In addition to text and images, PDF files can also contain various types of attachments, such as documents, images, audio files, or other multimedia elements. Extracting attachments from PDF files allows users to retrieve and save the embedded content, enabling easy access and manipulation outside of the PDF environment. This process proves especially useful when dealing with PDFs that contain important supplementary materials, such as reports, spreadsheets, or legal documents.

In this article, you will learn how to extract attachments from a PDF document in Python using Spire.PDF for Python.

• Extract Document-Level Attachments from PDF in Python
• Extract Annotation Attachments from PDF in Python

Install Spire.PDF for Python

This scenario requires Spire.PDF for Python and plum-dispatch v1.7.4. They can be easily installed in your Windows through the following pip command.

pip install Spire.PDF

If you are unsure how to install, please refer to this tutorial: How to Install Spire.PDF for Python on Windows

Prerequisite Knowledge

There are generally two categories of attachments in PDF files: document-level attachments and annotation attachments. Below, you can find a table outlining the disparities between these two types of attachments and how they are represented in Spire.PDF.

Extract Document-Level Attachments from PDF in Python

To retrieve document-level attachments in a PDF document, you can use the PdfDocument.Attachments property. Each attachment has a PdfAttachment.FileName property, which provides the name of the specific attachment, including the file extension. Additionally, the PdfAttachment.Data property allows you to access the attachment's data. To save the attachment to a specific folder, you can utilize the PdfAttachment.Data.Save() method.

The steps to extract document-level attachments from a PDF using Python are as follows.

• Create a PdfDocument object.
• Load a PDF file using PdfDocument.LoadFromFile() method.
• Get a collection of attachments using PdfDocument.Attachments property.
• Iterate through the attachments in the collection.
• Get a specific attachment from the collection, and get the file name and data of the attachment using PdfAttachment.FileName property and PdfAttachment.Data property.
• Save the attachment to a specified folder using PdfAttachment.Data.Save() method.

from spire.pdf import *
from spire.pdf.common import *

# Create a PdfDocument object
doc = PdfDocument()

# Load a PDF file
doc.LoadFromFile("C:\\Users\\Administrator\\Desktop\\Attachments.pdf")

# Get the attachment collection from the document
collection = doc.Attachments

# Loop through the collection
if collection.Count > 0:
    for i in range(collection.Count):

        # Get a specific attachment
        attactment = collection.get_Item(i)

        # Get the file name and data of the attachment
        fileName= attactment.FileName
        data = attactment.Data

        # Save it to a specified folder
        data.Save("Output\\ExtractedFiles\\" + fileName)

doc.Close()

Extract Annotation Attachments from PDF in Python

The Annotations attachment is a page-based element. To retrieve annotations from a specific page, use the PdfPageBase.AnnotationsWidget property. You then need to determine if a particular annotation is an attachment. If it is, save it to the specified folder while retaining its original filename.

The following are the steps to extract annotation attachments from a PDF using Python.

• Create a PdfDocument object.
• Load a PDF file using PdfDocument.LoadFromFile() method.
• Iterate though the pages in the document.
• Get the annotations from a particular page using PdfPageBase.AnnotationsWidget property.
• Iterate though the annotations, and determine if a specific annotation is an attachment annotation.
• If it is, get the file name and data of the annotation using PdfAttachmentAnnotation.FileName property and PdfAttachmentAnnotation.Data property.
• Save the annotated attachment to a specified folder.

from spire.pdf import *
from spire.pdf.common import *

# Create a PdfDocument object
doc = PdfDocument()

# Load a PDF file
doc.LoadFromFile("C:\\Users\\Administrator\\Desktop\\AnnotationAttachment.pdf")

# Iterate through the pages in the document
for i in range(doc.Pages.Count):

    # Get a specific page
    page = doc.Pages.get_Item(i)

    # Get the annotation collection of the page
    annotationCollection = page.AnnotationsWidget

    # If the page has annotations
    if annotationCollection.Count > 0:

        # Iterate through the annotations
        for j in range(annotationCollection.Count):

            # Get a specific annotation
            annotation = annotationCollection.get_Item(j)

            # Determine if the annotation is an attachment annotation
            if isinstance(annotation, PdfAttachmentAnnotationWidget):
              
                # Get the file name and data of the attachment
                fileName = annotation.FileName
                byteData = annotation.Data
                streamMs = Stream(byteData)

                # Save the attachment into a specified folder 
                streamMs.Save("Output\\ExtractedFiles\\" + fileName)

Apply for a Temporary License

If you'd like to remove the evaluation message from the generated documents, or to get rid of the function limitations, please request a 30-day trial license for yourself.

