February 2026
cpdf - PDF command line tools.
Simple operation:
cpdf [in.pdf] [operation] [options] [-o out.pdf]
Operation on password-protected file:
cpdf in.pdf [user=<password>] [owner=<password>] … [-o out.pdf]
Multiple operations, one after another:
cpdf [in.pdf] [operation] [options] AND [operation] [options] AND … [-o out.pdf]
Cpdf is an AGPL-licensed command line tool for processing PDF files. The rest of this document gives a brief description of each command line operation and option. The file cpdfmanual.pdf which you should find installed on your system or otherwise at https://www.coherentpdf.com/cpdfmanual.pdf gives the full usage details.
The sections in this document follow the chapters of cpdfmanual.pdf, for easy cross-referencing.
Print the Cpdf version number.
Gives links to sources of help.
Lists and describes very briefly each command line option.
The output filename. Beware of writing back to the input file.
Cpdf automatically treats any filename ending with .pdf (any case) as an input PDF. If your file does not end with .pdf, you can supply the file with -i instead.
Gives the range of pages to be affected by an operation. By default, all pages are affected. The range may be specified without -range simply by writing it directly after the filename it relates to. Example ranges: “2” “1-5” “1,2,3-end” “odd” “NOT1-5”. See cpdfmanual.pdf for a full description.
Show which operations and on which pages they are operating, as it happens, on standard error.
Keep the PDF version of the input document even if features are used which would otherwise make it increase.
Presume ISO-compliant content streams when processing page content. This is faster, because it does not involve re-parsing whole streams to add content.
Add a whole directory of PDFs as inputs.
Restrict -idir to only files ending in .pdf (any case). Must appear before -idir.
Re-encrypt output files using the same encryption parameters (if any) as the input file.
Allow the output file to be written decrypted even if permissions would otherwise prevent it.
Write the output file to standard output instead of to a file with -o.
Read the input PDF from standard input instead of from a named file.
Supply the user password for the PDF which is from standard input.
Supply the owner password the the PDF which is from standard input.
Set the producer of the output file.
Set the creator of the output file.
Change the PDF’s ID field when writing the output file.
Linearize the PDF when writing. Requires a linearizer to be supplied with -cpdflin.
Give the path of an external linearizer. For example, Qpdf.
Keep the linearization status (either linearized or not) of the input file upon output. Requires a linearizer to be supplied with -cpdflin.
Do not preserve existing object streams when writing the output file. Note that -create-objstm and -no-preserve-objstm may be used together - the effect is then to redo all object streams.
Create new object streams when writing the output file. Note that -create-objstm and -no-preserve-objstm may be used together - the effect is then to redo all object streams.
Read command line arguments from the given file by direct textual substitution into the command line, prior to any other processing.
Read command line arguments from a JSON file consisting of a single array of strings.
Read and write string data as UTF8. Almost always the sensible option, and will become the default in a future version.
Convert string output to 7 bit ASCII by dropping any high characters. To be used with caution.
Perform no processing on string outputs.
A very few of Cpdf’s functions rely upon the gs command. Its path may be supplied with -gs.
This option is used to allow Cpdf to call out to the gs command to pre-process badly malformed files as a last resort.
See cpdfmanual.pdf for details of this fragile command.
Do not show the output of gs when used.
Do not attempt to reconstruct malformed files by any method, but exit with an error.
cpdf -merge in1.pdf [<range>] in2.pdf [<range>] [<more names/ranges>] [-collate] [-collate-n <n>] [-retain-numbering] [-merge-add-bookmarks [-merge-add-bookmarks-use-titles]] [-remove-duplicate-fonts] [-process-struct-trees] [-subformat <subformat>] -o out.pdf
The -merge operation allows the merging of several files into one. Ranges can be used to select only a subset of pages from each input file in the output. The output file consists of the concatenation of all the input pages in the order specified on the command line. Actually, the -merge can be omitted, since this is the default operation of Cpdf.
Instead of ordinary operation, take the first page from the first document, then the first from the second and so on. Then the second page from the first document and on until all pages are exhausted.
Like -collate, but in chunks of more than one page.
Keep the page numbering of each input file intact, rather than renumbering the pages in the output document beginning at 1.
Add a top-level bookmark for each file, using the filename. The option -merge-add-bookmarks-use-titles, when used in conjunction with -merge-add-bookmarks, uses the titles from document metadata instead.
Ensures that fonts used in more than one input appear only once in the output.
Merge input structure trees in the output.
If -subformat “PDF/UA-2” is given, together with -process-struct-trees, Cpdf will add a top-level Document structure tree element.
A PDF portfolio is a special kind of PDF which contains other documents (PDF and otherwise) within it. Support is mostly limited to Adobe products at time of writing.
cpdf -portfolio in.pdf -pf <filename> [-pfd <string>] [-pfr <relationship>] [-pf …] -o out.pdf
The input in.pdf here is the main file. You can build a blank one with -create-pdf.
The filename for each file to include in the portfolio.
The description for the file (must appear after -pf).
The so-called relationship for the file (must appear after -pf).
We can split an input PDF into its constituent pages, and output one PDF for each page or each chunk of pages.
cpdf -split in.pdf [-chunk <n>] [-process-struct-trees] [-utf8] -o <format>
The output format has many options (see cpdfmanual.pdf for details). But the simplest is just to number the outputs in sequence. For example cpdf in.pdf -o out%%%.pdf will produce out001.pdf, out002.pdf and so on.
Choose a chunk size other than 1.
Split the input document’s structure tree into the output documents.
This option may be required in the case of some output formats. See cpdfmanual.pdf for details.
cpdf -split-bookmarks <level> in.pdf [-process-struct-trees] [-utf8] -o <format>
Split on bookmark boundaries at a given level, instead of splitting on each page. Level 0 is top level, level 1 next, and so on. See above for format details.
Split the input document’s structure tree into the output documents.
This option may be required in the case of some output formats. See cpdfmanual.pdf for details.
cpdf -split-max <n> in.pdf [-process-struct-trees] [-utf8] -o <format>
Split the file, if possible, to a maximum file size (in bytes) for each output PDF. See above for format details.
Split the input document’s structure tree into the output documents.
This option may be required in the case of some output formats. See cpdfmanual.pdf for details.
