OCRmyPDF/docs/installation.rst

Installing OCRmyPDF
===================

.. |latest| image:: https://img.shields.io/pypi/v/ocrmypdf.svg
    :alt: OCRmyPDF latest released version on PyPI

|latest|

The easiest way to install OCRmyPDF is to follow the steps for your operating
system/platform, although sometimes this version may be out of date.

If you want to use the latest version of OCRmyPDF, your best bet is to install
the most recent version your platform provides, and then upgrade that version by
installing the Python binary wheels.

.. contents:: Platform-specific steps
    :depth: 2
    :local:

Installing on Linux
-------------------

Debian and Ubuntu 16.10 or newer
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

.. |deb-stable| image:: https://repology.org/badge/version-for-repo/debian_stable/ocrmypdf.svg
    :alt: Debian 9 stable ("stretch")

.. |deb-testing| image:: https://repology.org/badge/version-for-repo/debian_testing/ocrmypdf.svg
    :alt: Debian 10 testing ("buster")

.. |deb-unstable| image:: https://repology.org/badge/version-for-repo/debian_unstable/ocrmypdf.svg
    :alt: Debian unstable

.. |ubu-1710| image:: https://repology.org/badge/version-for-repo/ubuntu_17_10/ocrmypdf.svg
    :alt: Ubuntu 17.10

.. |ubu-1804| image:: https://repology.org/badge/version-for-repo/ubuntu_18_04/ocrmypdf.svg
    :alt: Ubuntu 18.04 LTS

.. |ubu-1810| image:: https://repology.org/badge/version-for-repo/ubuntu_18_10/ocrmypdf.svg
    :alt: Ubuntu 18.10


+-------------------------------------------+
| **OCRmyPDF versions in Debian & Ubuntu**  |
+-------------------------------------------+
| |latest|                                  |
+-------------------------------------------+
| |deb-stable| |deb-testing| |deb-unstable| |
+-------------------------------------------+
| |ubu-1710| |ubu-1804| |ubu-1810|          |
+-------------------------------------------+

Users of Debian 9 ("stretch") or later or Ubuntu 16.10 or later may simply

.. code-block:: bash

    apt-get install ocrmypdf

As indicated in the table above, Debian and Ubuntu releases may lag behind the latest version. If the version available for your platform is out of date, you could opt to install the latest version from source. See `Installing HEAD revision from sources`_.

For full details on version availability for your platform, check the `Debian Package Tracker <https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/ocrmypdf>`_ or `Ubuntu launchpad.net <https://launchpad.net/ocrmypdf>`_.

.. note::

    OCRmyPDF for Debian and Ubuntu currently omit the JBIG2 encoder. OCRmyPDF works fine without it but will produce larger output files. If you build jbig2enc from source, ocrmypdf 7.0.0 and later will automatically detect it (specifically the ``jbig2`` binary) on the ``PATH``. To add JBIG2 encoding, see :ref:`jbig2`.

Fedora 29 or newer
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

.. |fedora-29| image:: https://repology.org/badge/version-for-repo/fedora29/ocrmypdf.svg
    :alt: Fedora 29

.. |fedora-rawhide| image:: https://repology.org/badge/version-for-repo/fedora_rawhide/ocrmypdf.svg
    :alt: Fedore Rawhide


+------------------------------+
| **OCRmyPDF version**         |
+------------------------------+
| |latest|                     |
+------------------------------+
| |fedora-29| |fedora-rawhide| |
+------------------------------+

Users of Fedora 29 later may simply

.. code-block:: bash

    dnf install ocrmypdf

For full details on version availability, check the `Fedora Package Tracker
<https://apps.fedoraproject.org/packages/ocrmypdf>`_.

If the version available for your platform is out of date, you could opt to
install the latest version from source. See `Installing HEAD revision from
sources`_.

.. note::

    OCRmyPDF for Fedora currently omits the JBIG2 encoder due to patent issues.
    OCRmyPDF works fine without it but will produce larger output files. If you
    build jbig2enc from source, ocrmypdf 7.0.0 and later will automatically
    detect it on the ``PATH``. To add JBIG2 encoding, see `Installing the JBIG2
    encoder <jbig2>`_.

Installing the latest version on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Ubuntu 18.04 includes ocrmypdf 6.1.2. To install a more recent version, first
install the system version to get most of the dependencies:

.. code-block:: bash

    sudo apt-get update
    sudo apt-get install \
        ocrmypdf \
        python3-pip

There are a few dependency changes between ocrmypdf 6.1.2 and 7.x. Let's get
these, too.

