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Introduction to PDFDancer

PDFDancer gives you pixel-perfect programmatic control over any PDF document from Python, TypeScript, or Java. Edit text in real-world PDFs you didn't create - locate any element by coordinates or text, modify it precisely, add new content at exact positions, and manipulate forms with surgical precision.

Highlights​

  • Locate anything inside any PDF—paragraphs, text lines, images, vector paths, pages, AcroForm fields—by page, coordinates, or text prefixes
  • Edit existing content with pixel-perfect precision using fluent editors and coordinate-based positioning
  • Programmatic control over PDFs you didn't create - modify invoices, contracts, forms, reports from any source
  • Add content at exact positions with paragraph/image builders, custom fonts (including embedded font support), and coordinate-based placement
  • Smart text handling with paragraph-aware text editing, preserving layout and formatting
  • Full vector graphics control for lines, curves, shapes, and complex drawings
  • Very fast performance optimized for high-throughput document processing
  • Download results as bytes for downstream processing or save directly to disk

What Makes PDFDancer Different​

  • Edit text in real-world PDFs - Not just ones you created. Modify third-party invoices, government forms, client contracts
  • Pixel-perfect positioning - Place content at exact X,Y coordinates, move elements precisely
  • Surgical text replacement - Find and replace specific paragraphs while preserving layout
  • Embedded font support - Add text with embedded fonts for consistent rendering across all PDF viewers
  • Paragraph-aware editing - Work with logical text blocks, not just individual characters or lines
  • Form manipulation - Fill, update, or delete AcroForm fields programmatically
  • Coordinate-based selection - Select elements by position, not just content
  • Real PDF editing - Modify the actual PDF structure, not just overlay content

Smart Font Matching​

When working with PDFs that use embedded fonts, PDFDancer automatically handles font compatibility:

  • Visual analysis - Analyzes the appearance of glyphs in embedded fonts
  • Automatic matching - When embedded fonts can't be modified directly, matches them with visually similar fonts from our database
  • Preserves appearance - Text edits maintain the original visual style, even when the exact font isn't available

Supported Languages​

  • Python 3.10+
  • TypeScript with Node.js 20+
  • Java 11+

What's Next?​

Ready to get started? Head to Getting Started to install the SDK and create your first PDF manipulation in 3 minutes.