We can use -spray to write the split pages to more than one named output file. When Cpdf runs out of output files, it adds the next page to the first output file, and so on until all input pages are exhausted.
cpdf -spray in.pdf [-process-struct-trees] [-utf8] -o a.pdf [-o b.pdf [-o …]]
Split the input document’s structure tree into the output documents.
This option may be required in the case of some output formats. See cpdfmanual.pdf for details.
cpdf -scale-page “<x scale> <y scale>” in.pdf [<range>] [-fast] [<position>] -o out.pdf
Scale pages in the given range by the given factor e.g “2 2”. See Chapter 8 for information on positions.
cpdf -scale-to-fit “<x size> <y size>” in.pdf [<range>] [-fast] [-prerotate] [<position>] [-scale-to-fit-scale <scale>] [-scale-to-fit-rotate-clockwise] [-scale-to-fit-rotate-anticlockwise] -o out.pdf
Scale pages in the given range to fit the given size e.g “a4paper” or “10in 7in”, without altering the aspect ratio. By default the content will be centered on the new page. See Chapter 8 for information on positions.
Scale to a proportion of the available area, instead of filling it. For example 0.9 for 90 percent.
Automatically rotate page to maximise use of area.
Remove any viewing rotation before beginning.
cpdf -stretch “<x size> <y size>” in.pdf [<range>] [-fast] -o out.pdf
Scale pages without regard to aspect ratio.
cpdf -center-to-fit “<x size> <y size>” in.pdf [<range>] [-fast] -o out.pdf
Center each page on a new page size, without scaling it.
cpdf -scale-contents <scale> in.pdf [<range>] [<position>] [-fast] -o out.pdf
Scale the content of pages by a given factor, without changing the size of the page. See the end of this chapter for position.
cpdf -shift “<shift x> <shift y>” in.pdf [<range>] [-fast] -o out.pdf
Shift the content of pages by a given displacement.
cpdf -shift-boxes “<shift x> <shift y>” in.pdf [<range>] -o out.pdf
Shift the boxes of a page by a given displacement, without moving the content.
cpdf -rotate <angle> in.pdf [<range>] -o out.pdf
Change the PDF viewing rotation of pages to 0, 90, 180 or 270 degrees clockwise.
cpdf -rotateby <angle> in.pdf [<range>] -o out.pdf
Change the PDF viewing rotation of pages by 0, 90, 180 or 270 degrees clockwise.
cpdf -upright in.pdf [<range>] [-fast] -o out.pdf
The -upright operation does whatever combination of -rotate and -rotate-contents is required to change the rotation of the document to zero without altering its appearance. In addition, it makes sure the media box has its origin at (0,0), changing other boxes to compensate.
cpdf -rotate-contents <angle> in.pdf [<range>] [-fast] -o out.pdf
Rotates the content of the page around its center point by the given angle.
cpdf -hflip in.pdf [<range>] [-fast] -o out.pdf
Flip page content horizontally.
cpdf -vflip in.pdf [<range>] [-fast] -o out.pdf
Flip page content vertically.
cpdf -[media | crop | art | trim | bleed]box <boxspec> in.pdf [<range>] -o out.pdf
Set the media, crop, art, trim or bleed box. For example -cropbox “50 50 300 200” sets minx 50, miny 50, width 300, height 200. To use absolute numbers instead of width and height, prefix with a question mark, writing “?50 50 350 250” instead.
cpdf -remove-[crop | art | trim | bleed]box in.pdf [<range>] -o out.pdf
Remove a crop, art, trim or bleed box from pages.
cpdf -frombox <boxname> -tobox <boxname> in.pdf [<range>] [-mediabox-if-missing] -o out.pdf
Copy a box to another. For example from /TrimBox to /CropBox.
Use media box, rather than failing, if the -frombox is missing.
cpdf -hard-box <boxname> in.pdf [<range>] [-fast] [-mediabox-if-missing] -o out.pdf
Create a hard box for a given box name - that is to say, one which clips its content.
cpdf -show-boxes in.pdf [<range>] [-fast] -o out.pdf
Show the media, crop, art, trim, and bleed boxes in Red, Green, Blue, Orange and Pink respectively.
cpdf -trim-marks in.pdf [<range>] [-fast] -o out.pdf
Add trim marks to a PDF. The trim box must be present.
cpdf -encrypt <method> [-pw=]<owner password> [-pw=]<user password> in.pdf [-no-encrypt-metadata] <permissions> -o out.pdf
Encrypt a document given the method (e.g AES256ISO for modern usage), owner and user passwords, and optionally permissions. E.g cpdf -encrypt AES256ISO secret “” in.pdf -o out.pdf.
Do not encrypt metadata (AES encryption only).
Useful if a password may begin with a dash.
Permissions:
Cannot change the document.
Cannot print the document.
Cannot select or copy text or graphics.
Cannot add or change form fields or annotations.
Cannot edit form fields.
Cannot extract text or graphics.
Cannot, for example, merge files.
Cannot print high-quality.
Note: Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Reader may show slightly different permissions in info dialogues – this is a result of policy changes and not a bug in Cpdf. You may need to experiment.
Decrypt a document, given its owner password.
Decrypt even without the owner password, using just the user password. The user password is often blank.
cpdf -decompress in.pdf [-just-content] [-jbig2dec <path>] -o out.pdf
Decompress the streams in a PDF file, for instance to manually inspect it.
Only decompress page content streams.
Give the path to the jbig2dec program which Cpdf uses, if available, to decompress JBIG2 streams.
cpdf -compress in.pdf -o out.pdf
Compress any streams which are uncompressed using the FlateDecode method, with the exception of metadata streams.
cpdf -squeeze in.pdf [-squeeze-log-to <filename>] [-squeeze-no-pagedata] -o out.pdf
Squeeze a file by coalescing like objects, and various other methods.
Write the squeeze log to file rather than standard output.