.. code-block:: bash

    sudo apt-get install \
        libexempi3 \
        pngquant

Then install the most recent ocrmypdf for the local user and set the user's ``PATH`` to check for the user's Python packages.

.. code-block:: bash

    export PATH=$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH
    pip3 install --user ocrmypdf

To add JBIG2 encoding, see :ref:`jbig2`.

Ubuntu 16.04 LTS
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

No package is available for Ubuntu 16.04. OCRmyPDF 8.0 and newer require Python
3.6. Ubuntu 16.04 ships Python 3.5, but you can install Python 3.6 on it. Or,
you can skip Python 3.6 and install OCRmyPDF 7.x or older - for that procedure,
please see the installation documentation for the version of OCRmyPDF you plan
to use.

**Install system packages for OCRmyPDF**

.. code-block:: bash

    sudo apt-get update
    sudo apt-get install -y software-properties-common python-software-properties
    sudo add-apt-repository -y \
        ppa:jonathonf/python-3.6 \
        ppa:alex-p/tesseract-ocr
    sudo apt-get update
    sudo apt-get install -y \
        ghostscript \
        libexempi3 \
        libffi6 \
        pngquant \
        python3.6 \
        qpdf \
        tesseract-ocr \
        unpaper

This will install a Python 3.6 binary at ``/usr/bin/python3.6`` alongside the
system's Python 3.5. Do not remove the system Python. This will also install
Tesseract 4.0 from a PPA, since the version available in Ubuntu 16.04 is too old
for OCRmyPDF.

Now install pip for Python 3.6. This will install the Python 3.6 version of
``pip`` at ``/usr/local/bin/pip``.

.. code-block:: bash

    curl https://bootstrap.pypa.io/get-pip.py | sudo python3.6

**Install OCRmyPDF**

OCRmyPDF requires the locale to be set for UTF-8. **On some minimal Ubuntu
installations systems**, it may be necessary to set the locale.

.. code-block:: bash

    # Optional: Only need to set these if they are not already set
    export LC_ALL=C.UTF-8
    export LANG=C.UTF-8

Now install OCRmyPDF for the current user, and ensure that the ``PATH``
environment variable contains ``$HOME/.local/bin``.

.. code-block:: bash

    export PATH=$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH
    pip3 install --user ocrmypdf

To add JBIG2 encoding, see :ref:`jbig2`.

Ubuntu 14.04 LTS
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Installing on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS (trusty) is more difficult than some other
options, because of its age. Several backports are required. For explanations of
some steps of this procedure, see the similar steps for Ubuntu 16.04.

Install system dependencies:

.. code-block:: bash

    sudo apt-get update
    sudo apt-get install \
        software-properties-common python-software-properties \
        zlib1g-dev \
        libexempi3 \
        libjpeg-dev \
        libffi-dev \
        pngquant \
        qpdf

We will need backports of Ghostscript 9.16, libav-11 (for unpaper 6.1),
Tesseract 4.00 (alpha), and Python 3.6. This will replace Ghostscript and
Tesseract 3.x on your system. Python 3.6 will be installed alongside the system
Python 3.4.

If you prefer to not modify your system in this matter, consider using a Docker
container.

.. code-block:: bash

    sudo add-apt-repository ppa:vshn/ghostscript -y
    sudo add-apt-repository ppa:heyarje/libav-11 -y
    sudo add-apt-repository ppa:alex-p/tesseract-ocr -y
    sudo add-apt-repository ppa:jonathonf/python-3.6 -y

    sudo apt-get update

    sudo apt-get install \
        python3.6-dev \
        ghostscript \
        tesseract-ocr \
        tesseract-ocr-eng \
        libavformat56 libavcodec56 libavutil54 \
        wget

Now we need to install ``pip`` and let it install ocrmypdf:

.. code-block:: bash

    curl https://bootstrap.pypa.io/ez_setup.py -o - | python3.6 && python3.6 -m easy_install pip
    pip3.6 install ocrmypdf

These installation instructions omit the optional dependency ``unpaper``, which is only available at version 0.4.2 in Ubuntu 14.04. The author could not find a backport of ``unpaper``, and created a .deb package to do the job of installing unpaper 6.1 (for x86 64-bit only):

.. code-block:: bash

    wget -q 'https://www.dropbox.com/s/vaq0kbwi6e6au80/unpaper_6.1-1.deb?raw=1' -O unpaper_6.1-1.deb
    sudo dpkg -i unpaper_6.1-1.deb

To add JBIG2 encoding, see :ref:`jbig2`.

