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Updated: Wednesday, July 27, 2022
 
 

pdftops (1)

Name

pdftops - sion 3.03)

Synopsis

pdftops [options] <PDF-file> [<PS-file>]

Description

pdftops(1)                  General Commands Manual                 pdftops(1)



NAME
       pdftops  - Portable Document Format (PDF) to PostScript converter (ver-
       sion 3.03)

SYNOPSIS
       pdftops [options] <PDF-file> [<PS-file>]

DESCRIPTION
       Pdftops converts Portable Document Format (PDF) files to PostScript  so
       they can be printed.

       Pdftops reads the PDF file, PDF-file, and writes a PostScript file, PS-
       file.  If PS-file  is  not  specified,  pdftops  converts  file.pdf  to
       file.ps  (or  file.eps  with  the -eps option).  If PS-file is '-', the
       PostScript is sent to stdout.  If PDF-file is '-',  Pdftops  reads  the
       PDF file from stdin.

OPTIONS
       -f number
              Specifies the first page to print.

       -l number
              Specifies the last page to print.

       -level1
              Generate  Level  1  PostScript.   The resulting PostScript files
              will be significantly larger (if they contain images), but  will
              print  on  Level  1  printers.  This also converts all images to
              black and white.  No more  than  one  of  the  PostScript  level
              options  (-level1,  -level1sep,  -level2,  -level2sep,  -level3,
              -level3sep) may be given.

       -level1sep
              Generate Level 1 separable PostScript.  All colors are converted
              to  CMYK.   Images are written with separate stream data for the
              four components.

       -level2
              Generate Level 2 PostScript.  Level 2 supports color images  and
              image compression.  This is the default setting.

       -level2sep
              Generate Level 2 separable PostScript.  All colors are converted
              to CMYK.  The PostScript  separation  convention  operators  are
              used to handle custom (spot) colors.

       -level3
              Generate  Level 3 PostScript.  This enables all Level 2 features
              plus CID font embedding.

       -level3sep
              Generate Level 3 separable PostScript.  The separation  handling
              is the same as for -level2sep.

       -eps   Generate  an  Encapsulated  PostScript  (EPS) file.  An EPS file
              contains a single image, so if you use this option with a multi-
              page  PDF file, you must use -f and -l to specify a single page.
              No more than one of the mode options (-eps, -form) may be given.

       -form  Generate a PostScript form which can  be  imported  by  software
              that  understands  forms.   A form contains a single page, so if
              you use this option with a multi-page PDF file, you must use  -f
              and  -l  to specify a single page.  The -level1 option cannot be
              used with -form.  No more than one of the  mode  options  (-eps,
              -form) may be given.

       -opi   Generate  OPI  comments  for all images and forms which have OPI
              information.  (This option is only available if pdftops was com-
              piled with OPI support.)

       -binary
              Write  binary  data  in Level 1 PostScript.  By default, pdftops
              writes hex-encoded data in Level 1 PostScript.  Binary  data  is
              non-standard in Level 1 PostScript but reduces the file size and
              can be useful when Level 1 PostScript is required only  for  its
              restricted use of PostScript operators.

       -r number
              Set  the  resolution  in DPI when pdftops rasterizes images with
              transparencies or, for Level 1 PostScript, when pdftops  raster-
              izes  images  with  color masks.  By default, pdftops rasterizes
              images to 300 DPI.

       -noembt1
              By default, any Type 1 fonts which are embedded in the PDF  file
              are copied into the PostScript file.  This option causes pdftops
              to substitute base fonts instead.   Embedded  fonts  make  Post-
              Script files larger, but may be necessary for readable output.

       -noembtt
              By  default,  any  TrueType  fonts which are embedded in the PDF
              file are copied into the PostScript file.   This  option  causes
              pdftops  to  substitute base fonts instead.  Embedded fonts make
              PostScript files larger, but may be necessary for readable  out-
              put.   Also,  some  PostScript interpreters do not have TrueType
              rasterizers.

       -noembcidps
              By default, any CID PostScript fonts which are embedded  in  the
              PDF  file are copied into the PostScript file.  This option dis-
              ables that embedding.  No attempt is made to substitute for non-
              embedded CID PostScript fonts.

       -noembcidtt
              By default, any CID TrueType fonts which are embedded in the PDF
              file are copied into the PostScript file.  This option  disables
              that embedding.  No attempt is made to substitute for non-embed-
              ded CID TrueType fonts.

       -passfonts
              By default, references to non-embedded 8-bit fonts  in  the  PDF
              file  are  substituted  with  the  closest  "Helvetica", "Times-
              Roman", or "Courier" font.  This  option  passes  references  to
              non-embedded fonts through to the PostScript file.

       -aaRaster yes | no
              Enable  or disable raster anti-aliasing.  This defaults to "no".
              pdftops may need to rasterize transparencies and  pattern  image
              masks  in  the  PDF.   If  the PostScript will be printed, leave
              -aaRaster disabled and set -r to the resolution of the  printer.
              If  the  PostScript  will be viewed, enabling -aaRaster may make
              rasterized text easier to read.

