Find and Replace in PDF

Sample code for using the Apryse SDK to perform in-place Find and Replace while preserving document layout and formatting. Sample code provided in Python, C++, C#, Java, and Objective-C.

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C++

//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
// Copyright (c) 2001-2025 by Apryse Software Inc. All Rights Reserved.
// Consult legal.txt regarding legal and license information.
//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#include <PDF/PDFNet.h>
#include <PDF/PDFDoc.h>
#include <PDF/PageSet.h>
#include <Filters/MappedFile.h>
#include <Filters/FilterReader.h>
#include <Filters/FilterWriter.h>
#include <PDF/ElementWriter.h>
#include <PDF/ElementReader.h>
#include <PDF/FindReplace.h>
#include <PDF/FindReplaceOptions.h>

#include <iostream>
#include <fstream>
#include "../../LicenseKey/CPP/LicenseKey.h"

using namespace std;
using namespace pdftron;
using namespace SDF;
using namespace PDF;
using namespace Filters;

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
	int ret = 0;
	PDFNet::Initialize(LicenseKey);

	// Relative path to the folder containing test files.
	string input_path =  "../../TestFiles/";
	string output_path = "../../TestFiles/Output/";

	// The following sample illustrates how to find and replace text in a document
	try  
	{
		// Open a PDF document to edit
		PDFDoc doc(input_path + "find-replace-test.pdf");
		FindReplaceOptions options = FindReplaceOptions();

		// Set some find/replace options
		options.SetWholeWords(true);
		options.SetMatchCase(true);
		options.SetMatchMode(FindReplaceOptions::e_exact);
		options.SetReflowMode(FindReplaceOptions::e_para);
		options.SetAlignment(FindReplaceOptions::e_left);

		// Perform a Find/Replace finding "the" with "THE INCREDIBLE"
		FindReplace::FindReplaceText(doc, "the", "THE INCREDIBLE", options);

		// Save the edited PDF
		doc.Save(output_path + "find-replace-test-replaced.pdf", SDFDoc::e_linearized);
	}
	catch(Common::Exception& e)
	{
		cout << e << endl;
		ret = 1;
	}
	catch(...)
	{
		cout << "Unknown Exception" << endl;
		ret = 1;
	}

	PDFNet::Terminate();
	return ret;
}

C#

//
// Copyright (c) 2001-2025 by Apryse Software Inc. All Rights Reserved.
//

using System;
using System.IO;
using pdftron;
using pdftron.Common;
using pdftron.Filters;
using pdftron.SDF;
using pdftron.PDF;
using pdftron.FDF;

// The following sample illustrates how to find and replace text in a document
namespace FindReplaceTestCS
{
	class Class1
	{
		private static pdftron.PDFNetLoader pdfNetLoader = pdftron.PDFNetLoader.Instance();
		static Class1() {}
		
		[STAThread]
		static void Main(string[] args)
		{
			PDFNet.Initialize(PDFTronLicense.Key);

			// Relative path to the folder containing test files.
			string input_path =  "../../../../TestFiles/";
			string output_path = "../../../../TestFiles/Output/";

			try  
			{
				// Read a PDF document from a stream or pass-in a memory buffer...
				FileStream istm = new FileStream(input_path + "find-replace-test.pdf", FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read);
				
				using (PDFDoc doc = new PDFDoc(istm))
				{
					FindReplaceOptions options = new FindReplaceOptions();

					// Set some find/replace options
					options.SetWholeWords(true);
					options.SetMatchCase(true);
					options.SetMatchMode(FindReplaceOptions.MatchType.e_exact);
					options.SetReflowMode(FindReplaceOptions.ReflowType.e_para);
					options.SetAlignment(FindReplaceOptions.HorizAlignment.e_left);

					// Perform a Find/Replace finding "the" with "THE INCREDIBLE"
					FindReplace.FindReplaceText(doc, "the", "THE INCREDIBLE", options);

					// Save the edited PDF
					doc.Save(output_path + "find-replace-test-replaced.pdf", SDFDoc.SaveOptions.e_linearized);
					doc.Close();
				}
			}
			catch (PDFNetException e)
			{
				Console.WriteLine(e.Message);
			}
			PDFNet.Terminate();
		}
	}
}

Java

//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
// Copyright (c) 2001-2025 by Apryse Software Inc. All Rights Reserved.
// Consult legal.txt regarding legal and license information.
//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

import java.io.File;
import java.io.IOException;

import javax.imageio.ImageIO;

import com.pdftron.common.PDFNetException;
import com.pdftron.pdf.*;
import com.pdftron.sdf.SDFDoc;

