PDF metadata, explained

PDFs can contain metadata that isn’t visible on the page but can identify the authoring tool, timestamps, or other details.

Common examples include:

  • Title/Author/Subject/Keywords
  • Creator/Producer (the software that created the PDF)
  • Creation and modification timestamps
  • XMP metadata streams
  • Attachments and form data
  • Annotations (comments, links)

The Deep Metadata Scrubber is designed to remove or normalize common metadata while keeping text selectable.