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Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays

From Marion <marion@facts.com>
Newsgroups alt.comp.os.windows-11, comp.editors, comp.text.pdf, alt.comp.os.windows-10
Subject Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays
Date 2025-03-01 06:24 +0000
Organization BWH Usenet Archive (https://usenet.blueworldhosting.com)
Message-ID <vpu972$gvk$1@nnrp.usenet.blueworldhosting.com> (permalink)
References <vpt55o$2p5o$1@nnrp.usenet.blueworldhosting.com> <vpt865$3r2n0$5@dont-email.me> <vptifl$gqq$1@nnrp.usenet.blueworldhosting.com> <vptss4$3ud2o$3@dont-email.me>

Cross-posted to 4 groups.

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On Sat, 1 Mar 2025 02:53:56 -0000 (UTC), Lawrence D'Oliveiro wrote :


> Just note that the PikePDF toolkit is very handy for performing all these 
> tasks from a Python script. As an example use of it, I wrote this command-
> line tool <https://gitlab.com/ldo/acrid>, which lets you examine and 
> change/add/delete the metadata associated with a PDF file -- both the old-
> style format and the XMP format.

Thanks for the suggestion of PikePDF, which I was wholly unaware of, since
the list was taken from discussions on the windows newsgroups over time.

I'm surprised I missed a mention of PDF-related freeware, so I searched.

First, I searched the c.t.p & a.c.o.w-10 archives for mention of PikePDF:
 <https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.pdf> 
 <https://www.novabbs.com/computers/search.php?group=comp.text.pdf>
 <https://www.novabbs.com/computers/search.php?group=alt.comp.os.windows-10>

The Google Groups c.t.p search returned zero hits for "PikePDF".
The Nova BBS c.t.p search returned one hit.
 *How to remove a link in a PDF that is found in a thousand pages*
 <https://www.novabbs.com/computers/article-flat.php?id=363&group=comp.text.pdf#363>
Likewise, the Nova BBS a.c.o.w-10 search  returned that same hit.
 <https://www.novabbs.com/computers/article-flat.php?id=79154&group=alt.comp.os.windows-10#79154>
The contents are (verbatim, in toto):
  Write a program using a PDF-manipulation toolkit.
  I have had good results writing Python code using pikepdf
  <https://github.com/pikepdf/pikepdf>

At that web github location is the following description:
 PikePDF: A Python library for reading and writing PDF, powered by QPDF
 Documentation: <https://pikepdf.readthedocs.io/en/latest/>
 "pikepdf is a library intended for developers who want to create,
  manipulate, parse, repair, and abuse the PDF format. 
  It supports reading and write PDFs, including creating from scratch. 
  Thanks to QPDF, it supports linearizing PDFs and access to 
  encrypted PDFs. It is a low level library that requires knowledge 
  of PDF internals and some familiarity with the PDF specification.
  It does not provide a user interface of its own."

First, I had to look up what "QPFD" was:
 <https://sourceforge.net/projects/qpdf/>
 "QPDF is a C++ library and set of programs that inspect & manipulate
  the structure of PDF files. It can encrypt and linearize files, 
  expose the internals of a PDF file, and do many other operations
  useful to end users and PDF developers."

Linearization, by the way, is optimizing (usually for the web).

Apparently QPDF is intended to perform content-preserving transformations
of PDF files by changing PDF structures without altering visual contents.

The description of PikePDF provides the following examples of what it does:
[x]Pikepdf would help you build apps that do things like:
   A cartoon sketch of a pike
[x]Copy pages from one PDF into another
[x]Split and merge PDFs
[x]Extract content from a PDF such as images
[x]Replace content 
   such as replacing an image without altering the rest of the file
[x]Repair, reformat or linearize PDFs
[x]Change the size of pages and reposition content
[x]Optimize PDFs similar to Acrobat's features by downsampling images,
[x]deduplicating
[x]Calculate charges for a scanning project based on the materials scanned
[x]Alter a PDF to meet a target specification such as PDF/A or PDF/X
[x]Add or modify PDF metadata
[x]Add, remove, extract, and modify PDF attachments (i.e. embedded files)
[x]Create well-formed but invalid PDFs for testing purposes

Bingo!  *Add or modify PDF metadata*

OK. I've confirmed what you've explained to us, which is the combination of
Python scripts, PikePDF and the underlying QPDF can remove PDF metadata.

I appreciate your suggested site <https://gitlab.com/ldo/acrid>, which will
help the programmers here who can take advantage of your kind offering.

Even though I go back to the sixties and seventies in programming (COBOL,
Fortran77 before there was a IV, IBM Assembly, Motorola 68701, etc.) I
swore off programming at some point, so I can't make use of these tools.

But others who know a lot more than I do about programming certainly can.
I would like to add it to the summary chart but it may be too eclectic.

A more readily available program to remove metadata might be LibreOffice.
Also PDFgear online/offline tools <https://www.pdfgear.com/> 
Also PDF24 online tools <https://tools.pdf24.org/en/remove-pdf-metadata>
Also Sejda online tools <https://www.sejda.com/edit-pdf-metadata>

This is getting long so let's break off a tangent for metadata removal.
Suffice to say that removal of metadata is critically important, which
means it behooves us to find an easy way for everyone to be able to do it.

