pikepdf

10.5.1 · active · verified Thu Apr 09

pikepdf is a Python library that enables reading, writing, repairing, and transforming PDF files, leveraging the powerful `qpdf` C++ library. It offers comprehensive PDF manipulation capabilities, including merging, splitting, compressing, and extracting data. Currently at version 10.5.1, it follows a regular release cadence with several minor and patch releases per year.

Warnings

gotcha pikepdf is a Python wrapper around the `qpdf` C++ library. You must have `qpdf` installed on your system for pikepdf to function. It is not installed via pip.
Fix: Install `qpdf` via your system's package manager (e.g., `apt install qpdf` on Debian/Ubuntu, `brew install qpdf` on macOS, or download from qpdf.sourceforge.io for Windows).
breaking The `Pdf.read()` method was removed in favor of `Pdf.open()`. Always use `Pdf.open()` and it is strongly recommended to use it as a context manager (`with Pdf.open(...) as pdf:`).
Fix: Replace `Pdf.read(filename)` with `with Pdf.open(filename) as pdf:`.
breaking Attributes like `page.trimbox` and `page.cropbox` now return `PageBox` objects instead of simple tuples or lists of numbers. These `PageBox` objects have methods like `pagebox.as_list()` or `pagebox.as_tuple()` to get the raw coordinates.
Fix: When accessing page box coordinates, adapt your code from `box[0]` to `box.as_list()[0]` or use `box.left`, `box.bottom`, etc. directly on the `PageBox` object.
gotcha Changes made to a `Pdf` object are not saved until `pdf.save()` is explicitly called. If you modify a PDF and forget to call `save()`, your changes will be lost.
Fix: Ensure `pdf.save(output_filename)` is called after all modifications. When using `with Pdf.open(...) as pdf:`, `pdf.save()` should be called within the `with` block.

Install

pip install pikepdf Install pikepdf

Imports

Pdf
```
from pikepdf import Pdf
```
Page
```
from pikepdf import Page
```

Quickstart

This quickstart demonstrates how to create a new PDF, add pages to it, and then open and modify an existing PDF file using `pikepdf`. The `Pdf` object should always be used within a `with` statement for proper resource management.

from pikepdf import Pdf, Page
import os

# Create a new PDF and add a blank page
output_filename = "my_first_pikepdf.pdf"
with Pdf.new() as pdf:
    pdf.add_blank_page()
    pdf.save(output_filename)

print(f"Created {output_filename} with one blank page.")

# Open an existing PDF, add another page, and save it to a new file
modified_filename = "my_modified_pikepdf.pdf"
with Pdf.open(output_filename) as pdf:
    pdf.add_blank_page()
    print(f"PDF now has {len(pdf.pages)} pages.")
    pdf.save(modified_filename)

print(f"Modified PDF saved to {modified_filename}.")

# Clean up generated files (optional)
# os.remove(output_filename)
# os.remove(modified_filename)

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