Working with PDF File Metadata in C#

The following code snippet also work with Aspose.PDF.Drawing library.

Get PDF File Information

In order to get file specific information of a PDF file, you first need to get the DocumentInfo object using Info property of the Document object. Once the DocumentInfo object is retrieved, you can get the values of the individual properties. The following code snippet shows you how to get PDF file information.

.NET Core 3.1

// For complete examples and data files, visit https://github.com/aspose-pdf/Aspose.PDF-for-.NET
private static void GetPDFFileInformation()
{
    // The path to the documents directory
    var dataDir = RunExamples.GetDataDir_AsposePdf();

    // Open PDF document
    using (var document = new Aspose.Pdf.Document(dataDir + "GetFileInfo.pdf"))
    {
        // Get document information
        var docInfo = document.Info;

        // Display document information
        Console.WriteLine("Author: {0}", docInfo.Author);
        Console.WriteLine("Creation Date: {0}", docInfo.CreationDate);
        Console.WriteLine("Keywords: {0}", docInfo.Keywords);
        Console.WriteLine("Modify Date: {0}", docInfo.ModDate);
        Console.WriteLine("Subject: {0}", docInfo.Subject);
        Console.WriteLine("Title: {0}", docInfo.Title);
    }
}

.NET 8

// For complete examples and data files, visit https://github.com/aspose-pdf/Aspose.PDF-for-.NET
private static void GetPDFFileInformation()
{
    // The path to the documents directory
    var dataDir = RunExamples.GetDataDir_AsposePdf();

    // Open PDF document
    using (var document = new Aspose.Pdf.Document(dataDir + "GetFileInfo.pdf"))
    {
        // Get document information
        var docInfo = document.Info;
        // Display document information
        Console.WriteLine("Author: {0}", docInfo.Author);
        Console.WriteLine("Creation Date: {0}", docInfo.CreationDate);
        Console.WriteLine("Keywords: {0}", docInfo.Keywords);
        Console.WriteLine("Modify Date: {0}", docInfo.ModDate);
        Console.WriteLine("Subject: {0}", docInfo.Subject);
        Console.WriteLine("Title: {0}", docInfo.Title);
    }
}

Set PDF File Information

Aspose.PDF for .NET allows you to set file-specific information for a PDF, information like author, creation date, subject, and title. To set this information:

1. Create a DocumentInfo object.
2. Set the values of the properties.
3. Save the updated document using the Document class’ Save method.

The following code snippet shows you how to set PDF file information.

.NET Core 3.1

// For complete examples and data files, visit https://github.com/aspose-pdf/Aspose.PDF-for-.NET
private static void SetFileInformation()
{
    // The path to the documents directory
    var dataDir = RunExamples.GetDataDir_AsposePdf_WorkingDocuments();

    // Open PDF document
    using (var document = new Aspose.Pdf.Document(dataDir + "SetFileInfo.pdf"))
    {
        // Specify document information
        var docInfo = new Aspose.Pdf.DocumentInfo(document);

        docInfo.Author = "Aspose";
        docInfo.CreationDate = DateTime.Now;
        docInfo.Keywords = "Aspose.Pdf, DOM, API";
        docInfo.ModDate = DateTime.Now;
        // Specify custom timezone
        docInfo.CreationTimeZone = TimeZoneInfo.FindSystemTimeZoneById("Tokyo Standard Time").GetUtcOffset(docInfo.CreationDate);
        docInfo.Subject = "PDF Information";
        docInfo.Title = "Setting PDF Document Information";
        docInfo.Producer = "Custom producer";
        docInfo.Creator = "Custom creator";

        // Save PDF document
        document.Save(dataDir + "SetFileInfo_out.pdf");
    }
}

.NET 8

// For complete examples and data files, visit https://github.com/aspose-pdf/Aspose.PDF-for-.NET
private static void SetFileInformation()
{
    // The path to the documents directory
    var dataDir = RunExamples.GetDataDir_AsposePdf_WorkingDocuments();

    // Open PDF document
    using (var document = new Aspose.Pdf.Document(dataDir + "SetFileInfo.pdf"))
    {
        // Specify document information
        var docInfo = new Aspose.Pdf.DocumentInfo(document);

        docInfo.Author = "Aspose";
        docInfo.CreationDate = DateTime.Now;
        docInfo.Keywords = "Aspose.Pdf, DOM, API";
        docInfo.ModDate = DateTime.Now;
        // Specify custom timezone
        docInfo.CreationTimeZone = TimeZoneInfo.FindSystemTimeZoneById("Tokyo Standard Time").GetUtcOffset(docInfo.CreationDate);
        docInfo.Subject = "PDF Information";
        docInfo.Title = "Setting PDF Document Information";
        docInfo.Producer = "Custom producer";
        docInfo.Creator = "Custom creator";

        // Save PDF document
        document.Save(dataDir + "SetFileInfo_out.pdf");
    }
}

Get XMP Metadata from PDF File

Aspose.PDF allows you to access a PDF file’s XMP metadata. To get a PDF file’s metadata:

1. Create a Document object and open the input PDF file.
2. Get the file’s metadata using the Metadata property.

The following code snippet shows you how to get metadata from the PDF file.

