# pikepdf/pikepdf

A Python library for reading and writing PDF, powered by QPDF

Repository: https://github.com/pikepdf/pikepdf
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/pikepdf
Homepage: https://pikepdf.readthedocs.io/
Language: Python
License: MPL-2.0
License Family: copyleft
Topics: pdf, pdf-generation, pdf-manipulation, existing-pdfs, pypdf2, python, pikepdf, qpdf
Last push: 2026-08-18T07:46:48+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 95/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 98, release rhythm 89, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3275, "days_push": 15, "days_rel": 75, "gap_med": 18.5, "n_releases_24m": 27}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 2798, forks 229 (observed 2026-08-28T04:07:22.492423+00:00)

## What it is
pikepdf is a Python library for reading, writing, repairing, and transforming PDF files, built on the mature qpdf C++ library. It supports page manipulation, metadata editing, lossless image extraction, and encryption/decryption with AES or RC4.

## Use cases
- merge multiple pdf files into one
- split a pdf into separate pages
- repair a corrupted pdf file
- remove pages from a pdf
- rotate pages in a pdf
- extract images from a pdf without re-encoding
- add password encryption to a pdf
- edit pdf metadata like title and author

## When to choose
- you need low-level, reliable PDF manipulation in Python
- you must repair damaged or malformed PDFs
- you need lossless image extraction from PDFs
- you want to encrypt or decrypt PDFs with modern ciphers
- you are replacing PyPDF2 with a more robust library

## When to avoid
- you only need to render PDFs to images or text
- you want to create PDFs from scratch with rich layout control
- you need a pure-Python solution without native dependencies
- you need to fill or flatten PDF forms extensively

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: active
- function: pdf, parser, image-processing, cryptography, serialization
- domain: pdf, files, developer-tools
- platform: python, windows, cross-platform
- tags: pdf-manipulation, qpdf, pdf-repair, pdf-encryption, pdf-metadata, page-manipulation, image-extraction, automation, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- pikepdf/pikepdf (main) score 95

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:22.492423+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 2026-08-30T08:14:38.723340+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/pikepdf/pikepdf (fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:22.492423+00:00, sha 48d6652133d7)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.