Java: Set or Retrieve PDF Properties

PDF properties, as a part of a PDF document, are not shown on a page. Those properties contain information on documents, including title, author, subject, keywords, creation date, and creator. Some of the property values will not be produced automatically, and we have to set them by ourselves. This article will show you how to set or retrieve PDF properties programmatically using Spire.PDF for Java.

Install Spire.PDF for Java

First of all, you're required to add the Spire.Pdf.jar file as a dependency in your Java program. The JAR file can be downloaded from this link. If you use Maven, you can easily import the JAR file in your application by adding the following code to your project's pom.xml file.

<repositories>
    <repository>
        <id>com.e-iceblue</id>
        <name>e-iceblue</name>
        <url>https://repo.e-iceblue.com/nexus/content/groups/public/</url>
    </repository>
</repositories>
<dependencies>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>e-iceblue</groupId>
        <artifactId>spire.pdf</artifactId>
        <version>10.11.2</version>
    </dependency>
</dependencies>
    

Set Properties of a PDF Document in Java

The detailed steps of setting PDF properties are as follows.

  • Create an object of PdfDocument class.
  • Load a PDF document from disk using PdfDocument.loadFromFile() method.
  • Set document properties including title, author, subject, keywords, creation date, modification date, creator, and producer using the methods under DocumentInformation object returned by PdfDocument.getDocumentInformation() method.
  • Save the document using PdfDocument.saveToFile() method.
  • Java
import com.spire.pdf.*;
import java.util.Date;

public class setPDFProperties {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        //Create an object of PdfDocument
        PdfDocument pdfDocument = new PdfDocument();

        //Load a PDF document from disk
        pdfDocument.loadFromFile("D:/Samples/Sample.pdf");

        //Set the title
        pdfDocument.getDocumentInformation().setTitle("PDF(Portable Document Format)");

        //Set the author
        pdfDocument.getDocumentInformation().setAuthor("John");

        //Set the subject
        pdfDocument.getDocumentInformation().setSubject("Introduction of PDF");

        //Set the keywords
        pdfDocument.getDocumentInformation().setKeywords("PDF, document format");

        //Set the creation time
        pdfDocument.getDocumentInformation().setCreationDate(new Date());

        //Set the creator name
        pdfDocument.getDocumentInformation().setCreator("John");

        //Set the modification time
        pdfDocument.getDocumentInformation().setModificationDate(new Date());

        //Set the producer name
        pdfDocument.getDocumentInformation().setProducer("Spire.PDF for Java");

        //Save the document
        pdfDocument.saveToFile("output/setPDFProperties.pdf");
    }
}

Java: Set or Retrieve PDF Properties

Get Properties of a PDF Document in Java

The detailed steps of retrieving PDF properties are as follows.

  • Create an object of PdfDocument class.
  • Load a PDF document from disk using PdfDocument.loadFromFile() method.
  • Create a StringBuilder instance to store the values of document properties.
  • Get properties using the methods under DocumentInformation object returned by PdfDocument.getDocumentInformation() method and put them in the StringBuilder.
  • Create a new TXT file using File.createNewFile() method.
  • Write the StringBuilder to the TXT file using BufferedWriter.write() method.
  • Java
import com.spire.pdf.*;
import java.io.*;

public class getPDFProperties {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
        //Create an object of PdfDocument class
        PdfDocument pdf = new PdfDocument();

        //Load a PDF document from disk
        pdf.loadFromFile("D:/Samples/Sample.pdf");

        //Create a StringBuilder instance to store the values of document properties
        StringBuilder stringBuilder = new StringBuilder();

        //Retrieve property values and put them in the StringBuilder
        stringBuilder.append("Title: " + pdf.getDocumentInformation().getTitle() + "\r\n");
        stringBuilder.append("Author: " + pdf.getDocumentInformation().getAuthor() + "\r\n");
        stringBuilder.append("Subject: " + pdf.getDocumentInformation().getSubject() + "\r\n");
        stringBuilder.append("Keywords: " + pdf.getDocumentInformation().getKeywords() + "\r\n");
        stringBuilder.append("Creator: " + pdf.getDocumentInformation().getCreator() + "\r\n");
        stringBuilder.append("Creation Date: " + pdf.getDocumentInformation().getCreationDate() + "\r\n");
        stringBuilder.append("Producer: " + pdf.getDocumentInformation().getProducer() + "\r\n");

        //Create a new TXT file
        File file = new File("D:/output/getPDFProperties.txt");
        file.createNewFile();

        //Write the StringBuilder to the TXT file
        FileWriter fileWriter = new FileWriter(file, true);
        BufferedWriter bufferedWriter = new BufferedWriter(fileWriter);
        bufferedWriter.write(stringBuilder.toString());
        bufferedWriter.flush();
    }
}

Java: Set or Retrieve PDF Properties

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