Manipulates existing PDF documents. The following list describes some of the tasks you can perform with the cfpdf tag:

Data Output Tags

cfdocument cfdocumentsection cfpdfform cfpdfformparam cfpdfparam cfpdfsubform cfprint isDDX isPDFFile isPDFObject

ColdFusion 8: Added this tag. ColdFusion 9: Added new attributes: jpgdpi, maxBreadth, noAttachments, leftMargin, algo, noMetadata, noBookMarks, noJavaScripts, useStructure, noFonts, text, noComments, encodeAll,numberFormat, compressTIFFs, addQuads, rightMargin, topMargin, bottomMargin, noThumbnails, align, noLinks, maxLength, hires, hScale, overridepage, honourspaces, maxScale, package, vScale

Add a watermark to a PDF document 
<cfpdf 
    required 
    action = "addwatermark" 
    source = "absolute or relative pathname to a PDF file|PDF document variable| 
        cfdocument variable" 
    one of the following: 
    copyfrom = "absolute or relative pathname to a PDF file from which the first page is 
    used as a watermark" 
    image = "absolute or relative pathname to image file|image variable used as a 
    watermark" 
    optional 
    foreground = "yes|no" 
    isBase64 = "yes|no" 
    opacity = "watermark opacity" 
    overwrite = "yes|no" 
    pages = "page or pages to add the watermark" 
    password = "user or owner password for the PDF source file" 
    position = "position on the page where the watermark is placed" 
    rotation = "degree of rotation of the watermark" 
    showonprint = "yes|no"> 
    \\one of the following: 
    destination = "PDF output file pathname" 
    name = "PDF document variable name" 
    image = "image file name to be used as the footer" 
    text = "text to be used in the footer" 
Add headers 
<cfpdf 
    required 
    action = "addheader" 
    source = "absolute or relative pathname to a PDF file|PDF document variable| 
            cfdocument variable" 
    pages = "page or pages to add the footer" 
    optional 
    isBase64 = "yes|no" 
    overwrite = "yes|no" 
    password = "user or owner password for the PDF source file" 
    showonprint = "yes|no"> 
    align = "left|right|center" 
    leftmargin = "value of the header left marign" 
    rightmargin = "value of the header right margin" 
    numberformat = "LOWERCASEROMAN|NUMERIC|UPPERCASEROMAN" <!---used with either 
    _PAGENUMBER or _LASTPAGENUMBER---> 
    opacity = "header opacity" 
    topmargin = "value of the top margin of the header" 
    \\one of the following: 
    destination = "PDF output file pathname" 
    name = "PDF document variable name" 
    text = _PAGELABEL: add current page label|_LASTPAGELABEL: add last page label|      
            _PAGENUMBER: add current page number|_LASTPAGENUMBER: add last page 
            number \\text for the header. You can also add a normal text string. 
    image = "image file name to be used as the header"  
 
Add footer 
<cfpdf 
    required 
    action = "addfooter" 
    source = "absolute or relative pathname to a PDF file|PDF document variable| 
            cfdocument variable" 
    pages = "page or pages to add the footer" 
    optional 
    isBase64 = "yes|no" 
    overwrite = "yes|no" 
 
