Awesome PDF

This is a list of resources for programmers and others working with portable document format (PDF) files.

Contributing

Please help improve this list. Submit a pull request if you spot a link or description that needs updating. New links are welcome, too!

If you have a question or aren’t sure if something is worth including, you can use the issues to open a discussion.

Table of Contents

• Awesome PDF
  • Libraries
    • JavaScript
    • Ruby
    • PHP
    • Python
    • Go
    • C/C++
    • Java
    • Perl
    • Swift
    • Rust
    • Misc/Multi-language
  • SDKs
  • APIs
  • Documentation
  • WordPress Plugins
  • Add-ons/Components
  • Tools
    • Converters
    • Misc
  • Services
  • Guides and Tutorials
  • Videos
  • Credits/Other lists
  • License

Libraries

JavaScript

• PDFKit (JavaScript) - JavaScript PDF generation library. For Node and the browser.
• pdfmake - Wrapper for PDFKit offering a few extra features.
• PDF-LIB - Pure JavaScript PDF library.
• PDF.js - Standards-based, general-purpose viewer.
• jsPDF - Advanced, well-documented library.
• labelmake - Simple PDF generator.
• Puppeteer - Node library for controlling Chrome. Can also generate PDFs.
• React-pdf - React renderer for creating PDF files.
• dom-to-pdf - Generate printable PDFs from DOM nodes.
• PDFObject - Embed PDFs in HTML.
• pdf2json - Node module to convert PDF to JSON.
• boxpdf - Memory optimized, streaming, flexbox JS PDF library.

Ruby

• HexaPDF - Ruby library to create and manipulate PDFs.
• Prawn - Ruby PDF generator including vector drawing and image embedding.
• Wicked PDF - Ruby on Rails PDF generation.
• CombinePDF - Combine, parse, number, and watermark PDFs in Ruby.
• Grim - Gem to extract (reap) PDF text and images.

PHP

• TCPDF - Generate PDFs in PHP.
• mPDF - Generate PDFs from UTF-8 encoded HTML.
• FPDF - Create PDFs in pure PHP.
• dompdf - HTML to PDF converter.
• Snappy - Generate PDFs, thumbnails, and snapshots from websites.
• PHPWord - Library for reading and writing various document types.
• PdfParser - Data extraction library.

Python

• pdfrw - Python library for reading and writing PDFs.
• pikepdf - Creation, manipulation, and repair of PDFs.
• PDFMiner - Extract information from PDF documents.
• PyPDF4 - Various operations, such as split, merge, and transform PDF data.
• Slate - Wrapper for PDFMiner. Makes simple things easier.
• PDFQuery - Scrape PDF files using JQuery or XPath syntax.
• xpdf-python - Python wrapper for XPDF.
• PDF Reports - Generate reports from HTML or Pug templates.

Go

• gopdf - Generate PDFs in Go.
• pdfcpu - Go library that can handle batch processing and encryption.
• UniDoc/UniPDF - Commercial Go library.
• gofpdf - High level support for text, drawing, and images.
• goreport - PDF report generator.

C/C++

• VersyPDF - C/C++ library including support for several formats and compression types.
• PDF-Writer - Fast and free C++ PDF handling library.
• LibHaru - C++ library to generate and embed images in PDFs.

Java

• Apache PDFBox - PDF manipulation and command line utilities.
• OpenPDF - Open-source successor of iText.
• gnujpdf - Create and print PDF files.
• jPod - Rich PDF manipulation and rendering framework.
• JasperReports - Java reporting library covering PDF and other formats.

Perl

• CAM-PDF - Read and write PDF files.
• PDF - Perl PDF library. Check the sidebar for downloads, not the GeoCities link!
• PDF-API2 - Create and manipulate PDF files.

Swift

• Apple PDFKit - Framework for Swift and Objective-C.
• PDFGenerator - Simple PDF generator.

Rust

• lopdf - Rust PDF manipulation.
• printpdf - Create printable PDF documents.

Misc/Multi-language

• electron-pdf-window - PDF support in the Electron framework.
• Gmail To PDF - Google Apps script utilities to convert emails to PDF.
• pdf-toolbox - Haskell PDF processing tools.
• clj-pdf - Clojure PDF generation.
• sPDF - Scala library to produce PDFs from web pages.

SDKs

• Foxit SDK - Official SDK, includes core API for seven platforms.
• PDFTron - Brings PDF capabilities to applications.
• iText PDF - Commercial SDK and several other PDF tools.

APIs

• URL to PDF Microservice - Convert HTML to PDF files.

• DocRaptor - HTML to PDF API.

• RichText2Pdf API - Convert rich text documents to PDF.

• Excel2Pdf API - Convert Excel docs to PDF files.

• DOCX to PDF API - Convert Word to PDF.

• ConvertAPI PowerPoint2Pdf API - Convert PowerPoint to PDF files using any of nine languages.

• HTML to PDF conversion with CSS and JavaScript - The name says it all.

• instant-pdf - Send JSON in a post request to automatically generate PDF files.

• Textibility API - Provides capabilities like compression, filtering, and text extraction.

• Actual Reports - API for transactional PDF generation.

• edocr - Use documents to generate leads.

• WebSequenceDiagrams - Generate URL diagrams, in PDF and other formats.

