A summary of options is included below.
--help, -h
Show this summary of options.
<inputPDFfiles|-|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:
<inputPDFhandle>=<inputPDFfilename>
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<inputPDFownerpasswords|PROMPT>]
Input PDF owner passwords, if necessary, are associated with files by using their handles:
<inputPDFhandle>=<inputPDFfileownerpassword>
If handles are not given, then passwords are associated with input files by order.
Most pdftk features require that encrypted input PDF are accompanied 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 password if the supplied password is
incorrect or none was given.
[<operation><operationarguments>]
Available operations are: 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. Some operations takes additional arguments, described below.
If this optional argument is omitted, then pdftk runs in 'filter' mode. Filter mode takes only
one PDF input and creates a new PDF after applying all of the output options, like encryption and
compression.
cat[<pageranges>]
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:
<inputPDFhandle>[<beginpagenumber>[-<endpagenumber>[<qualifier>]]][<pagerotation>]
Where the handle identifies one of the input PDF files, and the beginning and ending page
numbers are one-based references to pages in the PDF file. The qualifier can be even, odd, or
~, 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.
Pages can be subtracted from a page range using the ~ qualifier followed by a page range. For
instance, 1-20~5-6 and 1-20~5~6 are equivalent to 1-47-20, and ~5 yields all pages except page
5. Depending on your shell, you may need to quote this argument because of the ~ at the
beginning.
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 relative 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:
* <endpagenumber> may be less than <beginpagenumber>.
* 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 prefixing 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 document,
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.
PageRangeExampleswithoutHandles:1\-endeast – rotate entire document 90 degrees
51120 – 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
PageRangeExamplesUsingHandles:
Say A=in1.pdfB=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
A1-21BevenA72 – 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
AA – catenate in1.pdf with in1.pdf
AevenwestAoddeast – apply rotations to even pages, odd pages from in1.pdf
AwestBwestBdown – catenate rotated documents
shuffle[<pageranges>]
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. The output section can contain a
printf-styled format string to name these pages. For example, if you want pages named
page_01.pdf, page_02.pdf, etc., pass outputpage_%02d.pdf to pdftk. If the pattern is omitted,
then a default pattern g_%04d.pdf is appended and produces pages named pg_0001.pdf,
pg_0002.pdf, etc. 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[<pageranges>]
Takes a single input PDF and rotates just the specified pages. All other pages remain
unchanged. The page order remains unchanged. Specify the pages to rotate using the same
notation as you would with cat, except you omit the pages that you aren't rotating:
[<beginpagenumber>[-<endpagenumber>[<qualifier>]]][<pagerotation>]
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 adjustments
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 suitable 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<FDFdatafilename|XFDFdatafilename|-|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 aswellas 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 appearance 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, need_appearances, and replacement_font options.
background<backgroundPDFfilename|-|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 background won't be visible – use the stamp operation instead.
multibackground<backgroundPDFfilename|-|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<stampPDFfilename|-|PROMPT>
This behaves just like the background operation except it overlays the stamp PDF page ontop of
the input PDF document's pages. This works best if the stamp PDF page has a transparent
background.
multistamp<stampPDFfilename|-|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, bookmarks (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 except that the output is encoded as UTF-8.
dump_data_fields
Reads a single input PDF file and reports form field statistics 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 except that the output is encoded as UTF-8.
dump_data_annotsThisoperationcurrentlyreportsonlylinkannotations. Reads a single input PDF file and
reports annotation information 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<infodatafilename|-|PROMPT>
Changes the bookmarks, page labels, page sizes, page rotations, 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<infodatafilename|-|PROMPT>
Same as update_info except that the input is encoded as UTF-8.
attach_files<attachmentfilenames|PROMPT>[to_page<pagenumber|PROMPT>|relation<relationship>]
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). Attachments at the document level may be tagged
with a relationship among Source, Data, Alternative, Supplement, and Unspecified (default).
For example:
pdftk in.pdf attach_files table1.html table2.html to_page 6 output out.pdf
pdftk in.pdf attach_files in.tex relation Source 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<outputfilename|-|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|encrypt_aes128]
If an output PDF user or owner password is given, the output PDF encryption algorithm defaults to
AES-128. The weaker RC4 40-bit and RC4 128-bit algorithms can be chosen by specifying
encrypt_40bit or encrypt_128bit (discouraged).
[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
AssemblyCopyContents
Also allows ScreenReaders
ScreenReadersModifyAnnotations
Also allows FillIn
FillInAllFeatures
Allows the user to perform all of the above, and top quality printing.
[owner_pw<ownerpassword|PROMPT>][user_pw<userpassword|PROMPT>]
If an encryption strength is given but no passwords are supplied, 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 filling 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.
[replacement_font<fontname>]
Use the specified font to display text in form fields. This option is useful when filling a form
with non-ASCII text that is not supported by the fonts included in the input PDF. fontname may be
either the file name or the family name of a font, but using a file name is more reliable.
Currently only TrueType fonts with Unicode text are supported.
[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/timestamp. The date/timestamp format is: D:YYYYMMDDHHmmSS, e.g. D:201307241346 –
omitted data after YYYY revert to default values. 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 metadata
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.
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