PDF Processing Expert

Overview

This skill provides efficient methods for PDF manipulation. It prioritizes performance and correct tool selection.

[!TIP] Performance First: For simple text extraction or page operations, CLI tools (pdftotext, qpdf) are 10-50x faster than Python libraries. See Performance Guide.

Quick Start

1. Read Text (Best for reliability)

import pdfplumber

with pdfplumber.open("document.pdf") as pdf:
   print(pdf.pages[0].extract_text())

2. Merge Documents (Best for speed)

from pypdf import PdfWriter

writer = PdfWriter()
writer.append("doc1.pdf")
writer.append("doc2.pdf")
writer.write("merged.pdf")

Common Tasks & Tool Selection

Documentation & References

• •Library Guide: Detailed code snippets for pypdf, pdfplumber, reportlab.
• •Performance Guide: Optimization tips for large files and low-memory environments.
• •Forms Guide: Special instructions for handling PDF forms.