PDFtk Server is a command-line tool for working with PDF documents. It can merge, split, rotate, encrypt, decrypt, watermark, stamp, fill forms, extract metadata, and manipulate PDFs in a variety of ways.
winget install --id PDFLabs.PDFtk.Server
brew install pdftk-java
sudo apt-get install pdftk
sudo dnf install pdftk
pdftk --version
pdftk file1.pdf file2.pdf cat output merged.pdf
Using handles for more control:
pdftk A=file1.pdf B=file2.pdf cat A B output merged.pdf
pdftk input.pdf burst
Extract pages 1-5 and 10-15:
pdftk input.pdf cat 1-5 10-15 output extracted.pdf
Remove page 13:
pdftk input.pdf cat 1-12 14-end output output.pdf
Rotate all pages 90 degrees clockwise:
pdftk input.pdf cat 1-endeast output rotated.pdf
Set an owner password and a user password with 128-bit encryption (default):
pdftk input.pdf output secured.pdf owner_pw mypassword user_pw userpass
Remove encryption using the known password:
pdftk secured.pdf input_pw mypassword output unsecured.pdf
Populate form fields from an FDF file and flatten to prevent further edits:
pdftk form.pdf fill_form data.fdf output filled.pdf flatten
Place a single-page PDF behind every page of the input (input should have transparency):
pdftk input.pdf background watermark.pdf output watermarked.pdf
Place a single-page PDF on top of every page of the input:
pdftk input.pdf stamp overlay.pdf output stamped.pdf
Export bookmarks, page metrics, and document information:
pdftk input.pdf dump_data output metadata.txt
Pass a broken PDF through pdftk to attempt automatic repair:
pdftk broken.pdf output fixed.pdf
Interleave separately scanned even and odd pages:
pdftk A=even.pdf B=odd.pdf shuffle A B output collated.pdf
| Issue | Solution |
|---|---|
pdftk command not found |
Verify installation; check that pdftk is in your system PATH |
| Cannot decrypt PDF | Ensure you are providing the correct owner or user password via input_pw |
| Output file is empty or corrupt | Check input file integrity; try running pdftk input.pdf output repaired.pdf first |
| Form fields not visible after fill | Use the flatten flag to merge fields into the page content |
| Watermark not appearing | Ensure the input PDF has transparent regions; use stamp for opaque overlays |
| Permission denied errors | Check file permissions on input and output paths |
Bundled reference documents in the references/ folder: