pdf

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Use when tasks involve reading, creating, or reviewing PDF files where rendering and layout matter; prefer visual checks by rendering pages (Poppler) and use Python tools such as `reportlab`, `pdfplumber`, and `pypdf` for generation and extraction.

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Sourceninehills/skills
Added on

NPX Install

npx skill4agent add ninehills/skills pdf

SKILL.md Content

PDF Skill

When to use

  • Read or review PDF content where layout and visuals matter.
  • Create PDFs programmatically with reliable formatting.
  • Validate final rendering before delivery.

Workflow

  1. Prefer visual review: render PDF pages to PNGs and inspect them.
    • Use 
      pdftoppm
      if available.
    • If unavailable, install Poppler or ask the user to review the output locally.
  2. Use 
    reportlab
    to generate PDFs when creating new documents.
  3. Use 
    pdfplumber
    (or 
    pypdf
    ) for text extraction and quick checks; do not rely on it for layout fidelity.
  4. After each meaningful update, re-render pages and verify alignment, spacing, and legibility.

Temp and output conventions

  • Use 
    tmp/pdfs/
    for intermediate files; delete when done.
  • Write final artifacts under 
    output/pdf/
    when working in this repo.
  • Keep filenames stable and descriptive.

Dependencies (install if missing)

Prefer 
uv
for dependency management.
Python packages:
uv pip install reportlab pdfplumber pypdf
If 
uv
is unavailable:
python3 -m pip install reportlab pdfplumber pypdf
System tools (for rendering):
# macOS (Homebrew)
brew install poppler

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt-get install -y poppler-utils
If installation isn't possible in this environment, tell the user which dependency is missing and how to install it locally.

Environment

No required environment variables.

Rendering command

pdftoppm -png $INPUT_PDF $OUTPUT_PREFIX

Quality expectations

  • Maintain polished visual design: consistent typography, spacing, margins, and section hierarchy.
  • Avoid rendering issues: clipped text, overlapping elements, broken tables, black squares, or unreadable glyphs.
  • Charts, tables, and images must be sharp, aligned, and clearly labeled.
  • Use ASCII hyphens only. Avoid U+2011 (non-breaking hyphen) and other Unicode dashes.
  • Citations and references must be human-readable; never leave tool tokens or placeholder strings.

Final checks

  • Do not deliver until the latest PNG inspection shows zero visual or formatting defects.
  • Confirm headers/footers, page numbering, and section transitions look polished.
  • Keep intermediate files organized or remove them after final approval.