Toolkit Overview

The toolkit package (phpdftk/pdf-toolkit) provides reader-to-writer pipelines for common PDF manipulation tasks. Each class follows the same pattern: open a PDF, apply operations, save the result.

Design principles

• Reader-based: toolkit classes compose PdfReader + IncrementalWriter or PdfFileWriter — they do not depend on the writer package
• Fluent API: chain operations and save in one expression
• Escape hatches: every class exposes getReader() for raw access
• Page selection: shared PageSelector utility for targeting specific pages

Available tools

Text Extraction

use Phpdftk\Pdf\Toolkit\TextExtractor;

$text = TextExtractor::open('report.pdf')->allPages();
$results = TextExtractor::open('contract.pdf')->search('liability');

Full documentation

Form Filling

use Phpdftk\Pdf\Toolkit\FormFiller;

FormFiller::open('form.pdf')
    ->fill('name', 'Jane Doe')
    ->check('subscribe')
    ->select('country', 'Canada')
    ->save('filled.pdf');

Full documentation

PDF Stamping

use Phpdftk\Pdf\Toolkit\PdfStamper;
use Phpdftk\Pdf\Toolkit\Stamper\StampPosition;

PdfStamper::open('report.pdf')
    ->watermark('DRAFT')
    ->addPageNumbers(StampPosition::BottomCenter)
    ->save('stamped.pdf');

Full documentation

Page Slicing

use Phpdftk\Pdf\Toolkit\PageSlicer;

PageSlicer::open('large.pdf')
    ->keepRange(1, 5)
    ->save('first-five.pdf');

Full documentation

PDF Merging

use Phpdftk\Pdf\Toolkit\PdfMerger;

PdfMerger::create()
    ->addFile('chapter1.pdf')
    ->addFile('chapter2.pdf')
    ->save('book.pdf');

Full documentation

Page Transformation

use Phpdftk\Pdf\Toolkit\PageTransformer;

PageTransformer::open('input.pdf')
    ->rotate(90)
    ->scale(0.8)
    ->save('output.pdf');

Full documentation

Annotation Flattening

use Phpdftk\Pdf\Toolkit\AnnotationFlattener;

AnnotationFlattener::open('form.pdf')
    ->flattenAll()
    ->save('flat.pdf');

Full documentation

Text Redaction

use Phpdftk\Pdf\Toolkit\TextRedactor;

TextRedactor::open('contract.pdf')
    ->redactText('Jane Doe')
    ->redactPattern('/\d{3}-\d{2}-\d{4}/')
    ->apply()
    ->save('redacted.pdf');

Full documentation

Metadata Editing

use Phpdftk\Pdf\Toolkit\MetadataEditor;

MetadataEditor::open('doc.pdf')
    ->setTitle('Annual Report')
    ->setAuthor('Acme Corp')
    ->save('updated.pdf');

Full documentation

Encryption

use Phpdftk\Pdf\Toolkit\PdfEncrypt;
use Phpdftk\Pdf\Toolkit\Encryption\EncryptionMethod;

PdfEncrypt::open('doc.pdf')
    ->encrypt('user', 'owner', EncryptionMethod::Aes256)
    ->save('encrypted.pdf');

Full documentation

Bookmark Editing

use Phpdftk\Pdf\Toolkit\BookmarkEditor;
use Phpdftk\Pdf\Toolkit\Bookmark\BookmarkEntry;

BookmarkEditor::open('report.pdf')
    ->setBookmarks(
        new BookmarkEntry('Chapter 1', 1),
        new BookmarkEntry('Chapter 2', 10),
    )
    ->save('bookmarked.pdf');

Full documentation

Page Labeling

use Phpdftk\Pdf\Toolkit\PageLabeler;

PageLabeler::open('report.pdf')
    ->setRomanNumerals(1, 4)
    ->setArabic(5, null, 1)
    ->save('labeled.pdf');

Full documentation

Page Selection

The PageSelector utility is shared across toolkit classes:

use Phpdftk\Pdf\Toolkit\PageSelector;

$all = PageSelector::all();
$specific = PageSelector::pages(1, 3, 5);
$range = PageSelector::range(2, 8);
$even = PageSelector::even();
$odd = PageSelector::odd();

// Check if a page matches
$even->matches(4, 10); // true (page 4 of 10)

// Get 0-based indices for a total page count
$range->resolve(10); // [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7] (pages 2-8)

Installation

composer require phpdftk/pdf-toolkit

The toolkit requires pdf-core and pdf-reader (pulled in automatically).