PDF Utilities Skill

Overview

This skill provides comprehensive PDF processing capabilities including reading PDFs with multiple library backends (tabula, camelot, PyPDF2), extracting tables to DataFrames, editing/extracting page ranges, handling fillable forms, and managing PDF comments. All operations are driven by YAML configuration.

Key Components

ReadPDF Class (read_pdf.py)

Multi-backend PDF reading with table extraction:

• readpdf(cfg, fileindex) - Route to appropriate backend based on config
• frompdftabula(cfg, file_index) - Extract tables using tabula-py
• frompdfcamelot(cfg, file_index) - Extract tables using camelot
• frompdfPyPDF2(cfg, file_index) - Read PDF pages using PyPDF2

EditPDF Class (edit_pdf.py)

PDF page manipulation and extraction:

• editpdf(cfg, fileindex) - Process PDF files based on configuration
• frompdfPyPDF2(cfg, file_index) - Extract page ranges to new PDF files
• processcfgfiles(cfg) - Process multiple PDF files from config

Additional Modules

• fillable_pdf.py - Handle fillable PDF forms (fill fields, extract data)
• pdf_comments.py - Add, read, and manipulate PDF annotations
• pdf_reports.py - Generate PDF reports from data

Usage Patterns

Table Extraction Configuration

pdf:
  io: pdf_read
  reader: tabula  # or camelot, PyPDF2
  files:
    - path: "input.pdf"
      pages: [1, 2, 3]
      area: [0, 0, 100, 100]  # Optional: specific region

Page Extraction Configuration

pdf:
  io: pdf_edit
  files:
    - path: "source.pdf"
      output: "extracted_pages.pdf"
      page_start: 1
      page_end: 5

Common Workflows

1. Table Extraction: PDF → tabula/camelot → DataFrame → CSV/Excel
2. Page Extraction: Multi-page PDF → Extract range → New PDF
3. Form Processing: Fillable PDF → Fill fields → Save completed form
4. Report Generation: DataFrame → Generate styled PDF report

Module Location

• Read: src/assetutilities/modules/pdfutilities/readpdf.py
• Edit: src/assetutilities/modules/pdfutilities/editpdf.py
• Forms: src/assetutilities/modules/pdfutilities/fillablepdf.py
• Comments: src/assetutilities/modules/pdfutilities/pdfcomments.py
• Reports: src/assetutilities/modules/pdfutilities/pdfreports.py

Dependencies

• PyPDF2 (PDF reading and manipulation)
• tabula-py (table extraction with Java backend)
• camelot-py (table extraction)
• reportlab (PDF generation, optional)