// The following sample illustrates how to find and replace text in a document
public class FindReplaceTest {

	public static void main(String[] args) 
	{
		PDFNet.initialize(PDFTronLicense.Key());

		// Relative path to the folder containing test files.
		String input_path = "../../TestFiles/";
		String output_path = "../../TestFiles/Output/";

		// Open a PDF document to edit
		try (PDFDoc doc = new PDFDoc(input_path + "find-replace-test.pdf"))
		{
			FindReplaceOptions options = new FindReplaceOptions();

			// Set some find/replace options
			options.SetWholeWords(true);
			options.SetMatchCase(true);
			options.SetMatchMode(FindReplaceOptions.MatchType.e_exact);
			options.SetReflowMode(FindReplaceOptions.ReflowType.e_para);
			options.SetAlignment(FindReplaceOptions.HorizAlignment.e_left);

			// Perform a Find/Replace finding "the" with "THE INCREDIBLE"
			FindReplace.FindReplaceText(doc, "the", "THE INCREDIBLE", options);

			// Save the edited PDF
			doc.Save(output_path + "find-replace-test-replaced.pdf", PDFNet.SDFDoc.SaveOptions.e_linearized);
			doc.close();
		}
		catch (PDFNetException e)
		{
			e.printStackTrace();
			System.out.println(e);
		}

		PDFNet.terminate();
	}
}

Obj-C

//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
// Copyright (c) 2001-2025 by Apryse Software Inc. All Rights Reserved.
// Consult legal.txt regarding legal and license information.
//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

#import <OBJC/PDFNetOBJC.h>
#import <Foundation/Foundation.h>

// The following sample illustrates how to find and replace text in a document

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
    @autoreleasepool {
        int ret = 0;
        [PTPDFNet Initialize: 0];

        NSString *inputPath = @"../../TestFiles/";
        NSString *outputPath = @"../../TestFiles/Output/";

        @try
        {
            // Open a PDF document to edit
            PTPDFDoc *doc = [[PTPDFDoc alloc] initWithFilepath: [inputPath stringByAppendingString:@"find-replace-test.pdf"]];

            PTFindReplaceOptions* options = [[PTFindReplaceOptions alloc] init];

            // Set some find/replace options
            [options SetWholeWords: true];
            [options SetMatchCase: true];
            [options SetMatchMode: e_exact];
            [options SetReflowMode: e_para];
            [options SetAlignment: e_left];

            // Perform a Find/Replace finding "the" with "THE INCREDIBLE"
            [PTFindReplace FindReplaceText : doc from: @"the" to: @"THE INCREDIBLE" options: options];

            // Save the edited PDF
            [doc SaveToFile : [outputPath stringByAppendingString:@"find-replace-test-replaced.pdf"] flags: e_ptlinearized];
            [doc Close];
        }
        @catch(NSException *e)
        {
            NSLog(@"%@", e.reason);
            ret = 1;
        }

        [PTPDFNet Terminate: 0];
        return ret;
    }
}

Python

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Copyright (c) 2001-2025 by Apryse Software Inc. All Rights Reserved.
# Consult LICENSE.txt regarding license information.
#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

import site
site.addsitedir("../../../PDFNetC/Lib")
import sys
from PDFNetPython import *

import platform

sys.path.append("../../LicenseKey/PYTHON")
from LicenseKey import *

# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# The following sample illustrates how to find and replace text in a PDF document.
# --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

# Relative path to the folder containing the test files.
input_path = "../../TestFiles/"
output_path = "../../TestFiles/Output/"

def main():

    # The first step in every application using PDFNet is to initialize the
    # library and set the path to common PDF resources. The library is usually
    # initialized only once, but calling Initialize() multiple times is also fine.
    PDFNet.Initialize(LicenseKey)

    try:
        # Open a PDF document to edit
        doc = PDFDoc(input_path + "find-replace-test.pdf")
        options = FindReplaceOptions()

        # Set some find/replace options
        options.SetWholeWords(True)
        options.SetMatchCase(True)
        options.SetMatchMode(FindReplaceOptions.e_exact)
        options.SetReflowMode(FindReplaceOptions.e_para)
        options.SetAlignment(FindReplaceOptions.e_left)

        # Perform a Find/Replace finding "the" with "THE INCREDIBLE"
        FindReplace.FindReplaceText(doc, "the", "THE INCREDIBLE", options)

        # Save the edited PDF
        doc.Save(output_path + "find-replace-test-replaced.pdf", SDFDoc.e_linearized)

    except Exception as e:
        print("Unable to perform Find and Replace, error: " + str(e))

    PDFNet.Terminate()
    print("Done.")


if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()