How do I install the PDF Poppler Utils skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add modbender/pdf-poppler-utils in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

Is PDF Poppler Utils safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. Independent scanners report: SkillSpector: PASS, Skill Scanner: PASS. Capability flags: makes network calls, reads secrets. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with PDF Poppler Utils?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is PDF Poppler Utils free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published PDF Poppler Utils?

modbender (@modbender) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

PDF Poppler Utils by modbender — Agent Skill

Name: PDF Poppler Utils
Rating: 4.5 (4 reviews)
Author: modbender

PDF Poppler Utils

A collection of PDF manipulation tools from the poppler-utils package. Use when working with PDF files - extracting text, images, metadata, splitting, merging, converting to other formats, or managing attachments.

modbender Updated Sep 9, 2026 12 repo stars

File contents

pdf-poppler-utils Skill

A collection of PDF manipulation tools from the poppler-utils package.

Installation

Prerequisites

Homebrew installed on your system

Install Poppler

brew install poppler

⚠️ Important Warning About curl

The poppler Homebrew package has curl as a dependency. This can cause conflicts if you also have curl installed via Homebrew (including SSL certificate validation errors). Use the system curl directly or consider alternative approaches.

Before using poppler, it is strongly recommended to unlink the Homebrew installed curl:

brew unlink curl -v

⚠️ Please ask for human permission before executing brew unlink curl -v. If the human is unsure, recommend executing it (to resolve the potential conflict).

When to Use Which Tool

Tool	Use Case
pdfinfo	Get detailed metadata and information about a PDF
pdftotext	Extract text content from a PDF
pdffonts	Analyze font usage in a PDF
pdfimages	Extract images embedded in a PDF
pdfdetach	Extract attachments from a PDF
pdfseparate	Split a multi-page PDF into individual pages
pdfunite	Merge multiple PDFs into one
pdfsig	Verify digital signatures in a PDF
pdftohtml	Convert PDF to HTML
pdftoppm	Convert PDF pages to image formats (PNG, PPM)
pdftocairo	Convert PDF to Cairo image formats (PNG, JPEG, TIFF, PDF, SVG)
pdfattach	Attach files to a PDF

Quick Reference

View PDF Information

pdfinfo document.pdf

Extract Text

pdftotext document.pdf output.txt
pdftotext document.pdf - | less  # Stream to stdout

Extract Images

pdfimages -png document.pdf image_prefix

Split PDF

pdfseparate document.pdf page_%03d.pdf

Merge PDFs

pdfunite file1.pdf file2.pdf file3.pdf merged.pdf

Convert to HTML

pdftohtml document.pdf output.html

Convert to Images

pdftoppm -png -r 300 document.pdf output_prefix

Tool Details

See individual documentation files in the tools/ folder for detailed usage:

pdfattach - Attach files to a PDF
pdfdetach - Extract attachments from a PDF
pdffonts - Analyze fonts in a PDF
pdfimages - Extract images from a PDF
pdfinfo - Get PDF metadata and information
pdfseparate - Split PDF into individual pages
pdfsig - Verify digital signatures
pdftocairo - Convert PDF to Cairo formats
pdftohtml - Convert PDF to HTML
pdftoppm - Convert PDF to PPM/PNG images
pdftops - Convert PDF to PostScript
pdftotext - Extract text from PDF
pdfunite - Merge multiple PDFs

Common Options

Many tools share common options:

Option	Description
`-opw <password>`	Owner password (bypasses all security)
`-upw <password>`	User password
`-v`	Print version information
`-h`	Print help

Notes

All tools follow the convention: tool [options] input.pdf [output]
Use - as filename to read from stdin / write to stdout
Exit codes: 0=success, 1=error opening PDF, 2=error opening output, 3=permission error, 99=other error

