📄 PdfNorm

A command-line tool for batch normalizing PDF files using JSON configuration. Built with iText for .NET.

✨ Features

• Batch Processing - Process multiple PDFs or entire directories at once
• JSON Configuration - Fully customizable via JSON config file (see CONFIG.md)
• Metadata Normalization - Set title, author with dynamic tokens like {file_name}
• Initial View Settings - Configure page mode, layout, zoom level, and open-to page
• Bookmark Management - Normalize bookmark titles and destination zoom modes
• Dry Run Mode - Preview changes without modifying files
• Detailed Reporting - See exactly what issues were found and fixed

🔧 Installation

Prerequisites

• .NET 10 SDK or later

Build from Source

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/Elderry/pdfnorm.git
cd pdfnorm

# Build the project
dotnet build -c Release

The executable will be in PdfNorm/bin/Release/net10.0/

Install Locally (Windows)

# Run the publish script to install to %LOCALAPPDATA%\PdfNorm
.\publish.ps1

# Add to PATH (optional, for easy access from anywhere)
# Add %LOCALAPPDATA%\PdfNorm to your system PATH environment variable

🚀 Usage

Basic Commands

# Normalize single PDF with defaults
pdfnorm path/to/file.pdf

# Normalize multiple PDFs
pdfnorm file1.pdf file2.pdf file3.pdf

# Normalize all PDFs in a directory
pdfnorm path/to/directory

# Preview changes without modifying files (no files modified)
pdfnorm file.pdf --dry-run

# Use custom configuration file
pdfnorm file.pdf --config config.json
pdfnorm *.pdf -c myconfig.json

# Combine options
pdfnorm path/to/directory --config config.json --dry-run

Command-Line Options

Option	Alias	Description
--config <path>	-c	Path to JSON configuration file
--dry-run	-d	Preview changes without modifying files
--help	-h	Show help information
--version		Display version information

🔄 What Gets Normalized

Without configuration, PdfNorm applies sensible defaults:

Metadata

• Title - Trims leading/trailing whitespace
• Author - Trims author names
• Display Settings - Shows document title in window title bar

Initial View

• Page Mode - UseOutlines (show bookmarks panel)
• Page Layout - TwoPageRight (two-page view, odd pages on right)
• Open Page - Opens to page 1

Bookmarks

• Title Cleanup - Trims whitespace from bookmark titles
• Destination Mode - Normalizes zoom to "Fit Page"

⚙️ Configuration

PdfNorm supports JSON configuration files for full control. See CONFIG.md for complete documentation.

Example config.json:

{
  "Title": "{file_name}",
  "Author": "Your Name",
  "DisplayDocTitle": true,
  "PageMode": "Bookmarks",
  "PageLayout": "TwoColumnRight",
  "OpenToPage": 1,
  "BookmarkZoom": "FitWidth"
}

Configuration features:

• Set metadata with {file_name} token for dynamic values
• Configure viewer preferences (page mode, layout)
• Set initial view (page number, zoom level)
• Control bookmark zoom behavior
• All fields optional - omit to use defaults or trim existing values

🧪 Testing

The project includes comprehensive unit tests using MSTest.

# Run all tests
dotnet test

# Run tests with detailed output
dotnet test --verbosity normal

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit issues or pull requests.

📜 License

See LICENSE file for details.