---
name: "setpdfmetadata"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "pdfproctools"
version: "1.9.6-1"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/setpdfmetadata"
---

# setpdfmetadata(1)

PDF Metadata Updater

## NAME

**setpdfmetadata** – PDF Metadata Updater

## SYNOPSIS

**setpdfmetadata** \[Input PDF\] \[Metadata\] \[Output PDF\]

## DESCRIPTION

**setpdfmetadata** is tool to add and update the metadata of a PDF file. In particular, it can be used to add outlines (bookmarks) to a document. Furthermore, it can set the document properties (e.g. author, title,  keywords, creator, producer).\
 Note, that all metadata content will be encoded in ISO-8859-1 encoding. It is not (yet) possible to use non-ISO-8859-1 text in the PDF metadata.\
 The metadata may contain the following commands:

- outline Level Page Bookmark

  Add a PDF outline at the given level (0=chapter, 1=section, 2=subsection, 3=subsubsection, 4=paragraph, ...) and pointing to the given page number. Bookmark denotes the label text.

- author Author

  Sets the document author to the given value.

- title Title

  Sets the document title to the given value.

- title Subject

  Sets the document subject to the given value.

- keywords Keywords

  Sets the document keywords to the given value.

- creator Creator

  Sets the document creator to the given value.

- producer Producer

  Sets the document producer to the given value.

## ARGUMENTS

The following arguments have to be provided:

- Input PDF

  The input PDF file name.

- Output PDF

  The output PDF file name.

## EXAMPLES

A setpdfmetadata usage example:

- setpdfmetadata MyDocument.pdf MyMetadata.meta MyDocument-Updated.pdf

  A metadata example:

outline 1 1 Chapter 1\
 outline 2 2 Section 1.1\
 outline 2 4 Section 1.2\
 outline 1 6 Chapter 2\
 author John Smith\
 title An Example Document\
 keywords Example, PDF, setpdfmetadata

## AUTHORS

Thomas Dreibholz\
 https://www.nntb.no/~dreibh/netperfmeter\
 mailto://thomas.dreibholz@gmail.com\