This blog post shows you how to convert a PDF to YAML, by extracting marked content with structure tags.
What is structured PDF?
Some PDF files contain structured content, also known as tagged or marked content, which is semantic information that gives meaning to the structure of the file. It is a similar concept to HTML, where text is surrounded by tags which indicate what the text represents.
What is YAML?
YAML is a data serialisation format, similar to JSON, which makes it very useful for transferring content between systems.
A key difference between YAML and other markup languages like JSON and XML is that YAML uses indentation rather than brackets or tags to define hierarchy.
Can I convert PDF to YAML?
If a PDF file contains marked content (how do I know?), then you can process the structure tags produce a YAML output.
Our PDF library JPedal has support for converting tagged PDFs into the YAML format. JPedal is the best Java PDF library for developers. You can achieve this using the following code snippet:
ExtractStructuredTextProperties properties = new ExtractStructuredTextProperties();
properties.setFileOutputMode(OutputModes.YAML);
ExtractStructuredText.
writeAllStructuredTextOutlinesToDir("inputFile.pdf", password, "outputFolder", null, null);
For more in-depth insights into PDFs, feel free to explore our other articles — we’ve been working with the format for over a decade!
The JPedal PDF library allows you to solve these problems in Java
//Convenience static method (see class for additional options)
ExtractClippedImages.writeAllClippedImagesToDir("inputFileOrDirectory", "outputDir", "outputImageFormat", new String[] {"imageHeightAsFloat", "subDirectoryForHeight"});
final PdfManipulator pdf = new PdfManipulator();
pdf.loadDocument(new File("inputFile.pdf"));
pdf.addPage(1, PaperSize.A4_LANDSCAPE);
pdf.addText(1, "Hello World", 10, 10, BaseFont.HelveticaBold, 12, 1, 0.3f, 0.2f);
pdf.addImage(1, new BufferedImage(), new float[] {0, 0, 100, 100});
pdf.rotatePage(1, 90);
pdf.apply();
pdf.writeDocument(new File("outputFile.pdf"));Viewer viewer = new Viewer();
viewer.setupViewer();
viewer.executeCommand(ViewerCommands.OPENFILE, "pdfFile.pdf");
//Convenience static method (see class for additional options)
ExtractTextAsWordList.writeAllWordlistsToDir("inputFileOrDirectory", "outputDir", -1);
PdfMerge.mergeFiles(new File("inputFile1.pdf"), new File("inputFile2.pdf"), new File("outputFile.pdf"));
PdfManipulator.splitInHalf(new File("inputFile.pdf"), new File("outputFolder"), pageToSplitAt);PrintPdfPages print = new PrintPdfPages("C:/pdfs/mypdf.pdf");
if (print.openPDFFile()) {
print.printAllPages("Printer Name");
}//Convenience static method (see class for additional options)
ExtractClippedImages.writeAllClippedImagesToDir("inputFileOrDirectory", "outputDir", "outputImageFormat", new String[] {"imageHeightAsFloat", "subDirectoryForHeight"});
//Convenience static method (see class for additional options)
ArrayList resultsForPages = FindTextInRectangle.findTextOnAllPages("/path/to/file.pdf", "textToFind");
java -jar jpedal.jar --inspect "inputFile.pdf"PdfSigner.signPdf(
"inputFile.pdf",
"outputFile.pdf",
"keystorePassword",
"keystoreFile.p12",
"signerName",
"signerLocation",
"signingReason",
ACCESS_PERMISSION.P1
);What is JPedal?
JPedal is a commercial Java PDF Library that makes it easy for Java developers to work with PDF Documents in Java.
Why use JPedal?
JPedal makes it much easier to work with PDF files from Java. Because we have been actively developing our Java PDF Toolkit for over 20 years, it works with all those problem PDF files out there.
What licenses are available?
We have 2 licenses available:
'Server' for on premises and cloud servers and 'OEM' for use in a named end user applications. Both are one time fees with options support renewal after 12 months.
How to use JPedal?
Want to learn more about JPedal and how to use it, we have plenty of tutorials and guides to help you.
