These examples show you how to perform common PDF tasks from the command-line using pdftk.
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
Apply 40-bit encryption to output, revoking all permissions (the default). Set the owner PW to foopass.
pdftk 1.pdf 2.pdf cat output 3.pdf encrypt_40bit owner_pw foopass
Join two files, one of which requires the password foopass. The output is not encrypted.
pdftk A=secured.pdf 2.pdf input_pw A=foopass cat output 3.pdf
Uncompress PDF page streams for editing the PDF in a text editor (e.g., vim, emacs)
pdftk doc.pdf output doc.unc.pdf uncompress
Repair a PDF’s corrupted XREF table and stream lengths, if possible
pdftk broken.pdf output fixed.pdf
Burst a single PDF document into pages and dump its data to doc_data.txt
pdftk in.pdf burst
Burst a single PDF document into encrypted pages. Allow low-quality printing
pdftk in.pdf burst owner_pw foopass allow DegradedPrinting
Write a report on PDF document metadata and bookmarks to report.txt
pdftk in.pdf dump_data output report.txt
Rotate the first PDF page to 90 degrees clockwise
pdftk in.pdf cat 1east 2-end output out.pdf
Rotate an entire PDF document to 180 degrees
pdftk in.pdf cat 1-endsouth output out.pdf
Article Author: Sid Steward