How to access PDF metadata in Java?

PDF files are not directly supported by Java. This tutorial shows you how to extract metadata from a PDF file in simple steps using the JPedal Java PDF library.

Easy ways to access PDF metadata

JPedal Java PDF Library contains a large number of utilities to access information about or inside a PDF file. Here are the common Developer uses:-

1. How to find a PDF file page count

   JPedal makes it very easy to scan the pages of a PDF file for text. This features is built into all examples so it also accessible from other examples or as part of the PdfUtilities class.

   PdfUtilities extract=new PdfUtilities("C:/pdfs/mypdf.pdf");
    //extract.setPassword("password");
    if (extract.openPDFFile()) {
         int pageCount=extract.getPageCount();    
    }
   
    extract.closePDFfile();
   

2. How to access a PDF file page size and rotation

   Every page in a  PDF document can have its own dimensions and rotation. MediaBox is the actual page size and CropBox is the visible page size (we recommend you always use CropBox.

   PdfUtilities extract=new PdfUtilities("C:/pdfs/mypdf.pdf");
    //extract.setPassword("password");
    if (extract.openPDFFile()) {
       float[] pageDimensions = extract.getPageDimensions(pageNum, PageUnits.Inches, 
       PageSizeType.CropBox););
    }
   
    extract.closePDFfile();
   

3. How to access PDF Document properties

   A PDF document can contain a set of pre-defined Document properties or an XML value containing any data.

   PdfUtilities extract=new PdfUtilities("C:/pdfs/mypdf.pdf");
    //extract.setPassword("password");
    if (extract.openPDFFile()) {
         Map mapOfValuePairs=extract.getDocumentPropertyStringValuesAsMap();    
         String XMLStringData=extract.getDocumentPropertyFieldsInXML();
    }
   
    extract.closePDFfile();
   
   

4. How to detect if embedded fonts used in PDF Document

   JPedal allows the user to see if embeddedFonts are used in the PDF document.

   PdfUtilities extract=new PdfUtilities("C:/pdfs/mypdf.pdf");
    //extract.setPassword("password");
    if (extract.openPDFFile()) {
         boolean usesEmbeddedFonts=extract.hasEmbeddedFonts();    
    }
   
    extract.closePDFfile();