pypdf
pypdf is a free and open-source pure-python PDF library capable of splitting, merging, cropping, and transforming the pages of PDF files. It can also add custom data, viewing options, and passwords to PDF files. pypdf can retrieve text and metadata from PDFs as well.
See pdfly for a CLI application that uses pypdf to interact with PDFs.
Installation
Install pypdf using pip:
pip install pypdf
For using pypdf with AES encryption or decryption, install extra dependencies:
pip install pypdf[crypto]
NOTE:
pypdf3.1.0 and above include significant improvements compared to previous versions. Please refer to the migration guide for more information.
Usage
from pypdf import PdfReader
reader = PdfReader("example.pdf")
number_of_pages = len(reader.pages)
page = reader.pages[0]
text = page.extract_text()
pypdf can do a lot more, e.g. splitting, merging, reading and creating annotations, decrypting and encrypting. Check out the documentation for additional usage examples!
For questions and answers, visit StackOverflow (tagged with pypdf).
Contributions
Maintaining pypdf is a collaborative effort. You can support the project by writing documentation, helping to narrow down issues, and submitting code. See the CONTRIBUTING.md file for more information.
Q&A
The experience pypdf users have covers the whole range from beginner to expert. You can contribute to the pypdf community by answering questions on StackOverflow, helping in discussions, and asking users who report issues for MCVE's (Code + example PDF!).
Issues
A good bug ticket includes a MCVE - a minimal complete verifiable example.
For pypdf, this means that you must upload a PDF that causes the bug to occur
as well as the code you're executing with all of the output. Use
print(pypdf.__version__) to tell us which version you're using.
Code
All code contributions are welcome, but smaller ones have a better chance to get included in a timely manner. Adding unit tests for new features or test cases for bugs you've fixed help us to ensure that the Pull Request (PR) is fine.
pypdf includes a test suite which can be executed with pytest:
$ pytest
===================== test session starts =====================
platform linux -- Python 3.6.15, pytest-7.0.1, pluggy-1.0.0
rootdir: /home/moose/GitHub/Martin/pypdf
plugins: cov-3.0.0
collected 233 items
tests/test_basic_features.py .. [ 0%]
tests/test_constants.py . [ 1%]
tests/test_filters.py .................x..... [ 11%]
tests/test_generic.py ................................. [ 25%]
............. [ 30%]
tests/test_javascript.py .. [ 31%]
tests/test_merger.py . [ 32%]
tests/test_page.py ......................... [ 42%]
tests/test_pagerange.py ................ [ 49%]
tests/test_papersizes.py .................. [ 57%]
tests/test_reader.py .................................. [ 72%]
............... [ 78%]
tests/test_utils.py .................... [ 87%]
tests/test_workflows.py .......... [ 91%]
tests/test_writer.py ................. [ 98%]
tests/test_xmp.py ... [100%]
========== 232 passed, 1 xfailed, 1 warning in 4.52s ==========
3 maintainers
Metadata
3 maintainers
Release files for pypdf 6.20.1
For a detailed explanation of source distributions (sdists) and built distributions (wheels), please see the package formats documentation.
Source distribution (sdist)
| File | Size | Uploaded | |
|---|---|---|---|
| pypdf-6.20.1.tar.gz | 7.1 MB | Details |
Built distribution (wheel)
| File | Interpreter | ABI | Platform | Reset |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| pypdf-6.20.1-py3-none-any.whl | Python 3 | none | any | Details |
Total release size: 7.5 MB
Release files / pypdf-6.20.1.tar.gz
| Download URL | pypdf-6.20.1.tar.gz |
|---|---|
| Size | 7.1 MB |
| Tags | Source |
|
SHA-256 checksum How to use checksums |
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|
|
BLAKE2b-256 checksum How to use checksums |
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|
| Upload date | |
|
Uploaded using Trusted Publishing? What is trusted publishing? |
Yes |
| Uploaded via |
twine/7.0.0 CPython/3.13.14
|
Provenance
Provenance describes where a file came from. On PyPI, provenance is shared via attestations, which provide a verifiable record of the build or publishing details. View details, limitations and caveats.
PyPI Publish Attestation
PyPI verified that this artifact, at this checksum, originated from the publisher listed below.
Signed by GitHub Actions, verified by PyPI on Oct 12, 2026.
Transparency logRelease files / pypdf-6.20.1-py3-none-any.whl
| Download URL | pypdf-6.20.1-py3-none-any.whl |
|---|---|
| Size | 402.7 kB |
| Tags | Python 3 |
|
SHA-256 checksum How to use checksums |
aa5a55ddcffdc5e5ab291d5decb23f6383f4e56f8e3263dc39af41fff03885ad
|
|
BLAKE2b-256 checksum How to use checksums |
71f84cbd09988b4b158260b7e0df38bf16f19e998bf0e257a18661a8da04280e
|
| Upload date | |
|
Uploaded using Trusted Publishing? What is trusted publishing? |
Yes |
| Uploaded via |
twine/7.0.0 CPython/3.13.14
|
Provenance
Provenance describes where a file came from. On PyPI, provenance is shared via attestations, which provide a verifiable record of the build or publishing details. View details, limitations and caveats.
PyPI Publish Attestation
PyPI verified that this artifact, at this checksum, originated from the publisher listed below.
Signed by GitHub Actions, verified by PyPI on Oct 12, 2026.
Transparency log