    password = "user or owner password for the PDF source file" 
    showonprint = "yes|no"> 
    destination = "PDF output file pathname" 
    name = "PDF document variable name" 
    align = "left|right|center" 
    one of the following: 
    image = "image file name to be used as the footer" 
    text =         _PAGELABEL: add current page label|_LASTPAGELABEL: add last page label|      
            _PAGENUMBER: add current page number|_LASTPAGENUMBER: add last page 
            number \\text for the header 
    leftmargin = "value of the footer left marign" 
    rightmargin = "value of the footer right margin" 
    numberformat 
    opacity = "footer opacity" 
    bottommargin = "value of the bottom margin" 
Delete pages from a PDF document 
<cfpdf 
    required 
    action = "deletepages" 
    pages = "page or pages to delete" 
    source = "absolute or relative pathname to a PDF file|PDF document variable| 
            cfdocument variable" 
    optional 
    overwrite = "yes|no" 
    password = "PDF source file password" 
        one of the following: 
    destination = "PDF output file pathname" 
    name = "PDF document variable name"> 
Delete headers and footers 
<cfpdf 
    required 
    action = "removeheaderfooter" 
    source = "absolute or relative pathname to a PDF file|PDF document variable| 
        cfdocument variable" 
    optional 
    overwrite = "yes|no" 
    pages = "page or pages to add the watermark" 
    password = "user or owner password for the PDF source file"  
    one of the following: 
    destination = "PDF output file pathname" 
    name = "PDF document variable name" 
Retrieve information about a PDF document 
<cfpdf 
    required 
    action = "getinfo" 
    name = "structure variable name"  
    source = "absolute or relative pathname to a PDF file|PDF document variable| 
        cfdocument variable" 
    optional 
    password = "PDF source file password"> 
 
Merge PDF documents into an output PDF file 
<cfpdf 
    required 
    action = "merge" 
    one of the following: 
    directory = "directory of PDF files to merge" 
    source = "comma-separated list of PDF source files|absolute or relative pathname  
        to a PDF file|PDF document variable|cfdocument variable" 
    <cfpdfparam> 
    \\required only when package is specified as true 
    order = "name|time" 
    one of the following if <cfpdfparam> is specified: 
    name = "PDF document variable name" 
    destination = "PDF output file pathname" 
    optional 
    package = "true|false" <!---create PDF packages if set to true. You can provide 
        description in cfpdfparam tag, such as <cfpdfparam file="filename desc="">---> 
    ascending = "yes|no" 
    keepBookmark = "yes|no" 
    overwrite = "yes|no" 
    pages = "pages to merge in PDF source file" 
    password = "PDF source file password" 
    stopOnError = "yes|no" 
    \\one of the following: 
    destination = "PDF output file pathname" 
    name = "PDF document variable name"> 
 
Use DDX instructions to manipulate PDF documents 
<cfpdf 
    required 
    ddxfile = "DDX filepath|DDX string" 
    inputfiles = "#inputStruct#" 
    outputfiles = "#outputStruct#" 
    name = "structure name"> 
    optional 
    action="processddx" 
 
Set passwords and encrypt PDF documnets 
<cfpdf 
    required 
    action = "protect" 
    source = "absolute or relative pathname to a PDF file|PDF document variable| 
        cfdocument variable" 
        at least one of the following: 
    newUserPassword = "password" 
    newOwnerPassword = "password" 
        if newOwnerPassword is specified: 
    permissions = "All|AllowAssembly|AllowDegradedPrinting|AllowCopy|AllowFillIn|AllowModifyAnnotations| 
        AllowModifyContents|AllowPrinting|AllowScreenReaders|AllowSecure|None| 
        comma-separated list" 
    optional 
    destination = "PDF output file pathname" 
    encrypt = "RC4_40|RC4_128|RC4_128M|AES_128|none" 
    overwrite = "yes|no" 
    password = "source file password"> 
     
Name a PDF document variable 
<cfpdf 
    required 
    action = "read" 
    name = "PDF document variable name" 
    source = "absolute or relative pathname to a PDF file|PDF document variable| 
        cfdocument variable" 
    optional 
    password = "PDF source file password"> 
 
Remove a watermark from a PDF document 
<cfpdf 
    required 
    action = "removeWatermark" 
    source = "absolute or relative pathname to a PDF file|PDF document variable| 
        cfdocument variable" 
    optional 
    overwrite = "yes|no" 
    pages = "page or pages from which to remove the watermark" 
    password = "PDF source file password"> 
        one of the following: 
    destination = "PDF output file pathname" 
    name = "PDF document variable name" 
 
Set information about a PDF document 
<cfpdf 
    required 
    action = "setinfo" 
    info = "#structure variable name#" 
    source = "absolute or relative pathname to a PDF file|PDF document variable| 
        cfdocument variable" 
    optional 
    destination = "PDF output file pathname" 
    overwrite = "yes|no" 
    password = "PDF source file password"> 
 
