Manipulating PDF using Python

by

Yes, you can manipulate PDF files using Python with the help of various libraries. Here are a few popular libraries that you can use:

  1. PyPDF2: PyPDF2 is a Python library for working with PDF files. You can use this library to extract text and images from PDF files, merge multiple PDFs into one, split a PDF into multiple pages, and more.
  2. PyMuPDF: PyMuPDF is a Python binding for the MuPDF library, which is a lightweight PDF and XPS viewer. You can use this library to extract text and images from PDF files, add annotations and bookmarks, merge and split PDFs, and more.
  3. ReportLab: ReportLab is a Python library for creating PDF documents. You can use this library to generate PDF files from scratch, add text, images, tables, and other elements, and customize the layout and styling of the document.
  4. pdfrw: pdfrw is a Python library for reading and writing PDF files. You can use this library to modify existing PDF files, add annotations, watermarks, and bookmarks, and extract text and images from PDFs.

Here’s an example of how you can use PyPDF2 to extract text from a PDF file:

import PyPDF2

# Open the PDF file in read binary mode
pdf_file = open('example.pdf', 'rb')

# Create a PDF reader object
pdf_reader = PyPDF2.PdfFileReader(pdf_file)

# Get the total number of pages in the PDF file
num_pages = pdf_reader.getNumPages()

# Loop through all the pages and extract text
for page_num in range(num_pages):
    # Get the page object for the current page
    page = pdf_reader.getPage(page_num)
    
    # Extract text from the page
    text = page.extractText()
    
    # Print the text
    print(text)

# Close the PDF file
pdf_file.close()

This is just a simple example, but you can do much more with these libraries depending on your requirements.

Creating a PDF file using Python:

Yes, you can create PDF files using Python with the help of various libraries. One popular library for creating PDF files is ReportLab. Here’s an example of how you can use ReportLab to create a simple PDF document:

from reportlab.pdfgen import canvas

# Create a new PDF file
pdf_file = canvas.Canvas('example.pdf')

# Set the title of the document
pdf_file.setTitle('Example PDF')

# Draw some text on the PDF file
pdf_file.drawString(100, 750, 'Hello World!')

# Save the PDF file
pdf_file.save()

In this example, we first import the canvas module from the reportlab.pdfgen package. We then create a new PDF file using the Canvas class and specify the filename as an argument. We set the title of the document using the setTitle method.

Next, we draw some text on the PDF file using the drawString method. The first argument specifies the X-coordinate of the starting point of the text, the second argument specifies the Y-coordinate of the starting point, and the third argument specifies the text to be drawn.

Finally, we save the PDF file using the save method.

This is just a simple example, but you can do much more with ReportLab to create more complex PDF documents, including adding images, tables, and more.

Adding Text on a PDF using Python:

Yes, you can add text to a PDF file using Python with the help of various libraries. One popular library for this purpose is PyPDF2. Here’s an example of how you can use PyPDF2 to add text to a PDF file:

import PyPDF2

# Open the PDF file in read binary mode
pdf_file = open('example.pdf', 'rb')

# Create a PDF reader object
pdf_reader = PyPDF2.PdfFileReader(pdf_file)

# Get the first page of the PDF file
page = pdf_reader.getPage(0)

# Create a PDF writer object
pdf_writer = PyPDF2.PdfFileWriter()

# Add the original page to the PDF writer object
pdf_writer.addPage(page)

# Create a new text object
text = PyPDF2.pdf.PageObject.createTextObject(pdf_writer, 'Hello World!')

# Set the font size of the text object
text.fontName = 'Helvetica-Bold'
text.fontSize = 14

# Set the position of the text object
text.textLineMatrix = (1, 0, 0, 1, 100, 600)

# Add the text object to the original page
page.mergeTextObject(text)

# Save the new PDF file
new_pdf_file = open('new_example.pdf', 'wb')
pdf_writer.write(new_pdf_file)

# Close the PDF files
pdf_file.close()
new_pdf_file.close()

In this example, we first open the PDF file in read binary mode and create a PDF reader object. We then get the first page of the PDF file and create a PDF writer object. We add the original page to the PDF writer object and create a new text object using the createTextObject method of the PyPDF2.pdf.PageObject class.

We set the font size of the text object using the fontName and fontSize attributes. We set the position of the text object using the textLineMatrix attribute, which is a tuple containing six values that represent a transformation matrix.

Finally, we add the text object to the original page using the mergeTextObject method, save the new PDF file using the write method of the PDF writer object, and close the PDF files.

This is just a simple example, but you can do much more with PyPDF2 to add more complex text elements to a PDF file, including different fonts, colors, and styles.

Adding Image on a PDF using Python:

Yes, you can add images to a PDF file using Python with the help of various libraries. One popular library for this purpose is PyPDF2. Here’s an example of how you can use PyPDF2 to add an image to a PDF file:

import PyPDF2

# Open the PDF file in read binary mode
pdf_file = open('example.pdf', 'rb')

# Create a PDF reader object
pdf_reader = PyPDF2.PdfFileReader(pdf_file)

# Get the first page of the PDF file
page = pdf_reader.getPage(0)

# Create a PDF writer object
pdf_writer = PyPDF2.PdfFileWriter()

# Add the original page to the PDF writer object
pdf_writer.addPage(page)

# Create an image object
image = PyPDF2.pdf.ImageReader('example.jpg')

# Set the position and size of the image on the page
x = 100
y = 400
width = 200
height = 150

# Add the image to the page
page.mergeScaledTranslatedPage(image, width, height, x, y)

# Save the new PDF file
new_pdf_file = open('new_example.pdf', 'wb')
pdf_writer.write(new_pdf_file)

# Close the PDF files
pdf_file.close()
new_pdf_file.close()

In this example, we first open the PDF file in read binary mode and create a PDF reader object. We then get the first page of the PDF file and create a PDF writer object. We add the original page to the PDF writer object.

We create an image object using the ImageReader class of the PyPDF2.pdf module. We then set the position and size of the image on the page using the x, y, width, and height variables.

Finally, we add the image to the page using the mergeScaledTranslatedPage method of the PyPDF2.pdf.PageObject class, save the new PDF file using the write method of the PDF writer object, and close the PDF files.

This is just a simple example, but you can do much more with PyPDF2 to add more complex image elements to a PDF file, including resizing, rotating, and manipulating the image in other ways.

Adding Tables on a PDF using Python:

Yes, you can add tables to a PDF file using Python with the help of various libraries. One popular library for this purpose is ReportLab. Here’s an example of how you can use ReportLab to add a table to a PDF file:

from reportlab.lib.pagesizes import letter
from reportlab.lib import colors
from reportlab.lib.styles import getSampleStyleSheet
from reportlab.platypus import SimpleDocTemplate, Table, TableStyle

# Define the data for the table
data = [['Name', 'Age', 'Gender'],
        ['John Doe', '25', 'Male'],
        ['Jane Doe', '30', 'Female'],
        ['Bob Smith', '45', 'Male']]

# Define the style for the table
styles = getSampleStyleSheet()
style = TableStyle([('BACKGROUND', (0, 0), (-1, 0), colors.grey),
                    ('TEXTCOLOR', (0, 0), (-1, 0), colors.whitesmoke),
                    ('ALIGN', (0, 0), (-1, -1), 'CENTER'),
                    ('FONTNAME', (0, 0), (-1, 0), 'Helvetica-Bold'),
                    ('FONTSIZE', (0, 0), (-1, 0), 14),
                    ('BOTTOMPADDING', (0, 0), (-1, 0), 12),
                    ('BACKGROUND', (0, 1), (-1, -1), colors.beige),
                    ('TEXTCOLOR', (0, 1), (-1, -1), colors.black),
                    ('FONTNAME', (0, 1), (-1, -1), 'Helvetica'),
                    ('FONTSIZE', (0, 1), (-1, -1), 12),
                    ('BOTTOMPADDING', (0, 1), (-1, -1), 6),
                    ('GRID', (0, 0), (-1, -1), 1, colors.black)])

# Define the filename and page size for the PDF file
filename = "example.pdf"
page_size = letter

# Create the PDF file and add the table
pdf_file = SimpleDocTemplate(filename, pagesize=page_size)
table = Table(data)
table.setStyle(style)
pdf_file.build([table])

In this example, we first define the data for the table as a list of lists. We then define the style for the table using the TableStyle class of ReportLab. The style specifies various formatting options for the table, such as the background color, text color, font size, and alignment.

We then define the filename and page size for the PDF file using the SimpleDocTemplate class of ReportLab. Finally, we create the PDF file and add the table using the build method of the PDF file object.

This is just a simple example, but you can do much more with ReportLab to add more complex tables to a PDF file, including merging cells, adding headers and footers, and formatting table cells in different ways.

Highlighting text on a PDF using Python:

Yes, you can highlight text on a PDF file using Python with the help of various libraries. One popular library for this purpose is PyMuPDF. Here’s an example of how you can use PyMuPDF to highlight text on a PDF file:

import fitz

# Open the PDF file
pdf_file = "example.pdf"
doc = fitz.open(pdf_file)

# Get the first page of the PDF file
page = doc[0]

# Define the search term and color for highlighting
search_term = "example text"
highlight_color = (1, 1, 0)

# Search for the search term on the page
search = page.search_for(search_term)

# Highlight the search results on the page
for highlight_rect in search:
    highlight = page.add_highlight_annot(highlight_rect)
    highlight.update()
    highlight.update_highlight(fill_color=highlight_color)

# Save the updated PDF file
doc.save("new_example.pdf")
doc.close()

In this example, we first open the PDF file using the fitz.open method of PyMuPDF. We then get the first page of the PDF file and define the search term and color for highlighting.

We search for the search term on the page using the search_for method of the PDF page object. We then highlight the search results on the page using the add_highlight_annot method of the PDF page object. We update the highlight object and set the fill color of the highlight using the update and update_highlight methods of the PDF annotation object.

Finally, we save the updated PDF file using the save method of the PDF document object and close the PDF document using the close method.

This is just a simple example, but you can do much more with PyMuPDF to add more complex highlighting to a PDF file, including highlighting specific words, phrases, or regions on a page, setting different colors for different types of highlights, and customizing the appearance of the highlights.

Resizing pages of a PDF using Python:

Yes, you can resize pages of a PDF file using Python with the help of various libraries. One popular library for this purpose is PyPDF2. Here’s an example of how you can use PyPDF2 to resize pages of a PDF file:

import PyPDF2

# Open the PDF file
pdf_file = open("example.pdf", "rb")
pdf_reader = PyPDF2.PdfFileReader(pdf_file)
pdf_writer = PyPDF2.PdfFileWriter()

# Define the new page size for the PDF file
new_page_size = (792, 612) # Width: 792pt, Height: 612pt

# Loop through each page of the PDF file
for page_num in range(pdf_reader.getNumPages()):
    page = pdf_reader.getPage(page_num)

    # Resize the page to the new page size
    page.mediaBox.upperRight = new_page_size

    # Add the resized page to the PDF writer
    pdf_writer.addPage(page)

# Save the updated PDF file
pdf_output = open("new_example.pdf", "wb")
pdf_writer.write(pdf_output)

# Close the PDF files
pdf_output.close()
pdf_file.close()

In this example, we first open the PDF file using the open method of Python’s built-in open function and the PdfFileReader class of PyPDF2. We also create a new PdfFileWriter object to store the resized pages.

We then loop through each page of the PDF file and resize the page to the new page size using the mediaBox attribute of the PdfPageObject class of PyPDF2. The mediaBox attribute is a rectangle that defines the page’s size and position. We set the upper-right corner of the rectangle to the new page size to resize the page.

We then add the resized page to the PDF writer using the addPage method of the PdfFileWriter class.

Finally, we save the updated PDF file using the write method of the PDF writer object, close the PDF files using the close method of the file objects.

This is just a simple example, but you can do much more with PyPDF2 to resize pages of a PDF file, including resizing pages to specific dimensions, scaling pages to a percentage of their original size, and rotating pages to different angles.

Converting a PDF file into CSV using Python:

Yes, you can convert a PDF file into a CSV (Comma-Separated Values) file using Python with the help of various libraries. One popular library for this purpose is tabula-py. Here’s an example of how you can use tabula-py to convert a PDF file into a CSV file:

import tabula

# Define the path of the PDF file
pdf_file = "example.pdf"

# Extract the tables from the PDF file and save them as CSV files
tabula.convert_into(pdf_file, "output.csv", output_format="csv", pages="all")

In this example, we first define the path of the PDF file we want to convert into a CSV file.

We then use the convert_into function of tabula-py to extract the tables from the PDF file and save them as CSV files. We pass the path of the PDF file as the first argument, the name of the output CSV file as the second argument, and the output format as “csv” using the output_format parameter. We also set the pages parameter to “all” to extract tables from all pages of the PDF file.

If the PDF file has multiple tables, tabula-py will create multiple CSV files for each table, appending “-1”, “-2”, etc. to the filename.

Note that tabula-py requires Java to be installed on your computer to work. You can download Java from the official website and install it before using tabula-py.

Also, keep in mind that the conversion may not always be perfect, especially for complex tables with merged cells, multi-level headers, or special characters. You may need to manually clean up the CSV file after conversion.

Installing the tabula library:

You can install the tabula library in Python using pip, which is the default package manager for Python. Here are the steps to install tabula:

  1. Open a command prompt or terminal window on your computer.
  2. Type pip install tabula-py and press Enter to start the installation process.
  3. Wait for the installation to finish. This may take a few minutes depending on your internet speed and computer performance.
  4. Once the installation is complete, you can import the tabula library in your Python script using import tabula.

Note that tabula-py requires Java to be installed on your computer to work. You can download Java from the official website and install it before using tabula-py.

Also, keep in mind that tabula-py may have some dependencies on other libraries, such as pandas and numpy, so make sure to have them installed as well if you plan to use them with tabula-py. You can install them using pip as well, for example: pip install pandas numpy.