PDF Info & Clean

What it's for

A PDF carries more than its pages: the author’s name and the apps that made it, XMP metadata that can record every app it passed through, earlier versions of the file kept inside it after each edit, attached files, scripts, the names of people who commented, and form and signature fields. This shows all of that and saves a copy without it.

For example, before you send a contract or a CV made from someone else’s template, open it here: if it says it was saved several times, text that was deleted before the last save may still be inside, and a clean copy drops it.

How to use it

Choose a PDF (or drop it on the page). You see:

• Problems, worst first: JavaScript and launch actions, attached files, earlier saved versions, comment authors, private app data (such as Illustrator’s), XMP editing history, page thumbnails, form submit buttons, signatures, form fields, the sites it links to, and whether it’s tagged for screen readers.
• Facts: the PDF version, page count, first page size, number of pictures, whether it’s tagged and its language.
• Fonts: each font it uses, its kind, and whether it’s embedded, in full or only the characters used (a subset). A font that isn’t embedded is shown with whatever the reader’s computer has instead, so the text can look different or reflow; the 14 standard PDF fonts (Times, Helvetica, Courier, Symbol and ZapfDingbats) are the exception, as every reader has them.
• Properties: everything in its document information (title, author, the app it was made with and the one that converted it, dates, and any custom fields), plus the author, app and document ID from its XMP metadata.

Save a clean copy saves <name>-clean.pdf without the document properties (tick Keep the title to keep that one), XMP metadata, earlier saved versions, app data, thumbnails, scripts and launch actions, attached files and the names on comments. Choose the cleaned file here again to check it.

Example

Export any document to PDF from Word or Pages and open it here. Its Properties show your name as the author and the app that made it, and Fonts lists the fonts it uses, usually embedded as subsets. Save a clean copy and open that: the properties are gone, and the pages look the same.

Good to know

Text on the pages isn’t changed: a name in the body text or a picture stays, and black boxes drawn over text don’t remove the text under them (use a real redaction tool). A signed PDF is no longer signed once cleaned. Encrypted PDFs can be inspected only in part and can’t be cleaned; remove the password first. Fonts can carry the name of the app that embedded them, which is kept. The PDF is read in your browser and never uploaded.