Generate thumbnails from pages in a PDF document 
<cfpdf 
    required 
    action = "thumbnail" 
    source = "absolute or relative pathname to a PDF file|PDF document variable| 
        cfdocument variable" 
    optional 
    destination = "directory path where the thumbnail images are written" 
    format = "png|jpeg|tiff" 
    imagePrefix = "string used as a prefix in the output filename" 
    overwrite = "yes|no" 
    password = "PDF source file password"> 
    pages = "page or pages to make into thumbnails" 
    resolution= "low|high" 
    scale = "percentage between 1 and 100" 
    transparent = "yes|no"> 
    hires = "yes|no" 
    overridepage = "yes|no" 
    compresstiffs = "yes|no" 
    maxscale = "maximum scale of the thumbnail" 
    maxlength = "maximum length of the thumbnail" 
    maxbreadth = "maximum width of the thumbnail" 
 
Write a PDF document to an output file 
<cfpdf 
    required 
    action = "write" 
    source = "absolute or relative pathname to a PDF file|PDF document variable| 
        cfdocument variable" 
    \\one of the following 
    destination = "PDF output file pathname" 
    name = #PDF variable# <!---new variable support added now---> 
    optional 
    flatten = "yes|no" 
    overwrite = "yes|no" 
    password = "PDF source file password" 
    saveOption = "linear|incremental|full" 
    version = "1.1|1.2|1.3|1.4|1.5|1.6">  
    encodeall = "yes|no" 
 
Reduce the quality of a PDF document 
<cfpdf 
    required 
    action = "optimize" 
    source = "absolute or relative path of the PDF file|PDF document variable| 
            cfdocument variable"  
    algo = "bilinear|bicubic|nearest_neighbor" <!---algorithm for image      
            downsampling---> 
    pages = "*" <!----page numbers associated with the objects in the PDF document--->     
    optional 
    vscale= "Vertical scale of the image to be modified. Valid values are vscale>0" 
    hscacle="Horizontal scale of the image to be modified. Valid values are hscale<1" 
    destination = "PDF output file pathname" 
    name = "PDF document variable" 
    noattachments = "Discard all attachments" 
    nobookmarks = "Discard all bookmarks" 
    nocomments = "Discard all comments" 
    nofonts = "Discard all fonts" 
    nojavascript = "Discard all JavaScript actions" 
    nolinks = "Discard external cross-references" 
    nometadata = "Discard document information and metadata" 
    nothumbnails = "Discard embedded page thumbnails" 
    overwrite = "true" <!---Overwrite the specified object in the PDF document---> 
    password = "" <!--- PDF document password---> 
      
Extract text  
<cfpdf 
    required 
    action="extracttext" <!---extract all the words in the PDF.---> 
    source= "absolute or relative path of the PDF file|PDF document variable| 
            cfdocument variable" 
    pages = "*" <!----page numbers from where the text needs to be extracted from the 
                PDF document---> 
    optional 
    addquads = "add the position or quadrants for the text in the PDF" 
    honourspaces = "true|false" 
    overwrite = "true" <!---Overwrite the specified object in the PDF document---> 
    password = "" <!--- PDF document password---> 
    type = "string|xml" <!---format in which the text needs to be extracted---> 
    one of the following: 
    destination = "PDF output file pathname" 
    name = "PDF document variable" 
    usestructure = "true|false" 
Extract image 
<cfpdf 
    required 
    action = "extractimage" <!---extract images and save it to a directory---> 
    source = "absolute or relative path of the PDF file|PDF document variable| 
            cfdocument variable" 
    pages = "*" <!---page numbers from where the images need to be extracted---> 
    optional 
    overwrite = "true|false" <!---overwrite any existing image when set to true---> 
    format = "png|tiff|jpg" <!---format in which the images should be extracted---> 
    imageprefix = "*" <!---the string that you want to prefix with the image name---> 
    password = "" <!--- PDF document password---> 
    destination = "PDF output file pathname" 
     
