PDF Metadata Editor

What the PDF Metadata Editor Does

This tool edits the properties of a PDF — the Title, Author and Subject that a viewer displays in its document properties panel. It reads what is currently set, lets you change it, and writes a new file with your values.

It is the quick way to correct or fill in a PDF's details: give a file a proper title instead of a filename, set the author, or add a subject, so the document is labelled correctly when someone opens it.

How It Works

The tool opens the PDF, reads its document information — the stored Title, Author and Subject — and puts them in editable fields. You change what you need, and it writes those values back into the document's information, then saves a new file.

A PDF keeps these details in a document information dictionary, the part a viewer reads to show a file's properties. The tool updates the three core fields there. The pages themselves are not changed; only the metadata is rewritten.

Processing pipeline

1. Open and read. Load the PDF and read its current Title, Author and Subject.
2. Show for editing. Put the existing values in fields you can change.
3. Write back. Save your new values into the document's information.
4. Download. Save and download the PDF with the updated properties.

What it edits

It edits the three core fields in the PDF's document information. Other metadata — Keywords, Creator, Producer, creation and modification dates, and the XMP stream — is not changed.

Privacy

The PDF stays on your device. It is read, the properties are updated, and the new file is generated locally — no upload, and no copy kept anywhere.

Nothing is stored and there is no account. Refresh or close the tab and both the original and the updated file are cleared from memory — fine for private documents.

Standards & references

• Document information — A PDF stores details like Title, Author and Subject in a document information dictionary. This is what a viewer reads to show a file's properties, and the tool reads and rewrites those entries.
• Three core fields — The tool edits Title, Author and Subject. It does not change Keywords, Creator, Producer, or the creation and modification dates, which are separate fields in the document information.
• Author is not the software — Author means the person or organisation behind the content. Creator and Producer, which the tool does not edit, refer instead to the software that made or converted the file.

Accuracy & Limitations

For the three core fields the edit is exact: the Title, Author and Subject you enter are written into the PDF's document information and show up in a viewer's properties panel.

It does not edit every metadata field. Keywords, Creator, Producer and the date fields are left as they are, so if you need to change those, a more complete metadata editor is required.

It changes metadata, not pages. The visible content of the document — its text and images — is untouched, since only the information fields are rewritten. The pages look exactly the same.

Some workflows also read an XMP metadata stream, a separate richer store of metadata. This tool updates the document information dictionary, which most viewers display, rather than rewriting a separate XMP stream.

Real-World Use Cases

When to use it — and when not to

To edit keywords, dates or the XMP stream, a full metadata editor offers more fields. To change the visible content, a PDF editor is needed. This tool sets the three core properties — Title, Author and Subject.

Frequently Asked Questions

References

• pdf-lib — PDF library
• PDF — metadata (Wikipedia)
• Extensible Metadata Platform (Wikipedia)

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