Open Source Python PDF Parser Library

What is pypdf?

Pypdf is a valuable open source Python library known for its proficiency in various PDF operations. This library can handle many tasks and operations related to PDF files however, we will only focus on its PDF parsing features in this page.

Notable parsing features of pypdf include:

• Reading PDF Files: Pypdf allows you to open and read/parse PDF files, making it easy to extract text and other data from existing PDF documents.
• Content Extraction: You can parse and extract text, images and attachments from PDF documents as per your requirement.

GitHub Stats

Name:
Language:
Stars:
Forks:
License:
Repository was last updated at

Getting Started with pypdf

You need Python version 3.6.0 or higher to install and use pypdf. So, first install Python and then use below commands to install pypdf on your machine using pip and virtual environment.

python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
pip install pypdf

python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
pip install pypdf

python3 -m venv venv
venv\Scripts\activate.bat
pip install pypdf

Extract Text from PDF

We can use extract_text function of PdfReader class in pypdf library to extract text from PDF files Please check below code snippet for example:

Output

The image below shows the extracted text from the PDF file

Extract Images from PDF

We can use pypdf library to extract images from a PDF document. It requires an additional library named pillow to extract images. It iterates through each page, identifies images, and saves them as separate image files, preserving their original names. Please check below code snippet for example:

Output

The text inserted using the above code is highlighted in the red box given below

Extract Attachments from PDF

pypdf library allows to extract and save attachments from a PDF document. It iterates through the attachments & their contents and saves them in separate files. Please check below code snippet for example:

Conclusion

In conclusion, pypdf stands out as a versatile Python library for extracting features from PDF documents. It offers robust capabilities for parsing text, images, and attachments, making it a valuable tool for data extraction, analysis, and document management.

However, it's important to note that pypdf may introduce occasional issues when extracting text, such as extra spaces between words and characters, which can affect the accuracy of extracted content. Despite this limitation, pypdf remains a valuable asset for parsing PDF files, especially in scenarios where precise formatting of text is not the primary concern.

Similar Products