Pdftk Server

PDFtk Server

PDFtk Server is a command-line tool for working with PDF documents. It can merge, split, rotate, encrypt, decrypt, watermark, stamp, fill forms, extract metadata, and manipulate PDFs in a variety of ways.

When to Use This Skill

• Merging or joining multiple PDF files into one
• Splitting or bursting a PDF into individual pages
• Rotating PDF pages
• Encrypting or decrypting PDF files
• Filling PDF form fields from FDF/XFDF data
• Applying background watermarks or foreground stamps
• Extracting PDF metadata, bookmarks, or form field information
• Repairing corrupted PDF files
• Attaching or extracting files embedded in PDFs
• Removing specific pages from a PDF
• Collating separately scanned even/odd pages
• Compressing or decompressing PDF page streams

Prerequisites

• PDFtk Server must be installed on the system
• Windows: winget install --id PDFLabs.PDFtk.Server
• macOS: brew install pdftk-java
• Linux (Debian/Ubuntu): sudo apt-get install pdftk
• Linux (Red Hat/Fedora): sudo dnf install pdftk
• Access to a terminal or command prompt
• Verify installation by running pdftk --version

Step-by-Step Workflows

Merge Multiple PDFs

pdftk file1.pdf file2.pdf cat output merged.pdf

Using handles for more control:

pdftk A=file1.pdf B=file2.pdf cat A B output merged.pdf

Split a PDF into Individual Pages

pdftk input.pdf burst

Extract Specific Pages

Extract pages 1-5 and 10-15:

pdftk input.pdf cat 1-5 10-15 output extracted.pdf

Remove Specific Pages

Remove page 13:

pdftk input.pdf cat 1-12 14-end output output.pdf

Rotate Pages

Rotate all pages 90 degrees clockwise:

pdftk input.pdf cat 1-endeast output rotated.pdf

Encrypt a PDF

Set an owner password and a user password with 128-bit encryption (default):

pdftk input.pdf output secured.pdf owner_pw mypassword user_pw userpass

Decrypt a PDF

Remove encryption using the known password:

pdftk secured.pdf input_pw mypassword output unsecured.pdf

Fill a PDF Form

Populate form fields from an FDF file and flatten to prevent further edits:

pdftk form.pdf fill_form data.fdf output filled.pdf flatten

Apply a Background Watermark

Place a single-page PDF behind every page of the input (input should have transparency):

pdftk input.pdf background watermark.pdf output watermarked.pdf

Stamp an Overlay

Place a single-page PDF on top of every page of the input:

pdftk input.pdf stamp overlay.pdf output stamped.pdf

Extract Metadata

Export bookmarks, page metrics, and document information:

pdftk input.pdf dump_data output metadata.txt

Repair a Corrupted PDF

Pass a broken PDF through pdftk to attempt automatic repair:

pdftk broken.pdf output fixed.pdf

Collate Scanned Pages

Interleave separately scanned even and odd pages:

pdftk A=even.pdf B=odd.pdf shuffle A B output collated.pdf

Troubleshooting

References

Bundled reference documents in the references/ folder:

• pdftk-man-page.md - Complete manual reference with all operations, options, and syntax
• pdftk-cli-examples.md - Practical command-line examples for common tasks
• download.md - Installation and download instructions for all platforms
• pdftk-server-license.md - PDFtk Server licensing information
• third-party-materials.md - Third-party library licenses

Download

PDFtk provides an installer for Windows. Many Linux distributions provide a PDFtk package you can download and install using their package manager.

Microsoft Windows

Download the PDFtk Server installer for Windows 10 and 11 using the following command:

winget install --id PDFLabs.PDFtk.Server

Then run the installer:

.\pdftk_server-2.02-win-setup.exe

After installation, open a command prompt, type pdftk and press Enter. PDFtk will respond by displaying brief usage information.

Linux

On Debian/Ubuntu-based distributions:

sudo apt-get install pdftk

On Red Hat/Fedora-based distributions:

sudo dnf install pdftk

PDFtk Server GPL License

PDFtk Server (pdftk) is not public domain software. It can be installed and used at no charge under its GNU General Public License (GPL) Version 2. PDFtk uses third-party libraries. The licenses and source code for these libraries are described here under Third-Party Materials.

PDFtk Server Redistribution License

If you plan to distribute PDFtk Server as part of your own software, you will need a PDFtk Server Redistribution License. The exception to this rule is if your software is licensed to the public under the GPL or another compatible license.

The commercial redistribution license allows you, subject to the terms of the license, to distribute an unlimited number of PDFtk Server binaries as part of one distinct commercial product. Please read the full license:

PDFtk Server Redistribution License (PDF)

Now available for $995:

PDFtk Server Redistribution License

Build PDFtk Server from Source

PDFtk Server can be compiled from its source code. PDFtk Server is known to compile and run on Debian, Ubuntu Linux, FreeBSD, Slackware Linux, SuSE, Solaris and HP-UX.

