A bounded PDF build step
CompilePDF exists because almost every prepress automation needs to write a PDF eventually — and the existing options force you to choose between heavy proprietary tooling and brittle shell-scripts. We built an open, deterministic build step you call from your own automation, AGPL-3.0-licensed.
Think Neverland
CompilePDF is built by Think Neverland, a product studio focused on developer tools for the print and publishing industry. Every web-to-print platform, every MIS, every preflight tool eventually needs to write a PDF — to apply a fix or assemble pages. The options today are bad: pay Acrobat by the seat, license a proprietary backend, or stitch together shell-scripts against Ghostscript.
CompilePDF is the third option. A deterministic PDF assembly utility you call as a discrete build step — it shares a published cache-key contract and round-trips deterministically. Drop it into the automation you already run as a CLI, a FastAPI sidecar, or a Celery worker. No plug-ins, no per-seat licenses, no vendor lock-in.
Composable by design
CompilePDF doesn't try to be your preflight tool, your viewer, or your job board. It's a build step — it applies the operation you asked for and gets out of your way.
A CJD envelope batches a few operations: a single JSON (or XML) request runs rewrite → marks → impose → trap in order, with one lineage record per step. Bring your own preflight verdicts (LintPDF, PitStop, callas), brand specs, or job-board context — the operations stay composable; the host stays in charge.
What you don't get: a half-finished editor, a forced sign-up flow, or hidden telemetry. What you do get: a writer that respects your stack and your customers.
Open standards commitment
CompilePDF writes against the same standards every prepress professional already knows. We don't invent — we implement.
ISO 32000-2
The PDF 2.0 specification. CompilePDF writes through pikepdf with deterministic_id=True; every save round-trips cleanly.
PDF/X-4
The rewrite producer's pdfx_pin op writes
compliant OutputIntents and trapping flags so downstream
preflight runs clean.
DeviceN + Spot
Trap operates per-spot-ink with delta_e_2000 verification against the codex-pdf color resolver — no Compile-side color math.
JDF / PJTF (planned)
The CJD XML envelope is shaped to slot into existing JDF / PJTF integrations; the full schema translator lands alongside the first customer integration.
See what CompilePDF can build
Rewrite, assemble, and stamp PDFs over one API, with lineage records on every step — all open source, embeddable in any host.
View on GitHub