3 bookmaker.py is a helper for optimizing PDFs of books for the production of small self-printed, self-bound physical books. Towards this goal it offers various PDF manipulation options that may also be used indepéndently and for other purposes.
8 Concatenate two PDFs A.pdf and B.pdf to COMBINED.pdf:
9 bookmaker.py --input_file A.pdf --input_file B.pdf --output_file COMBINED.pdf
11 Produce OUTPUT.pdf containing all pages of (inclusive) page number range 3-7 from INPUT.pdf:
12 bookmaker.py -i INPUT.pdf --page_range 3-7 -o OUTPUT.pdf
14 Produce COMBINED.pdf from A.pdf's first 7 pages, B.pdf's pages except its first two, and all pages of C.pdf:
15 bookmaker.py -i A.pdf -p start-7 -i B.pdf -p 3-end -i C.pdf -o COMBINED.pdf
17 Crop each page 5cm from the left, 10cm from the bottom, 2cm from the right, and 0cm from the top:
18 bookmaker.py -i INPUT.pdf -o OUTPUT.pdf --crops "5,10,2,0"
20 Include all pages from INPUT.pdf, but crop pages 10-20 by 5cm each from bottom and top:
21 bookmaker.py -i INPUT.pdf -c "10-20:0,5,0,5" -o OUTPUT.pdf
23 Same crops for pages 10-20, but also crop all pages 30 and later by 3cm each from left and right:
24 bookmaker.py -i INPUT.pdf -o OUTPUT.pdf -c "10-20:0,5,0,5" -c "30-end:3,0,3,0"
26 Rotate by 90° pages 3, 5, 7; rotate page 7 once more by 90% (i.e. 180° in total):
27 bookmaker.py -i INPUT.pdf -o OUTPUT.pdf --rotate 3 -r 5 -r 7 -r 7
29 Initially declare 5cm crop from the left and 1cm crop from right, but alternate direction between even and odd pages:
30 bookmaker.py -i INPUT.pdf -o OUTPUT.pdf -c "5,0,1,0" -s
32 Quarter each OUTPUT.pdf page to carry 4 pages from INPUT.pdf, draw stencils into inner margins for cuts to carry binding strings:
33 bookmaker.py -i INPUT.pdf -o OUTPUT.pdf --nup4
35 Same --nup4, but define a printable-region margin of 1.3cm to limit the space for the INPUT.pdf pages in OUTPUT.pdf page quarters:
36 bookmaker.py -i INPUT.pdf -o OUTPUT.pdf -n --print_margin 1.3
38 Same --nup4, but draw lines marking printable-region margins, page quarts, spine margins:
39 bookmaker.py -i INPUT.pdf -o OUTPUT.pdf -n --analyze
43 For arguments like -p, page numbers are assumed to start with 1 (not 0, which is treated as an invalid page number value).
45 The target page shape so far is assumed to be A4 in portrait orientation; bookmaker.py normalizes all pages to this format before applying crops, and removes any source PDF /Rotate commands (for their production of landscape orientations).
47 For --nup4, the -c cropping instructions do not so much erase content outside the cropped area, but rather zoom into the page in a way that maximes the cropped area as much as possible into the available per-page area between printable-area margins and the borders to the other quartered pages. If the zoomed cropped area does not fit in neatly into its per-page area, this will preserve additional page content.
49 The --nup4 quartering puts pages into a specific order optimized for no-tumble duplex print-outs that can easily be folded and cut into pages of a small A6 book. Each unit of 8 pages from the source PDF is mapped thus onto two subsequent pages (i.e. front and back of a printed A4 paper):
58 To facilitate this layout, --nup4 also pads the input PDF pages to a total number that is a multiple of 8, by adding empty pages if necessary.
60 (To turn above double-sided example page into a tiny 8-page book: Cut the paper in two on its horizontal middle line. Fold the two halves by their vertical middle lines, with pages 3-2 and 7-6 on the folds' insides. This creates two 4-page books of pages 1-4 and pages 5-8. Fold them both closed and (counter-intuitively) put the book of pages 5-8 on top of the other one (creating a temporary page order of 5,6,7,8,1,2,3,4). A binding cut stencil should be visible on the top left of this stack – cut it out (with all pages folded together) to add the same inner-margin upper cut to each page. Turn around your 8-pages stack to find the mirror image of aforementioned stencil on the stack's back's bottom, and cut that out too. Each page now has binding cuts on top and bottom of its inner margins. Swap the order of both books (back to the final page order of 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8), and you now have an 8-pages book that can be "bound" in its binding cuts through a rubber band or the like. Repeat with the next 8-pages double-page, et cetera. (Actually, with just 8 pages, the paper may curl under the pressure of a rubber band – but go up to 32 pages or so, and the result will become quite stable.)
