PDF processing using perl

Looking to modify PDF files using perl ?

perl.com has a nice article on how to use PDF::Reuse to manipulate the pdf files including adding bookmarks, combining files and more.

See the article here

PDFs with PDFCreator

For many Windows users who want to create PDF files, Adobe Acrobat is overkill. Acrobat has more functions and features than they'll generally use, and with a price tag of $299 ($449 for the professional edition), Acrobat costs more than many people want to spend. Luckily, Windows users can create PDFs from any application using the GPL-licensed PDFCreator. Built on top of Ghostscript, a popular free PostScript interpreter, PDFCreator is fast and configurable. For most purposes, it's a great alternative to Acrobat.

You can download the installer for PDFCreator from its SourceForge.net project page. You can get the installer as either a Windows executable or as a Microsoft Installer package. The Windows executable comes in two versions -- one with Ghostscript, one without.

Read Via Newsforge

Update:

There was a suggestion in the comments to use OpenOffice, ofcourse you can use that - but then, not everyone uses OpenOffice and Pdfcreator can be used to "Print" to a PDF from ANY Windows Program - OpenOffice included :)

A survey of Linux PDF viewers

Portable Document Format, designed in the early 1990s by Adobe Systems, is slowly replacing PostScript as the preferred format for saving and viewing generic documents. Early on, only Adobe supplied programs that enabled users to view PDF files. But since the format's specification is open, Adobe Reader (formerly "Adobe Acrobat Reader") is now only one among an increasing set of PDF viewers. Here's a guide to the best alternatives for Linux users.

Read Via Linux.com

pdftk - the swiss-knife pdf utility

If PDF is electronic paper, then pdftk is an electronic staple-remover, hole-punch, binder, secret-decoder-ring, and X-Ray-glasses. Pdftk is a command-line tool for doing everyday things with PDF documents. Keep one in the top drawer of your desktop and use it to:

• Merge PDF Documents
• Split PDF Pages into a New Document
• Decrypt Input as Necessary (Password Required)
• Encrypt Output as Desired
• Fill PDF Forms with FDF Data and/or Flatten Forms
• Apply a Background Watermark
• Report on PDF Metrics such as Metadata, Bookmarks, and Page Labels
• Update PDF Metadata
• Attach Files to PDF Pages or the PDF Document
• Unpack PDF Attachments
• Burst a PDF Document into Single Pages
• Uncompress and Re-Compress Page Streams
• Repair Corrupted PDF (Where Possible)

Ubuntu users

sudo apt-get install pdftk