pdftl: Options for PDF output

allow <perm>...

Specify permissions for encrypted files

Details

Files saved with encryption have various possible permissions. The default encryption permissions are to forbid all possible actions. Use the allow output option to allow permissions selectively.

Arguments <perm>... must be zero or more permissions from among the following. If omitted, the default is to allow all permissions. Upper/lowercase characters are treated the same.

Permission <perm>

Allows

Printing

standard printing

DegradedPrinting

low quality printing

ModifyContents

modification and “assembly”

Assembly

“assembly”

CopyContents

copying and “screenreaders”

ScreenReaders

“screenreaders”

ModifyAnnotations

modifying annotations

FillIn

filling in forms

AllFeatures

all of the above

Note: Screenreaders are allowed to be used by modern PDF readers, regardless of these permissions settings.

Tags: security, encryption

Source: pdftl.output.save

Read online: https://pdftl.readthedocs.io/en/stable/misc/output_options.html#allow-perm

Type: Option

compress

Compress output file streams (default)

Source: pdftl.output.save

Read online: https://pdftl.readthedocs.io/en/stable/misc/output_options.html#compress

Type: Option

drop_info

Discard document-level info metadata

Source: pdftl.output.save

Read online: https://pdftl.readthedocs.io/en/stable/misc/output_options.html#drop-info

Type: Option

drop_xfa

Discard form XFA data if present

Source: pdftl.output.save

Read online: https://pdftl.readthedocs.io/en/stable/misc/output_options.html#drop-xfa

Type: Option

drop_xmp

Discard document-level XMP metadata

Source: pdftl.output.save

Read online: https://pdftl.readthedocs.io/en/stable/misc/output_options.html#drop-xmp

Type: Option

encrypt_128bit

Use 128 bit encryption (obsolete and insecure)

Tags: security, encryption, obsolete

Source: pdftl.output.save

Read online: https://pdftl.readthedocs.io/en/stable/misc/output_options.html#encrypt-bit

Type: Option

encrypt_40bit

Use 40 bit encryption (obsolete, highly insecure)

Tags: security, encryption, obsolete

Source: pdftl.output.save

Read online: https://pdftl.readthedocs.io/en/stable/misc/output_options.html#encrypt-bit

Type: Option

encrypt_aes128

Use 128 bit AES encryption (default)

Tags: security, encryption, legacy

Source: pdftl.output.save

Read online: https://pdftl.readthedocs.io/en/stable/misc/output_options.html#encrypt-aes

Type: Option

encrypt_aes256

Use 256 bit AES encryption

Tags: security, encryption

Source: pdftl.output.save

Read online: https://pdftl.readthedocs.io/en/stable/misc/output_options.html#encrypt-aes

Type: Option

fast

Skip stream recompression for faster saving

Details

By default, data streams (such as images and page contents) are decompressed and recompressed when saving. This allows the underlying library to recalculate stream lengths and often results in smaller files, but it can add significant CPU overhead. The fast option disables this step, copying streams as raw binary data to reduce save times.

Tags: performance, compression

Source: pdftl.output.save

Read online: https://pdftl.readthedocs.io/en/stable/misc/output_options.html#fast

Type: Option

flatten

Flatten annotations and form fields

Source: pdftl.output.flatten

Read online: https://pdftl.readthedocs.io/en/stable/misc/output_options.html#flatten

Type: Option

keep_final_id

Copy final input PDF’s ID metadata to output

Source: pdftl.output.save

Read online: https://pdftl.readthedocs.io/en/stable/misc/output_options.html#keep-final-id

Type: Option

keep_first_id

Copy first input PDF’s ID metadata to output

Source: pdftl.output.save

Read online: https://pdftl.readthedocs.io/en/stable/misc/output_options.html#keep-first-id

Type: Option

linearize

Linearize output file(s)

Source: pdftl.output.save

Read online: https://pdftl.readthedocs.io/en/stable/misc/output_options.html#linearize

Type: Option

need_appearances

Set a form rendering flag in the output PDF

Source: pdftl.output.save

Read online: https://pdftl.readthedocs.io/en/stable/misc/output_options.html#need-appearances

Type: Option

no_encrypt_metadata

Leave metadata unencrypted

Details

This allows search engines to read metadata such as title/author, etc.

Tags: encryption, metadata

Source: pdftl.output.save

Read online: https://pdftl.readthedocs.io/en/stable/misc/output_options.html#no-encrypt-metadata

Type: Option

output <file>

The output file path, or a template for burst

Source: pdftl.output.save

Read online: https://pdftl.readthedocs.io/en/stable/misc/output_options.html#output-file

Type: Option

owner_pw <pw>

Set owner password and encrypt output

Tags: security, encryption

Source: pdftl.output.save

Read online: https://pdftl.readthedocs.io/en/stable/misc/output_options.html#owner-pw-pw

Type: Option

replacement_font <file>

Replace the font used for all form fields with a TTF file

Tags: form, font

Source: pdftl.output.save

Read online: https://pdftl.readthedocs.io/en/stable/misc/output_options.html#replacement-font-file

Type: Option

sign_cert <file>

Path to certificate PEM

Details

The path to your certificate file (.pem), also known as the public key. This is required for signing.

Tags: security, signatures

Source: pdftl.output.sign

Read online: https://pdftl.readthedocs.io/en/stable/misc/output_options.html#sign-cert-file

Type: Option

sign_field <name>

Signature field name (default: Signature1)

Tags: security, signatures

Source: pdftl.output.sign

Read online: https://pdftl.readthedocs.io/en/stable/misc/output_options.html#sign-field-name

Type: Option

sign_key <file>

Path to private key PEM

Details

The path to your private key file (.pem). This is required for signing. See also sign_cert.

Tags: security, signatures

Source: pdftl.output.sign

Read online: https://pdftl.readthedocs.io/en/stable/misc/output_options.html#sign-key-file

Type: Option

sign_pass_env <var>

Environment variable with sign_cert passphrase

Details

The name of an environment variable containing the passphrase for your public signing certificate, as specified by sign_cert.

Tags: security, signatures

Source: pdftl.output.sign

Read online: https://pdftl.readthedocs.io/en/stable/misc/output_options.html#sign-pass-env-var

Type: Option

sign_pass_prompt

Prompt for sign_cert passphrase

Tags: security, signatures

Source: pdftl.output.sign

Read online: https://pdftl.readthedocs.io/en/stable/misc/output_options.html#sign-pass-prompt

Type: Option

uncompress

Disable compression of output file streams

Tags: compression

Source: pdftl.output.save

Read online: https://pdftl.readthedocs.io/en/stable/misc/output_options.html#uncompress

Type: Option

user_pw <pw>

Set user password and encrypt output

Tags: security, encryption

Source: pdftl.output.save

Read online: https://pdftl.readthedocs.io/en/stable/misc/output_options.html#user-pw-pw

Type: Option

verbose

Turn on verbose output

Source: pdftl.cli.main

Read online: https://pdftl.readthedocs.io/en/stable/misc/output_options.html#verbose

Type: Option