Remove PDF annotations via command line

Question

Is there a way to remove all PDF annotations (including highlights, comments, notes, arrows) in bulk (e.g., via command line)?

Rafael Beirigo · Accepted Answer · 2022-12-06T03:05:30.917

9

The following series of commands solved my problem:

pdftk in.pdf output - uncompress | sed '/^\/Annots/d' | pdftk - output out.pdf compress

Thanks @Farid Cheragi for the oneliner!

edited Dec 06 '22 at 03:05

answered Apr 02 '18 at 15:59

Rafael Beirigo

2

Thanks! This worked for me, with the following modifications for `macos`: the `sed` command should be `LANG=C LC_ALL=C sed ...` (see [this answer](https://stackoverflow.com/a/23584470/4970632)), and `pdftk` should be downloaded via the `.pkg` file linked in [this answer](https://stackoverflow.com/a/39814799/4970632). – Luke Davis Aug 29 '18 at 06:43
3

A faster (in-memory) way is to use a shell pipeline: ```sh pdftk in.pdf output - uncompress | sed '/^\/Annots/d' | pdftk - output out.pdf compress ``` – Farid Cheraghi Sep 27 '20 at 21:09
@FaridCheraghi it works on macOS M1. Very good – GoingMyWay Oct 01 '21 at 12:45

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 03 '22 at 11:42

2

pdfcpu has a subcommand to remove annotations:

pdfcpu annotations remove my.pdf

answered Jun 03 '22 at 11:42

Frederick Nord

2 Answers2