ArchLinux (AUR)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

.. image:: https://repology.org/badge/version-for-repo/aur/ocrmypdf.svg
    :alt: ArchLinux
    :target: https://repology.org/metapackage/ocrmypdf

There is an `ArchLinux User Repository package for ocrmypdf <https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/ocrmypdf/>`_. You can use the following command.

.. code-block:: bash

    yaourt -S ocrmypdf

If you have any difficulties with installation, check the repository package page.

Other Linux packages
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

See the `Repology <https://repology.org/metapackage/ocrmypdf/versions>`_ page.

In general, first install the OCRmyPDF package for your system, then optionally use the procedure `Installing with Python pip`_ to install a more recent version.

Installing on macOS
-------------------

Homebrew
^^^^^^^^

.. image:: https://img.shields.io/homebrew/v/ocrmypdf.svg
    :alt: homebrew
    :target: http://brewformulas.org/Ocrmypdf

OCRmyPDF is now a standard `Homebrew <https://brew.sh>`_ formula. To install on macOS:

.. code-block:: bash

    brew install ocrmypdf

This will include only the English language pack. If you need other languages you can optionally install them all:

.. code-block:: bash

    brew install tesseract-lang  # Optional: Install all language packs

.. note::

    Users who previously installed OCRmyPDF on macOS using ``pip install ocrmypdf`` should remove the pip version (``pip3 uninstall ocrmypdf``) before switching to the Homebrew version.

.. note::

    Users who previously installed OCRmyPDF from the private tap should switch to the mainline version (``brew untap jbarlow83/ocrmypdf``) and install from there.

Manual installation on macOS
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

These instructions probably work on all macOS supported by Homebrew.

If it's not already present, `install Homebrew <http://brew.sh/>`_.

Update Homebrew:

.. code-block:: bash

    brew update

Install or upgrade the required Homebrew packages, if any are missing. To do this, download the ``Brewfile`` that lists all of the dependencies to the current directory, and run ``brew bundle`` to process them (installing or upgrading as needed). ``Brewfile`` is a plain text file.

.. code-block:: bash

    wget https://github.com/jbarlow83/OCRmyPDF/raw/master/.travis/Brewfile
    brew bundle

This will include the English, French, German and Spanish language packs. If you need other languages you can optionally install them all:

.. _macos-all-languages:

.. code-block:: bash

    brew install tesseract --with-all-languages  # Option 2: for all language packs

Update the homebrew pip:

.. code-block:: bash

    pip3 install --upgrade pip

You can then install OCRmyPDF from PyPI, for the current user:

.. code-block:: bash

    pip3 install --user ocrmypdf

or system-wide:

.. code-block:: bash

    pip3 install ocrmypdf

The command line program should now be available:

.. code-block:: bash

    ocrmypdf --help

Installing on FreeBSD
---------------------

FreeBSD 11.2 is known to work. Other versions likely work but have not been tested.

In general it should work to:

#. `Install and build pikepdf <https://pikepdf.readthedocs.io/en/latest/installation.html#installing-on-freebsd-11-2>`_.
#. Install the equivalent list of dependencies for Linux.

Installing the Docker image
---------------------------

For some users, installing the Docker image will be easier than installing all of OCRmyPDF's dependencies. For Windows, it is the only option.

See `OCRmyPDF Docker Image <docker>`_ for more information.

Installing on Windows
---------------------

Direct installation on Windows is not possible, because there are a
POSIX dependencies. Your options are:

* Install Ubuntu 18.04 in Windows 10 Subsystem for Linux, then follow
  the Ubuntu 18.04 procedure.
* `Install the Docker <docker-install>`__ container. Ensure that
  your command prompt can run the docker "hello world" container.

It would probably not be too difficult to port on Windows. The main
reason this has been avoided is the difficulty of packaging and
installing the various non-Python dependencies: Tesseract, QPDF,
Ghostscript, Leptonica. Pull requests to add or improve Windows support
would be quite welcome.

Installing with Python pip
--------------------------

OCRmyPDF is delivered by PyPI because it is a convenient way to install the latest version. However, PyPI and ``pip`` cannot address the fact that ``ocrmypdf`` depends on certain non-Python system libraries and programs being instsalled.

For best results, first install `your platform's version <https://repology.org/metapackage/ocrmypdf/versions>`_ of ``ocrmypdf``, using the instructions elsewhere in this document. Then you can use ``pip`` to get the latest version if your platform version is out of date. Chances are that this will satisfy most dependencies.