67 def handled_error_exit(msg):
68 print(f"ERROR: {msg}")
74 handled_error_exit("Can't run at all without pypdf installed.")
77 POINTS_PER_CM = 10 * 72 / 25.4
78 A4_WIDTH = 21 * POINTS_PER_CM
79 A4_HEIGHT = 29.7 * POINTS_PER_CM
80 A4 = (A4_WIDTH, A4_HEIGHT)
81 CUT_DEPTH = 1.95 * POINTS_PER_CM
82 CUT_WIDTH = 1.05 * POINTS_PER_CM
83 MIDDLE_POINT_DEPTH = 0.4 * POINTS_PER_CM
84 SPINE_LIMIT = 1 * POINTS_PER_CM
87 class HandledException(Exception):
90 def validate_page_range(p_string, err_msg_prefix):
91 prefix = f"{err_msg_prefix}: page range string"
92 if '-' not in p_string:
93 raise HandledException(f"{prefix} lacks '-': {p_string}")
94 tokens = p_string.split("-")
96 raise HandledException(f"{prefix} has too many '-': {p_string}")
97 for i, token in enumerate(tokens):
100 if i == 0 and token == "start":
102 if i == 1 and token == "end":
107 raise HandledException(f"{prefix} carries value neither integer, nor 'start', nor 'end': {p_string}")
109 raise HandledException(f"{prefix} carries page number <1: {p_string}")
113 start = int(tokens[0])
117 if start > 0 and end > 0 and start > end:
118 raise HandledException(f"{prefix} has higher start than end value: {p_string}")
120 def split_crops_string(c_string):
121 initial_split = c_string.split(':')
122 if len(initial_split) > 1:
123 page_range = initial_split[0]
124 crops = initial_split[1]
127 crops = initial_split[0]
128 return page_range, crops
130 def parse_page_range(range_string, pages):
132 end_page = len(pages)
134 start, end = range_string.split('-')
135 if not (len(start) == 0 or start == "start"):
136 start_page = int(start) - 1
137 if not (len(end) == 0 or end == "end"):
139 return start_page, end_page
141 def draw_cut(canvas, x_spine_limit, direction, half_height):
142 outer_start_x = x_spine_limit - 0.5 * CUT_WIDTH * direction
143 inner_start_x = x_spine_limit + 0.5 * CUT_WIDTH * direction
144 middle_point_y = half_height + MIDDLE_POINT_DEPTH * direction
145 end_point_y = half_height + CUT_DEPTH * direction
146 canvas.line(inner_start_x, half_height, x_spine_limit, end_point_y)
147 canvas.line(x_spine_limit, end_point_y, x_spine_limit, middle_point_y)
148 canvas.line(x_spine_limit, middle_point_y, outer_start_x, half_height)
151 parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description=__doc__, epilog=help_epilogue, formatter_class=argparse.RawDescriptionHelpFormatter)
152 parser.add_argument("-i", "--input_file", action="append", required=True, help="input PDF file")
153 parser.add_argument("-o", "--output_file", required=True, help="output PDF file")
154 parser.add_argument("-p", "--page_range", action="append", help="page range, e.g., '2-9' or '3-end' or 'start-14'")
155 parser.add_argument("-c", "--crops", action="append", help="cm crops left, bottom, right, top – e.g., '10,10,10,10'; prefix with ':'-delimited page range to limit effect")
156 parser.add_argument("-r", "--rotate_page", type=int, action="append", help="rotate page of number by 90° (usable multiple times on same page!)")
157 parser.add_argument("-s", "--symmetry", action="store_true", help="alternate horizontal crops between odd and even pages")
158 parser.add_argument("-n", "--nup4", action='store_true', help="puts 4 input pages onto 1 output page, adds binding cut stencil")
159 parser.add_argument("-a", "--analyze", action="store_true", help="in --nup4, print lines identifying spine, page borders")
160 parser.add_argument("-m", "--print_margin", type=float, default=0.43, help="print margin for --nup4 in cm (default 0.43)")
161 args = parser.parse_args()
163 # some basic input validation
164 for filename in args.input_file:
165 if not os.path.isfile(filename):
166 raise HandledException(f"-i: {filename} is not a file")
168 with open(filename, 'rb') as file:
169 pypdf.PdfReader(file)
170 except pypdf.errors.PdfStreamError:
171 raise HandledException(f"-i: cannot interpret {filename} as PDF file")
173 for p_string in args.page_range:
174 validate_page_range(p_string, "-p")
175 if len(args.page_range) > len(args.input_file):
176 raise HandledException("-p: more --page_range arguments than --input_file arguments")
178 for c_string in args.crops:
179 initial_split = c_string.split(':')
180 if len(initial_split) > 2:
181 raise HandledException(f"-c: cropping string has multiple ':': {c_string}")
182 page_range, crops = split_crops_string(c_string)
183 crops = crops.split(",")
185 validate_page_range(page_range, "-c")
187 raise HandledException(f"-c: cropping does not contain exactly three ',': {c_string}")
192 raise HandledException(f"-c: non-number crop in: {c_string}")
194 for r in args.rotate_page:
198 raise HandledException(f"-r: non-integer value: {r}")
200 raise HandledException(f"-r: value must not be <1: {r}")
202 float(args.print_margin)
204 raise HandledException(f"-m: non-float value: {arg.print_margin}")
212 import reportlab.pdfgen.canvas
214 raise HandledException("-n: need reportlab library installed for --nup4")
216 # select pages from input files
220 for i, input_file in enumerate(args.input_file):
221 file = open(input_file, 'rb')
222 opened_files += [file]
223 reader = pypdf.PdfReader(file)
225 if args.page_range and len(args.page_range) > i:
226 range_string = args.page_range[i]
227 start_page, end_page = parse_page_range(range_string, reader.pages)
228 if end_page > len(reader.pages): # no need to test start_page cause start_page > end_page is checked above
229 raise HandledException(f"-p: page range goes beyond pages of input file: {range_string}")
230 for old_page_num in range(start_page, end_page):
232 page = reader.pages[old_page_num]
233 pages_to_add += [page]
234 print(f"-i, -p: read in {input_file} page number {old_page_num+1} as new page {new_page_num}")
236 # we can do some more input validations now that we know how many pages output should have
238 for c_string in args.crops:
239 page_range, _= split_crops_string(c_string)
241 start, end = parse_page_range(page_range, pages_to_add)
242 if end > len(pages_to_add):
243 raise HandledException(f"-c: page range goes beyond number of pages we're building: {page_range}")
245 for r in args.rotate_page:
246 if r > len(pages_to_add):
247 raise HandledException(f"-r: page number beyond number of pages we're building: {r}")
249 # rotate page canvas (as opposed to using PDF's /Rotate command)
251 for rotate_page in args.rotate_page:
252 page = pages_to_add[rotate_page - 1]
253 page.add_transformation(pypdf.Transformation().translate(tx=-A4_WIDTH/2, ty=-A4_HEIGHT/2))
254 page.add_transformation(pypdf.Transformation().rotate(-90))
255 page.add_transformation(pypdf.Transformation().translate(tx=A4_WIDTH/2, ty=A4_HEIGHT/2))
256 print(f"-r: rotating (by 90°) page {rotate_page}")
258 # if necessary, pad pages to multiple of 8
