Pdftk: Difference between revisions
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[https://www.pdflabs.com/ PDF Toolkit], or pdftk for short, is a great [http://fsf.org free software] command-line program for manipulating documents in the Portable Document Format (PDF). To help regular users while also supporting the author and his free software work [https://www.pdflabs.com/ PDF Labs] now also offers (graphical) desktop versions. '''PDFTk Free''' will merge and split pdfs. '''PDFTk Pro''' will do other processing and costs a mere $3.99. | [https://www.pdflabs.com/ PDF Toolkit], or pdftk for short, is a great [http://fsf.org free software] command-line program for manipulating documents in the Portable Document Format (PDF). To help regular users while also supporting the author and his free software work [https://www.pdflabs.com/ PDF Labs] now also offers (graphical) desktop versions. '''PDFTk Free''' will merge and split pdfs. '''PDFTk Pro''' will do other processing and costs a mere $3.99. | ||
== Manual == | {{Messagebox | ||
| text = install on modern Ubuntu with <code>sudo snap install pdftk</code> | |||
Due to old dependencies, it was dropped from packaging so now you want it in a self-contained snap. | |||
| type = success | |||
}} | |||
==Manual== | |||
https://www.pdflabs.com/docs/pdftk-man-page/ | https://www.pdflabs.com/docs/pdftk-man-page/ | ||
== Examples == | ==Examples== | ||
http://www.pdflabs.com/docs/pdftk-cli-examples/ | http://www.pdflabs.com/docs/pdftk-cli-examples/ | ||
'''Add a signature page'''<syntaxhighlight lang="shell"> | |||
# first, remove page 5 (the final page of the source document having an unfilled signature line) | |||
pdftk ".\Massachusetts Contractor Agreement.pdf" cat 1-4 output ".\Massachusetts Contractor Agreement.pp1-4.pdf" | |||
# now join pp 1-4 with the new p5 (from a scan - see note) | |||
pdftk ".\Massachusetts Contractor Agreement.pp1-4.pdf" ".\Massachusetts Contractor signature page.pdf" output ".\Massachusetts Contractor Agreement.signed.pdf" | |||
</syntaxhighlight>''Note:'' your scan may not be "letter" size. If not, then you will get a weird result when <code>pdftk</code> happily merges two different sized source documents. Simply open the scanned PDF signature page document in LibreOffice '''Draw'''. Set the Page -> Page Properties [Page][Paper Format] to "Letter" so that the document has the correct size. Next, select the object (just click anywhere on the drawing), right-click and choose "Position and Size" (or press F4) to resize the scanned object to fit the page dimensions. In the '''size''' properties, make sure the "keep ratios" checkbox is selected, and change one dimension (e.g. height = 11in) to fit the page dimensions. Press 'tab' to apply the change and check your result. The scan should now visible fit exactly on the 'page' in LibreOffice Draw. Then "Export directly to PDF" by clicking the [[File:PDF file icon.svg|alt=pdf icon|17x17px]] '''pdf''' icon in the LibreOffice toolbar . You do not have to save the document in ODG format, just export it "live" (you can even overwrite the original PDF file). Now you can use that result to combine with the other properly sized source document. | |||
'''Discard the cover page of a pdf''' | '''Discard the cover page of a pdf''' | ||
< | <syntaxhighlight lang="bash"> | ||
pdftk wCover.pdf cat 2-end output NoCover.pdf | pdftk wCover.pdf cat 2-end output NoCover.pdf | ||
</ | </syntaxhighlight> | ||
=== Collating two-sided documents === | ===Collating two-sided documents=== | ||
2-sided document? No problem. Scan the original face side up first (odd pages); then flip it over and scan the second (even pages). Astute people will recognized that the second document is in reverse order compared to the first document. pdfTK can not only Merge the two documents, but '''ALSO''' can reverse the second document during collation so that the pages are in order. | 2-sided document? No problem. Scan the original face side up first (odd pages); then flip it over and scan the second (even pages). Astute people will recognized that the second document is in reverse order compared to the first document. pdfTK can not only Merge the two documents, but '''ALSO''' can reverse the second document during collation so that the pages are in order. | ||