Use ``ocrmypdf --version`` to confirm what version was installed.

Then you can install the latest OCRmyPDF from the Python wheels. First try:

.. code-block:: bash

    pip3 install --user ocrmypdf

You should then be able to run ``ocrmypdf --version`` and see that the latest version was located.

Since ``pip3 install --user`` does not work correctly on some platforms, notably Ubuntu 16.04 and older, and the Homebrew version of Python, instead use this for a system wide installation:

.. code-block:: bash

    pip3 install ocrmypdf

Requirements for pip and HEAD install
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

OCRmyPDF currently requires these external programs and libraries to be installed, and must be satisfied using the operating system package manager. ``pip`` cannot provide them.

- Python 3.6 or newer
- Ghostscript 9.15 or newer
- qpdf 8.1.0 or newer
- Tesseract 4.0.0-alpha or newer

As of ocrmypdf 7.2.1, the following versions are recommended:

- Python 3.7
- Ghostscript 9.23 or newer
- qpdf 8.2.1
- Tesseract 4.0.0 or newer
- jbig2enc 0.29 or newer
- pngquant 2.5 or newer
- unpaper 6.1

jbig2enc, pngquant, and unpaper are optional. If missing certain features are disabled. OCRmyPDF will discover them as soon as they are available.

**jbig2enc**, if present, will be used to optimize the encoding of monochrome images.  This can significantly reduce the file size of the output file.  It is not required.  `jbig2enc <https://github.com/agl/jbig2enc>`_ is not generally available for Ubuntu or Debian due to lingering concerns about patent issues, but can easily be built from source. To add JBIG2 encoding, see :ref:`jbig2`.

**pngquant**, if present, is optionally used to optimize the encoding of PNG-style images in PDFs (actually, any that are that losslessly encoded) by lossily quantizing to a smaller color palette. It is only activated then the ``--optimize`` argument is ``2`` or ``3``.

**unpaper**, if present, enables the ``--clean`` and ``--clean-final`` command line options.

These are in addition to the Python packaging dependencies, meaning that unfortunately, the ``pip install`` command cannot satisfy all of them.


Installing HEAD revision from sources
-------------------------------------

If you have ``git`` and Python 3.6 or newer installed, you can install from source. When the ``pip`` installer runs, it will alert you if dependencies are missing.

If you prefer to build every from source, you will need to `build pikepdf from source <https://pikepdf.readthedocs.io/en/latest/installation.html#building-from-source>`_. First ensure you can build and install pikepdf.

To install the HEAD revision from sources in the current Python 3 environment:

.. code-block:: bash

    pip3 install git+https://github.com/jbarlow83/OCRmyPDF.git

Or, to install in `development mode <https://pythonhosted.org/setuptools/setuptools.html#development-mode>`_,  allowing customization of OCRmyPDF, use the ``-e`` flag:

.. code-block:: bash

    pip3 install -e git+https://github.com/jbarlow83/OCRmyPDF.git

You may find it easiest to install in a virtual environment, rather than system-wide:

.. code-block:: bash

    git clone -b master https://github.com/jbarlow83/OCRmyPDF.git
    python3 -m venv
    source venv/bin/activate
    cd OCRmyPDF
    pip3 install .

However, ``ocrmypdf`` will only be accessible on the system PATH
when you activate the virtual environment.

To run the program:

.. code-block:: bash

    ocrmypdf --help

If not yet installed, the script will notify you about dependencies that
need to be installed. The script requires specific versions of the
dependencies. Older version than the ones mentioned in the release notes
are likely not to be compatible to OCRmyPDF.

For development
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

To install all of the development and test requirements:

.. code-block:: bash

    git clone -b master https://github.com/jbarlow83/OCRmyPDF.git
    python3 -m venv
    source venv/bin/activate
    cd OCRmyPDF
    pip install -e .
    pip install -r requirements/dev.txt -r requirements/test.txt

To add JBIG2 encoding, see :ref:`jbig2`.

Shell completions
-----------------

Completions for ``bash`` and ``fish`` are available in the project's
``misc/completion`` folder. The ``bash`` completions are likely ``zsh``
compatible but this has not been confirmed. Package maintainers, please install
these at the appropriate locations for your system.

To manually install the ``bash`` completion, copy ``misc/completion/ocrmypdf.bash`` to
``/etc/bash_completion.d/ocrmypdf`` (rename the file).

To manually install the ``fish`` completion, copy ``misc/completion/ocrmypdf.fish`` to
``~/.config/fish/completions/ocrmypdf.fish``.