260 mod_to_8 = len(pages_to_add) % 8
262 print(f"-n: number of input pages {len(pages_to_add)} not multiple of 8, padding to that")
263 for _ in range(8 - mod_to_8):
264 new_page = pypdf.PageObject.create_blank_page(width=A4_WIDTH, height=A4_HEIGHT)
265 pages_to_add += [new_page]
267 # normalize all pages to portrait A4
268 for page in pages_to_add:
269 if "/Rotate" in page:
270 page.rotate(360 - page["/Rotate"])
271 page.mediabox.left = 0
272 page.mediabox.bottom = 0
273 page.mediabox.top = A4_HEIGHT
274 page.mediabox.right = A4_WIDTH
275 page.cropbox = page.mediabox
277 # determine page crops, zooms, crop symmetry
278 crops_at_page = [(0,0,0,0)]*len(pages_to_add)
279 zoom_at_page = [1]*len(pages_to_add)
281 for c_string in args.crops:
282 page_range, crops = split_crops_string(c_string)
283 start_page, end_page = parse_page_range(page_range, pages_to_add)
284 crop_left_cm, crop_bottom_cm, crop_right_cm, crop_top_cm = [float(x) for x in crops.split(',')]
285 crop_left = crop_left_cm * POINTS_PER_CM
286 crop_bottom = crop_bottom_cm * POINTS_PER_CM
287 crop_right = crop_right_cm * POINTS_PER_CM
288 crop_top = crop_top_cm * POINTS_PER_CM
289 prefix = "-c, -t" if args.symmetry else "-c"
290 suffix = " (but alternating left and right crop between even and odd pages)" if args.symmetry else ""
291 print(f"{prefix}: to pages {start_page + 1} to {end_page} applying crops: left {crop_left_cm}cm, bottom {crop_bottom_cm}cm, right {crop_right_cm}cm, top {crop_top_cm}cm{suffix}")
292 cropped_width = A4_WIDTH - crop_left - crop_right
293 cropped_height = A4_HEIGHT - crop_bottom - crop_top
295 zoom_horizontal = A4_WIDTH / (A4_WIDTH - crop_left - crop_right)
296 zoom_vertical = A4_HEIGHT / (A4_HEIGHT - crop_bottom - crop_top)
297 if (zoom_horizontal > 1 and zoom_vertical < 1) or (zoom_horizontal < 1 and zoom_vertical > 1):
298 raise HandledException("-c: crops would create opposing zoom directions")
299 elif zoom_horizontal + zoom_vertical > 2:
300 zoom = min(zoom_horizontal, zoom_vertical)
302 zoom = max(zoom_horizontal, zoom_vertical)
303 for page_num in range(start_page, end_page):
304 if args.symmetry and page_num % 2:
305 crops_at_page[page_num] = (crop_right, crop_bottom, crop_left, crop_top)
307 crops_at_page[page_num] = (crop_left, crop_bottom, crop_right, crop_top)
308 zoom_at_page[page_num] = zoom
310 writer = pypdf.PdfWriter()
313 print("building 1-input-page-per-output-page book")
315 for i, page in enumerate(pages_to_add):
316 crop_left, crop_bottom, crop_right, crop_top = crops_at_page[i]
317 zoom = zoom_at_page[i]
318 page.add_transformation(pypdf.Transformation().translate(tx=-crop_left, ty=-crop_bottom))
319 page.add_transformation(pypdf.Transformation().scale(zoom, zoom))
320 cropped_width = A4_WIDTH - crop_left - crop_right
321 cropped_height = A4_HEIGHT - crop_bottom - crop_top
322 page.mediabox.right = cropped_width * zoom
323 page.mediabox.top = cropped_height * zoom
324 writer.add_page(page)
325 odd_page = not odd_page
326 print(f"built page number {i+1} (of {len(pages_to_add)})")
329 print("-n: building 4-input-pages-per-output-page book")
330 print(f"-m: applying printable-area margin of {args.print_margin}cm")
332 print("-a: drawing page borders, spine limits")
334 printable_margin = args.print_margin * POINTS_PER_CM
335 printable_scale = (A4_WIDTH - 2*printable_margin)/A4_WIDTH
336 half_width = A4_WIDTH / n_pages_per_axis
337 half_height = A4_HEIGHT / n_pages_per_axis
338 section_scale_factor = 1 / n_pages_per_axis
339 spine_part_of_page = (SPINE_LIMIT / half_width) / printable_scale
340 bonus_shrink_factor = 1 - spine_part_of_page
346 for page in pages_to_add:
353 new_i_order += [8 * n_eights + 3,
362 new_page_order += [eight_pack[3]] # page front, upper left
