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Can we remove images with a specific marker from a PDF document?

What will you learn?

In this tutorial, you will master the art of identifying and eliminating images from a PDF file that are tagged with a specific marker, such as alt-text or any customized identifier.

Introduction to the Problem and Solution

When dealing with PDF documents, there are instances where filtering out particular images based on associated markers is essential. To address this challenge, we can develop a Python solution to detect these markers and exclude the corresponding images from the PDF.

To accomplish this task, we will harness the power of Python libraries like PyMuPDF (fitz) or PyPDF2 for parsing and managing PDF files. By leveraging the capabilities offered by these libraries, we can efficiently scan through the PDF content, pinpoint images marked with specified identifiers, and seamlessly remove them as required.

Code

# Import necessary libraries
import fitz  # PyMuPDF

# Open the PDF file in read-binary mode
pdf_document = fitz.open("input.pdf")

# Define the marker text to identify images for removal
marker_text = "YOUR_MARKER_TEXT_HERE"

for page_num in range(pdf_document.page_count):
    page = pdf_document[page_num]

    # Get image list on each page
    image_list = page.get_images(full=True)

    for img_index, img_info in enumerate(image_list):
        if marker_text in img_info["image"]:
            # Remove image if it contains the specified marker text
            page._delete_object(img_info[0])

# Save changes to a new output PDF file or overwrite existing one 
pdf_document.save("output.pdf", garbage=4)

# Close the open PDF document instance
pdf_document.close()

# Copyright PHD

Explanation

  1. Begin by importing fitz, which is part of PyMuPDF for working with PDF files.

  2. Use open() method to open input PDF file “input.pdf” in read-binary mode.

  3. Define marker_text as an identifier indicating images for removal.

  4. Iterate over each page using page.get_images() to retrieve all images details.

  5. Check if each image contains marker_text; delete image via _delete_object() if found.

  6. Save changes into “output.pdf” after removing desired images.

    How do I install PyMuPDF library?

    You can install PyMuPDF using pip: pip install pymupdf.

    Can I use another library instead of PyMuPDF?

    Yes, you can achieve similar functionality using other libraries like PyPDF2.

    Is it possible to automate this process for multiple files?

    Certainly! You can create a loop to process multiple files simultaneously based on your needs.

    Will this script maintain other content intact while removing images?

    Yes, this script targets only image objects containing the designated marker without affecting other content.

    What happens if no matching images are found with the given marker?

    If no matching images are identified within the document(s), no modifications will occur.

    Conclusion

    In conclusion: – Removing specific marked-images from a PDF is efficiently achievable through Python scripts. – Leveraging libraries like PyMuPDF simplifies automating tasks related to filtering out targeted visual elements.

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