Title: WP_Image_Editor_Imagick::pdf_load_source
Published: December 9, 2020
Last modified: February 24, 2026

---

# WP_Image_Editor_Imagick::pdf_load_source(): true|󠀁[WP_Error](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_error/)󠁿

## In this article

 * [Description](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_image_editor_imagick/pdf_load_source/?output_format=md#description)
 * [Return](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_image_editor_imagick/pdf_load_source/?output_format=md#return)
 * [Source](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_image_editor_imagick/pdf_load_source/?output_format=md#source)
 * [Related](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_image_editor_imagick/pdf_load_source/?output_format=md#related)
 * [Changelog](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_image_editor_imagick/pdf_load_source/?output_format=md#changelog)

[ Back to top](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_image_editor_imagick/pdf_load_source/?output_format=md#wp--skip-link--target)

Load the image produced by Ghostscript.

## 󠀁[Description](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_image_editor_imagick/pdf_load_source/?output_format=md#description)󠁿

Includes a workaround for a bug in Ghostscript 8.70 that prevents processing of 
some PDF files when `use-cropbox` is set.

## 󠀁[Return](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_image_editor_imagick/pdf_load_source/?output_format=md#return)󠁿

 true|[WP_Error](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_error/)

## 󠀁[Source](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_image_editor_imagick/pdf_load_source/?output_format=md#source)󠁿

    ```php
    protected function pdf_load_source() {
    	$filename = $this->pdf_setup();

    	if ( is_wp_error( $filename ) ) {
    		return $filename;
    	}

    	try {
    		/*
    		 * When generating thumbnails from cropped PDF pages, Imagemagick uses the uncropped
    		 * area (resulting in unnecessary whitespace) unless the following option is set.
    		 */
    		$this->image->setOption( 'pdf:use-cropbox', true );

    		/*
    		 * Reading image after Imagick instantiation because `setResolution`
    		 * only applies correctly before the image is read.
    		 */
    		$this->image->readImage( $filename );
    	} catch ( Exception $e ) {
    		// Attempt to run `gs` without the `use-cropbox` option. See #48853.
    		$this->image->setOption( 'pdf:use-cropbox', false );

    		$this->image->readImage( $filename );
    	}

    	return true;
    }
    ```

[View all references](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/files/wp-includes/class-wp-image-editor-imagick.php/)
[View on Trac](https://core.trac.wordpress.org/browser/tags/6.9.4/src/wp-includes/class-wp-image-editor-imagick.php#L1154)
[View on GitHub](https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/blob/6.9.4/src/wp-includes/class-wp-image-editor-imagick.php#L1154-L1181)

## 󠀁[Related](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_image_editor_imagick/pdf_load_source/?output_format=md#related)󠁿

| Uses | Description | 
| [WP_Image_Editor_Imagick::pdf_setup()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_image_editor_imagick/pdf_setup/)`wp-includes/class-wp-image-editor-imagick.php` |

Sets up Imagick for PDF processing.

  | 
| [is_wp_error()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/is_wp_error/)`wp-includes/load.php` |

Checks whether the given variable is a WordPress Error.

  |

| Used by | Description | 
| [WP_Image_Editor_Imagick::load()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_image_editor_imagick/load/)`wp-includes/class-wp-image-editor-imagick.php` |

Loads image from $this->file into new Imagick Object.

  |

## 󠀁[Changelog](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_image_editor_imagick/pdf_load_source/?output_format=md#changelog)󠁿

| Version | Description | 
| [5.6.0](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/since/5.6.0/) | Introduced. |

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