CPDF - Command-Line PDF Manipulation Tool
CPDF Command Examples for PDF Manipulation
CPDF is a powerful command-line utility for manipulating PDF files. It offers a wide range of functionalities, from basic page selection and merging to advanced operations like encryption, stamping, and metadata manipulation. Below are various examples demonstrating how to leverage CPDF for common PDF tasks.
Page Selection and Merging
Select specific pages from a PDF or merge multiple PDF files into a single document.
# Read in.pdf, select pages 1, 2, 3 and 6, and write those pages to out.pdf
cpdf in.pdf 1-3,6 -o out.pdf
# Select the even pages (2, 4, 6...) from in.pdf and write those pages to out.pdf
cpdf in.pdf even -o out.pdf
# Merge in.pdf and in2.pdf into one document, writing to out.pdf.
cpdf -merge in.pdf in2.pdf -o out.pdf
# Using AND to perform several operations in order, here merging two files together and adding a copyright stamp to every page.
cpdf -merge in.pdf in2.pdf AND -add-text "Copyright 2014" -o out.pdf
Splitting and Presentation Generation
Split a PDF into multiple files or create presentations from PDF documents.
# Split in.pdf into ten-page chunks, writing them to Chunk001.pdf, Chunk002.pdf etc
cpdf -split in.pdf -o Chunk%%%.pdf -chunk 10
# Split in.pdf on bookmark boundaries, writing each to a file whose name is the bookmark label
cpdf -split-bookmarks 0 in.pdf -o @N.pdf
# Use the Split style to build a presentation from the PDF in.pdf, each slide staying 10 seconds on screen unless manually advanced.
# The first page, being a title does not move on automatically, and has no transition effect.
cpdf -presentation in.pdf 2-end -trans Split -duration 10 -o out.pdf
Page Transformation and Resizing
Scale, shift, rotate, or crop pages within a PDF document.
# Scale both the dimensions and contents of in.pdf by a factor of two in x and y directions.
cpdf -scale-page "2 2" in.pdf -o out.pdf
# Scale the pages in in.pdf to fit the US Letter page size, writing to out.pdf
cpdf -scale-to-fit usletterportrait in.pdf -o out.pdf
# Shift the contents of the page by 26 pts in the x direction, and 18 millimetres in the y direction, writing to out.pdf
cpdf -shift "26pt 18mm" in.pdf -o out.pdf
# Rotate the contents of the pages in in.pdf by ninety degrees and write to out.pdf.
cpdf -rotate-contents 90 in.pdf -o out.pdf
# Crop the pages in in.pdf to a 600 pts by 400 pts rectangle.
cpdf -crop "0 0 600pt 400pt" in.pdf -o out.pdf
Security and Encryption
Encrypt PDFs with passwords or decrypt existing encrypted files.
# Encrypt using 128bit PDF encryption using the owner password 'fred' and the user password 'joe'
cpdf -encrypt 128bit fred joe in.pdf -o out.pdf
# Decrypt using the owner password, writing to out.pdf.
cpdf -decrypt in.pdf owner=fred -o out.pdf
Compression and Decompression
Optimize PDF file sizes by compressing data streams.
# Compress the data streams in in.pdf, writing the result to out.pdf.
cpdf -compress in.pdf -o out.pdf
# Decompress the data streams in in.pdf, writing to out.pdf.
cpdf -decompress in.pdf -o out.pdf
Bookmarks and Annotations
Manage bookmarks and annotations within PDF documents.
# List the bookmarks in in.pdf. This would produce:
cpdf -list-bookmarks in.pdf
# Outputs:
# Add bookmarks in the same form from a prepared file bookmarks.txt to in.pdf, writing to out.pdf.
cpdf -add-bookmarks bookmarks.txt in.pdf -o out.pdf
# List the annotations in a file in.pdf to standard output.
cpdf -list-annotations in.pdf
# Might Produce:
# -- # Annotation text content 1 # -- # -- # Annotation text content 2
# --
# Copy the annotations from from.pdf to in.pdf, writing to out.pdf.
cpdf -copy-annotations from.pdf in.pdf -o out.pdf
Stamping and Text Addition
Add watermarks, page numbers, dates, or custom text to PDF pages.
# Stamp the file watermark.pdf on to each page of in.pdf, writing the result to out.pdf.
cpdf -stamp-on watermark.pdf in.pdf -o out.pdf
# Add a page number and date to all the pages in in.pdf using the Courier font, writing to out.pdf
cpdf -topleft 10 -font Courier -add-text "Page %Page\nDate %d-%m-%Y" in.pdf -o out.pdf
Page Layout and Display Settings
Control how the PDF document is displayed in viewers.
# Set the document title of in.pdf. writing to out.pdf.
cpdf -set-title "The New Title" in.pdf -o out.pdf
# Set the document in.pdf to open with the Acrobat Viewer's toolbar hidden, writing to out.pdf.
cpdf -hide-toolbar true in.pdf -o out.pdf
# Set the document in.pdf to open in Acrobat Viewer showing two columns of pages, starting on the right, putting the result in out.pdf.
cpdf -set-page-layout TwoColumnRight in.pdf -o out.pdf
# Set the document in.pdf to open in Acrobat Viewer in full screen mode, putting the result in out.pdf.
cpdf -set-page-mode FullScreen in.pdf -o out.pdf
Metadata and Attachments
Manage document metadata and file attachments.
# Set the metadata in a PDF in.pdf to the contents of the file metadata.xml, and write the output to out.pdf.
cpdf -set-metadata metadata.xml in.pdf -o out.pdf
# Attach the file sheet.xls to in.pdf, writing to out.pdf.
cpdf -attach-file sheet.xls in.pdf -o out.pdf
# Remove any attachments from in.pdf, writing to out.pdf.
cpdf -remove-files in.pdf -o out.pdf
Line and Text Styling
Adjust line widths and text color for PDF content.
# Blacken all the text in in.pdf, writing to out.pdf.
cpdf -blacktext in.pdf -o out.pdf
# Make sure all lines in in.pdf are at least 2 pts wide, writing to out.pdf.
cpdf -thinlines 2pt in.pdf -o out.pdf
Control File Usage
Use a control file to specify command-line arguments for CPDF.
# Read control.txt and use its contents as the command line arguments for cpdf.
cpdf -control control.txt
Further Resources
For more detailed information and advanced usage, refer to the official CPDF documentation: