pdf-config 1.0.0

Description:

pdfconfig 1.0.0

A simple, easy-to-script tool for merging multiple PDF files into one
document using a YAML configuration file.
The program is written in Python, using the
PyPDF4 library.

Purpose
There are many good utilities for splitting and merging PDF files. For
instance, if you prefer one with a GUI, PDF
Arranger is a good
choice. However, I had slightly different requirements: * Composing
several documents from a similar set of files, but each time with slight
modifications. * Creating a structure of bookmarks, so that it is
easier to navigate the larger document. * Original PDF features such as
hyperlinks and the page orientation should remain intact.


Features

Simple YAML configuration file structure
Adding PDF metadata
Creating bookmarks, also with nested structures
Checking the version of merged PDF files and setting the minimum in
the output PDF



Installation

Prerequisites
This program requires Python 3.6+.

Windows
Download and install from https://www.python.org/downloads/.


MacOS X
The best is to use Homebrew and install using
brew install python


Linux
Install Python using your distribution’s package manager. Usually the
package is named python3.



Virtual environment
It is not strictly required but strongly advised to create a virtual
environment for installing Python packages for a specific purpose.
Create one in any preferred location using
virtualenv -p python3 pdfconfig
The last argument can also be changed if preferred. Then activate the
new environment:
source pdfconfig/bin/activate


Installing this tool
pip install pdf-config



Usage

Configuration file
A configuration file is set up in YAML
syntax with the following
components:
metadata: # Optional
title: My document title
author: ME
# Additionally supported:
# creator, keywords, producer, subject

# Hard-coded version to set in the header. Set to 'auto' or leave out
# entirely for using the maximum version of all input documents.
version: '1.6'

paths: # Optional
# List of paths to look up any files that do not contain a path
# specification. The current directory is checked first, then the following
# directories are checked in that order.
- ~/my-pdfs # User home directory can be referred to.
- $ADDITIONAL_PDF_PATH # Environment variables are also supported.

contents: # The only required element
# Each list entry can contain any of the following:
# bookmark: The bookmark title
# document: The name (and path) of the input file.
# contents: An additional list of contents. Any bookmarks in this sub-structure
# are placed under this bookmark, if present.

- bookmark: First
document: first.pdf
- bookmark: Second
contents:
- bookmark: Second doc 1
document: sd1.pdf
- bookmark: Second doc 2
document: sd2.pdf
- bookmark: Third
document: ~/pdfpath/third.pdf # Relative and absolute paths are supported.
contents:
- bookmark: Third doc 1
document: $PDF_T1 # Environment variables are also expanded.
- bookmark: Third doc 2
document: $PDF_T2
The order of metadata, paths, and contents above is not
relevant. The resulting PDF bookmark structure will be
|-First
|
|-Second
| |-Second doc 1
| |-Second doc 2
|
|-Third
|-Third doc 1
|-Third doc 2
Second points to the same page as Second doc 1, whereas
Third and Third doc 1 point to different pages, since Third
inserts pages on its own.


Start
With the configuration stored in sample.yaml and the PDF files in
place, start the merging process by running
pdfconfig sample.yaml
This will merge the listed PDF files into sample.pdf. For changing
the output name, simply append it to the end of the line; e.g. run
pdfconfig sample.yaml path/to/output.pdf
In Windows, use pdfconfig.exe.
For more explanation, run
pdfconfig -- --help