Read, create, and transform PDF files. Covers pulling text and tables out of PDFs, generating new PDFs, merging and splitting documents, rotating pages, watermarking, encrypting or removing passwords, extracting embedded images, running OCR on scanned documents, and filling out PDF forms including official tax forms. Apply this skill whenever a task involves a .pdf file as input or deliverable.
Install
npx skillscat add zester4/chusky/pdf Install via the SkillsCat registry.
PDF Skill
This skill covers reading, creating, editing, and transforming PDF files.
When to use
Use this skill for any task involving PDF files:
- Extracting text or tables
- Creating new PDFs
- Merging / splitting
- Rotating, watermarking, encrypting
- OCR on scanned documents
- Filling PDF forms
See companion files:
forms.mdfor form fillingreference.mdfor detailed technical reference
Core tools
pdftotext,pdftoppm,pdfinfo(poppler)qpdffor structural operations- Python libraries:
pypdf,reportlab,pdf2image,pytesseractfor OCR - LibreOffice for conversions via
scripts/office/soffice.py
Common workflows
Extract text
pdftotext -layout input.pdf output.txtConvert to images
pdftoppm -jpeg -r 150 input.pdf pageMerge PDFs
qpdf --empty --pages file1.pdf file2.pdf -- merged.pdfCreate new PDF
Use reportlab or similar in Python for full control over layout, fonts, and graphics.
Form filling
See forms.md for detailed guidance on AcroForm and XFA forms.
Best practices
- Always validate the resulting PDF
- Prefer lossless operations when possible
- For scanned documents, run OCR before text extraction
- Keep original files when doing destructive operations
Install
npx skillscat add zester4/chusky/pdf Install via the SkillsCat registry.
Repository Stars
The star count shown is for the parent repository (zester4/chusky), not this specific skill.
.chusky/skills/pdf