Jacob Collins Jacob is a Java developer and the product manager of JPedal

How JPedal allows you to view the commands in a PDF stream

39 sec read

A new version of JPedal has been released and it contains an exciting new feature—the object stream decoder. If you want to use this for yourself you can download the latest version of JPedal here. You can also view the release notes here.

What are PDF streams?

Objects in a PDF file contain streams however, these are usually stored in binary format and often compressed. JPedal now has the ability to decode these PDF streams into plain text for you to view.

Get started

Using our PDF Inspector tool you can look at the internal structure and contents of any PDF file. If you open up the Cross-Reference Viewer or the Object Viewer you will see there is a new ‘Decode Stream’ button.

If you select a PDF stream object and hit this button a new window will popup with the decoded contents of the PDF stream. This will then allow you to view the commands inside a PDF file.

Here is an example of what this could look like:

Learn more

Download JPedal and try for yourself.

Learn more about JPedal’s PDF Inspector.



The JPedal PDF library allows you to solve these problems in Java


Why do developers choose JPedal over alternatives?

  1. Actively developed commercial library with full support and no third party dependencies.
  2. Simple licensing options and source code access for OEM users.
  3. Process PDF files up to 3x faster than alternative Java PDF libraries.

Jacob Collins Jacob is a Java developer and the product manager of JPedal