Coherent PDF Command Line Tools Community Release
Powerful, free tools to manipulate PDF files
The Coherent PDF Command Line Tools allow you to manipulate existing PDF files in a variety of ways. For example:
- Merge PDF files together, or split them apart
- Encrypt and decrypt
- Scale, crop and rotate pages
- Read and set document info and metadata
- Copy, add or remove bookmarks
- Stamp logos, text, dates, page numbers
- Add or remove attachments
- Losslessly compress PDF files
The cpdf tool has been available commercially since 2007, and is widely used in industry and government.
Now we're releasing two tools for free, the main program under a special not-for-commercial-use license, and a lossless PDF squeezer under the LGPL. If you like the tools and want to use them commercially, or need support, licenses are available from Coherent Graphics Ltd. Commercial use involves anything other than private, personal use. Charities and educational institutions still require a license, but one may be obtained at greatly reduced cost - ask us. If you're still not sure if you need a license, ask us.
Download binaries now for Windows, Mac, or Linux
Pre-built binaries are available for Windows, Mac OS 10.6 and later, Linux 32 bit Intel and Linux 64 bit intel.
Download pre-built PDF squeezer tool
Build from source
Look at the source repository for cpdf, or for the PDF squeezer. You'll need to install the OCaml toolchain, and a couple of simple dependencies, but it's simple to build.
User Manual
A comprehensive user manual for the PDF tools can be found as a PDF document, or browsable online. A paper copy can be obtained from Amazon for $9.99.
Examples
In all cases, on Microsoft Windows, substitute cpdf.exe for cpdf.
Select some pages from a file in.pdf and write to out.pdf:
cpdf in.pdf 1-3,12-end -o out.pdf Merge some files together:
cpdf one.pdf two.pdf three.pdf -o merged.pdf Split a file into single-page files page001.pdf, page002.pdf etc:
cpdf -split in.pdf -o page%%%.pdf Encrypt a file with 128 bit AES encryption with an owner password but blank user password:
cpdf -encrypt AES "pass" "" in.pdf -o out.pdf Output some information about a file:
cpdf -info file.pdf Encryption: Not encrypted Permissions: Linearized: true Version: 1.4 Pages: 8 Title: catalogueproduit-UK.qxd Author: James Peterson Subject: Keywords: Creator: QuarkXPress: pictwpstops filter 1.0 Producer: Acrobat Distiller 6.0 for Macintosh Created: D:20060926213913+02'00' Modified: D:20060926213913+02'00' Output information about each page:
cpdf -page-info file.pdf Page 1: MediaBox: 0.000000 0.000000 768.000000 1366.000000 CropBox: BleedBox: 0.000000 0.000000 768.000000 1366.000000 TrimBox: 0.000000 0.000000 768.000000 1366.000000 ArtBox: 0.000000 0.000000 768.000000 1366.000000 Rotation: 0 Page 2: MediaBox: 0.000000 0.000000 768.000000 1366.000000 CropBox: BleedBox: 0.000000 0.000000 768.000000 1366.000000 TrimBox: 0.000000 0.000000 768.000000 1366.000000 ArtBox: 0.000000 0.000000 768.000000 1366.000000 Rotation: 0 Scale pages to A4 paper:
cpdf -scale-to-fit a4portrait in.pdf -o out.pdf Crop a file:
cpdf -crop "20mm 20mm 300mm 300mm" in.pdf -o out.pdf Add some text with page numbers:
cpdf -add-text "Page %Page of %EndPage" -top 100pt -font "Times-Roman" -font-size 20 in.pdf -o out.pdf Stamp one PDF file over each page of another:
cpdf -stamp-on logo.pdf in.pdf -o out.pdf Attach a file to page 5:
cpdf -attach-file sheet.xls -to-page 5 in.pdf -o out.pdf Combine several commands together using AND: flip a file vertically and stamp text, then encrypt.
cpdf in.pdf -vflip AND -add-text "Page %Page" AND -encrypt 128bit owner "" -o out.pdf Compress a file without loss of information:
cpdf -squeeze in.pdf -o out.pdf Or, using the standalone PDF squeezer:
cpdfsqueeze in.pdf out.pdf Support
If you discover a bug, you can raise an issue in our issue tracker, or email for support.
Please note, though, that we prioritise support for paying customers.
FAQs
Q. My command works, but fails when I put it in a Windows Batch file.
A. Some cpdf commands use % as a special character. Use %% instead.
Q. Is it any different from the commercial version?
A. The community release prints a message when run, and sets the Producer field to show it was the last program to touch the PDF.
Q. I want to express thanks for this free program, but I'm not a commercial user. What can I do?
A. You can buy a copy of the User Manual on Amazon for $9.99.
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