• Power PDF - Desktop software promising accurate file conversion.

• PDFSpark - Free PDF generation API.

Documentation

• Understanding PDF Standards - PDF standards compliance.
• DC Developer Resources - Documentation for PDF Library SDK and others.

WordPress Plugins

• SwipeBook PDF Viewer - Commercial WordPress plugin to display PDF files.
• WooCommerce PDF Catalog - Use PDF with WooCommerce.
• PDF Viewer for WordPress - Popular WordPress PDF viewer.
• WordPress Content to PDF - Export blog posts to PDF files.

Add-ons/Components

• Laravel PDF - Convert HTML to PDF within Laravel.
• Rails PDF - Create PDF documents from HTML in Ruby on Rails.

Tools

Converters

• pdfcrowd - Automatically convert web pages to PDF. Also includes an API.
• HTML to PDF - Free and automatic web to PDF converter.
• PDF Dark – Free browser-based PDF dark-mode converter.
• pdfkits.app - Online toolkit to merge, split, compress, convert and manipulate PDF files.
• Webpage to PDF - Paste in a URL and get a PDF file.
• W2P - Another web to PDF converter.
• PDFmyURL - Accurate, feature-rich web to PDF converter.
• Docs.zone - Combine and convert PDF files.
• Convert PDF Online - Convert to and from multiple formats, and several other features.
• Light PDF - Converter and other tools.
• Online PDF Converter - Turn other files into PDFs.
• pdf2image - Python module to convert PDFs to images.
• CleverPDF - File converter with a good selection of formats.
• PDFExcel - AI-powered converter that turns any PDF — including scanned and photographed documents — into Excel, CSV, or Google Sheets without templates.
• CV Boilerplate - Generate PDF résumés via LaTeX.
• backslide - Presentation creator using Markdown and converting to PDF.
• SumatraPDF Reader - Multi-format document reader for Windows.
• Markdown Resume Generator - PHP tool to convert markdown to PDF and HTML résumés.

Misc

• Sejda - Whole suite of PDF services, including conversion, security, manipulation, and more.
• Potrivit - Design PDF invoices.
• PDFElement - Software for editing, creating, conversion, and more.
• ReLaXed - Create PDF files interactively in HTML.
• nodeice - PDF invoice generator.
• PDFGem - Free browser-based PDF tools — merge, split, compress, OCR, sign, convert, and more. Client-side processing via WebAssembly; files never leave the browser.
• Fluranto - Browser-based PDF tools with no signup. Merge, split, reorder, rotate, extract pages, add page numbers, watermark, and convert between images and PDF.
• DoItSwift - Free browser-based PDF tools — merge, split, compress, and PDF to JPG. No Server/Cloud upload, no signup. Everything runs locally in your browser.
• AllPDFMagic - Free online PDF toolbox with 33+ tools and AI-powered workflows. Merge, split, compress, convert, edit, sign, and protect PDFs with zero signup. Features AI Summarizer, Invoice Extractor, Contract Analyzer, and Multi-PDF Chat.
• pdfparanoia - Watermark removal tool in Python.
• questio - Forensic PDF auditor CLI for detecting edited, forged, or tampered PDFs. Runs locally, no uploads.
• TinyTools - Free browser-based PDF utilities with no signup. Includes Chat with PDF (ask questions about a PDF) and PDF to Markdown (extract structured Markdown from PDFs). Client-side processing; part of a larger suite of single-purpose web tools. Open source.

Software

• Foxit Software - Multiple PDF-related products and other resources.
• Adobe Acrobat - Tools from the original creators of the PDF format.
• XpdfReader - Free PDF viewer and toolkit.
• Apache FOP - Formatting objects processor that supports PDFs.

Guides and Tutorials

• JavaTpoint - Selection of clear, well-written guidance and information.
• Acrobat Library - Acrobat guides and tutorials.
• Real Python - How to work with a PDF in Python.
• Hand-coded PDF Tutorial - Technical overview on working with PDFs.
• Portable Document Format: An Introduction for Programmers - Long, old overview of PDF files.
• Make your own PDF File - Excellent multi-part guide to creating PDF files.
• Understanding the PDF File Format - Outstanding overview and collection of posts about PDFs.
• Creating a PDF in Swift with PDFKit - PDF tutorial using Apple’s PDFKit.
• Convert PDF to Audio - Guide to text to speech conversion with Python.
• Creating PDF Files in Java - Java tutorial using iText and PdfBox.
• MathWorks - Reading a PDF in MATLAB using iText.
• jsPDF HTML to PDF Tutorial - Convert HTML to PDF using jsPDF in JavaScript.
• HTML node tree to PDF tutorial - Convert an HTML node tree to PDF using jsPDF and html2canvas.

Videos

• Introducing PDFKit on iOS - Video and several other resources for Apple’s PDFKit.
• PDF—What is it for? - Computerphile video.
• What is a PDF file? - From Labelado.
• How to Insert a Signature on a PDF File - By eHow Tech.
• How to Compress PDF File Size - Tech-related tips.

Credits/Other lists

• awesome-list-pdf-creation - A good selection of PDF resources.
• awesome-pdf - Long list of resources, including many open-source projects.

License

Released under the MIT license.