Download and unpack the source:

curl -LO https://www.pdflabs.com/tools/pdftk-the-pdf-toolkit/pdftk-2.02-src.zip
unzip pdftk-2.02-src.zip

Review the pdftk license information in: license_gpl_pdftk/readme.txt.

Review the Makefile provided for your platform and confirm that TOOLPATH and VERSUFF suit your installation of gcc/gcj/libgcj. If you run apropos gcc and it returns something like gcc-4.5, then set VERSUFF to -4.5. The TOOLPATH probably does not need to be set.

Change into the pdftk sub-directory and run:

cd pdftk
make -f Makefile.Debian

Substitute your platform's Makefile filename as needed.

PDFtk has been built using gcc/gcj/libgcj versions 3.4.5, 4.4.1, 4.5.0, and 4.6.3. PDFtk 1.4x fails to build on gcc 3.3.5 due to missing libgcj features. If you are using gcc 3.3 or older, try building pdftk 1.12 instead.

PDFtk CLI Examples

PDFtk is a command-line program. Use your computer terminal or command prompt when running these examples.

Collate Scanned Pages

Interleave even and odd scanned pages into a single document:

pdftk A=even.pdf B=odd.pdf shuffle A B output collated.pdf

If the odd pages are in reverse order:

pdftk A=even.pdf B=odd.pdf shuffle A Bend-1 output collated.pdf

Decrypt a PDF

Remove encryption from a PDF using its password:

pdftk secured.pdf input_pw foopass output unsecured.pdf

Encrypt a PDF Using 128-Bit Strength

Apply owner password encryption:

pdftk 1.pdf output 1.128.pdf owner_pw foopass

Require a password to open the PDF as well:

pdftk 1.pdf output 1.128.pdf owner_pw foo user_pw baz

Encrypt while still allowing printing:

pdftk 1.pdf output 1.128.pdf owner_pw foo user_pw baz allow printing

Join PDFs

Merge multiple PDFs into one:

pdftk in1.pdf in2.pdf cat output out1.pdf

Using handles for explicit control:

pdftk A=in1.pdf B=in2.pdf cat A B output out1.pdf

Using wildcards to merge all PDFs in a directory:

pdftk *.pdf cat output combined.pdf

Remove Specific Pages

Exclude page 13 from a document:

pdftk in.pdf cat 1-12 14-end output out1.pdf

Using a handle:

pdftk A=in1.pdf cat A1-12 A14-end output out1.pdf

Apply 40-Bit Encryption

Merge and encrypt with 40-bit strength:

pdftk 1.pdf 2.pdf cat output 3.pdf encrypt_40bit owner_pw foopass

Join Files When One Is Password-Protected

Supply the password for the encrypted input:

pdftk A=secured.pdf 2.pdf input_pw A=foopass cat output 3.pdf

Uncompress PDF Page Streams

Decompress internal streams for inspection or debugging:

pdftk doc.pdf output doc.unc.pdf uncompress

Repair Corrupted PDFs

Pass a broken PDF through pdftk to attempt repair:

pdftk broken.pdf output fixed.pdf

Burst a PDF into Individual Pages

Split each page into its own file:

pdftk in.pdf burst

Burst with encryption and limited printing:

pdftk in.pdf burst owner_pw foopass allow DegradedPrinting

Generate a PDF Metadata Report

Export bookmarks, metadata, and page metrics:

pdftk in.pdf dump_data output report.txt

Rotate Pages

Rotate the first page 90 degrees clockwise:

pdftk in.pdf cat 1east 2-end output out.pdf

Rotate all pages 180 degrees:

pdftk in.pdf cat 1-endsouth output out.pdf

Fill a PDF Form from Data

Populate form fields from an FDF file:

pdftk form.pdf fill_form data.fdf output filled_form.pdf

Flatten the form after filling (prevents further editing):

pdftk form.pdf fill_form data.fdf output filled_form.pdf flatten

Apply a Background Watermark

Stamp a watermark behind every page:

pdftk input.pdf background watermark.pdf output watermarked.pdf

Stamp an Overlay on Top

Apply an overlay PDF on top of every page:

pdftk input.pdf stamp overlay.pdf output stamped.pdf

Attach Files to a PDF

Embed files as attachments:

pdftk input.pdf attach_files table.html graph.png output output.pdf

Extract Attachments from a PDF

Unpack all embedded files:

pdftk input.pdf unpack_files output /path/to/output/

PDFtk Server Manual Reference

• `pdftk` version 2.02
• Check version history for changes
• See server manual for the latest documentation

Overview

PDFtk is a command-line utility for manipulating PDF documents. It enables operations including merging, splitting, rotating, encrypting, decrypting, watermarking, form-filling, and metadata extraction of PDF files.

Synopsis

pdftk [input PDF files | - | PROMPT]
      [input_pw <passwords>]
      [<operation>] [<operation arguments>]
      [output <filename | - | PROMPT>]
      [encrypt_40bit | encrypt_128bit]
      [allow <permissions>]
      [owner_pw <password>] [user_pw <password>]
      [compress | uncompress]
      [flatten] [need_appearances]
      [verbose] [dont_ask | do_ask]

Input Options

Input PDF Files: Specify one or more PDFs. Use - for stdin or PROMPT for interactive input. Files may be assigned handles (single uppercase letters) for reference in operations:

pdftk A=file1.pdf B=file2.pdf cat A B output merged.pdf

Input Passwords (input_pw): For encrypted PDFs, provide owner or user passwords associated with file handles or by input order:

pdftk A=secured.pdf input_pw A=foopass cat output unsecured.pdf

Core Operations

cat - Concatenate and Compose

Merge, split, or reorder pages with optional rotation. Supports page ranges, reverse ordering (prefix r), page qualifiers (even/odd), and rotation (compass directions north, south, east, west, left, right, down).

Page range syntax: [handle][begin[-end[qualifier]]][rotation]

pdftk A=in1.pdf B=in2.pdf cat A1-7 B1-5 A8 output combined.pdf

shuffle - Collate Pages

Takes one page from each input range in turn, producing an interleaved result. Useful for collating separately scanned odd and even pages.

pdftk A=even.pdf B=odd.pdf shuffle A B output collated.pdf

burst - Split into Individual Pages

Splits a single PDF into one file per page. Output files are named using printf-style formatting (default: pg_%04d.pdf).

pdftk input.pdf burst output page_%02d.pdf

rotate - Rotate Pages

Rotates specified pages while maintaining document order. Uses the same page range syntax as cat.

pdftk in.pdf cat 1-endeast output rotated.pdf

generate_fdf - Extract Form Data

Creates an FDF file from a PDF form, capturing current field values.

pdftk form.pdf generate_fdf output form_data.fdf

fill_form - Populate Form Fields

Fills PDF form fields from an FDF or XFDF data file.

pdftk form.pdf fill_form data.fdf output filled.pdf flatten

background - Apply Watermark Behind Content

Applies a single-page PDF as a background (watermark) behind every page of the input. The input PDF should have a transparent background for best results.

pdftk input.pdf background watermark.pdf output watermarked.pdf

multibackground - Apply Multi-Page Watermark

Like background, but applies corresponding pages from the background PDF to matching pages in the input.

pdftk input.pdf multibackground watermarks.pdf output watermarked.pdf

stamp - Overlay on Top of Content

Stamps a single-page PDF on top of every page of the input. Use this instead of background when the overlay PDF is opaque or has no transparency.

pdftk input.pdf stamp overlay.pdf output stamped.pdf

multistamp - Multi-Page Overlay

Like stamp, but applies corresponding pages from the stamp PDF to matching pages in the input.

pdftk input.pdf multistamp overlays.pdf output stamped.pdf

dump_data - Export Metadata

Outputs PDF metadata, bookmarks, and page metrics to a text file.

pdftk input.pdf dump_data output metadata.txt

dump_data_utf8 - Export Metadata (UTF-8)

Same as dump_data, but outputs UTF-8 encoded text.

pdftk input.pdf dump_data_utf8 output metadata_utf8.txt

dump_data_fields - Extract Form Field Info

Reports form field information including type, name, and values.

pdftk form.pdf dump_data_fields output fields.txt

dump_data_fields_utf8 - Extract Form Field Info (UTF-8)

Same as dump_data_fields, but outputs UTF-8 encoded text.

dump_data_annots - Extract Annotations

Reports PDF annotation information.

pdftk input.pdf dump_data_annots output annots.txt

update_info - Modify Metadata

Updates PDF metadata and bookmarks from a text file (same format as dump_data output).

pdftk input.pdf update_info metadata.txt output updated.pdf

update_info_utf8 - Modify Metadata (UTF-8)

Same as update_info, but expects UTF-8 encoded input.

attach_files - Embed Files

Attaches files to a PDF, optionally at a specific page.

pdftk input.pdf attach_files table.html graph.png to_page 6 output output.pdf

unpack_files - Extract Attachments

Extracts file attachments from a PDF.

pdftk input.pdf unpack_files output /path/to/output/

Output Options

Permissions

Use with the allow keyword when encrypting. Available permissions:

Key Notes

• Page numbers are one-based; use the end keyword for the final page
• Handles are optional when working with a single PDF
• Filter mode (no operation specified) applies output options without restructuring
• Reverse page references use the r prefix (e.g., r1 = last page, r2 = second-to-last)
• The background operation requires a transparent input; use stamp for opaque overlay PDFs
• Output filename cannot match any input filename

PDFtk Server License

PDFtk Server can be used at no charge under its GPL license.

