NotebookLM PDF Cleaner#

Use this skill for NotebookLM slide-deck PDFs that contain the small visible NotebookLM footer badge in the bottom-right corner.

Default behavior#

The default behavior is intentionally narrow and safe:

• keep the original PDF unchanged
• write a new *-clean.pdf copy
• mask the small bottom-right NotebookLM footer area on each page

It does not remove arbitrary watermarks or redesign slides.

Script#

bash

python3 {baseDir}/scripts/clean_notebooklm_pdf.py /path/to/input.pdf

By default it writes:

bash

/path/to/input-clean.pdf

Useful flags#

bash

# Explicit output path
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/clean_notebooklm_pdf.py in.pdf --out out.pdf

# Inspect only (no output file written)
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/clean_notebooklm_pdf.py in.pdf --inspect

# Tune the bottom-right footer mask in PDF points (origin = bottom-left)
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/clean_notebooklm_pdf.py in.pdf --mask-x 1208 --mask-y 0 --mask-w 168 --mask-h 32

# Optional advanced hygiene flags
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/clean_notebooklm_pdf.py in.pdf --strip-metadata --strip-annots

Safety checks#

• Refuse non-PDF input
• Refuse overwrite of the source file
• Refuse overwrite of an existing output unless --force is used
• Keep metadata/annotation stripping off by default

Defaults#

The default mask is tuned for common 16:9 NotebookLM slide-deck exports:

• mask-x = 1208
• mask-y = 0
• mask-w = 168
• mask-h = 32

These values are scaled automatically for each page size.

Recommended workflow#

1. Keep the original PDF
2. Create *-clean.pdf
3. Spot-check page 1 and one later page
4. If needed, adjust the mask values and rerun
5. Share or email the cleaned copy