Pypdf

Overview

PyPDF is a pure-Python library for working with PDF files. This skill covers comprehensive patterns for PDF manipulation including:

• PDF merging - Combine multiple PDFs into one document
• PDF splitting - Extract specific pages or split into multiple files
• Page rotation - Rotate pages by 90, 180, or 270 degrees
• Watermarking - Add text or image watermarks to pages
• Text extraction - Extract text content from PDF pages
• Metadata handling - Read and modify PDF metadata
• Form filling - Fill PDF form fields programmatically
• Encryption/Decryption - Secure PDFs with passwords

When to Use This Skill

USE when:

• Merging multiple PDF files into a single document
• Splitting large PDFs into smaller files
• Extracting specific pages from PDFs
• Adding watermarks or stamps to documents
• Extracting text content for analysis
• Reading or modifying PDF metadata
• Filling PDF forms programmatically
• Encrypting or decrypting PDF files
• Adding page numbers or headers/footers
• Rotating or reordering pages
• Automating PDF workflows in pipelines

DON'T USE when:

• Creating PDFs from scratch (use reportlab or weasyprint)
• Need advanced text layout control (use reportlab)
• Converting other formats to PDF (use dedicated converters)
• Need OCR for scanned documents (use pytesseract + pdf2image)
• Working with complex form creation (use reportlab)
• Need to edit existing text content (limited support)

Prerequisites

Installation

# Basic installation
pip install pypdf

# Using uv (recommended)
uv pip install pypdf

# With crypto support for encryption
pip install pypdf[crypto]


*See sub-skills for full details.*
### Verify Installation

```python
from pypdf import PdfReader, PdfWriter, PdfMerger
from pypdf.errors import PdfReadError

print("pypdf installed successfully!")
print(f"Version: {pypdf.__version__}")

Version History

1.0.0 (2026-01-17)

• Initial skill creation
• Core capabilities documentation
• 6 complete code examples
• Batch processing patterns
• Encryption and form handling

Resources

• Official Documentation: https://pypdf.readthedocs.io/
• GitHub Repository: https://github.com/py-pdf/pypdf
• PyPI Package: https://pypi.org/project/pypdf/
• Migration from PyPDF2: https://pypdf.readthedocs.io/en/latest/migration.html

Related Skills

• reportlab - PDF creation from scratch
• python-docx - Word document handling
• pillow - Image processing for PDF images
• pdf2image - Convert PDF pages to images

This skill provides comprehensive patterns for PDF manipulation refined from production document processing systems.

Sub-Skills

• 1. PDF Merging
• 2. PDF Splitting
• 3. Page Rotation and Transformation
• 4. Watermarking and Stamping
• 5. Text Extraction and Metadata
• 6. Encryption and Form Filling
• Batch PDF Processing Pipeline
• 1. Memory Management (+2)
• Common Issues