Is there a way to save a pdf to a specific PDF version?

[cmyers009]

1.7 is the PDF version I get when I save the pdf with default parameters.

If I wanted to save the PDF as version 1.6 or 1.5 for example, is this possible for me to do?
I looked through the documentation and could not find any reference to this.

[cmyers009]

Found my answer - Document metadata.
https://pymupdf.readthedocs.io/en/latest/document.html#Document.metadata

[JorjMcKie]

The PDF version in Document.metadata is info-only.
You cannot modify this respectively convert a PDF to a different version.

[cbm755]

I'm having trouble where users:

• produce a PDF-1.5 file that works on their printer
• then we do some minimal manipulation with PyMuPDF (adding images, small amounts of text). The result is PDF-1.7
• users complain that they cannot print.

I'm sure its poor printer drivers etc but I'd like to be able to rule out PyMuPDF. Is it on the road map to force saving to a lower version during save, say Document.save(..., format="pdf-1.5")?

[cbm755]

We save like this:

    doc.save(save_name, garbage=4, deflate=True, clean=True)

[JorjMcKie]

The most size-efficient way to save while keeping a good balance with performance is using doc.ez_save(...).
I chose that name for phonetic reasons - sounds like "easy save".

It is short for doc.save(filename, garbage=3, deflate=True, use_objstms=True). The use_objstms option often has a very significant effect on the resulting file size, because the object definitions (which normaly are uncompressed ASCII text) are collectively ZIP-compressed in chunks of streams.

Using doc.ez_save(filename, garbage=4) is possible and has a small chance to squeeze out a little more grease. In contrast to this, a significantly longer duration is guaranteed. Except in special situations, its use is generally discouraged.

Using clean=True has the same effect as executing page.clean_contents() for all pages and has no beneficial effect on the resulting file size (modulo epsilon 😉).

[cbm755]

Currently, I'm less concerned with file size and mostly concerned with correctness of the resulting PDF... Is ez_save() with no additional options recommended in that case too?

[cbm755]

correctness is probably the wrong word, sorry. "broad compatibility with printers shipped with ancient questionable software" is closer to what I mean.

[JorjMcKie]

Hm, hard to tell the relationship between the computer preparing the data stream it sends to the printer and the printer's hardware or its "software" (e-prom).
On the safe side with good performance definitely is .save(filename, garbage=3, deflate=True).