php-pdftk

A PDF conversion and form utility based on pdftk.

Note: This library is written for pdftk 2.x versions. You should be able to use it with pdftk 1.x but not all methods will work there. For details consult the man page of pdftk on your system.

Features

php-pdftk brings the full power of pdftk to PHP - and more.

Fill forms, either from a FDF file or from a data array (UTF-8 safe for unflattened forms, requires pdftk 2.x !)
Create FDF files from PHP arrays (UTF-8 safe!)
Create FDF files from filled PDF forms
Combine pages from several PDF files into a new PDF file
Split a PDF into one file per page
Add background or overlay PDFs
Read out meta data about PDF and form fields
Set passwords and permissions

Examples

Operations

Please consult the pdftk man page for each operation to find out how each operation works in detail and which options are available.

Note: You can always only perform one of the following operations on a single PDF instance. Below you can find a workaround if you need multiple operations.

For all operations you can either save the PDF locally through saveAs($name) or send it to the browser with send(). If you pass a filename to send($name) the client browser will open a download dialogue whereas without a filename it will usually display the PDF inline.

Fill Form

Fill a PDF form with data from a PHP array or an FDF file.

use mikehaertl\pdftk\Pdf;

// Fill form with data array
$pdf = new Pdf('form.pdf');
$pdf->fillForm(array('name'=>'ÄÜÖ äüö мирано čárka'))
    ->needAppearances()
    ->saveAs('filled.pdf');

// Fill form from FDF
$pdf = new Pdf('form.pdf');
$pdf->fillForm('data.fdf')
    ->saveAs('filled.pdf');

Note: When filling in UTF-8 data, you should always add the needAppearances() option. This will make sure, that the PDF reader takes care of using the right fonts for rendering, something that pdftk can't do for you.

Create a FDF file from a PHP array

Note: This is a bonus feature that is not available from pdftk.

use mikehaertl\pdftk\FdfFile;

$fdf = new FdfFile(['name'=>'Jürgen мирано']);
$fdf->saveAs('data.fdf');

Cat

Assemble a PDF from pages of one or more PDF files.

use mikehaertl\pdftk\Pdf;

// Extract pages 1-5 and 7,4,9 into a new file
$pdf = new Pdf('my.pdf');
$pdf->cat(1, 5)
    ->cat(array(7, 4, 9))
    ->saveAs('new.pdf');

// Combine pages from several files, demonstrating several ways how to add files
$pdf = new Pdf(array(
    'A' => 'file1.pdf',                 // Reference file as 'A'
    'B' => ['file2.pdf','pass**word'],  // Reference file as 'B'
));
$pdf->addFile('file3.pdf','C','**secret**pw');  // Reference file as 'C'
$pdf->cat(1, 5, 'A')                // pages 1-5 from A
    ->cat(3, null, 'B')             // page 3 from B
    ->cat(7, 'end', 'B', null, 'east') // pages 7-end from B, rotated East
    ->cat('end',3,'A','even')       // even pages 3-end in reverse order from A
    ->cat([2,3,7], 'C')             // pages 2,3 and 7 from C
    ->saveAs('new.pdf');

Shuffle

Like cat() but create "streams" and fill the new PDF with one page from each stream at a time.

use mikehaertl\pdftk\Pdf;

// new.pdf will have pages A1, B3, A2, B4, A3, B5, ...
$pdf = new Pdf(array(
    'A' => 'file1.pdf',     // Reference file as 'A'
    'B' => 'file2.pdf',     // Reference file as 'B'
));
$pdf->shuffle(1, 5, 'A')    // pages 1-5 from A
    ->shuffle(3, 8, 'B')    // pages 3-8 from B
    ->saveAs('new.pdf');

Burst

Split a PDF file into one file per page.

use mikehaertl\pdftk\Pdf;

$pdf = new Pdf('my.pdf');
$pdf->burst('page_%d.pdf');     // Supply a printf() pattern

Add background PDF

Add another PDF file as background.

use mikehaertl\pdftk\Pdf;

// Set background from another PDF (first page repeated)
$pdf = new Pdf('my.pdf');
$pdf->background('back.pdf')
    ->saveAs('watermarked.pdf');

// Set background from another PDF (one page each)
$pdf = new Pdf('my.pdf');
$pdf->backgroundMulti('back_pages.pdf')
    ->saveAs('watermarked.pdf');

Add overlay PDF

Add another PDF file as overlay.

use mikehaertl\pdftk\Pdf;

// Stamp with another PDF (first page repeated)
$pdf = new Pdf('my.pdf');
$pdf->stamp('overlay.pdf')
    ->saveAs('stamped.pdf');

// Stamp with another PDF (one page each)
$pdf = new Pdf('my.pdf');
$pdf->stampMulti('overlay_pages.pdf')
    ->saveAs('stamped.pdf');

Generate FDF

Create a FDF file from a given filled PDF form.

use mikehaertl\pdftk\Pdf;

// Create FDF from PDF
$pdf = new Pdf('form.pdf');
$pdf->generateFdfFile('data.fdf');

Get PDF data

Read out metadata or form field information from a PDF file.

use mikehaertl\pdftk\Pdf;

// Get data
$pdf = new Pdf('my.pdf');
$data = $pdf->getData();

// Get form data fields
$pdf = new Pdf('my.pdf');
$data = $pdf->getDataFields();

How to perform more than one operation on a PDF

As stated above, you can only perform one of the preceeding operations on a single PDF instance. If you need more than one operation you can feed one Pdf instance into another:

use mikehaertl\pdftk\Pdf;

// Extract pages 1-5 and 7,4,9 into a new file
$pdf = new Pdf('my.pdf');
$pdf->cat(1, 5)
    ->cat(array(7, 4, 9));

// We now use the above PDF as source file for a new PDF
$pdf2 = new Pdf($pdf);
$pdf2->fillForm(array('name'=>'ÄÜÖ äüö мирано čárka'))
    ->needAppearances()
    ->saveAs('filled.pdf');

Options

You can combine the above operations with one or more of the following options.

use mikehaertl\pdftk\Pdf;

$pdf = new Pdf('my.pdf');

$pdf->allow('AllFeatures')      // Change permissions
    ->flatten()                 // Merge form data into document
    ->compress($value)          // Compress/Uncompress
    ->keepId('first')           // Keep first/last Id of combined files
    ->dropXfa()                 // Drop newer XFA form from PDF
    ->dropXmp()                 // Drop newer XMP data from PDF
    ->needAppearances()         // Make clients create appearance for form fields
    ->setPassword($pw)          // Set owner password
    ->setUserPassword($pw)      // Set user password
    ->passwordEncryption(128)   // Set password encryption strength
    ->saveAs('new.pdf');

// Example: Fill PDF form and merge form data into PDF
// Fill form with data array
$pdf = new Pdf('form.pdf');
$pdf->fillForm(array('name'=>'My Name'))
    ->flatten()
    ->saveAs('filled.pdf');

// Example: Remove password from a PDF
$pdf = new Pdf;
$pdf->addPage('my.pdf', null, 'some**password')
    ->saveAs('new.pdf');

API

Please consult the source files for a full documentation of each method.

mospired/php-pdftk