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Thread

What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Marion <marion@facts.com> - 2025-02-28 20:09 +0000
  Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Lawrence D'Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2025-02-28 21:00 +0000
    Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Marion <marion@facts.com> - 2025-02-28 23:56 +0000
      Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Marion <marion@facts.com> - 2025-03-01 00:21 +0000
      Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Lawrence D'Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2025-03-01 02:53 +0000
        Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Marion <marion@facts.com> - 2025-03-01 06:24 +0000
          Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Marion <marion@facts.com> - 2025-03-01 06:49 +0000
            Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Marion <marion@facts.com> - 2025-03-01 07:21 +0000
              Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Lawrence D'Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2025-03-01 20:23 +0000
                Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Marion <marion@facts.com> - 2025-03-02 03:18 +0000
                Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Peter Flynn <peter@silmaril.ie> - 2025-03-03 21:38 +0000
                Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Lawrence D'Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2025-03-03 23:35 +0000
                Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Marion <marion@facts.com> - 2025-03-04 02:35 +0000
                Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Lawrence D'Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2025-03-04 03:13 +0000
                Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Marion <marion@facts.com> - 2025-03-04 03:31 +0000
                Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2025-03-04 20:18 +0100
                Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Peter Flynn <peter@silmaril.ie> - 2025-03-04 22:32 +0000
                Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Lawrence D'Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2025-03-04 23:32 +0000
                Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Peter Flynn <peter@silmaril.ie> - 2025-03-05 22:08 +0000
          Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Lawrence D'Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2025-03-01 20:17 +0000
            Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Marion <marion@facts.com> - 2025-03-02 03:02 +0000
          Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Lawrence D'Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2025-03-02 22:03 +0000
            Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Marion <marion@facts.com> - 2025-03-03 03:17 +0000
              Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays G <g@nowhere.invalid> - 2025-03-03 09:19 +0000
                Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Marion <marion@facts.com> - 2025-03-03 17:01 +0000
                Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays G <g@nowhere.invalid> - 2025-03-03 19:08 +0000
                Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Marion <marion@facts.com> - 2025-03-04 03:52 +0000
                Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Lawrence D'Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2025-03-04 04:41 +0000
                Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Tim Slattery <TimSlattery@utexas.edu> - 2025-03-04 10:23 -0500
                Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Peter Flynn <peter@silmaril.ie> - 2025-03-04 22:39 +0000
                Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Don_from_AZ <djatechNOSPAM@comcast.net.invalid> - 2025-03-04 21:28 -0700
                Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> - 2025-03-05 01:39 -0500
                Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Daniel70 <daniel47@eternal-september.org> - 2025-03-05 20:48 +1100
                Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Lawrence D'Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2025-03-06 02:18 +0000
                Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Daniel70 <daniel47@eternal-september.org> - 2025-03-06 18:12 +1100
                Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Philip Herlihy <nothing@invalid.com> - 2025-03-06 12:22 +0000
                Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Frank Slootweg <this@ddress.is.invalid> - 2025-03-06 10:45 +0000
                Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2025-03-06 12:50 +0100
                Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Peter Flynn <peter@silmaril.ie> - 2025-03-07 22:36 +0000
                Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Lawrence D'Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2025-03-08 01:04 +0000
                Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2025-03-05 13:26 +0100
                Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> - 2025-03-05 09:04 -0500
                Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> - 2025-03-05 09:33 -0500
                Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2025-03-05 21:11 +0100
                Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Frank Slootweg <this@ddress.is.invalid> - 2025-03-05 14:39 +0000
                Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> - 2025-03-05 14:59 -0500
                Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Marion <marion@facts.com> - 2025-03-05 21:24 +0000
                Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> - 2025-03-06 00:45 -0500
                Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Frank Slootweg <this@ddress.is.invalid> - 2025-03-06 10:54 +0000
                Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2025-03-05 21:12 +0100
  Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Anton Shepelev <anton.txt@g{oogle}mail.com> - 2025-03-04 19:13 +0300
    Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Peter Flynn <peter@silmaril.ie> - 2025-03-04 22:43 +0000
      Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Lawrence D'Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2025-03-04 23:34 +0000
    Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Marion <marion@facts.com> - 2025-03-04 23:58 +0000
      Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Wolf Greenblatt <wolf@greenblatt.net> - 2025-03-04 19:11 -0500
      Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Anton Shepelev <anton.txt@g{oogle}mail.com> - 2025-03-05 12:50 +0300
        Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Zaidy036 <Zaidy036@air.isp.spam> - 2025-03-05 16:50 -0500
    Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Marion <marion@facts.com> - 2025-03-04 23:24 +0000
      Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Peter Flynn <peter@silmaril.ie> - 2025-03-05 22:39 +0000
        Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Philip Herlihy <nothing@invalid.com> - 2025-03-06 12:17 +0000
          Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2025-03-06 13:33 +0100
          Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Peter Flynn <peter@silmaril.ie> - 2025-03-07 22:43 +0000
    Re: What is the best free software for creating & editing PDFs nowadays Marion <marion@facts.com> - 2025-03-04 23:53 +0000

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