Remove PDF Backgrounds in Java

Remove background artifacts from the first page of a PDF in Java.

Remove background artifacts

Use this approach when existing background artifacts should be deleted from the page.

  1. Open the source PDF Document.
  2. Iterate through the page artifact collection in reverse order.
  3. Delete artifacts whose type is pagination and subtype is background, then save the document.
public static void removeBackground(Path inputFile, Path outputFile) {
    try (Document document = new Document(inputFile.toString())) {
        for (int i = document.getPages().get_Item(1).getArtifacts().size(); i >= 1; i--) {
            Artifact artifact = document.getPages().get_Item(1).getArtifacts().get_Item(i);
            if (artifact.getType() == Artifact.ArtifactType.Pagination
                    && artifact.getSubtype() == Artifact.ArtifactSubtype.Background) {
                document.getPages().get_Item(1).getArtifacts().delete(artifact);
            }
        }

        document.save(outputFile.toString());
    }
}
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