How to remove 'anti-piracy' footers from complex PDFs? (sh.itjust.works)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by Thorned_Rose@sh.itjust.works to c/piracy@lemmy.dbzer0.com

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I have some sewing patterns that I would like to share (and hopefully swap) but all of the PDFs have a

"This was purchased by John Doe john.doe@email.com #ordernumber - if you are not John Doe, please dob in the person you got this from to company@example.com so we can sick our lawyers on them"

sorta footer on every single page.

Obviously for privacy reasons (and because I don't actually want lawyers sicked onto me), I need to remove this footer.

These are often complex PDFs with more than a hundred pages and multiple layers.

I managed to successfully remove the editing password (not user/viewing password, just can't edit without password) with qpdf --decrypt. But removing that footer has left me at a dead end. I have even tried manually removing every single instance of those footers using Master PDF Editor but saving the file flattened it and you are no longer able to show/hide layers which is essential for correct printing. (Please don't ask me how many different PDF editors I have tried because it has been so so SO many I have lost count).

Not that I really want to have to manually edit this out on what could amount to over a thousand pages but searching for a command to remove a certain phrase has come up empty. Even Master PDF Editor doesn't seem to have a bulk remove or search and replace function (just search).

I use Linux btw.

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[-] Tolookah@discuss.tchncs.de 9 points 1 year ago

MaM irc or forums might be able to help with that, if you're a member, they deal with PDFs and such all the time.

[-] Thorned_Rose@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 year ago

I keep meaning to sign up so now is as good time as any!

[-] Tolookah@discuss.tchncs.de 5 points 1 year ago

Two replies there that came to my attention, while I'm unable to get back to sleep at 5am. An old one mentioning https://github.com/kanzure/pdfparanoia which seems to be an old tool that removes watermarks, hasn't been updated in 5 years, but neither has the PDF spec?

The other is this paste of text:

if it helps anyone, here's what I do to prepare a pattern for uploading to make sure it is 'clean':

Check over the PDF files for any reference to my name/email address (usually this is in a footer on each page, and not every pattern company does this)
If my personal details are present, I unlock the files using a site like ILovePDF - There are other sites but this one has no daily limits
Open the unlocked PDF in Adobe Professional or another PDF editor of your choice and delete the footer box. You can just delete the box on the first page it appears, or the first page it is a standalone box, then save the pdf, close and reopen it - usually it will now be gone from all pages.
Repeat for any other PDF files (obviously)
Run PDF and jpeg files through an exif cleaner
Double check and upload.

this post was submitted on 20 Oct 2025

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