363 new_page_order += [eight_pack[0]] # page front, upper right
364 new_page_order += [eight_pack[7]] # page front, lower left
365 new_page_order += [eight_pack[4]] # page front, lower right
366 new_page_order += [eight_pack[1]] # page back, upper left
367 new_page_order += [eight_pack[2]] # page back, upper right
368 new_page_order += [eight_pack[5]] # page back, lower left
369 new_page_order += [eight_pack[6]] # page back, lower right
373 for j, page in enumerate(new_page_order):
375 new_page = pypdf.PageObject.create_blank_page(width=A4_WIDTH, height=A4_HEIGHT)
377 # in-section transformations: align pages on top, left-hand pages to left, right-hand to right
378 new_i = new_i_order[j]
379 crop_left, crop_bottom, crop_right, crop_top = crops_at_page[new_i]
380 zoom = zoom_at_page[new_i]
381 page.add_transformation(pypdf.Transformation().translate(ty=(A4_HEIGHT / zoom - (A4_HEIGHT - crop_top))))
383 page.add_transformation(pypdf.Transformation().translate(tx=-crop_left))
384 elif i == 1 or i == 3:
385 page.add_transformation(pypdf.Transformation().translate(tx=(A4_WIDTH / zoom - (A4_WIDTH - crop_right))))
386 page.add_transformation(pypdf.Transformation().scale(zoom * bonus_shrink_factor, zoom * bonus_shrink_factor))
388 page.add_transformation(pypdf.Transformation().translate(ty=-2*printable_margin/printable_scale))
390 # outer section transformations
391 page.add_transformation(pypdf.Transformation().translate(ty=(1-bonus_shrink_factor)*A4_HEIGHT))
393 y_section = A4_HEIGHT
394 page.mediabox.bottom = half_height
395 page.mediabox.top = A4_HEIGHT
398 page.mediabox.bottom = 0
399 page.mediabox.top = half_height
402 page.mediabox.left = 0
403 page.mediabox.right = half_width
405 page.add_transformation(pypdf.Transformation().translate(tx=(1-bonus_shrink_factor)*A4_WIDTH))
407 page.mediabox.left = half_width
408 page.mediabox.right = A4_WIDTH
409 page.add_transformation(pypdf.Transformation().translate(tx=x_section, ty=y_section))
410 page.add_transformation(pypdf.Transformation().scale(section_scale_factor, section_scale_factor))
411 new_page.merge_page(page)
413 print(f"merged page number {page_count} (of {len(pages_to_add)})")
418 packet = io.BytesIO()
419 c = reportlab.pdfgen.canvas.Canvas(packet, pagesize=A4)
421 c.line(0, A4_HEIGHT, A4_WIDTH, A4_HEIGHT)
422 c.line(0, half_height, A4_WIDTH, half_height)
423 c.line(0, 0, A4_WIDTH, 0)
424 c.line(0, A4_HEIGHT, 0, 0)
425 c.line(half_width, A4_HEIGHT, half_width, 0)
426 c.line(A4_WIDTH, A4_HEIGHT, A4_WIDTH, 0)
428 new_pdf = pypdf.PdfReader(packet)
429 new_page.merge_page(new_pdf.pages[0])
430 printable_offset_x = printable_margin
431 printable_offset_y = printable_margin * A4_HEIGHT / A4_WIDTH
432 new_page.add_transformation(pypdf.Transformation().scale(printable_scale, printable_scale))
433 new_page.add_transformation(pypdf.Transformation().translate(tx=printable_offset_x, ty=printable_offset_y))
434 x_left_spine_limit = half_width * bonus_shrink_factor
435 x_right_spine_limit = A4_WIDTH - x_left_spine_limit
436 if args.analyze or front_page:
437 packet = io.BytesIO()
438 c = reportlab.pdfgen.canvas.Canvas(packet, pagesize=A4)
442 c.line(x_left_spine_limit, A4_HEIGHT, x_left_spine_limit, 0)
443 c.line(x_right_spine_limit, A4_HEIGHT, x_right_spine_limit, 0)
446 draw_cut(c, x_left_spine_limit, (1), half_height)
447 draw_cut(c, x_right_spine_limit, (-1), half_height)
448 if args.analyze or front_page:
450 new_pdf = pypdf.PdfReader(packet)
451 new_page.merge_page(new_pdf.pages[0])
452 writer.add_page(new_page)
454 front_page = not front_page
457 for file in opened_files:
459 with open(args.output_file, 'wb') as output_file:
460 writer.write(output_file)
463 if __name__ == "__main__":
466 except HandledException as e:
467 handled_error_exit(e)