Avoid processing page data, making the squeeze process much faster at the cost of a little compression.
cpdf -remove-article-threads in.pdf -o out.pdf
Remove article threads.
cpdf -remove-page-piece in.pdf -o out.pdf
Remove page piece information.
cpdf -remove-web-capture in.pdf -o out.pdf
Remove web capture data.
cpdf -remove-procsets in.pdf -o out.pdf
Remove ProcSets, a now-irrelevant data structure from early PDFs.
cpdf -remove-output-intents in.pdf -o out.pdf
Remove output intents, a colour-matching system for documents intended to be printed.
cpdf -list-bookmarks in.pdf [-utf8]
Print bookmark data to standard output. The data includes level, title, page number linked to, and full link data. Use -utf8 always. For example:
0 "Part 1" 1 open
1 "Part 1A" 2 "[2 /XYZ 200 400 null]"
1 "Part 1B" 3
0 "Part 2" 4
1 "Part 2a" 5cpdf -list-bookmarks-json in.pdf [-preserve-actions]
Print bookmark data to standard output in JSON format instead. Here is a single entry in the JSON array of bookmarks:
{ "level": 0,
"text": "1 Basic Usage",
"page": 17,
"open": false,
"target":
[ { "I": 17 },
{ "N": "/XYZ" },
{ "F": 85.039 },
{ "F": 609.307 },
null ]
"colour": [ 0.0, 0.0, 0.0 ],
"italic": false,
"bold": false
}Instead of resolving complex destinations types to simple ones, keep the originals.
cpdf -remove-bookmarks in.pdf -o out.pdf
Remove all bookmarks from a PDF.
cpdf -add-bookmarks <filename> in.pdf -o out.pdf
Add bookmarks, given an old-style bookmark file.
cpdf -add-bookmarks-json <filename> in.pdf -o out.pdf
Add bookmarks, given a new-style JSON bookmark file.
cpdf -bookmarks-open-to-level <n> in.pdf -o out.pdf
Set all bookmarks up to and including a given level to be open.
cpdf -table-of-contents in.pdf [-toc-title <string>] [-toc-no-bookmark] [-toc-dot-leaders] [-font <font>] [-font-size <n>] [-embed-std14 <path>] [-process-struct-trees] [-subformat <subformat>] -o out.pdf
Generate a typeset table of contents from existing bookmarks, adding it to the beginning of the document.
Title (default is “Table of Contents”).
Do not add an entry for the new table of contents in the document’s bookmarks.
Add dot leaders.
Give the font (default Times Roman).
Give the font size (default 12pt).
Embed standard 14 fonts given their path (see cpdfmanual.pdf for details).
Create a structure tree for the new table of contents and merge it with the document’s.
Add -subformat “PDF/UA-2” when adding a table of contents to a PDF/UA-2 file to keep compatibility.
cpdf -presentation in.pdf [<range>] -o out.pdf [-trans <transition-name>] [-duration <float>] [-vertical] [-outward] [-direction <n>] [-effect-duration <float>]
Make a slide-show presentation from a PDF.
-trans <transition>
The transition style, one of Split, Blinds, Box, Wipe, Dissolve, Glitter.
Time in seconds before presentation advances (default: no automatic advancement).
Select vertical blinds for transition type Blinds.
Select outward sweep for transition type Box.
Direction for Wipe and Glitter styles. See cpdfmanual.pdf for full information.
Length in seconds of the transition itself.
cpdf [-stamp-on | -stamp-under] stamp.pdf in.pdf [<range>] [-scale-stamp-to-fit] [<positioning command>] [-relative-to-cropbox] [-process-struct-trees] [-fast] -o out.pdf
Stamp a one-page PDF over or under each page in the given range. The positioning commands described later in this chapter may be used to choose where to stamp it (default, bottom left of media box).
Scale the stamp to fit the page before applying it.
Take the positioning command relative to the crop box rather than the media box.
Maintain tagged PDF. The main file will keep its structure; the stamp will be marked as an artifact.
cpdf -combine-pages over.pdf under.pdf [-fast] [-prerotate] [-no-warn-rotate] [-process-struct-trees] [-underneath] [-stamp-scale-to-fit] -o out.pdf
Combine the pages of two PDFs, page 1 of the first with page 1 of the second and so on.
Remove any rotation differences between the files before combining.
Do not warn of unresolved rotation differences.
Reverse the order of “over” and “under” files.
Maintain tagged PDF. The “under” file will keep its structure; the “over” file will be marked as an artifact.
cpdf [-add-text <string> | -add-rectangle “<x size> <y size>”] [-font <fontname>] [-font-size <n>] [-load-ttf <name>=<filename>] [-embed-std14 <path>] [-color <color>] [-line-spacing <n>] [-outline] [-linewidth <n>] [-underneath] [-relative-to-cropbox] [-prerotate] [-no-warn-rotate] [-bates <n>] [-bates-at-range <n>] [-bates-pad-to <n>] [-opacity <n>] [-midline] [-topline] [-fast] [-process-struct-trees] in.pdf [<range>] -o out.pdf
Add text to a PDF. Various special codes for page numbers or time and date may be used. For example:
%Page Page number in arabic notation (1, 2, 3. . . )
%PageDiv2 Page number in arabic notation divided by two
%roman Page number in lower-case roman notation (i, ii, iii. . . )
%Roman Page number in upper-case roman notation (I, II, III. . . )
%EndPage Last page of document in arabic notation
%Label The page label of the page
%EndLabel The page label of the last page
%filename The full file name of the input document
%URL[text|URL] Add text, which links to URL (does not work for diagonal text)
%Bookmark<n> Bookmark text at level n (0, 1, 2, 3, 4)
%Bates Bates numberAnd date and time formats:
%a Abbreviated weekday name (Sun, Mon etc.)
%A Full weekday name (Sunday, Monday etc.)
%b Abbreviated month name (Jan, Feb etc.)
%B Full month name (January, February etc.)
%d Day of the month (01-31)
%e Day of the month (1-31)
%H Hour in 24-hour clock (00-23)
%I Hour in 12-hour clock (01-12)
%j Day of the year (001-366)
%m Month of the year (01-12)
%M Minute of the hour (00-59)
%p "a.m" or "p.m"
%S Second of the minute (00-61)
%T Same as %H:%M:%S
%u Weekday (1-7, 1 = Sunday)
%w Weekday (0-6, 0 = Sunday)
%Y Year (0000-9999)
%% The % character\n may be used to demarcate multiple lines.
Give the font (default Times Roman). Options are:
Times-Roman
Times-Bold
Times-Italic
Times-BoldItalic
Helvetica
Helvetica-Bold
Helvetica-Oblique
Helvetica-BoldOblique
Courier
Courier-Bold
Courier-Oblique
Courier-BoldObliqueGive the font size (default 12pt).
