Object Inspector – Examining page content

The Object Inspector is a view mode in pdfToolbox Desktop. It provides an interactive expandable list of properties for objects in PDF files. The Object Inspector window consists of two parts: A preview of the selected page on the left side, while the right side shows object-specific information (such as font, color, transparency, resolution...).

To open the Object Inspector in pdfToolbox, go to View > Object Inspector:

Object inspector: Example

The Object Inspector is context sensitive. When you move the cursor over any of the page objects on the PDF page, you will see a detailed preview and object-specific information for that object type on the right side (2). The object-specific information varies depending on the selected object type (see screenshot below).

NOTE: The view is fixed when you click directly on the desired object. Clicking again will trigger the connection of the selected object.

Object inspector: Example image

If you select for example the image in the top left corner (1), you will see image-related information on the right side (2), such as image dimensions, resolution, or compression.

Derive preflight checks from object inspector

Supported since pdfToolbox 15

You can use the object-related properties determined by the Object Inspector to create a preflight check that consists of all or some of the properties of the selected object. The Object Inspector creates preflight checks that can be further customized. This can dramatically reduce the time required to create complex preflight checks.

  1. Select a page object so that its attributes appear on the right.
  2. Click the "Derive Check" button.
  3. A checkbox appears next to each attribute (all checkboxes are checked by default). You can uncheck attributes you are not interested in. (Clicking the "Derive Check" button again will disable the mode).
  4. The "Create Check" button is now enabled.
  5. When you click the "Create Check" button, the "Edit Check" window opens. Depending on the selected checkboxes (attributes), the new derived check will have the corresponding check properties already set, including their specific values displayed in the Object Inspector.

Shortcuts for enabling and disabling checkboxes:

Mac: ⌘ (Cmd) -> Remove all selections except the current , ⌘ (Cmd) + shift -> Select all checkboxes

Win: Ctrl -> Remove all selections except the current , Ctrl + shift -> Select all checkboxes