       -rasterize always | never | whenneeded
              By default, pdftops rasterizes pages as needed, for example,  if
              they  contain transparencies.  To force rasterization, set -ras-
              terize to "always". Use this to  eliminate  fonts.   To  prevent
              rasterization, set -rasterize to "never". This may produce files
              that display incorrectly.

       -processcolorformat MONO8 | CMYK8 | RGB8
              Sets the process color format as it is used during rasterization
              and  transparency  reduction.   The default depends on the other
              settings: For -level1 the default is MONO8, for -level{1,2,3}sep
              or  -overprint the default is CMYK8, and in all other cases RGB8
              is the default. If -processcolorprofile is given then  -process-
              colorformat is inferred from the specified ICC profile.

       -processcolorprofile filename
              Sets  the  ICC  profile that is assumed during rasterization and
              transparency reduction.

       -defaultgrayprofile defaultgrayprofilefile
              If poppler is compiled  with  colour  management  support,  this
              option  sets  the  DefaultGray  color  space  to the ICC profile
              stored in defaultgrayprofilefile.

       -defaultrgbprofile defaultrgbprofilefile
              If poppler is compiled  with  colour  management  support,  this
              option sets the DefaultRGB color space to the ICC profile stored
              in defaultrgbprofilefile.

       -defaultcmykprofile defaultcmykprofilefile
              If poppler is compiled  with  colour  management  support,  this
              option  sets  the  DefaultCMYK  color  space  to the ICC profile
              stored in defaultcmykprofilefile.

       -optimizecolorspace
              By default, bitmap images in the PDF pass through to the  output
              PostScript  in  their  original color space, which produces pre-
              dictable results.  This option converts RGB and CMYK images into
              Gray  images  if  every pixel of the image has equal components.
              This can fix problems when doing color separations of PDFs  that
              contain embedded black and white images encoded as RGB.

       -preload
              preload images and forms

       -paper size
              Set  the  paper size to one of "letter", "legal", "A4", or "A3".
              This can also be set to "match", which will set the  paper  size
              of  each  page  to  match the size specified in the PDF file. If
              none the -paper, -paperw, or -paperh options are  specified  the
              default is to match the paper size.

       -paperw size
              Set the paper width, in points.

       -paperh size
              Set the paper height, in points.

       -origpagesizes
              This option is the same as "-paper match".

       -nocrop
              By  default,  output  is cropped to the CropBox specified in the
              PDF file.  This option disables cropping.

       -expand
              Expand PDF pages smaller than the paper to fill the  paper.   By
              default, these pages are not scaled.

       -noshrink
              Don't  scale  PDF  pages  which  are  larger than the paper.  By
              default, pages larger than the paper are shrunk to fit.

       -nocenter
              By default, PDF pages smaller than the paper (after any scaling)
              are  centered  on  the  paper.   This  option  causes them to be
              aligned to the lower-left corner of the paper instead.

       -duplex
              Set the Duplex pagedevice entry in the  PostScript  file.   This
              tells duplex-capable printers to enable duplexing.

       -opw password
              Specify  the  owner  password  for the PDF file.  Providing this
              will bypass all security restrictions.

       -upw password
              Specify the user password for the PDF file.

       -overprint
              Enable overprint emulation during rasterization.  For  -process-
              colorformat being CMYK8 and the language level being higher than
              2, this option is set to true  by  default.  Note:  This  option
              requires -processcolorformat to be CMYK8.

       -q     Don't print any messages or errors.

       -v     Print copyright and version information.

       -h     Print usage information.  (-help and --help are equivalent.)

EXIT CODES
       The Xpdf tools use the following exit codes:

       0      No error.

       1      Error opening a PDF file.

       2      Error opening an output file.

       3      Error related to PDF permissions.

       99     Other error.

AUTHOR
       The  pdftops software and documentation are copyright 1996-2011 Glyph &
       Cog, LLC.


ATTRIBUTES
       See attributes(7) for descriptions of the following attributes:


       +---------------+----------------------+
       |ATTRIBUTE TYPE |   ATTRIBUTE VALUE    |
       +---------------+----------------------+
       |Availability   | print/filter/poppler |
       +---------------+----------------------+
       |Stability      | Uncommitted          |
       +---------------+----------------------+

SEE ALSO
       pdfdetach(1),  pdffonts(1),  pdfimages(1),  pdfinfo(1),  pdftocairo(1),
       pdftohtml(1),   pdftoppm(1),  pdftotext(1)  pdfseparate(1),  pdfsig(1),
       pdfunite(1)



NOTES
       Source code for open source software components in Oracle  Solaris  can
       be found at https://www.oracle.com/downloads/opensource/solaris-source-
       code-downloads.html.

       This    software    was    built    from    source     available     at
       https://github.com/oracle/solaris-userland.    The  original  community
       source  was   downloaded   from    https://poppler.freedesktop.org/pop-
       pler-21.10.0.tar.xz.

       Further information about this software can be found on the open source
       community website at https://poppler.freedesktop.org/.



                                15 August 2011                      pdftops(1)