---
id: pdfrw
version: "0.4"
license: MIT
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: dormant
---

# pdfrw — PDF file reader/writer library

License: permissive · Maintenance: dormant · Downloads: 2.5M/mo

## What it is and what it does

pdfrw is a pure-Python PDF library that reads and writes PDF files without requiring compiled dependencies or external tools. It handles common PDF manipulation tasks—merging multiple PDFs, extracting or reordering pages, rotating content, modifying metadata, and embedding one PDF into another—while preserving vector graphics without rasterization. The library can work standalone or integrate with reportlab to reuse existing PDF content in newly generated documents.

The package comes with command-line examples demonstrating practical workflows: creating booklets, extracting images, adding watermarks, creating posters, and concatenating files. It has been used in production pre-press environments and is noted as the fastest pure-Python PDF parser available. However, the project is dormant—last released 2017-09-18 and tested only through Python 3.6—so it may not support newer Python versions or handle recently introduced PDF features without modification.

Use it for:

- Merge multiple PDFs into a single document or extract specific pages from an existing PDF.
- Rotate pages or reorganize them into booklet layouts for printing without specialized software.
- Add or modify PDF metadata (title, author, subject) programmatically without altering document structure.
- Extract images and embedded pages (Form XObjects) from existing PDFs to reuse in new documents.
- Generate watermarked PDFs by overlaying one PDF image on top of another.

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

pdfrw reads, writes, and manipulates PDF files in pure Python, supporting operations like merging, subsetting, rotating, and metadata modification without external dependencies.

Yes, if you need lightweight, dependency-free PDF reading and basic manipulation in Python and can accept that the package is no longer actively developed. It works well for straightforward tasks like merging, subsetting, and metadata changes. No, if you require support for modern Python versions beyond 3.6, active maintenance, or handling of complex or recently encrypted PDFs.

## Install

pip install pdfrw
uv add pdfrw
poetry add pdfrw

## Installing pdfrw

Before you install: Installation is frictionless with no runtime dependencies. The package is dormant (last release 2017-09-18, last commit 2024-04-29), so while the repository shows ongoing maintenance, it receives no active development.

License in practice: MIT license permits commercial and private use with minimal restrictions, making it suitable for most projects without licensing concerns.

Quickstart:

pip install pdfrw

from pdfrw import PdfReader, PdfWriter

reader = PdfReader('input.pdf')
writer = PdfWriter()
writer.addpages(reader.pages)
writer.write('output.pdf')

Verify before relying:

- Whether the package works reliably with Python versions beyond 3.6, given its dormant status.
- Current compatibility with contemporary PDF formats and encryption standards.
- Performance characteristics for large-scale PDF processing compared to alternatives.

## Package facts

- License: MIT (permissive)
- Python support: unspecified
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: dormant
- Downloads: 2.5M/month (top 5,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

pdf reader writer library, merge split rotate pdf pages, pdf metadata manipulation, pure python pdf parser, pdf page reorganization, extract pdf images, pdf watermark add, pdf-manipulation, pure-python, dormant

[View on SkillFed](https://skillfed.io/packages/pdfrw) · [View on PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/pdfrw/)