Commercial users will benefit from the comprehensive commercial support agreement.

To distribute PDFtk Server as part of your own commercial product you will need to purchase the PDFtk Server Redistribution License.

PDFtk Server Redistribution License

If you plan to distribute PDFtk Server as part of your own software, you will need a PDFtk Server Redistribution License. The exception to this rule is if your software is licensed to the public under the GPL or another compatible license.

The commercial redistribution license allows you, subject to the terms of the license, to distribute an unlimited number of PDFtk Server binaries as part of one distinct commercial product. Please read the full license:

PDFtk Server Redistribution License (PDF)

Now available for $995:

Buy the PDFtk Server Redistribution License

PDFtk Server GPL License

PDFtk Server (pdftk) is not public domain software. It can be used at no charge under its GNU General Public License (GPL) Version 2. Click here to read the complete text.

PDFtk uses third-party libraries. The licenses and source code for these libraries are described in the third-party-materials reference document.

Third-Party Materials

PDFtk Server (pdftk) uses third-party libraries. Depending on the target operating system, some of these are linked or distributed with pdftk. These are their licensing terms.

GCC libgcj

The libgcj library is licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License.

Linking this library statically or dynamically with other modules is making a combined work based on this library. Thus, the terms and conditions of the GNU General Public License cover the whole combination.

As a special exception, the copyright holders of this library give you permission to link this library with independent modules to produce an executable, regardless of the license terms of these independent modules, and to copy and distribute the resulting executable under terms of your choice, provided that you also meet, for each linked independent module, the terms and conditions of the license of that module. An independent module is a module which is not derived from or based on this library. If you modify this library, you may extend this exception to your version of the library, but you are not obligated to do so. If you do not wish to do so, delete this exception statement from your version.

Click to read the GNU General Public License Version 2.

Libgcj is part of GCC, so you can find its source code in the GCC source code.

GCC libgcc and libstdc++

GCC is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 3, or (at your option) any later version.

GCC is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

Under Section 7 of GPL version 3, you are granted additional permissions described in the GCC Runtime Library Exception, version 3.1, as published by the Free Software Foundation.

Click to read the GNU General Public License Version 3.

Click to read the GCC Runtime Library Exception Version 3.1.

Libgcc and libstdc++ are part of GCC, so you can find their source code in the GCC source code.

GNU Classpath

GNU Classpath is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option) any later version.

GNU Classpath is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with GNU Classpath; see the file COPYING. If not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA.

Linking this library statically or dynamically with other modules is making a combined work based on this library. Thus, the terms and conditions of the GNU General Public License cover the whole combination.

As a special exception, the copyright holders of this library give you permission to link this library with independent modules to produce an executable, regardless of the license terms of these independent modules, and to copy and distribute the resulting executable under terms of your choice, provided that you also meet, for each linked independent module, the terms and conditions of the license of that module. An independent module is a module which is not derived from or based on this library. If you modify this library, you may extend this exception to your version of the library, but you are not obligated to do so. If you do not wish to do so, delete this exception statement from your version.

Click to read the GNU General Public License Version 2.

Classpath is part of GCC, so you can find its source code in the GCC source code.

Bouncy Castle

The Bouncy Castle License

Copyright (c) 2000-2008 The Legion Of The Bouncy Castle (http://www.bouncycastle.org)

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

Download the Bouncy Castle source code from: http://www.bouncycastle.org/.

iText (itext-paulo)

This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU Library General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU Library General Public License for more details.

Click to read the GNU Library General Public License Version 2.

The iText source code used in pdftk is slightly modified from its original version. This modified version is included with the pdftk source code.

MinGW Runtimes (Windows Only)

MinGW runtime: The MinGW base runtime package has been placed in the public domain, and is not governed by copyright. This basically means that you can do what you like with the code.

w32api: You are free to use, modify and copy this package. No restrictions are imposed on programs or object files linked with this library. You may not restrict the usage of this library. You may distribute this library as part of another package or as a modified package if, and only if, you do not restrict the usage of the portions consisting of this (optionally modified) library. If distributed as a modified package, then a copy of this notice must be included.

This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND; without even the implied warranties of MERCHANTABILITY or of FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Download the MinGW runtime source code from: http://mingw.org/.

Libiconv

The GNU LIBICONV Library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU Library General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

The GNU LIBICONV Library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU Library General Public License for more details.

Click to read the GNU Library General Public License.

Download the libiconv source code from: http://www.gnu.org/software/libiconv/

Apache Batik

Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more contributor license agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed with this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership. The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at

http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.

Click to read the Apache License Version 2.0.

Click to read the Apache Batik NOTICE file.

Download the Apache Batik source code from: http://xmlgraphics.apache.org/batik/.