Load a truetype font, and give it name which may be used with -font. For example -load-ttf A=NotoSans-Black.ttf.
Embed the standard 14 fonts given the path to the URW Base35 free fonts.
Choose the text colour using one (Grey), three (RGB), or four (CMYK) numbers from 0-1. E.g -color “0.5 0.4 0.5”.
Set the spacing for multi-line text (default 1).
Use outline text.
Line width for outline text.
Put the text underneath the page instead of on top of the page.
Positions are relative to the crop box, rather than the media box.
Remove any viewing rotation before adding text.
Do not warn of unresolved viewing rotation.
Set the bates number for use with %Bates.
Set the bates number for the first page in the range.
Pad bates numbers to a given number of leading zeros.
Set text opacity. Wholly opaque is 1, wholly transparent is 0.
Position is relative to the midline of text rather than the baseline.
Position is relative to the topline of text rather than the baseline.
Maintain tagged PDF, for example with PDF/UA. The main file will keep its structure; the stamped text will be marked as an artifact.
Positioning commands:
Position the left of the baseline of the text at (x, y).
Position the center of the baseline of the text at (x, y).
Position the right of the baseline of the text at (x, y).
Position the baseline of the text n pts from the top middle of the page.
Position the left of the baseline of the text n pts below and right of the top left of the page.
Position the left of the baseline of the text y pts below and x pts right of the top left of the page.
Position the right of the baseline of the text n pts below and left of the top right of the page.
Position the right of the baseline of the text y pts below and x pts left of the top right of the page.
Position the left of the baseline of the text n pts right of the left middle of the page.
Position the left of the baseline of the text n pts up and right of the bottom left of the page.
Position the left of the baseline of the text y pts up and x pts right of the bottom left of the page.
Position the center of the baseline of the text n pts up from the bottom middle of the page.
Position the right of the baseline of the text n pts up and left from the bottom right of the page.
Position the right of the baseline of the text y pts up and x pts left from the bottom right of the page.
Position the right of the baseline of the text n pts left of the center right of the page.
Position text diagonally, bottom left to top right.
Position text diagonally, top left to bottom right.
Position text centered on the page.
Set left justification for multi-line text. Default depends upon position.
Set right justification for multi-line text. Default depends upon position.
Set center justification for multi-line text. Default depends upon position.
cpdf -remove-text in.pdf [<range>] -o out.pdf
Remove text previously added by Cpdf.
cpdf -prepend-content <content> in.pdf [<range>] -o out.pdf
A low-level operation to prepend raw content to the beginning of page streams.
cpdf -postpend-content <content> in.pdf [<range>] -o out.pdf
A low-level operation to postpend raw content to the end of page streams.
cpdf -stamp-as-xobject stamp.pdf in.pdf [<range>] -o out.pdf
A low-level operation to add stamp.pdf as a Form XObject in the given pages of a PDF and write to standard output its name.
cpdf [-pad-before | -pad-after] in.pdf [<range>] [-pad-with pad.pdf] -o out.pdf
Add blank pages before or after each page in the given range.
Use a separate PDF to act as the padding.
Add a blank page after every n pages.
Use a separate PDF to act as the padding.
cpdf [-pad-multiple | -pad-multiple-before] [<n>] in.pdf -o out.pdf
Add as many blank pages as are required before or after the original pages to make the file’s length a multiple of the given number of pages
cpdf -redact in.pdf [<range>] [-process-struct-trees] -o out.pdf
Remove the content of the pages in the given range entirely, including annotations and any resources.
Process the document’s structure tree to remove any parts which are marked as relating to the now-redacted pages.
cpdf [-impose <pagesize> | impose-xy “<x> <y>”] in.pdf [-impose-columns] [-impose-rtl] [-impose-btt] [-impose-margin <n>] [-impose-spacing <n>] [-impose-linewidth <n>] [-fast] [-process-struct-trees] -o out.pdf
Cpdf has two imposition operations:
-impose fits multiple pages onto a given page size e.g -impose a4portrait or -impose “8in 12in”
-impose-xy builds an output page with the x pages horizontally and y pages vertically e.g -impose-xy “2 3”
Lay the pages out in columns rather than rows.
Lay the pages out right to left.
Lay the pages out bottom to top.
Add a margin around the edge of each page. When using -impose-xy the page size increases; with -impose the pages are scaled.
Add spacing between rows and columns. When using -impose-xy the page size increases; with -impose the pages are scaled.
Add a border around each input page. With -impose the pages are scaled after the border is added, so you must account for this yourself.
Mark the file’s content as an artifact for the purposes of imposition.
cpdf -twoup-stack in.pdf [-fast] [-process-struct-trees] -o out.pdf
cpdf -twoup in.pdf [-fast] [-process-struct-trees] -o out.pdf
Two old imposition functions which can now both be done with -impose / -impose-xy. The -twoup-stack operation puts two logical pages on each physical page, rotating them 90 degrees to do so. The new mediabox is thus larger. Whereas the -twoup operation does the same, but scales the new sides down so that the media box is unchanged.
Mark the file’s content as an artifact for the purposes of imposition.
cpdf -chop “<x> <y>” in.pdf [<range>] [-chop-columns] [-chop-rtl] [-chop-btt] -o out.pdf
The -chop operation cuts up a page into multiple pages, according to the chosen grid.
Arrange by columns instead of rows.
Arrange right to left.
Arrange bottom to top.
cpdf [-chop-h <y> | -chop-v <x>] in.pdf [<range>] [-chop-columns] -o out.pdf
Chop each page into two, vertically or horizontally, at the given position. E.g -chop-h 200pt.
Reverse the order of pages in the output.
cpdf -list-annotations in.pdf [<range>]
List textual content of annotations to standard output. Each annotation is preceded by the page number and followed by a newline.
cpdf -list-annotations-json in.pdf [<range>]
List annotation objects in JSON format. This includes all ancillary objects, to support round-tripping. See cpdfmanual.pdf for full format details.
cpdf -set-annotations <filename> in.pdf [<range>] [-underneath] -o out.pdf
Set annotations from a JSON file. They will be added on top of any annotations already present.
