Existing files

The Rustaveli.Pdf.Operations package works with PDF files already written — by this library or anything else. It reads them in managed code, repairing what it can of a damaged file, and writes the result anew.

Combining documents while composing

Documents composed with this library are combined before export with Document.Merge. Page numbers run on from one part to the next, or restart in each part:

Document cover = Document.Compose(composition => composition.Section(section => section.Body().Text("Cover")));
Document report = Document.Compose(composition => composition.Section(section => section.Body().Text("Report")));

Document merged = Document.Merge(cover, report);
Document numberedApart = Document.Merge(cover, report).NumberPartsSeparately();

Putting files together

PdfFile opens a file, changes it step by step, and saves the result:

PdfFile.Open("contract.pdf")
    .KeepPages("1-3, 5, 8-last")
    .Append("appendix.pdf")
    .Append("terms.pdf", pages: "2")
    .Save("contract-with-appendix.pdf");

Page lists read as a print dialog's do: numbers from 1, ranges, last, in any order — "last-1" reverses the file.

Stamps and letterheads

Overlay draws another file's pages over these; Underlay draws them beneath, as a letterhead. The pages of the other file are used in turn, starting again when they run out, so a one-page stamp goes on every page:

PdfFile.Open("letter.pdf")
    .Underlay("letterhead.pdf", onto: "1")
    .Overlay("copy-stamp.pdf")
    .Save("letter-on-letterhead.pdf");

Attachments and electronic invoices

A file can carry other files. For an electronic invoice — ZUGFeRD, Factur-X — the XML travels inside a PDF/A-3 document as an alternative form of it, and is described in its metadata:

PdfFile.Open("invoice.pdf")
    .Attach(new FileAttachment("factur-x.xml", File.ReadAllBytes("factur-x.xml"))
    {
        MediaType = "text/xml",
        Description = "Factur-X invoice",
        Relationship = AttachmentRelationship.Alternative,
    })
    .AddMetadata(File.ReadAllText("factur-x-metadata.xmp"))
    .Save("invoice-with-data.pdf");

A PDF/A-3 file stays PDF/A-3 with its attachments; this library's tests check such an invoice with veraPDF.

Protection and web viewing

PdfFile.Open("report.pdf")
    .Protect(new Protection { UserPassword = "open sesame", AllowPrinting = false })
    .Save("report-protected.pdf");

PdfFile.Open("report-protected.pdf", password: "open sesame")
    .Unprotect()
    .OptimizeForWeb()
    .Save("report-for-the-web.pdf");

A protected file opens with its user or owner password; saved without Protect or Unprotect, it keeps the protection it had. OptimizeForWeb linearises the file so a browser shows the first page while the rest downloads. LiftRestrictions drops the restrictions a signature places on a file, for a file that is to change anyway.