Stripping PDF Metadata..

[delooch]

I love Acrobat 9. No complaints from me. Well, nothing out of the ordinary "bloated with a gazillion features I'll never use" complaint.

yeah, thats the one i hear all the time. my system crawls now with cs2, im fearing the bloat of cs4 is going to make it worse.

my boss purchased cs4 on a whim a few weeks back, it is so at the bottom of my wish list for the shop. there is so much more we need than cs4.  any other time i would be stoked to get an application update, but im bitter about this one. (this is a rant for another board...)

[ratintrap]

Thanks rat.

ill give that a try tomorrow. hopefully the upgrade to 9 wont be as shitty as anticipated. i hear nothing but complaints on acro 9, but if it gets me out of this one ill keep her around a while..

I'm curious, did it work?

[delooch]

been too busy to do the acro 9 upgrade.. going to tackle it this afternoon though. Ill post the results. Thanks!

[determined]

Here's another thing...I realize it doesn't help with the batching, but it's good to know it's there if you don't want to optimize....

Examine a PDF for hidden content

Use the Examine Document feature to find and remove content from a document that you don't want, such as hidden text, metadata, comments, and attachments.

If you want to examine every PDF for hidden content before you close it or send it in email, specify that option in the Documents preferences (choose Edit > Preferences [Windows] or Acrobat > Preferences [Mac OS], and select Documents on the left).
Choose Document > Examine Document.
If items are found, they are listed in the Examine Document dialog box with a selected check box beside each item.
Make sure that the check boxes are selected only for the items that you want to remove from the document:
Metadata Metadata includes information about the document and its contents, such as the author's name, keywords, and copyright information, that can be used by search utilities. To view metadata, choose File > Properties.
File Attachments Files of any format can be attached to the PDF as an attachment. To view attachments, choose View > Navigation Panel > Attachments.
Annotations And Comments This item includes all comments that were added to the PDF using the comment and markup tools, including files attached as comments. To view comments, choose View > Navigation Panel > Comments.
Form Field Logic Or Actions This item includes form fields (including signature fields), and all actions and calculations associated with form fields. If you remove this item, all form fields are flattened and can no longer be filled out, edited, or signed.
Hidden Text This item indicates text in the PDF that is either transparent, covered up by other content, or the same color as the background. To view hidden text, click Preview. Click the double arrow buttons to navigate pages that contain hidden text, and select options to show hidden text, visible text, or both.
Hidden Layers PDFs can contain multiple layers that can be shown or hidden. Removing hidden layers removes these layers from the PDF and flattens remaining layers into a single layer. To view layers, choose View > Navigation Panel > Layers.
Bookmarks Bookmarks are links with representational text that open specific pages in the PDF. To view bookmarks, choose View > Navigation Panel > Bookmarks.
Embedded Search Index An embedded search index speeds up searches in the file. To determine if the PDF contains a search index, choose Advanced > Document Processing > Manage Embedded Index. Removing indexes decreases file size but increases search time for the PDF.
Deleted Hidden Page And Image Content PDFs sometimes retain content that has been removed and which is no longer visible, such as cropped or deleted pages, or deleted images.
Click Remove All Checked Items to delete selected items from the file, and click OK.
Note: When you remove checked items, additional items are automatically removed from the document: digital signatures; document information added by third-party plug-ins and applications; and special features that enable Adobe Reader users to review, sign, and fill in PDF documents.
Choose File > Save, and specify a filename and location. If you don't want to overwrite the original file, save the file to a different name, location, or both.
The selected content is permanently removed when you save the file. If you close the file without saving it, you must repeat this process, making sure to save the file.

[determined]

I only found this because I was looking for a way to remove hidden layers (my file wouldn't rip because the customer ran preflight and saved the report as layers)....It works for this also.

[Joe]

I only found this because I was looking for a way to remove hidden layers (my file wouldn't rip because the customer ran preflight and saved the report as layers)....It works for this also.

Thanks for that post. I'll reference it on my next POC (piece of crap) file. Probably tonight. :laugh:

[swampymarsh]

An old topic, however the is and has always been ExifTool:

http://www.sno.phy.queensu.ca/~phil/exiftool/

exiftool -all= path/to/file/here.pdf

[frailer]

There's a 'rickroll' aspect to reviving old threads. If you don't watch the dates, you can start reading before the 'trigger' post, and think it's now-ish.

Funny, though.. people struggling with upgrades to Acrobat 9.  :grin:   ... then you read '09.  :rolleyes:

[swampymarsh]

I prefer to post in the original topic than create a new topic for the same info. Or is that just me?

[mattbeals]

I prefer to post in the original topic than create a new topic for the same info. Or is that just me?

Nope. I too prefer to keep it all in one thread. Tools have gotten smarter about Metadata. Acrobat Pro in particular. But Apago, PitStop and callas are all more capable of scrubbing metadata now.

[Tracy]

Why does metadata cause problems?
I don't think I have ever had a problem with metadata

[Ear]

One thread is very like another with your head down over your pieces brother

[Joe]

One thread is very like another with your head down over your pieces brother

Ummm...what? Is there an English version? :tongue:

[Ear]

Murray Head is English. :wink:

[Tracy]

speaka splain :laugh: