borb

borb is a powerful and flexible Python library for creating and manipulating PDF files.

📖 Overview

borb provides a pure Python solution for PDF document management, allowing users to read, write, and manipulate PDFs. It models PDF files in a JSON-like structure, using nested lists, dictionaries, and primitives (numbers, strings, booleans, etc.). Created and maintained as a solo project, borb prioritizes common PDF use cases for practical and straightforward usage.

✨ Features

Explore borb’s capabilities in the examples repository for practical, real-world applications, including:

• PDF Metadata Management (reading, editing)
• Text and Image Extraction
• Adding Annotations (notes, links)
• Content Manipulation (adding text, images, tables, lists)
• Page Layout Management with PageLayout

…and much more!

🚀 Installation

Install borb directly via pip:

pip install borb

To ensure you have the latest version, consider the following commands:

pip uninstall borb
pip install --no-cache borb

👋 Getting Started: Hello World

Create your first PDF in just a few lines of code with borb:

from pathlib import Path
from borb.pdf import Document, Page, PageLayout, SingleColumnLayout, Paragraph, PDF

# Create an empty Document
d: Document = Document()

# Create an empty Page
p: Page = Page()
d.append_page(p)

# Create a PageLayout
l: PageLayout = SingleColumnLayout(p)

# Add a Paragraph
l.append_layout_element(Paragraph('Hello World!'))

# Write the PDF
PDF.write(what=d, where_to="assets/output.pdf")

🛠 License

borb is dual-licensed under AGPL and a commercial license.

The AGPL (Affero General Public License) is an open-source license, but commercial use cases require a paid license, especially if you intend to:

• Offer paid PDF services (e.g., PDF generation in cloud applications)
• Use borb in closed-source projects
• Distribute borb in any closed-source product

For more information, contact our sales team.

🙏 Acknowledgements

Special thanks to:

• Aleksander Banasik
• Benoît Lagae
• Michael Klink

Your contributions and guidance have been invaluable to borb’s development.