pdf Getting started with pdf PDFTK Server for pdf manipulation

Example

Install PDFTK Server from https://www.pdflabs.com/tools/pdftk-server/

PDFtk Server is a command line tool which can:

•    Merge PDF Documents or Collate PDF Page Scans
•    Split PDF Pages into a New Document
•    Rotate PDF Documents or Pages
•    Decrypt Input as Necessary (Password Required)
•    Encrypt Output as Desired
•    Fill PDF Forms with X/FDF Data and/or Flatten Forms
•    Generate FDF Data Stencils from PDF Forms
•    Apply a Background Watermark or a Foreground Stamp
•    Report PDF Metrics, Bookmarks and Metadata
•    Add/Update PDF Bookmarks or Metadata
•    Attach Files to PDF Pages or the PDF Document
•    Unpack PDF Attachments
•    Burst a PDF Document into Single Pages
•    Uncompress and Re-Compress Page Streams
•    Repair Corrupted PDF (Where Possible)

PDFtk Server does not require Adobe Acrobat or Reader, and it runs on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux.

Collate scanned pages

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

or if odd.pdf is in reverse order:

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

Decrypt a PDF

pdftk secured.pdf input_pw foopass output unsecured.pdf

Encrypt a PDF using 128-bit strength (the default), withhold all permissions (the default)

pdftk 1.pdf output 1.128.pdf owner_pw foopass

Same as above, except password baz must also be used to open output PDF

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

Same as above, except printing is allowed (once the PDF is open)

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

Join in1.pdf and in2.pdf into a new PDF, out1.pdf

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

or (using handles):

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

or (using wildcards):

pdftk *.pdf cat output combined.pdf

Remove page 13 from in1.pdf to create out1.pdf

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

or:

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