path)
watermark = PdfReader(watermark_path).pages[0]
writer = PdfWriter()
for page in reader.pages:
page.merge_page(watermark)
writer.add_page(page)
writer.write(output_path)
def_extract_pages(self, input_path, output_path, pages):
reader = PdfReader(input_path)
writer = PdfWriter()
for p in pages:
if0 <= p < len(reader.pages):
writer.add_page(reader.pages[p])
writer.write(output_path)
def_encrypt(self, input_path, output_path, password):
reader = PdfReader(input_path)
writer = PdfWriter()
for page in reader.pages:
writer.add_page(page)
writer.encrypt(password)
writer.write(output_path)
# Example usage# processor = PDFProcessor('processed_output/')# results = processor.process_batch(# ['doc1.pdf', 'doc2.pdf', 'doc3.pdf'],# [# {'name': 'rotate', 'params': {'rotation': 90}},# {'name': 'watermark', 'params': {'watermark_path': 'watermark.pdf'}},# {'name': 'encrypt', 'params': {'password': 'secure123'}}# ],# parallel=True# )
Best Practices
1. Memory Management
"""Best practices for handling large PDFs."""# DO: Process pages one at a time for large filesdefprocess_large_pdf(input_path, output_path):
reader = PdfReader(input_path)
writer = PdfWriter()
for page in reader.pages:
# Process page
writer.add_page(page)
# Writer streams to file, not memory
writer.write(output_path)
# DO: Use context managers when availablewithopen('document.pdf', 'rb') as f:
reader = PdfReader(f)
# Process...
2. Error Handling
"""Robust error handling for PDF operations."""from pypdf.errors import PdfReadError, PdfReadWarning
defsafe_read_pdf(pdf_path):
"""Safely read PDF with error handling."""try:
reader = PdfReader(pdf_path)
return reader, Noneexcept PdfReadError as e:
returnNone, f"Invalid PDF: {e}"except FileNotFoundError:
returnNone, f"File not found: {pdf_path}"except PermissionError:
returnNone, f"Permission denied: {pdf_path}"except Exception as e:
returnNone, f"Unexpected error: {e}"
3. Validation
"""Validate PDF files before processing."""defvalidate_pdf(pdf_path):
"""Validate PDF file."""
path = Path(pdf_path)
ifnot path.exists():
returnFalse, "File does not exist"if path.suffix.lower() != '.pdf':
returnFalse, "Not a PDF file"try:
reader = PdfReader(pdf_path)
_ = len(reader.pages) # Try to access pagesreturnTrue, "Valid PDF"except Exception as e:
returnFalse, f"Invalid PDF: {e}"
Troubleshooting
Common Issues
1. Encrypted PDF Error
# Problem: Cannot read encrypted PDF# Solution: Decrypt first
reader = PdfReader("encrypted.pdf")
if reader.is_encrypted:
reader.decrypt("password") # Provide password
2. Text Extraction Returns Empty
# Problem: extract_text() returns empty string# Solution: PDF may be image-based (scanned)# For scanned PDFs, use OCR:# pip install pdf2image pytesseract# Then use pytesseract to OCR the images
3. Memory Error with Large PDFs
# Problem: Memory error with large files# Solution: Process incrementallydefsplit_large_pdf(input_path, output_dir, max_pages=100):
reader = PdfReader(input_path)
total = len(reader.pages)
for start inrange(0, total, max_pages):
writer = PdfWriter()
end = min(start + max_pages, total)
for i inrange(start, end):
writer.add_page(reader.pages[i])
writer.write(f"{output_dir}/part_{start//max_pages + 1}.pdf")
