qpdf ☆

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Description:
Tools for and transforming and inspecting PDF files

Type: Formula | Tracked Since: Dec 28, 2025

Links: Homepage | formulae.brew.sh

Category: Developer tools

Tags: pdf document cli utility file-converter

Install: brew install qpdf

About:
Qpdf is a command-line tool and library for manipulating and inspecting PDF documents. It provides lossless structural transformations, such as linearization (web optimization), encryption, and page manipulation. Its primary value is in automating PDF processing tasks while preserving the integrity of the original file content.

Key Features:

Lossless linearization (web optimization) of PDFs
Encryption, decryption, and password protection
Page manipulation (shuffle, collate, extract)
JSON representation for detailed PDF inspection

Use Cases:

Optimizing PDFs for fast web viewing
Decrypting or password-protecting sensitive documents
Splitting or merging PDF files for document assembly

Alternatives:

Ghostscript – Ghostscript is a full PostScript interpreter that can rasterize or convert files, whereas Qpdf focuses on non-destructive structural PDF manipulation.
pdftk – pdftk is often used for basic merging and splitting, but Qpdf is generally considered more robust for handling modern PDF features and preserving internal structure.

Version History

Detected	Version	Rev	Change	Commit
Sep 10, 2025 5:57pm		0	VERSION_BUMP	193cc3ed