Import and Export Annotations using Python
This article shows how to import annotations from an existing PDF and export them to a new PDF document using Aspose.PDF for Python via .NET.
The example reads annotations from the first page of a source file, creates a new PDF, adds a blank page, and copies each annotation to that new page. This approach is useful when you need to move comments, markup, or review notes into a separate output document.
Load the source PDF
Create a Document object for the input file that already contains annotations. This object gives access to the pages collection and the annotations stored on each page.
source_document = ap.Document(infile)
Create the destination PDF
Next, create an empty PDF document that will receive the imported annotations. At this stage, the destination document does not contain any pages.
destination_document = ap.Document()
Add a page for exported annotations
Because annotations must belong to a page, add a new page to the destination document before copying anything.
page = destination_document.pages.add()
Copy annotations from the source page
Iterate through the annotations collection on the first page of the source PDF and add each annotation to the new page in the destination document.
The second argument in page.annotations.add(annot, True) tells Aspose.PDF to copy the annotation into the destination page instead of only reusing the existing object reference.
for annot in source_document.pages[1].annotations:
page.annotations.add(annot, True)
Save the output document
After all annotations have been copied, save the destination document to create the final PDF file.
destination_document.save(outfile)
Complete example
The following code combines all the steps into one reusable function:
import sys
import aspose.pdf as ap
from os import path
sys.path.append(path.join(path.dirname(__file__), ".."))
from config import set_license, initialize_data_dir
def import_export(infile, outfile):
"""
Import annotations from one PDF document and export them to a new PDF document.
"""
source_document = ap.Document(infile)
destination_document = ap.Document()
page = destination_document.pages.add()
for annot in source_document.pages[1].annotations:
page.annotations.add(annot, True)
destination_document.save(outfile)