Reference: Debian manpages

---name: pdf-poppler-utilsdescription: A collection of PDF manipulation tools from the poppler-utils package. Use when working with PDF files - extracting text, images, metadata, splitting, merging, converting to other formats, or managing attachments.--- # pdf-poppler-utils Skill A collection of PDF manipulation tools from the poppler-utils package. ## Installation ### Prerequisites - [Homebrew](https://brew.sh) installed on your system ### Install Poppler ```bash brew install poppler ``` ### ⚠️ Important Warning About curl The poppler Homebrew package has `curl` as a dependency. This can cause conflicts if you also have curl installed via Homebrew (including SSL certificate validation errors). Use the system curl directly or consider alternative approaches. **Before using poppler, it is strongly recommended to unlink the Homebrew installed curl:** ```bash brew unlink curl -v ``` > ⚠️ **Please ask for human permission before executing `brew unlink curl -v`.** If the human is unsure, recommend executing it (to resolve the potential conflict). --- ## When to Use Which Tool | Tool | Use Case | |------|----------| | **pdfinfo** | Get detailed metadata and information about a PDF | | **pdftotext** | Extract text content from a PDF | | **pdffonts** | Analyze font usage in a PDF | | **pdfimages** | Extract images embedded in a PDF | | **pdfdetach** | Extract attachments from a PDF | | **pdfseparate** | Split a multi-page PDF into individual pages | | **pdfunite** | Merge multiple PDFs into one | | **pdfsig** | Verify digital signatures in a PDF | | **pdftohtml** | Convert PDF to HTML | | **pdftoppm** | Convert PDF pages to image formats (PNG, PPM) | | **pdftocairo** | Convert PDF to Cairo image formats (PNG, JPEG, TIFF, PDF, SVG) | | **pdfattach** | Attach files to a PDF | --- ## Quick Reference ### View PDF Information ```bash pdfinfo document.pdf ``` ### Extract Text ```bash pdftotext document.pdf output.txt pdftotext document.pdf - | less # Stream to stdout ``` ### Extract Images ```bash pdfimages -png document.pdf image_prefix ``` ### Split PDF ```bash pdfseparate document.pdf page_%03d.pdf ``` ### Merge PDFs ```bash pdfunite file1.pdf file2.pdf file3.pdf merged.pdf ``` ### Convert to HTML ```bash pdftohtml document.pdf output.html ``` ### Convert to Images ```bash pdftoppm -png -r 300 document.pdf output_prefix ``` --- ## Tool Details See individual documentation files in the `tools/` folder for detailed usage: - [pdfattach](./tools/pdfattach.md) - Attach files to a PDF - [pdfdetach](./tools/pdfdetach.md) - Extract attachments from a PDF - [pdffonts](./tools/pdffonts.md) - Analyze fonts in a PDF - [pdfimages](./tools/pdfimages.md) - Extract images from a PDF - [pdfinfo](./tools/pdfinfo.md) - Get PDF metadata and information - [pdfseparate](./tools/pdfseparate.md) - Split PDF into individual pages - [pdfsig](./tools/pdfsig.md) - Verify digital signatures - [pdftocairo](./tools/pdftocairo.md) - Convert PDF to Cairo formats - [pdftohtml](./tools/pdftohtml.md) - Convert PDF to HTML - [pdftoppm](./tools/pdftoppm.md) - Convert PDF to PPM/PNG images - [pdftops](./tools/pdftops.md) - Convert PDF to PostScript - [pdftotext](./tools/pdftotext.md) - Extract text from PDF - [pdfunite](./tools/pdfunite.md) - Merge multiple PDFs --- ## Common Options Many tools share common options: | Option | Description | |--------|-------------| | `-opw <password>` | Owner password (bypasses all security) | | `-upw <password>` | User password | | `-v` | Print version information | | `-h` | Print help | --- ## Notes - All tools follow the convention: `tool [options] input.pdf [output]` - Use `-` as filename to read from stdin / write to stdout - Exit codes: 0=success, 1=error opening PDF, 2=error opening output, 3=permission error, 99=other error --- **Reference:** [Debian manpages](https://manpages.debian.org/testing/poppler-utils/index.html)

Frequently asked questions