# PDF Oxide — The Fastest PDF Library for Python and Rust
> The fastest PDF library for Python and Rust.
> Text extraction, image extraction, PDF creation, editing, and markdown conversion.
> 0.8ms mean per document. 100% pass rate on 3,830 real-world PDFs.
> 5× faster than PyMuPDF, 15× faster than pypdf.
> MIT / Apache-2.0 license. Current version: 0.3.9.
- Python: `pip install pdf-oxide`
- Rust: `cargo add pdf_oxide`
- Documentation: https://pdf.oxide.fyi
- Full documentation in one file: https://pdf.oxide.fyi/llms-full.txt
## Getting Started
- [Python Quick Start](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/yfedoseev/pdf_oxide/main/docs/getting-started-python.md): Install with pip, extract text, create PDFs, edit documents
- [Rust Quick Start](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/yfedoseev/pdf_oxide/main/docs/getting-started-rust.md): Add to Cargo.toml, PdfDocument and Pdf APIs, error handling
## API Reference
- [Rust API (docs.rs)](https://docs.rs/pdf_oxide): Complete Rust API reference with all public types and methods
- [README](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/yfedoseev/pdf_oxide/main/README.md): Project overview, installation, quick start examples
- [Changelog](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/yfedoseev/pdf_oxide/main/CHANGELOG.md): Version history and release notes
## Performance (v0.3.9)
Benchmarked on 3,830 PDFs (veraPDF, Mozilla pdf.js, DARPA SafeDocs). 18 libraries tested.
Python: pdf_oxide 0.8ms, pypdfium2 4.1ms, PyMuPDF 4.6ms, kreuzberg 7.2ms, pdftext 7.3ms, pypdf 12.1ms, pdfminer 16.8ms, pdfplumber 23.2ms, pymupdf4llm 55.5ms, markitdown 108.8ms, extractous 112.0ms, unstructured 478.4ms.
Rust: pdf_oxide 0.8ms (100% pass), lopdf 0.3ms (80% pass, no text extraction), unpdf 2.8ms (95.1%), pdf_extract 4.08ms (91.5%), oxidize_pdf 13.5ms (99.1%).
Text quality: 99.5% parity vs PyMuPDF/pypdfium2/kreuzberg.
## Guides
- [PDF Creation Guide](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/yfedoseev/pdf_oxide/main/docs/PDF_CREATION_GUIDE.md): DocumentBuilder, fonts, images, form fields, annotations
- [Markdown Converter](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/yfedoseev/pdf_oxide/main/docs/MARKDOWN_CONVERTER_USAGE.md): PDF to Markdown conversion options
## Extraction
- extract_text(page_index): Extract plain text from a page
- extract_spans(page_index): Extract text with font, size, color, position metadata
- extract_chars(page_index): Per-character extraction with bounding boxes
- extract_images(page_index): Extract images from content streams, XObjects, inline
- extract_paths(page_index): Extract vector graphics and paths
- to_markdown(page_index) / to_markdown_all(): Convert pages to Markdown
- to_html(page_index) / to_html_all(): Convert pages to HTML
- FormField::extract_fields(): Extract form field values, export FDF/XFDF
- get_annotations(page_index): Get all annotation types
- get_outline(): Get document bookmarks/outline
- TextSearcher: Regex and case-insensitive text search
## Creation
- Pdf::from_markdown(text): Create PDF from Markdown
- Pdf::from_html(html): Create PDF from HTML
- Pdf::from_image(path) / from_images(paths): Create from PNG/JPEG/TIFF
- Pdf::from_qrcode(data) / from_barcode(data, type): QR codes and barcodes
- PdfBuilder: Fluent API — title, author, page_size, margins, font_size, add_text, add_image
- DocumentBuilder: Low-level — pages, text positioning, form fields, annotations, tables
## Editing
- DocumentEditor::open(path): Open PDF for editing
- PdfPage DOM: find_text_containing, set_text, replace text
- Page operations: rotate, crop, merge, extract, media_box, crop_box
- Form editing: get/set field values, add/remove fields, flatten
- Annotation editing: modify, flatten, redact
- Image manipulation: reposition, resize, set_bounds
- Encryption: save_encrypted with AES-256, password protection
## Compliance
- PdfAValidator / PdfAConverter: PDF/A validation and conversion
- PdfUaValidator: PDF/UA accessibility checks
- PdfXValidator: PDF/X print production validation
## Optional
- [Architecture](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/yfedoseev/pdf_oxide/main/docs/ARCHITECTURE.md): Internal architecture and design decisions
- [Development Guide](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/yfedoseev/pdf_oxide/main/docs/DEVELOPMENT_GUIDE.md): Contributing and development setup
## Links
- GitHub: https://github.com/yfedoseev/pdf_oxide
- PyPI: https://pypi.org/project/pdf-oxide/
- crates.io: https://crates.io/crates/pdf_oxide
- docs.rs: https://docs.rs/pdf_oxide
- Documentation: https://pdf.oxide.fyi