PDF Metadata Viewer
View a PDF's title, author, dates, page count and encryption status.
Overview
The PDF metadata viewer reads a PDF's document information dictionary and XMP stream and reports the title, author, subject, keywords, producer, creator application, creation and modification dates, page count, PDF version, and encryption status. It is the fastest way to fingerprint a PDF without rendering it.
Compliance officers checking that a published PDF has correct provenance, journalists examining the metadata of a leaked document, and developers debugging PDF export pipelines reach for this when only the file's properties matter. Long-tail searches that lead here include "view PDF metadata online", "check PDF author and creation date", and "is this PDF encrypted".
How it works
A PDF (ISO 32000) carries metadata in two places. The Info dictionary, referenced from the trailer, holds traditional fields: /Title, /Author, /Subject, /Keywords, /Creator, /Producer, /CreationDate, /ModDate. The newer XMP metadata stream embeds the same information as RDF/XML using Adobe's XMP specification; modern PDFs often include both, with XMP being authoritative when the two disagree.
The viewer parses the trailer to locate both metadata sources, reads them, and surfaces the merged set. Encryption status comes from the /Encrypt entry in the trailer — when present, the viewer reports the encryption algorithm (RC4 40-bit, RC4 128-bit, AES-128, AES-256) and which permissions are restricted (print, copy, modify, annotate). The PDF version comes from the header line (e.g. %PDF-1.7).
Examples
- Confirm a published PDF carries the right author and title before posting.
- Check whether a quoted creation date matches the file's actual
/CreationDate. - Spot a PDF still encrypted from a previous workflow before sending it out.
- Determine the producer application — useful when troubleshooting renderer bugs.
FAQ
Why is the title empty on a PDF that displays a title bar?
Some viewers display the filename when the /Title field is empty. A blank title here is the file's actual state — the visible title was the filename.
Are dates always reliable?
PDF dates are stored as strings with optional timezone, and many tools write them with the local time but no timezone marker. Treat dates as advisory unless the producer is known to write proper UTC offsets.
Can metadata be edited from this viewer?
This is a read-only viewer. Editing requires a writer that can update both the Info dictionary and the XMP stream — Adobe Acrobat, qpdf, or a dedicated metadata editor.
Does encrypted-PDF metadata read normally?
Yes. Document metadata is typically stored unencrypted even when the body is encrypted, so the viewer can show title and author without the password.
What is the difference between "creator" and "producer"?
/Creator is the application that authored the source (e.g. Word). /Producer is the library that wrote the final PDF (e.g. a PDF rendering engine). They are often different.