Put the annotations underneath instead of on top of existing ones.
cpdf -copy-annotations from.pdf to.pdf [<range>] -o out.pdf
Copy annotations from from.pdf to to.pdf.
cpdf -remove-annotations in.pdf [<range>] -o out.pdf
Remove annotations from the document.
cpdf -info[-json] in.pdf [-utf8] [-in | -cm | -mm]
Print info about a document in plain text (-info) or JSON (-info-json). For example:
cpdf -info pdf_reference.pdf
Encryption: Not encrypted
Permissions:
Linearized: true
Object streams: true
ID: <0b1f990718e2a92c0c112fbf08b233fb> <b2f1dbee369e11d9b951000393c97fd8>
Version: 1.5
Pages: 1236
Title: PDF Reference, version 1.6
Author: Adobe Systems Incorporated
Subject: Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF)
Keywords:
Creator: FrameMaker 7.0
Producer: Acrobat Distiller 6.0.1 for Macintosh
Created: D:20041114084116Z
Modified: D:20041114163850-08'00'
Trapped: False
PageMode: UseOutlines
PageLayout:
OpenAction: [1/XYZ -32768 -32768 1]
HideToolbar:
HideMenubar:
HideWindowUI:
FitWindow:
CenterWindow:
DisplayDocTitle: True
NonFullScreenPageMode:
AcroForm: False
XFA: False
Marked: False
UserProperties: False
Suspects: False
MediaBox: 0.000000 0.000000 612.000000 792.000000
CropBox: 41.000000 63.000000 572.000000 729.000000
BleedBox:
TrimBox: various
ArtBox: various
Subformats:
Language: en-us
XMP dc:title: PDF Reference, version 1.6
XMP dc:creator: Adobe Systems Incorporated
XMP dc:description: Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF)Output in UTF8 format (plain text only)
Output dimensions in inches, millimetres or centimetres instead of points.
cpdf -page-info[-json] in.pdf [<range>] [-in | -cm | -mm]
List page information in plain (-page-info) or JSON (-page-info-json) format.
cpdf -page-info 14psfonts.pdf
Page 1:
Label: i
MediaBox: 0.000000 0.000000 600.000000 450.000000
CropBox: 200.000000 200.000000 500.000000 500.000000
BleedBox:
TrimBox:
ArtBox:
Rotation: 0
Annotations: 0Output dimensions in inches, millimetres or centimetres instead of points.
cpdf -pages in.pdf
Print the number of pages in the file.
cpdf -set-title <string> in.pdf [-also-set-xmp] [-just-set-xmp] -o out.pdf
cpdf -set-author <string> in.pdf [-also-set-xmp] [-just-set-xmp] -o out.pdf
cpdf -set-subject <string> in.pdf [-also-set-xmp] [-just-set-xmp] -o out.pdf
cpdf -set-keywords <string> in.pdf [-also-set-xmp] [-just-set-xmp] -o out.pdf
cpdf -set-creator <string> in.pdf [-also-set-xmp] [-just-set-xmp] -o out.pdf
cpdf -set-producer <string> in.pdf [-also-set-xmp] [-just-set-xmp] -o out.pdf
Set metadata.
cpdf -set-create <date> in.pdf [-also-set-xmp] [-just-set-xmp] -o out.pdf
cpdf -set-modify <date> in.pdf [-also-set-xmp] [-just-set-xmp] -o out.pdf
Set creation or modification dates. See Appendix A of cpdfmanual.pdf for details of the PDF date format.
cpdf -set-trapped in.pdf [-also-set-xmp] [-just-set-xmp] -o out.pdf
cpdf -set-untrapped in.pdf [-also-set-xmp] [-just-set-xmp] -o out.pdf
Set the trapped status of a PDF.
Set the XMP metadata if the field is present, in addition to setting the old-style PDF metadata.
Just set the XMP metadata, if the field is present, in addition to the old-style PDF metadata.
cpdf -set-page-layout <layout> in.pdf -o out.pdf
Set the page layout: one of SinglePage, OneColumn, TwoColumnLeft, TwoColumnRight, TwoPageLeft, TwoPageRight
cpdf -set-page-mode <mode> in.pdf -o out.pdf
Set the page mode: one of UseNone, UseOutlines, UseThumbs, FullScreen, UseOC, UseAttachments.
cpdf -set-non-full-screen-page-mode <mode> in.pdf -o out.pdf
Set the non full screen mode for a PDF with FullScreen page mode: one of UseNone, UseOutlines, UseThumbs, UseAttachments.
cpdf -hide-toolbar <true | false> in.pdf -o out.pdf
Hide or reveal the viewer’s toolbar.
cpdf -hide-menubar <true | false> in.pdf -o out.pdf
Hide or reveal the viewer’s menubar.
cpdf -hide-window-ui <true | false> in.pdf -o out.pdf
Hide or reveal the window’s scroll bars.
cpdf -fit-window <true | false> in.pdf -o out.pdf
Resize the document’s windows to fit the size of the first page.
cpdf -center-window <true | false> in.pdf -o out.pdf
Position the document window in the center of the screen.
cpdf -display-doc-title <true | false> in.pdf -o out.pdf
Display the document title instead of the file name in the title bar.
cpdf -open-at-page <n> in.pdf -o out.pdf
Set the document to open at the given page number.
cpdf -open-at-page-fit <n> in.pdf -o out.pdf
Set the document to open at the given page number scaled to fit the window.
cpdf -open-at-page-custom <destination> in.pdf -o out.pdf
Set the document to open at a custom destination. See cpdfmanual.pdf for details.
cpdf -set-language <language> in.pdf -o out.pdf
Set the document’s global language, for example “en-US”
cpdf -set-metadata <filename> in.pdf -o out.pdf
Replace or add XMP metadata.
cpdf -remove-metadata in.pdf -o out.pdf
Remove the main XMP metadata stream.
cpdf -remove-all-metadata in.pdf -o out.pdf
Remove all XMP metadata streams.
cpdf -print-metadata in.pdf
Print the XMP metadata stream to standard output.
cpdf -extract-all-metadata in.pdf -o <path>
Extract XMP metadata streams to the given directory.
cpdf -create-metadata in.pdf -o out.pdf
Create or replace XMP metadata from old-style metadata.
cpdf -set-metadata-date <date> in.pdf -o out.pdf
Set the XMP metadata date. See Appendix A in cpdfmanual.pdf for date format details.
cpdf -add-page-labels in.pdf [<range>] [-label-style <style>] [-label-prefix <string>] [-label-startval <n>] [-labels-progress] -o out.pdf
Add page labels to a PDF. Multiple calls may be used to add multiple ranges of page labels.
