UdiB
In Beamer, How can I override the PDF "Author" metadata set by LaTeX's `\author` command and instead define it using `\pdfextension info`?
In the example below, I want the author metadata to be `Foo`. It is now `John Doe`.
```
% !TEX TS-program = lualatex
\pdfextension info {
/Title (pdf file title)
/Author (Foo)
/Subject (mathematics)
/Producer (LuaLaTex)
/Creator (LaTeX and Beamer)
/ModDate (D:20260418002300Z)
/CreationDate (D:20260417000000Z)
/Keywords (group theory, linear algebra)
}
\documentclass{beamer}
\title[]{My presentation}
\author[]{John Doe}
\begin{document}
\maketitle
\begin{frame}
Hello World
\end{frame}
\end{document}
```
Top Answer
Ulrike Fischer
You shouldn't do that.
Your command works. The author and title are in the Info dictionary, but the problem is that the author and title added by hyperref are there too:
~~~~
<< /Title (pdf file title)
....
/Title(\376\377\000M\000y\000\040\000p\000r\000e\000s\000e\000n\000t\000a\000t\000i\000o\000n) >>
~~~~
It is not allowed by the PDF spec to use the same key twice in a dictionary. It is not a fatal error but it is undefined which value is used.
Either use as already suggested the hyperref keys, or use the PDF management which will take care that only one value is used.
Answer #2
samcarter
Beamer internally uses hyperref to handle the pdf meta data. If you'd like to manually set the meta data, I'd use hyperref, too:
```
% !TEX TS-program = lualatex
\documentclass[usepdftitle=false]{beamer}
\title[]{My presentation}
\author[]{John Doe}
\hypersetup{
pdftitle=pdf file title,
pdfauthor=Foo,
pdfsubject=mathematics,
pdfproducer=LuaLaTex,
pdfcreator=LaTeX and Beamer,
pdfmoddate=D:20260418002300Z,
pdfcreationdate=D:20260417000000Z,
pdfkeywords={group theory, linear algebra}
}
\begin{document}
\maketitle
\begin{frame}
Hello World
\end{frame}
\end{document}
```