nextgenpdf/README.md

PDF Rename Sort

A Python web application built with Flask that automatically renames PDF files based on form field data extracted from within the PDFs. Designed for batch processing of fillable PDFs, extracting "Last Name" and "First Name" to create standardized filenames.

Features

• Web-Based Interface: Clean, responsive web UI for easy file uploads
• Batch Processing: Handle multiple PDFs or ZIP archives containing PDFs
• Form Field Extraction: Uses PyPDF2 to read PDF form fields
• Intelligent Renaming: Renames files to "LastName_FirstName.pdf" format
• Duplicate Handling: Automatically appends counters for duplicate names
• ZIP Support: Upload ZIP files and download processed results as ZIP
• Error Handling: Gracefully skips files that can't be processed

Prerequisites

• Python 3.6 or higher
• Virtual environment (recommended)

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://gitlab.com/trbc-dev/pdf-rename-sort.git
   cd pdf-rename-sort
   

2. Create and activate virtual environment:

   python -m venv .venv
   # On Windows:
   & .venv/Scripts/Activate.ps1
   # On macOS/Linux:
   source .venv/bin/activate
   

3. Install dependencies:

   pip install -r requirements.txt
   

Usage

1. Run the application:

   python pdf_renamer.py
   

2. Access the web interface: Open your browser to http://127.0.0.1:3000/

3. Upload files:

   • Select individual PDF files or ZIP archives containing PDFs
   • Click "Process PDFs"

4. Download results:

   • Download the renamed_files.zip containing all processed PDFs
   • Review any skipped files listed on the results page

How It Works

1. File Upload: Accepts PDFs or ZIPs via web form
2. Extraction: If ZIP, extracts PDFs to temporary directory
3. Processing: For each PDF, reads form fields using PyPDF2
4. Renaming: Extracts "Last Name" and "First Name" values
5. Packaging: Creates a ZIP archive of renamed PDFs
6. Download: Provides secure download link for results

Important Notes

• PDFs must contain fillable form fields named exactly "Last Name" and "First Name"
• Files without these fields or with extraction errors will be skipped
• All processing happens server-side with temporary file storage
• Maximum upload size is limited to 100MB

Development

To contribute or modify:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Make your changes
4. Test thoroughly
5. Submit a pull request

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Support

For issues or questions, please open an issue on the GitLab repository.