Audience
Individuals and companies seeking an open source Java tool for working with PDF documents
About PDFBox
The Apache PDFBox® library is an open-source Java tool for working with PDF documents. This project allows the creation of new PDF documents, manipulation of existing documents and the ability to extract content from documents. Apache PDFBox also includes several command-line utilities. Apache PDFBox is published under the Apache License v2.0. Extract Unicode text from PDF files. Split a single PDF into many files or merge multiple PDF files. Extract data from PDF forms or fill a PDF form. Validate PDF files against the PDF/A-1b standard. Print a PDF file using the standard Java printing API. Create a PDF from scratch, with embedded fonts and images. Save PDFs as image files, such as PNG or JPEG and digitally sign PDF files. See also the export control information related to the encryption features included in Apache PDFBox.
Other Popular Alternatives & Related Software
Adobe PDF Library SDK
Adobe PDF Library is the only commercial PDF SDK built on Adobe Acrobat's own core engine, delivering the same rendering accuracy, PDF spec coverage, and behavior as Acrobat itself.
Available in Modern C++, Adobe C/C++, .NET, .NET Framework, and Java, and supported on Windows, macOS, and Linux. Create, edit, merge, split, annotate, and watermark PDFs programmatically; convert to and from Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF/A, PDF/X, and more; add OCR, digital signatures, redaction, and encryption; and process AcroForms and XFA forms.
SOC 2 Type 2 compliant, with a 91% customer retention rate among enterprise users.
For enterprise deployment, the pdfRest API Toolkit Container packages this technology as a self hosted REST API for on premises, private cloud, or hybrid environments.
Datalogics also offers Scout, an AI assistant, and an MCP server so teams can bring PDF capabilities into AI powered workflows.
Learn more
PrizmDoc
Through a collection of UI components and content manipulation APIs, PrizmDoc provides customizable document processing to help developers deliver in-browser document creation, editing, and collaboration functionality, to enhance their software applications. Our functionality integrates on the client and server side smoothly, creating a seamless experience for both you and your users. Render and display dozens of file types, from Adobe PDFs and Microsoft Office files to CAD and DICOM formats, in a browser without the need to download or open native applications. Designed for seamless integration with your application, our zero footprint HTML5 viewer is fully customizable, from quick integrations with minimal configuration to complete programmatic control using our extensive JavaScript API.
Learn more
Pdftools
Whether you have thousands of documents or millions, Pdftools has the products and services to help make processing a breeze.
Designed for document-heavy industries, Pdftools’ suite of SDKs and APIs are here to make your document workflows easier, faster, and stress-free. Built on SDKs and APIs, the Pdftools products integrate seamlessly into your existing (or new) systems and applications. Process thousands of documents every minute. Our tools are precision-engineered to be efficient and run at blazing speeds. We’re engineers at heart, so we’re only satisfied with the most reliable, orderly, and usable, and well-documented platforms. Shrink file sizes down, but keep the quality and interactivity. Your documents will always be compliant for long-term archiving. We’ve obsessed over every detail in our products, and documented everything so it’s easy to get started.
Learn more
pdfRest
pdfRest is a developer PDF API with 40+ endpoints for conversion, extraction, and document manipulation. Convert to and from PDF (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, images, PDF/A, PDF/X). Merge, split, compress, and linearize. Extract text, images, and metadata. Add OCR to scanned documents. Watermark, encrypt, decrypt, restrict, and redact. Fill, flatten, import, and export form data. Requests are chainable, so multi-step document pipelines run in sequence without shuttling files back and forth between calls.
What sets pdfRest apart in the PDF API space is deployment flexibility. Most PDF APIs are cloud-only. pdfRest ships three ways: Cloud, Container and AWS Marketplace.
For teams running an evaluation: pdfRest is SOC 2 Type 2 audited and supports GDPR and HIPAA requirements. The Container deployment is the strongest fit for regulated workloads, specifically because processing happens entirely inside your own environment.
Learn more
Company Information
Apache Software Foundation
Founded: 1999
United States
pdfbox.apache.org
Videos and Screen Captures
Other Useful Business Software
$300 Free Credits to Build on Google Cloud
Put your $300 in credit toward real workloads, then keep building with free monthly usage for 20+ products. No commitment and no charge until you upgrade.
Product Details
Platforms Supported
Windows
Mac
Linux
Training
Documentation
Support
Online