One of DecimalArabic, LowercaseRoman, UppercaseRoman, LowercaseLetters, UppercaseLetters, NoLabelPrefixOnly.
The textual prefix for these labels.
By default the labels begin at page number 1 for each range. To override this, we can use -label-startval.
make sure the start value progresses between sub-ranges when the page range specified is disjoint, e.g “1-9, 30-40” or “odd”.
cpdf -remove-page-labels in.pdf -o out.pdf
Remove the page labels.
cpdf -print-page-labels[-json] in.pdf
Print the page labels in plain text (-print-page-labels) or JSON (-print-page-labels-json) format.
cpdf -composition[-json] in.pdf
Print the composition of a PDF, showing how much space is taken by images, fonts etc.
cpdf -composition cpdfmanual.pdf
Images: 0 bytes (0.00%)
Fonts: 144731 bytes (46.72%)
Content streams: 132767 bytes (42.85%)
Structure Info: 0 bytes (0.00%)
Attached Files: 0 bytes (0.00%)
XRef Table: 21082 bytes (6.80%)
Piece Info: 0 bytes (0.00%)
Unclassified: 11229 bytes (3.62%)cpdf -attach-file <filename> in.pdf [-to-page <n>] [-afd <string>] [-afr <relationship>] [-attach-file …] -o out.pdf
Attach a file to a PDF, given its filename.
Instead of attaching globally, add it as an attachment on a single page.
Supply the textual description for this attachment.
Supply the so-called Relationship for this attachment.
cpdf -list-attached-files in.pdf [-json] [-include-data]
List attached files.
List attached files in JSON format. See cpdfmanual.pdf for full details.
Include the attachment file data when listing in JSON format.
cpdf -remove-files in.pdf -o out.pdf
Remove attached files from a PDF.
cpdf -dump-attachments in.pdf -o <path>
Extract the attachments to a given directory.
cpdf -list-images[-json] in.pdf [<range>] [-inline]
List the images in a file together with their object number, page numbers, image name, width, height, size in bytes, bits per pixel, colour space, compression method, mask type and mask object number. Either in plain text (-list-images) or JSON (-list-images-json).
Also list inline images.
cpdf -list-images-used[-json] in.pdf [<range>] [-inline]
cpdf -image-resolution[-json] <n> in.pdf [<range>] [-inline]
The -list-images-used and -list-images-used-json operations list the images at point of use with their page number, image name, width in pixels, height in pixels, x resolution, y resolution and object number. Using -image-resolution or -image-resolution-json instead reports only such images as do not reach a minimum resolution.
Also list inline images.
cpdf -extract-images in.pdf [<range>] [-im <path>] [-p2p <path>] [-dedup | -dedup-perpage] [-raw] [-inline] [-merge-masks] -o <path>
Extract images to a given path e.g “output/%%%”, which would create output/001.jpg, output/002.png and so on. JPEG, JPEG2000 and lossless JBIG2 images are extracted directly. Lossy JBIG2 images are extracted in sections. Other images are written as PNGs, processed with ImageMagick.
Provide path to ImageMagick.
Provide path to pnmtopng if ImageMagick not available.
Deduplicate images, extracting only once even if multiply-included.
Deduplicate images, but only per-page.
Output .pnm files instead of .png.
Also extract inline images.
Merge soft masks with their images when extracting.
cpdf -extract-single-image <object number> in.pdf [-im <path>] [-p2p <path>] [-raw] [-merge-masks] -o <filename>
Extract a single image, given its object number. Other flags as above.
cpdf -process-images in.pdf [<range>] [-process-images-info] [-process-images-force] [-im <filename>] [-jbig2enc <filename>] [-jbig2dec <filename>] [-lossless-resample[-dpi] <n> | -lossless-to-jpeg <n>] [-jpeg-to-jpeg <n>] [-jpeg-to-jpeg-scale <n>] [-lossless-to-jpeg2000 <n>] [-jpeg2000-to-jpeg2000 <n>] [-jpeg-to-jpeg-dpi <n>] [-1bpp-method <method>] [-jbig2-lossy-threshold <n>] [-pixel-threshold <n>] [-length-threshold <n>] [-percentage-threshold <n>] [-dpi-threshold <n>] [-resample-interpolate] -o out.pdf
Re-process existing images within the PDF, typically to reduce size. For a full commentary, see cpdfmanual.pdf.
Show the work being done.
Process image even when size would increase.
Supply path to ImageMagick.
Supply path to jbig2enc.
Supply path to jbig2dec.
Resample lossless images to the given percentage scale.
Resample lossless images to a given DPI resolution.
Convert lossless images to JPEG at the given quality level.
Reprocess JPEG images to the given quality level.
Reprocess JPEG images to the given percentage scale.
Reprocess JPEG images to the given DPI resolution.
Convert lossless images to JPEG 2000 at the given quality level.
Reprocess JPEG 2000 images to the given quality level.
Specify method for 1bpp images. One of JBIG2Lossy, JBIG2Lossless, CCITT, CCITTG4.
Set the threshold for lossy JBIG2 compression.
Images below this number of pixels not processed (default 25).
Images with less than this number of bytes not processed (default 100).
Results not below this percentage of original size discarded (default 90).
Only image above this threshold at all use points processed (default no dpi threshold).
Use interpolation when resampling.
cpdf -rasterize in.pdf [<range>] [-gs <path>] [-rasterize[-gray | -1bpp | -jpeg | -jpeggray]] [-rasterize-res <n>] [-rasterize-jpeg-quality <n>] [-rasterize-no-antialias | -rasterize-downsample] [-rasterize-annots] [-rasterize-alpha] -o out.pdf
Rasterize each page, replacing the page content with the rasterized version in the output PDF.
Supply path to gs.
Use grayscale instead of colour.
Use monochrome instead of colour.
Use JPEG instead of lossless compression.
Use grayscale JPEG instead of lossless compression.
Set the resolution (default 144dpi).
Set JPEG image quality (0..100).
Turn off anti-aliasing.
