PDF Metadata Viewer
Inspect author, creator, producer, dates, XMP and other PDF properties locally in your browser.
How to check PDF metadata online
Select your PDF
Drag and drop or choose a file. The metadata workflow runs locally in your browser.
Inspect the document
Review Info fields, common XMP properties, document structure, security flags, fonts, images, and signature-related structures.
Export or take action
Copy the report, download TXT or JSON, or switch to Edit or Clean mode while keeping the current PDF loaded.
What can the viewer inspect?
A PDF can contain descriptive metadata and structural information that is not obvious from the visible pages. Lyonite combines document properties with a structural scan so you can review both in one place.
- Document Info: Title, Author, Subject, Keywords, Creator, Producer, and dates
- XMP: common descriptive fields, document IDs, instance IDs, language, and PDF/A declarations
- Document structure: PDF version, file size, page count, page size, forms, and linearization
- Security clues: encryption status and signature-related structures
- Resources: fonts with embedding status and detected image objects
- Interactive content: detected JavaScript actions and tagged-PDF markers
How to interpret the results
Provenance clues: Creator, Producer, Author, and timestamps can help explain how a file was produced, but they are editable metadata and are not proof of authorship or chronology.
Privacy review: Names, software identifiers, document IDs, and custom properties may reveal information you did not intend to share.
PDF/A: Lyonite reports a PDF/A level only when it is declared in XMP. That is not a full standards-conformance validation.
Accessibility: A tagged-PDF marker is useful context, but it does not prove that the document is fully accessible or correctly tagged.
PDF Info Dictionary vs. XMP metadata
A PDF may contain a Document Information dictionary, an XMP metadata stream, both, or neither. The Info Dictionary contains familiar fields such as Title, Author, Subject, Keywords, Creator, Producer, and dates.
XMP is XML-based and can carry overlapping descriptive fields plus identifiers, language information, metadata timestamps, PDF/A declarations, and application-defined properties. Lyonite reads the active XMP stream when it can decode it and exposes the common fields it understands.
XMP is extensible, so a document can contain custom namespaces that Lyonite does not currently surface individually. The viewer should therefore be treated as a practical inspection tool, not an exhaustive forensic parser.
Creator vs. Producer — what's the difference?
Creator
Usually the application that authored the source document, such as Microsoft Word, Adobe InDesign, or another document-authoring tool.
Producer
Usually the software, library, or PDF engine that generated the final PDF bytes.
Understanding digital-signature detection
Lyonite distinguishes between a signature field and a structure that appears to contain signature bytes. It does not validate the certificate chain, revocation status, timestamp authority, or cryptographic validity of a signature.
Important: Editing or cleaning a PDF rewrites the file and invalidates existing signatures over the original bytes.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I check the metadata of a PDF?
Select the PDF above and Lyonite will inspect its document properties and supported structural data. You can also use desktop tools such as Adobe Acrobat or command-line tools such as exiftool for a second opinion when a document requires deeper analysis.
Can PDF metadata reveal who created a document?
Sometimes. Author names, creator software, producer software, timestamps, identifiers, and custom fields can provide useful context. Because metadata can be edited or removed, it should not be treated as definitive proof of who created a file or when an event occurred. See how to interpret PDF authorship clues.
What happens with password-protected or encrypted PDFs?
Lyonite blocks encrypted PDFs in the metadata workflow because the current PDF engine does not decrypt them for safe editing. Remove the password or encryption from a file you are authorized to access, then inspect it again.
What does the PDF version number mean?
The PDF header declares a specification version such as PDF 1.4, 1.7, or 2.0. It is a compatibility clue, not a promise that the file uses every feature from that version. Changing only the declared header does not convert document features or guarantee compatibility with older readers.
Is my file uploaded when I use this viewer?
No. The PDF metadata operation runs locally in your browser. Lyonite does not upload the document to its server for metadata inspection.
Does a PDF/A badge mean the file is fully compliant?
No. Lyonite reports PDF/A when the active XMP metadata declares a PDF/A part and conformance level. A full PDF/A validator checks many additional document requirements, so the badge is an identification clue rather than a conformance certificate.
I found sensitive data — how do I remove it?
Use the Remove PDF Metadata tool to remove the common metadata structures Lyonite targets. Or use Edit PDF Metadata when you want to change specific fields instead.