How to Change a PDF's Title, Author and Subject

Hidden metadata inside your PDF files can be a silent issue. Every time you create or export a PDF, your software embeds properties such as the Author name, document Title, Subject, and the Creator tool used. Keep in mind that the Title is what viewers show in the window or tab instead of the file name.

This guide explains how to edit PDF metadata—specifically changing Title, Author, Subject, and Keywords—before publishing.

Understanding PDF Metadata: Info vs XMP

PDFs store metadata in two distinct locations: the Info dictionary and an XMP stream. The Info dictionary is a legacy structure containing simple key-value pairs like Title and Author. Modern software often embeds a secondary XML-based XMP stream that mirrors these properties, meaning you usually need to update both locations so that all viewers display your new information.

How to Edit PDF Properties in the Browser

To edit your PDF properties locally, you can use the Utiliome PDF Metadata Editor. The tool runs directly in your browser using the pdf-lib PDFDocument API to set new values. The tool runs in your browser, so the file is not uploaded.

1. Navigate to the PDF Metadata Editor.
2. Select your PDF file.
3. Type your new values into the Title, Author, Subject, or Keywords fields.
4. Click save to generate the updated PDF.

Note that this tool only rewrites the Info dictionary. It sets the Producer field to “pdf-lib (https://github.com/Hopding/pdf-lib)” unless you type your own, updates the modification date, and leaves any XMP metadata as is. For blanking fields completely, use the PDF Metadata Remover.

Method 2: The Command Line Approach with ExifTool

For a complete metadata update that covers both the Info dictionary and the XMP stream, you can use ExifTool, a command line utility for reading and writing metadata.

First, inspect all metadata groups in your file:

exiftool -a -G1 -s -Title -Author -Creator -CreatorTool -Producer report.pdf

Example output (your values will differ):

[PDF]           Title                           : Internal Draft
[XMP-dc]        Title                           : Internal Draft
[PDF]           Author                          : jsmith
[XMP-pdf]       Author                          : jsmith

To change the Title and Author, run this command:

exiftool -Title="Q3 Public Report" -Author="Acme Corp" -Creator= -CreatorTool= -Producer= -overwrite_original report.pdf

Output:

    1 image files updated

ExifTool performs incremental, reversible edits, meaning your original strings are still hidden in the file’s bytes. To make your edits permanent and remove the old data completely, rewrite the file using qpdf:

qpdf --linearize report.pdf report-clean.pdf

For more details on why some information persists, see our guide on why clearing PDF properties can leave XMP metadata behind.

Tool Comparison