Use better but slower anti-aliasing.
Rasterize annotations instead of retaining.
Produce an alpha channel (lossless only)
cpdf -output-image in.pdf [<range>] [-gs <path>] [-rasterize[-gray | -1bpp | -jpeg | -jpeggray] [-rasterize-res <n>] [-rasterize-jpeg-quality <n>] [-rasterize-no-antialias | -rasterize-downsample] [-rasterize-annots] [-rasterize-alpha] [-tobox <boxname>] -o <format>
Output rasterized images for each page to the given folder and format e.g “dir/%%%.png” would create dir/001.png and so on. Options as above and:
Specify the box to rasterize (default /MediaBox).
cpdf -list-fonts[-json] in.pdf
List the fonts on each page in a file together with their types. Either in plain text (-list-fonts) or JSON (-list-fonts-json) format.
cpdf -print-font-table <font name> in.pdf [-print-font-table-page <n>]
Print a font table for a given font name and page, e.g:
cpdf -print-font-table /XYPLPB+NimbusSanL-Bold -print-font-table-page 2 cpdfmanual.pdf
67 = U+0043 (C - LATIN CAPITAL LETTER C) = /C
68 = U+0044 (D - LATIN CAPITAL LETTER D) = /D
70 = U+0046 (F - LATIN CAPITAL LETTER F) = /F
71 = U+0047 (G - LATIN CAPITAL LETTER G) = /G
...cpdf -copy-font fromfile.pdf in.pdf [<range>] -copy-font-page <n> -copy-font-name <name> -o out.pdf
A low-level operation to copy a font from one file to another.
The page from which to copy the font.
The (PDF) name of the font.
cpdf -remove-fonts in.pdf -o out.pdf
Remove fonts from a file.
cpdf -missing-fonts in.pdf
Report missing fonts - i.e those which are unembedded.
cpdf -embed-missing-fonts -gs <path to gs> in.pdf -o out.pdf
Use gs to embed missing fonts into a PDF. Note: putting a PDF file through gs in this manner may not be lossless: some metadata may not be preserved.
cpdf -extract-font <n>,<pdf font name> in.pdf -o out.font
Extract a font file from a PDF given a page number, font name pair e.g:
cpdf -extract-font 5,/F50 in.pdf -o out.ttf
cpdf in.pdf -output-json [-output-json-parse-content-streams] [-output-json-no-stream-data] [-output-json-decompress-streams] [-output-json-clean-strings] [-utf8] -o out.json
Convert PDF to a JSON format which may be inspected, or edited and round-tripped back into PDF.
Parse the content streams into JSON too.
Elide stream data. This makes a smaller file, but bars round-tripping.
Keep the streams intact, and decompress them.
Deprecated in favour of -utf8 below.
Use UTF8 rather than PDFDocEncoding for strings, to make them more easily editable.
cpdf -j in.json -o out.pdf
Convert a JSON file to a PDF file.
cpdf -ocg-list in.pdf
List the optional content groups in the PDF, one per line, to standard output.
cpdf -ocg-rename in.pdf -ocg-rename-from <a> -ocg-rename-to <b> -o out.pdf
Rename an optional content group given the old and new names.
cpdf -ocg-order-all in.pdf -o out.pdf
Ensure that every optional content group appears in the order list.
cpdf -ocg-coalesce-on-name in.pdf -o out.pdf
Coalesce optional content groups. For example, if we merge or stamp two files both with an OCG called “Layer 1”, we will have two different optional content groups. This command will merge them into a single optional content group.
cpdf -create-pdf [-create-pdf-pages <n>] [-create-pdf-papersize <papersize>] -o out.pdf
Create a new PDF (default: one page, A4 portrait).
Give the number of pages.
Give the paper size, e.g “a3landscape” or “200pt 600pt”
cpdf -typeset <filename> [-create-pdf-papersize <papersize>] [-font <font>] [-font-size <n>] [-subformat <subformat>] [-title <string>] -o out.pdf
Typeset a text file into a PDF.
Give the paper size.
The font (default Times-Roman)
The font size (default 12pt)
Specify PDF/UA-1 or PDF/UA-2 to make a conforming file.
Specify a title when using -subformat for a PDF/UA file.
cpdf -jpeg <filename> [-subformat <subformat>] [-title <string>] -o out.pdf
cpdf -png <filename> [-subformat <subformat>] [-title <string>] -o out.pdf
cpdf -jpeg2000 <filename> [-subformat <subformat>] [-title <string>] -o out.pdf
Build a PDF from an image file (JPEG, PNG or JPEG2000).
Specify PDF/UA-1 or PDF/UA-2 to make a conforming file.
Specify a title when using -subformat for a PDF/UA file.
cpdf [-jbig2-global <filename>] -jbig2 <filename> [-jbig2-global | -jbig2-global-clear] [-jbig2 <filename>] … [-subformat <subformat>] [-title <string>] -o out.pdf
Make a multi-page PDF from one or more PDF-appropriate JBIG2 fragments prepared by the jbig2enc program. For example, in lossless mode:
cpdf -jbig2 1.jbig2 -jbig2 2.jbig2 -jbig2 3.jbig2 -o out.pdf
In lossy mode, jbig2globals segments may be specified:
cpdf -jbig2-global 0.jbig2globals -jbig2 1.jbig2 -jbig2 2.jbig2 -jbig2 3.jbig2 -o out.pdf
Change the jbig2global segment in use.
Cease use of jbig2global segment, and return to lossless mode.
Specify PDF/UA-1 or PDF/UA-2 to make a conforming file.
Specify a title when using -subformat for a PDF/UA file.
cpdf in.pdf [<range>] [-draw-struct-tree] -draw <draw operations> [-underneath] -o out.pdf
Draw on a PDF. See cpdfmanual.pdf for a tutorial, and full information.
Produce structure information.
Draw underneath instead of on top of any existing page content.
cpdf -text-width <string> [-font <font>] [-fontsize <n>]
Return the width of a string of text in a one of the standard 14 fonts. Used for calculations of text position (e.g right-alignment).
Specify the font.
Specify the font size.
Building and showing paths
Draw rectangle.
Move to.
Add line to path.
Add Bezier curve to path.
Add Bezier curve to path.
Add Bezier curve to path.
Add circle to path.