.NET Core 3.1

// For complete examples and data files, visit https://github.com/aspose-pdf/Aspose.PDF-for-.NET
private static void GetXMPMetadata()
{
    // The path to the documents directory
    var dataDir = RunExamples.GetDataDir_AsposePdf();

    // Open PDF document
    using (var document = new Aspose.Pdf.Document(dataDir + "GetXMPMetadata.pdf"))
    {
        // Get and display properties
        Console.WriteLine($"Create Date: {document.Metadata["xmp:CreateDate"]}");
        Console.WriteLine($"Nickname: {document.Metadata["xmp:Nickname"]}");
        Console.WriteLine($"Custom Property: {document.Metadata["xmp:CustomProperty"]}");
    }
}

.NET 8

// For complete examples and data files, visit https://github.com/aspose-pdf/Aspose.PDF-for-.NET
private static void GetXMPMetadata()
{
    // The path to the documents directory
    var dataDir = RunExamples.GetDataDir_AsposePdf();

    // Open PDF document
    using (var document = new Aspose.Pdf.Document(dataDir + "GetXMPMetadata.pdf"))
    {
        // Get and display properties
        Console.WriteLine($"Create Date: {document.Metadata["xmp:CreateDate"]}");
        Console.WriteLine($"Nickname: {document.Metadata["xmp:Nickname"]}");
        Console.WriteLine($"Custom Property: {document.Metadata["xmp:CustomProperty"]}");
    }
}

Set XMP Metadata in a PDF File

Aspose.PDF allows you to set metadata in a PDF file. To set metadata:

1. Create a Document object.
2. Set metadata values using the Metadata property.
3. Save the updated document using the Save method of the Document object.

The following code snippet shows you how to set metadata in a PDF file.

.NET Core 3.1

// For complete examples and data files, visit https://github.com/aspose-pdf/Aspose.PDF-for-.NET
private static void SetXMPMetadata()
{
    // The path to the documents directory
    var dataDir = RunExamples.GetDataDir_AsposePdf();

    // Open PDF document
    using (var document = new Aspose.Pdf.Document(dataDir + "SetXMPMetadata.pdf"))
    {
        // Set properties
        document.Metadata["xmp:CreateDate"] = DateTime.Now.ToString("o");
        document.Metadata["xmp:Nickname"] = "Nickname";
        document.Metadata["xmp:CustomProperty"] = "Custom Value";

        // Save PDF document
        document.Save(dataDir + "SetXMPMetadata_out.pdf");
    }
}

.NET 8

// For complete examples and data files, visit https://github.com/aspose-pdf/Aspose.PDF-for-.NET
private static void SetXMPMetadata()
{
    // The path to the documents directory
    var dataDir = RunExamples.GetDataDir_AsposePdf();

    // Open PDF document
    using (var document = new Aspose.Pdf.Document(dataDir + "SetXMPMetadata.pdf"))
    {
        // Set properties
        document.Metadata["xmp:CreateDate"] = DateTime.Now.ToString("o");
        document.Metadata["xmp:Nickname"] = "Nickname";
        document.Metadata["xmp:CustomProperty"] = "Custom Value";

        // Save PDF document
        document.Save(dataDir + "SetXMPMetadata_out.pdf");
    }
}

Insert Metadata with Prefix

Some developers need to create a new metadata namespace with a prefix. The following code snippet shows how to insert metadata with prefix.

.NET Core 3.1

// For complete examples and data files, visit https://github.com/aspose-pdf/Aspose.PDF-for-.NET
private static void SetPrefixMetadata()
{
    // The path to the documents directory
    var dataDir = RunExamples.GetDataDir_AsposePdf();

    // Open PDF document
    using (var document = new Aspose.Pdf.Document(dataDir + "SetXMPMetadata.pdf"))
    {
        // Register a namespace URI for the 'xmp' prefix
        document.Metadata.RegisterNamespaceUri("xmp", "http://ns.adobe.com/xap/1.0/");

        // Set the metadata property using the registered prefix
        document.Metadata["xmp:ModifyDate"] = DateTime.Now.ToString("o"); // ISO 8601 format for datetime

        // Save PDF document
        document.Save(dataDir + "SetPrefixMetadata_out.pdf");
    }
}

.NET 8

// For complete examples and data files, visit https://github.com/aspose-pdf/Aspose.PDF-for-.NET
private static void SetPrefixMetadata()
{
    // The path to the documents directory
    var dataDir = RunExamples.GetDataDir_AsposePdf();

    // Open PDF document
    using (var document = new Aspose.Pdf.Document(dataDir + "SetXMPMetadata.pdf"))
    {
        // Register a namespace URI for the 'xmp' prefix
        document.Metadata.RegisterNamespaceUri("xmp", "http://ns.adobe.com/xap/1.0/");

        // Set the metadata property using the registered prefix
        document.Metadata["xmp:ModifyDate"] = DateTime.Now.ToString("o"); // ISO 8601 format for datetime

        // Save PDF document
        document.Save(dataDir + "SetPrefixMetadata_out.pdf");
    }
}