# gettalong/hexapdf

Versatile PDF creation and manipulation for Ruby

Repository: https://github.com/gettalong/hexapdf
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/hexapdf
Homepage: https://hexapdf.gettalong.org
Language: Ruby
License: NOASSERTION
License Family: other
Topics: ruby, pdf, pdf-generation, pdf-manipulation
Last push: 2026-08-17T15:29:45+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 76/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 98, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4374, "days_push": 16, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases, no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1382, forks 81 (observed 2026-08-28T04:04:34.433171+00:00)

## What it is
HexaPDF is a pure Ruby library with an accompanying CLI application for creating, manipulating, merging, encrypting, signing, and optimizing PDF files. It offers both a low-level canvas API mapping to PDF operators and a high-level document composition engine with automatic layout, forms, annotations, and PDF 2.0 support.

## Use cases
- generate pdf documents from scratch in ruby
- merge multiple pdf files into one
- extract text and images from pdfs
- encrypt or decrypt pdf files with aes-256
- digitally sign pdf documents
- fill and flatten pdf forms
- repair malformed pdf files
- optimize pdf file size

## When to choose
- you work in Ruby and need full-featured PDF creation or manipulation without native dependencies
- you need encryption, digital signatures, or AcroForm support in a Ruby stack
- you want a CLI for common PDF tasks plus a library for advanced ones
- you need to repair or process large volumes of malformed PDFs

## When to avoid
- you need a non-AGPL open-source license without purchasing a commercial license
- your stack is not Ruby and you don't want a Ruby dependency
- you need PDF rendering to raster images or a PDF viewer, which is out of scope

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: active
- function: pdf, cryptography, cli, image-processing, security
- domain: pdf, files, developer-tools, web-development
- platform: ruby, cross-platform, cli
- tags: pdf-generation, pdf-manipulation, digital-signatures, acroform, pure-ruby, dual-license

## Member repositories
- gettalong/hexapdf (main) score 76

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:34.433171+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T04:40:06.922892+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/gettalong/hexapdf (fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:34.433171+00:00, sha 193e2f54625e)
  - homepage: https://hexapdf.gettalong.org (fetched 2026-08-29T11:56:03.924406+00:00, sha 7afc2ceb2385)
  - site_page: https://hexapdf.gettalong.org/documentation/getting-started/index.html (fetched 2026-08-29T11:56:03.933500+00:00, sha 6ea22743e36d)
  - site_page: https://hexapdf.gettalong.org/documentation/changelog.html (fetched 2026-08-29T11:56:03.935748+00:00, sha bd350234fa38)
  - site_page: https://hexapdf.gettalong.org/documentation/api/HexaPDF/Content/Canvas.html (fetched 2026-08-29T11:56:03.939826+00:00, sha 55c4c83d561a)
  - site_page: https://hexapdf.gettalong.org/documentation/api/HexaPDF/Composer.html (fetched 2026-08-29T11:56:03.943495+00:00, sha 136907253e88)
  - site_page: https://hexapdf.gettalong.org/documentation/api/HexaPDF/Document/Pages.html (fetched 2026-08-29T11:56:03.945517+00:00, sha 941ba28a133e)
  - site_page: https://hexapdf.gettalong.org/documentation/interactive-forms/index.html (fetched 2026-08-29T11:56:03.947246+00:00, sha 99851aab6c1e)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.