Most Linux dependency trouble with PDF Arranger comes from one route: installing from source. Package and Flatpak installs bring their dependencies with them, but a source install only works if the right Python, GTK and library bindings are already on your system, and the app may refuse to start when one is missing, or may start but fail on a specific feature whose library is absent or too old. This guide lists what the project itself requires, then explains the easier routes that avoid the problem entirely.
The dependency list, from the project’s own documentation
For a source install, the project’s README names these requirements. On Debian and Ubuntu based systems, the packages are:
- python3-gi — the Python bindings for GObject-based libraries, which the GTK interface is built on.
- gir1.2-gtk-3.0 — the GTK 3 introspection data the bindings use.
- gir1.2-poppler-0.18 — Poppler is the library that renders the PDF pages you see.
- gir1.2-handy-1 — libhandy, which provides parts of the interface.
- pikepdf 6 or newer — the library that reads and writes the PDF files. Note the second threshold: outline preservation in 1.14.0 needs pikepdf 8.0 or newer.
- img2pdf (optional) — only needed if you want to import images as PDF pages.
Other distributions package the same components under their own names, which is one reason source installs vary so much between systems. If the app fails to start after a source install and reports that something it needs is missing, compare what you have installed against this list first, and pay special attention to the pikepdf version: an old pikepdf is enough to run into both startup trouble and the export behaviour described in our pikepdf error guide.
The easier routes: package or Flatpak first
- Your distribution’s package. Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, Arch and several other distributions package PDF Arranger, and their package managers resolve this whole dependency list for you. The trade-off is version: distribution packages can lag behind the current 1.14.0 release. Our install guides cover Ubuntu, Fedora and Arch Linux.
- Flatpak from Flathub. The Flatpak (app ID
com.github.jeromerobert.pdfarranger) bundles its runtime, sidesteps distribution dependency differences, and tracks the current release. Our Flatpak guide walks through it. If you already have a broken source install, switching to the Flatpak is usually faster than repairing it. - Source install, deliberately. Keep this for when you specifically need it, for example to test a development version, and treat the checklist above as part of the install rather than as troubleshooting afterwards.
A note on mixing methods
As a general rule, run one installation method per machine. Having a distribution package, a Flatpak and a source install side by side makes it genuinely hard to know which copy, and which pikepdf, actually launched when something goes wrong. Pick the method, remove the others using our uninstall guide, and your troubleshooting surface shrinks immediately.
Still stuck?
Search the official GitHub Issues tracker, where dependency and packaging questions are a recurring topic, and include your distribution and its version, your install method, your PDF Arranger version and your pikepdf version in any report. Those four facts are what maintainers ask for first, and having them ready speeds everything up.