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Node.js Requires Chilkat v11.7.0+

Remove a PDF's Old Revisions

See more PDF Optimization Examples

Demonstrates dropOldRevisions. A PDF that has been edited and saved several times carries every earlier revision: the superseded objects are still in the file, reachable through the older cross-reference sections. The audit reports them as "oldRevisions", and dropping them is often the single largest saving in a real document. Dropping them requires a full rewrite, which is why it invalidates existing digital signatures.

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Node.js
NODEJS_PRELUDE

function chilkatExample() {

    var success = false;

    //  This example requires the Chilkat API to have been previously unlocked.
    //  See Global Unlock Sample for sample code.

    //  The PDF used in this example is available at grand_canyon_hiking_guide.pdf

    var pdf = new chilkat.Pdf();
    success = pdf.LoadFile("qa_data/pdf/grand_canyon_hiking_guide.pdf");
    if (success == false) {
        console.log(pdf.LastErrorText);
        return;
    }

    //  How much of this file is superseded revisions?
    var json = new chilkat.JsonObject();
    var jsonOut = new chilkat.JsonObject();
    success = pdf.Optimize("audit",json,jsonOut);
    if (success == false) {
        console.log(pdf.LastErrorText);
        return;
    }

    console.log("fileSize:     " + jsonOut.IntOf("fileSize"));
    console.log("oldRevisions: " + jsonOut.IntOf("usage.oldRevisions.bytes"));

    //  Drop them, and nothing else, so that the saving is attributable.
    json.UpdateBool("compressUncompressed",false);
    json.UpdateBool("recompressFlate",false);
    json.UpdateBool("replaceLegacyFilters",false);
    json.UpdateBool("imagePredictors",false);
    json.UpdateBool("dedupeStreams",false);
    json.UpdateBool("dedupeObjects",false);
    json.UpdateBool("removeUnreferenced",false);
    json.UpdateBool("removeUnusedResources",false);
    json.UpdateBool("removeUnusedLayers",false);
    json.UpdateBool("coalesceContent",false);
    json.UpdateBool("tidyContent",false);
    json.UpdateBool("subsetFonts",false);
    json.UpdateBool("dropOldRevisions",true);

    success = pdf.Optimize("optimize",json,jsonOut);
    if (success == false) {
        console.log(pdf.LastErrorText);
        return;
    }

    success = pdf.WriteFile("qa_output/grand_canyon_one_revision.pdf");
    if (success == false) {
        console.log(pdf.LastErrorText);
        return;
    }

    //  The saving is an estimate: what the old revisions occupied is known exactly, but the writer
    //  decides the final layout.  Measure the written file for the real number.
    var fac = new chilkat.FileAccess();
    console.log("bytesSaved (reported): " + jsonOut.IntOf("bytesSaved"));
    console.log("written file:          " + fac.FileSize("qa_output/grand_canyon_one_revision.pdf"));

}

chilkatExample();