< | <syntaxhighlight lang="bash"> | ||
pdftk A=my.even.pdf B=my.odd.pdf shuffle A Bend-1 output my.full.pdf | pdftk A=my.even.pdf B=my.odd.pdf shuffle A Bend-1 output my.full.pdf | ||
</ | </syntaxhighlight> | ||
In our example, We specify documents handles using 'A' and 'B' to make it easier to refer to them. The operator "shuffle" acts like "cat" but means to collate the documents like shuffling a deck of cards. Using the 'A' and 'B' handles, we can also specify a range, and by reversing the range that 'B' should be read from the "end" to "page 1" using the handle "Bend-1". | In our example, We specify documents handles using 'A' and 'B' to make it easier to refer to them. The operator "shuffle" acts like "cat" but means to collate the documents like shuffling a deck of cards. Using the 'A' and 'B' handles, we can also specify a range, and by reversing the range that 'B' should be read from the "end" to "page 1" using the handle "Bend-1". | ||
=== Discard blank pages === | ===Discard blank pages=== | ||
If you have a scan that added blank pages (every even page), and you want to get rid of those, you would ask pdftk to 'cat' pages 1-end (but only the odd ones) and 'output' that to the file of your choice. | If you have a scan that added blank pages (every even page), and you want to get rid of those, you would ask pdftk to 'cat' pages 1-end (but only the odd ones) and 'output' that to the file of your choice. | ||
< | <syntaxhighlight lang="bash"> | ||
pdftk ~/Desktop/DOC033115.pdf cat 1-endodd output ~/Desktop/ProofOfLearning.pdf | pdftk ~/Desktop/DOC033115.pdf cat 1-endodd output ~/Desktop/ProofOfLearning.pdf | ||
</ | </syntaxhighlight> | ||
=== Cleaning up Bank Statements === | ===Cleaning up Bank Statements=== | ||
This is a long one, because Jack Henry sucks. | This is a long one, because Jack Henry sucks. | ||
< | <syntaxhighlight lang="bash"> | ||
# first download the statements, manually inserting a month digit for each one | # first download the statements, manually inserting a month digit for each one | ||
# then rename the whole batch to something more intelligent | # then rename the whole batch to something more intelligent | ||
| Line 38: | Line 54: | ||
# and delete the monthly statement clutter | # and delete the monthly statement clutter | ||
rm 2014_ifs_??.pdf | rm 2014_ifs_??.pdf | ||
</ | </syntaxhighlight> | ||
You don't need to use extended globbing <ref>http://mywiki.wooledge.org/glob </ref>, but if you did, you'd be able to use patterns like | You don't need to use extended globbing <ref>http://mywiki.wooledge.org/glob </ref>, but if you did, you'd be able to use patterns like | ||
< | <syntaxhighlight lang="bash"> | ||
# turn on extended globbing | # turn on extended globbing | ||
shopt -s extglob | shopt -s extglob | ||
| Line 47: | Line 63: | ||
# unset | # unset | ||
shopt -u extglob | shopt -u extglob | ||
</ | </syntaxhighlight> | ||
=== Order Numerically === | ===Order Numerically=== | ||
This is really a feature of the <code>ls</code> command. If you have a series of files you wish to load in numeric order, but the numbering system is 'natural' instead of computer-friendly, then use the -v option to <code>ls</code>. I.e. you have 1.pdf, 2.pdf... 11.pdf, 12.pdf. | This is really a feature of the <code>ls</code> command. If you have a series of files you wish to load in numeric order, but the numbering system is 'natural' instead of computer-friendly, then use the -v option to <code>ls</code>. I.e. you have 1.pdf, 2.pdf... 11.pdf, 12.pdf. | ||
< | <syntaxhighlight lang="bash"> | ||
pdftk $(ls -v *.pdf) cat output my.combined.pdf | pdftk $(ls -v *.pdf) cat output my.combined.pdf | ||
</ | </syntaxhighlight> | ||
{{References}} | {{References}} | ||
[[Category:Tools]] | [[Category:Tools]] | ||