edof

Reference: CLI

edof-cli is the command-line tool for working with .edof files without writing Python. Installed automatically when you pip install edof.

Global options

edof-cli --version         # show version
edof-cli --help            # show all subcommands
edof-cli <subcommand> --help  # detailed help for a subcommand

---

Subcommands

info — show document metadata

edof-cli info template.edof

Output:

Title:    Certificate
Author:   Jan Novák
Pages:    1
Format:   4.0.1
Variables: recipient (text, required), score (number, default=0)
Encrypted: no

For encrypted files without a password, only the manifest-level info is shown:

Encrypted: yes (full)
Cannot read further details without a password.
Use --password or --recovery-key.

With password:

edof-cli info secret.edof --password "myPass"

objects — list all objects

edof-cli objects template.edof

Output:

Page 1 (210x297mm @ 300dpi):
  TextBox  id=ab12cd34  pos=(15.0, 15.0)  size=180x12  text="FAKTURA"
  TextBox  id=ef56gh78  pos=(15.0, 30.0)  size=180x8   text="#{invoice_number}"
  Table    id=ij90kl12  pos=(15.0, 80.0)  size=180x60  rows=4 cols=4
  ...

Useful for inspecting templates and finding object IDs.

validate — check document integrity

edof-cli validate template.edof

Returns exit code 0 if valid, non-zero with issue list if not.

✓ Document is valid.

or:

✗ Document has issues:
  - Required variable "recipient" has no value
  - Object 'ab12cd' references resource 'foo' which doesn't exist
  - Object 'ef56gh' is positioned entirely off-page
Exit: 1

export — render document to a file

edof-cli export template.edof output.png
edof-cli export template.edof output.pdf
edof-cli export template.edof output.svg

Format is auto-detected from the output extension:

• .png, .jpg, .jpeg, .tiff, .bmp → bitmap export
• .pdf → PDF (vector by default)
• .svg → SVG

Options:

• --page N — export specific page (0-based; default: 0)
• --all-pages — export all pages (use {n} in path: out_{n}.png)
• --dpi N — for bitmap exports (default: 300)
• --vector / --raster — for PDF (default: –vector)
• --password "..." — for encrypted files
• --recovery-key "..." — alternative to password
• --set name=value — fill variables before export (repeatable)

Examples:

# Export specific page
edof-cli export template.edof page2.png --page 1

# All pages with placeholder
edof-cli export template.edof "out_{n}.png" --all-pages

# Fill variables and export
edof-cli export cert.edof output.pdf \
  --set recipient="Jan Novák" \
  --set score=98

# Raster PDF (bigger file, but supports custom fonts)
edof-cli export template.edof output.pdf --raster

# Lower DPI for screen viewing
edof-cli export template.edof preview.png --dpi 96

# From an encrypted file
edof-cli export secret.edof output.pdf --password "myPass"

batch — fill from CSV, export per row

Bulk template generation. Reads a CSV file, treats each row as a set of variable values, and exports one file per row.

edof-cli batch template.edof data.csv -o "out_{n}.png"
edof-cli batch template.edof data.csv -o "out_{name}.pdf"

Required:

• Template .edof file
• CSV file with header row matching variable names

Options:

• -o PATH / --output PATH — output path pattern. Use {n} for row number (1-based), or {column} for any CSV column value.
• --password "..." — for encrypted templates
• --dpi N — for bitmap output
• --vector / --raster — for PDF output
• --start N — skip first N rows (default: 0, no skip)
• --limit N — process at most N rows
• --continue-on-error — don’t stop on per-row errors

Example:

data.csv:

name,score,date
Alice,98,2026-05-04
Bob,87,2026-05-04
Carol,92,2026-05-04

edof-cli batch certificate.edof data.csv -o "certs/{name}.pdf"

Produces:

certs/Alice.pdf
certs/Bob.pdf
certs/Carol.pdf

If a column doesn’t match a defined variable, the column is ignored. If a required variable isn’t in the CSV, the row produces an error.

import — convert PDF to EDOF

edof-cli import input.pdf -o output.edof

Options:

• -o PATH — output .edof path (required)
• --no-tables — skip table detection (faster)
• --no-images — skip image extraction
• --no-paths — skip vector path extraction
• --heading-threshold N — heading detection multiplier (default: 1.4)

Requires pip install edof[pdf].

edof-cli import old_template.pdf -o template.edof --no-paths
edof-cli info template.edof   # verify the import

convert — migrate legacy formats

Convert an EDOF 2 archive to EDOF 4. Auto-detects the source format.

edof-cli convert legacy_v2.edof -o new.edof

Options:

• -o PATH — output (required)

This is equivalent to edof.load(path) followed by doc.save(out). The migration is one-way; the output cannot be saved back as v2.

to-v3 — downgrade to EDOF 3 format

Save an EDOF 4 document as a v3-compatible archive (lossy).

edof-cli to-v3 v4_doc.edof -o v3_compatible.edof

What’s flattened:

• Tables → groups of TextBoxes + line shapes
• Rich text runs → plain text
• Path shapes → polygon shapes
• Gradients → average color
• visible_if → evaluated and baked into .visible
• blend_mode → reset to “normal”

Useful when you need to share a v4 document with someone running an older library version.

set-password — manage encryption from CLI

Add or change a password without opening the editor.

edof-cli set-password template.edof --level admin --password "newPass"

Options:

• --level LEVEL — fill, edit, design, or admin
• --password "..." — new password
• --current-password "..." — current password (required if doc already encrypted)

For the first password on a document, a recovery key is printed:

Recovery key (save this!): 7K3F-9XQM-2N8P-VR4A-HT6L-Z5BJ
Document re-saved as encrypted.

To remove a password:

edof-cli set-password template.edof --level fill --remove --current-password "admin_pwd"

Removing requires admin permission (i.e. supplying an admin password via --current-password).

To clear all protection:

edof-cli set-password template.edof --clear-all --current-password "admin_pwd"

unlock-render — render encrypted file in one step

Combine unlock + render. Convenience for scripts.

edof-cli unlock-render secret.edof output.pdf --password "myPass"
edof-cli unlock-render secret.edof output.png --recovery-key "7K3F-9XQM-..."

Same options as export, plus --password and --recovery-key. The decrypted document is never written back to disk — just rendered.

---

Exit codes

• 0 — success
• 1 — usage error (bad arguments)
• 2 — file not found
• 3 — encryption error (wrong password, missing crypto extra)
• 4 — validation error (validate finds issues)
• 5 — unknown internal error (with traceback if --verbose)

Useful for shell scripts:

if edof-cli validate template.edof; then
    echo "OK"
    edof-cli batch template.edof data.csv -o "out/{n}.pdf"
fi

---

Examples

Generate certificates from CSV

edof-cli batch certificate.edof recipients.csv -o "certs/{name}.pdf"

Verify all .edof files in a directory

for f in *.edof; do
    edof-cli validate "$f" || echo "FAIL: $f"
done

Inspect a file you don’t trust

edof-cli info untrusted.edof    # safe — reads only manifest
edof-cli objects untrusted.edof # safe — lists structure

(Don’t export an untrusted file unless you trust the rendering — though edof’s renderer doesn’t execute code from documents.)

Re-encrypt with a new password

edof-cli set-password old.edof --clear-all --current-password "oldPass"
edof-cli set-password old.edof --level admin --password "newPass"

Bulk PDF generation with progress reporting

edof-cli batch invoice.edof customers.csv \
  -o "invoices/{customer_id}.pdf" \
  --continue-on-error \
  2>&1 | tee batch.log

This site is open source. Improve this page.