Stroke path.
Fill path.
Fill path, even odd.
Stroke and fill path.
Stroke and fill path, even odd.
Close path.
Clipping with paths
Clip.
Clip, even odd.
Path parameters
Set stroke colour.
Set fill colour.
Set stroke thickness.
Set cap.
Set join.
Set miter limit.
Set dash pattern.
The graphics stack and matrices
Push graphics stack.
Pop graphics stack.
Append to graphics matrix.
Translate the graphics matrix.
Rotate the graphics matrix.
Scale the graphics matrix.
Shear the graphics matrix in X.
Shear the graphics matrix in Y.
Re-use with XObjects
Specify the bounding box for xobjects.
Begin saving a sequence of graphics operators.
End saving a sequence of graphics operators.
Use a saved sequence of graphics operators.
Images
Load a JPEG from file and name it.
Load a PNG from file and name it.
Load a JPEG2000 from file and name it.
Draw an image which has already been loaded.
Transparency
Set opacity.
Set stroke opacity.
Text
Begin text.
End text.
Draw text.
Draw text with %specials.
Typeset a paragraph.
Typeset multiple paragraphs.
Set paragraph indent.
Set leading.
Set character spacing.
Set word space.
Set text scale.
Set text rendering mode.
Set text rise.
New line.
The Next Page
Move to a fresh page.
Structure Information
Add structure information. Must precede -draw on command line.
Begin marked content.
End marked content.
Begin structure tree branch.
End structure tree branch.
Automatically tag paragraphs and images.
Refrain from automatically tagging paragraphs and images.
Begin manual artifact.
End manual artifact.
Prevent automatic addition of artifacts during post-processing.
Set the namespace for future branches of the tree.
Set element information.
Erase element information.
Set role map.
cpdf -print-struct-tree in.pdf
Print a PDF’s structure tree to standard output for inspection.
cpdf -extract-struct-tree in.pdf -o out.json
Extract the whole structure tree in JSON format. See cpdfmanual.pdf for details.
cpdf -replace-struct-tree in.json in.pdf -o out.pdf
Replace a PDF’s structure tree with one from a JSON file.
cpdf -remove-struct-tree in.pdf -o out.pdf
Remove the structure tree from a file.
cpdf -mark-as-artifact in.pdf -o out.pdf
Mark all the content of the file as being an artifact.
cpdf -verify “PDF/UA-1(matterhorn)” in.pdf [-verify-single <test>] [-json]
Verify conformance with PDF/UA-1.
Output conformance failures in JSON rather than plain text format.
Verify just one test. See cpdfmanual.pdf for list of tests.
cpdf -mark-as [“PDF/UA-1” | “PDF/UA-2”] in.pdf -o out.pdf
Mark a PDF as conforming to PDF/UA-1 or PDF/UA-2
cpdf -remove-mark [“PDF/UA-1” | “PDF/UA-2”] in.pdf -o out.pdf
Remove conformance marker from a PDF.
cpdf -create-pdf-ua-<1 | 2> <string> [-create-pdf-pages <n>] [-create-pdf-papersize <papersize>] -o out.pdf
Create a new, blank, PDF/UA-1 or PDF/UA-2 file with the given title.
Give the number of pages.
Give the paper size, e.g “a3landscape” or “200pt 600pt”
cpdf -draft in.pdf [<range>] [-boxes] [-draft-remove-only <n>] -o out.pdf
Remove bit-mapped (photographic) images from a PDF.
Replace each image with a crossed box to show where it was.
Remove only one image, with the given name. The name can be obtained from, for example, -list-images-used.
cpdf -remove-all-text in.pdf [<range>] -o out.pdf
Remove all text from a PDF.
cpdf -blacktext in.pdf [<range>] -o out.pdf
Make all text black.
cpdf -blacklines in.pdf [<range>] -o out.pdf
Make all lines black.
cpdf -blackfills in.pdf [<range>] -o out.pdf
Make all fills black.
cpdf -thinlines <min thickness> in.pdf [<range>] -o out.pdf
Make each line a minimum thickness. A negative value will instead thin lines to the absolute of the value given. By processing twice, with a positive then negative figure, it is therefore possible to clamp thicknesses to a range or single value.
cpdf -clean in.pdf -o out.pdf
Deprecated. This work is now done by default upon writing any file.
cpdf -set-version <version number> in.pdf -o out.pdf
Set the version of a PDF. E.g for version 1.4, use -set-version 4. For PDF versions starting with 2, add ten to the number. E.g for PDF 2.0, use -set-version 10.
cpdf -copy-id-from source.pdf in.pdf -o out.pdf
Copy the ID from one PDF to another.
cpdf -remove-id in.pdf -o out.pdf
Remove the ID from a PDF.
cpdf -list-spot-colors in.pdf
List the names of any separation colour spaces in a PDF.
cpdf -print-dict-entry <key> in.pdf [-json]
cpdf -remove-dict-entry <key> in.pdf [-dict-entry-search <term>] -o out.pdf
cpdf -replace-dict-entry <key> -replace-dict-entry-value <value> in.pdf [-dict-entry-search <term>] -o out.pdf
Low level operations to edit PDF objects directly. See cpdfmanual.pdf for details.
cpdf -remove-clipping in.pdf [<range>] -o out.pdf
Remove any clipping paths from a PDF.
cpdf -obj[-json] <object specification> in.pdf
cpdf -replace-obj <object specification>=<object> in.pdf -o out.pdf
cpdf -remove-obj <object number> in.pdf -o out.pdf
cpdf -extract-stream[-decompress] <object specification> in.pdf -o out.dat
cpdf -replace-stream <object specification> -replace-stream-with <filename> in.pdf -o out.pdf
Low level operations to explore and edit PDF files object-by-object. See cpdfmanual.pdf for details.
cpdf -contains-javascript in.pdf
Prints true if the PDF contains JavaScript, false otherwise.
cpdf -remove-javascript in.pdf -o out.pdf
Remove JavaScript from a PDF.
Show command line of external commands as they are called if equal to “true”.
Same as adding -debug to command line, if equal to “true”.
Expand data “now” to the same, false value each time, if equal to “true”.
Produce the same file ID each time, if equal to “true”.
See https://github.com/johnwhitington/cpdf-source/issues or email contact@coherentgraphics.co.uk