The inclusion of attachments in a PDF can be useful for sharing related files or providing additional context and resources alongside the main document. However, there may be instances when you need to remove attachments from a PDF for reasons like reducing file size, protecting sensitive information, or simply decluttering the document. In this article, you will learn how to remove attachments from a PDF document in Python using Spire.PDF for Python.

• Remove Document-Level Attachments from PDF in Python
• Remove Annotation Attachments from PDF in Python

Install Spire.PDF for Python

This scenario requires Spire.PDF for Python and plum-dispatch v1.7.4. They can be easily installed in your Windows through the following pip command.

pip install Spire.PDF

If you are unsure how to install, please refer to this tutorial: How to Install Spire.PDF for Python on Windows

Prerequisite Knowledge

There are typically two types of attachments in PDF, document-level attachments and annotation attachments. The following table lists the differences between them and their representations in Spire.PDF.

Remove Document-Level Attachments from PDF in Python

To obtain all document-level attachments of a PDF document, use the PdfDocument.Attachments property. Then, you can remove all of them using the Clear() method or selectively remove a specific attachment using the RemoveAt() method. The following are the steps to remove document-level attachments from PDF in Python.

• Create a PdfDocument object.
• Load a PDF document using PdfDocument.LoadFromFile() method.
• Get the attachment collection from the document using PdfDocument.Attachments property.
• Remove all attachments using PdfAttachmentCollection.Clear() method. To remove a specific attachment, use PdfAttachmentCollection.RemoveAt() method.
• Save the changes to a different PDF file using PdfDocument.SaveToFile() method.

from spire.pdf import *
from spire.pdf.common import *

# Create a PdfDocument object
doc = PdfDocument()

# Load a PDF file
doc.LoadFromFile("C:\\Users\\Administrator\\Desktop\\Attachments.pdf")

# Get the attachment collection from the document
attachments = doc.Attachments

# Remove all attachments
attachments.Clear()

# Remove a specific attachment
# attachments.RemoveAt(0)

# Save the changes to file
doc.SaveToFile("output/DeleteAttachments.pdf")

# Close the document
doc.Close()

Remove Annotation Attachments from PDF in Python

Annotations are page-based elements, and to retrieve all annotations from a document, you need to iterate through the pages and obtain the annotations from each page. Next, identify if a particular annotation is an attachment annotation, and finally remove it from the annotation collection using the RemoveAt() method.

The following are the steps to remove annotation attachments from PDF in Python.

• Create a PdfDocument object.
• Load a PDF document using PdfDocument.LoadFromFile() method.
• Iterate through the pages in the document
• Get the annotation collection from a specific page through PdfPageBase.AnnotationsWidget property.
• Iterate through the annotations in the collection.
• Determine if a specific annotation is an instance of PdfAttachmentAnnotationWidget.
• Remove the attachment annotation using PdfAnnotationCollection.RemoveAt() method.
• Save the changes to a different PDF file using PdfDocument.SaveToFile() method.

from spire.pdf import *
from spire.pdf.common import *

# Create a PdfDocument object
doc = PdfDocument()

# Load a PDF file
doc.LoadFromFile("C:\\Users\\Administrator\\Desktop\\AnnotationAttachment.pdf")

# Iterate through the pages in the document
for i in range(doc.Pages.Count):

    # Get annotation collection from a certain page
    annotationCollection = doc.Pages.get_Item(i).AnnotationsWidget

    if annotationCollection.Count > 0:

        # Iterate through the annotation in the collection
        for j in range(annotationCollection.Count):

            # Get a specific annotation
            annotation = annotationCollection.get_Item(j)

            # Determine if it is an attachment annotation
            if isinstance(annotation, PdfAttachmentAnnotationWidget):

                # Remove the annotation
                annotationCollection.RemoveAt(j)

# Save the changes to file
doc.SaveToFile("output/DeleteAnnotationAttachment.pdf")

# Close the document
doc.Close()

Apply for a Temporary License

If you'd like to remove the evaluation message from the generated documents, or to get rid of the function limitations, please request a 30-day trial license for yourself.