degooglepdf

Download view only protected PDF files from Google Drive. Optimized for large and high quality files.

Howto

1. Open the desired file at Google Drive in your web browser
2. Open the browser's JS console and copy-paste the script from downloader.js
3. Watch the script scroll through the document and wait for the download
4. Run mkpdf.sh [file] to create a PDF file

Hint

Do you need to fix up the pages before creating a PDF?

5. Manipulate the images in the folder named after your file
6. Run mkpdf.sh [file] again and press "y" when asked to use those existing files

Technical details

The browser part downloader.js first simulates a high DPI display to request high resolution pages (you may vary the devicePixelRatio). It then automatically scrolls the displayed PDF to make sure all pages are being loaded. Then the pages (stored as JPEGs in base64-encoded format) will be archived and provided as download.

The bash script mkpdf.sh extracts all images from the archive, processes and then combines them to a proper PDF file.

Application

Someone may have uploaded a PDF file to their Google Drive, but set it to view-only mode. This is problematic in several totally legitimate situations:

• Offline viewing
• Viewing without Google tracking
• Permanent archival
• Uploader is gatekeeping content they didn't create

Inspiration

• Original idea: https://codingcat.codes/2019/01/09/download-view-protected-pdf-google-drive-js-code/
• Browser part based on: https://github.com/zeltox/Google-Drive-PDF-Downloader

Requirements

• Webbrowser with JS console
• Unix-like system (bash, sed)
• ImageMagick (convert) Hint: GNU/Linux users have that, Mac users just need to install ImageMagick via MacPorts or Homebrew.