Merge PDF Files / X on one page?

[Rapid1898-code]

Hello - i try to merge 2 pdfs files using the following code -

import os
import sys
from PyPDF2 import PdfMerger

path = os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(sys.argv[0])) 
fnCover = os.path.join(path, "cover.pdf")
fnInp = os.path.join(path, "inp.pdf")
fnOut = os.path.join(path, "out.pdf")
pdfs = [fnCover, fnInp]    
merger = PdfMerger()
for pdf in pdfs:
  merger.append(pdf)
merger.write(fnOut)
merger.close()

And the attached pdf-files -
out.pdf

inp.pdf

cover.pdf

As you can see in the ouput there is on the second page this "X" over the page -

How can i prevent this when merging this 2 pdf-files?

[anntnzrb]

The "X" appearing after merging is likely a form field annotation (checkbox) from one of your input PDFs. Flatten or remove annotations before merging:

from pypdf import PdfWriter, PdfReader

writer = PdfWriter()
for pdf_file in [fnCover, fnInp]:
    reader = PdfReader(pdf_file)
    for page in reader.pages:
        page.annotations = None  # Remove form fields/annotations
        writer.add_page(page)
writer.write(fnOut)

[Rapid1898-code]

I ran your code and got this error:

(pdf) C:\DEVNEU\Fiverr2025\ORDER\josemariamachad\TEST>python test.py
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\DEVNEU\Fiverr2025\ORDER\josemariamachad\TEST\test.py", line 21, in <module>
    page.annotations = None  # Remove form fields/annotations
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "C:\DEVNEU\.venv\pdf\Lib\site-packages\PyPDF2\_page.py", line 2047, in annotations
    del self[NameObject("/Annots")]
        ~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
KeyError: '/Annots'

[stefan6419846]

You clearly should not use PyPDF2 any more. This has been fixed about 3.5 years ago in pypdf. PyPDF2 is unsupported and will not receive updates any more.

[Rapid1898-code]

I also get the error using pypdf -

Code:

import os
import sys
from pypdf import PdfWriter, PdfReader
path = os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(sys.argv[0])) 
fnCover = os.path.join(path, "cover.pdf")
fnInp = os.path.join(path, "inp.pdf")
fnOut = os.path.join(path, "out.pdf")
writer = PdfWriter()
for pdf_file in [fnCover, fnInp]:
  reader = PdfReader(pdf_file)
  for page in reader.pages:
    page.annotations = None  # Remove form fields/annotations
    writer.add_page(page)
writer.write(fnOut)

Error:

(pdf) C:\DEV\Fiverr2025\ORDER\josemariamachad\TEST>python test.py
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\DEV\Fiverr2025\ORDER\josemariamachad\TEST\test.py", line 26, in <module>
    page.annotations = None  # Remove form fields/annotations
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "C:\DEV\.venv\pdf\Lib\site-packages\pypdf\_page.py", line 2156, in annotations
    del self[NameObject("/Annots")]
        ~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
KeyError: '/Annots'

[stefan6419846]

Sorry, I mixed up the lines. The behavior has been fixed in the development version.

[Rapid1898-code]

ok i see - how can i install the development version so i can use the fix?

[stefan6419846]

See our docs: https://pypdf.readthedocs.io/en/stable/dev/testing.html#evaluate-a-pr-in-progress-version Thus, you want to use pip install --no-cache git+https://github.com/py-pdf/pypdf.git here.

[Rapid1898-code]

Same error is happening - also with the new version

(pdf) C:\DEV\Fiverr2025\ORDER\josemariamachad\TEST>python test.py
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\DEV\Fiverr2025\ORDER\josemariamachad\TEST\test.py", line 26, in <module>
    page.annotations = None  # Remove form fields/annotations
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "C:\DEV\.venv\pdf\Lib\site-packages\pypdf\_page.py", line 2156, in annotations
    del self[NameObject("/Annots")]
        ~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
KeyError: '/Annots'

[stefan6419846]

Then your installation failed or went into the wrong directory. Line 2156 in your stacktrace does not match the actual code - it would be an if condition.

[Rapid1898-code]

Hmmh - i did not see any problem when installing according to the statement you sent -
and when i run after that the program - i get the rror

(pdf) C:\DEV\Fiverr2025\ORDER\josemariamachad\TEST>pip install --no-cache git+https://github.com/py-pdf/pypdf.git
Collecting git+https://github.com/py-pdf/pypdf.git
  Cloning https://github.com/py-pdf/pypdf.git to c:\users\wrspol\appdata\local\temp\1\pip-req-build-ifzgmv08
  Running command git clone --filter=blob:none --quiet https://github.com/py-pdf/pypdf.git 'C:\Users\WRSPOL\AppData\Local\Temp\1\pip-req-build-ifzgmv08'
  Resolved https://github.com/py-pdf/pypdf.git to commit 2f1b63e596fae7eec871ebdbd685310588b2bfd7
  Running command git submodule update --init --recursive -q
  Installing build dependencies ... done
  Getting requirements to build wheel ... done
  Preparing metadata (pyproject.toml) ... done

(pdf) C:\DEV\Fiverr2025\ORDER\josemariamachad\TEST>python test.py
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\DEV\Fiverr2025\ORDER\josemariamachad\TEST\test.py", line 26, in <module>
    page.annotations = None  # Remove form fields/annotations
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "C:\DEV\.venv\pdf\Lib\site-packages\pypdf\_page.py", line 2156, in annotations
    del self[NameObject("/Annots")]
        ~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
KeyError: '/Annots'