Page level transformations 
<cfpdf 
    required 
    action = "transform" 
    source = "absolute or relative path of the PDF file|PDF document variable| 
            cfdocument variable" 
    pages = "page or pages to be transformed" 
    optional 
    hscale = "value of the horizontal scale of the page" 
    overwrite = "yes|no" 
    password = "PDF source file password" 
    position = "x, y" <!---value in pixels---> 
    rotation = "0|90|180|270" 
    vscale = "length of the page to be transformed" 
    one of the following: 
    destination = ""Path of the directory where the PDF document will be saved" 
    name = "PDF document variable" 

Note: You can specify this tag’s attributes in an attributeCollection attribute whose value is a structure. Specify the structure name in the attributeCollection attribute and use the tag’s attribute names as structure keys.

You use the cfpdf tag to manipulate and assemble existing PDF documents. Although the cfpdf tag provides much of the functionality available in Acrobat, you cannot use this tag to generate a PDF document from another file format. To create PDF output from HTML and CFML content, use the cfdocument tag.
You cannot embed a cfpdf tag within a cfdocument tag or embed a cfdocument tag within a cfdpdf tag; however, you can write the output of a cfdocument tag to a variable and pass the variable to the cfpdf tag. The following example shows how to use the cfdocument tag to create a cover page and add it to a merged PDF document:
<!--- Use the cfdocument tag to create a cover page and write the output to a variable called cfdoc. ---> <cfdocument format="PDF" name="cfdoc"> <html> <body> <h1>Here is a cover page</h1> </body> </html> </cfdocument> <!--- Use the cfpdf tag and cfpdfparam tags to merge individual PDF documents into a new PDF document called new.pdf. Notice that the cfdoc variable created by using the cfdocument tag is the source value of the first cfpdfparam tag. ---> <cfpdf action="merge" destination="/samtemp/pdfs/new.pdf" overwrite="yes"> <cfpdfparam source="cfdoc"> <cfpdfparam source="/samtemp/pdfs/pdf2.pdf"> <cfpdfparam source="/samtemp/pdfs/pdf1.pdf"> </cfpdf> You can use the cfpdf tag to assemble interactive PDF form files into a single PDF document and flatten forms created in Acrobat (by using the flatten attribute with the write action); however, to process PDF form data, use the cfpdfform and related tags. You cannot use the cfpdf tag to flatten forms created in Adobe LiveCycle Designer ES.

The following example generates thumbnail images from pages in a PDF document and links the thumbnail images to the pages in the PDF document:

<h3>PDF Thumbnail Demo</h3> 
 
<!--- Create a variable for the name of the PDF document. ---> 
<cfset mypdf="myBook"> 
<cfset thisPath=ExpandPath(".")> 
<!--- Use the getInfo action to retrieve the total page count for the 
    PDF document. ---> 
<cfpdf action="getInfo" source="#mypdf#.pdf" name="PDFInfo"> 
<cfset pageCount="#PDFInfo.TotalPages#"> 
 
<!--- Generate a thumbnail image for each page in the PDF source document, 
    create a directory (if it doesn't already exist) in the web root that is 
    a concatenation of the PDF source name and the word "thumbnails", and 
    save the thumbnail images in that directory. ---> 
<cfpdf action="thumbnail" source="#mypdf#.pdf" overwrite="yes" 
    destination="#mypdf#_thumbnails" scale=60>  
 
<!--- Loop through the images in the thumbnail directory and generate a link 
    from each image to the corresponding page in the PDF document. ---> 
<cfloop index="LoopCount" from ="1" to="#pageCount#" step="1"> 
    <cfoutput> 
        <!--- Click the thumbnail image to navigate to the page in the PDF 
                document. ---> 
        <a href="#mypdf#.pdf##page=#LoopCount#" target="_blank"> 
        <img src="#mypdf#_thumbnails/#mypdf#_page_#LoopCount#.jpg"></a> 
    </cfoutput> 
</cfloop>