pdftops(1)
NAME
pdftops - Portable Document Format (PDF) to PostScript converter (ver-
sion 3.02)
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.
CONFIGURATION FILE
Pdftops reads a configuration file at startup. It first tries to find
the user's private config file, ~/.xpdfrc. If that doesn't exist, it
looks for a system-wide config file, typically /usr/local/etc/xpdfrc
(but this location can be changed when pdftops is built). See the
xpdfrc(5) man page for details.
OPTIONS
Many of the following options can be set with configuration file com-
mands. These are listed in square brackets with the description of the
corresponding command line option.
-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. [config file: psLevel]
-level1sep
Generate Level 1 separable PostScript. All colors are converted
to CMYK. Images are written with separate stream data for the
four components. [config file: psLevel]
-level2
Generate Level 2 PostScript. Level 2 supports color images and
image compression. This is the default setting. [config file:
psLevel]
-level2sep
Generate Level 2 separable PostScript. All colors are converted
to CMYK. The PostScript separation convention operators are
used to handle custom (spot) colors. [config file: psLevel]
-level3
Generate Level 3 PostScript. This enables all Level 2 features
plus CID font embedding and masked image generation. [config
file: psLevel]
-level3Sep
Generate Level 3 separable PostScript. The separation handling
is the same as for -level2Sep. [config file: psLevel]
-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.
-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.) [config file: psOPI]
-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.
[config file: psEmbedType1Fonts]
-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. [config file: psEmbedTrueTypeFonts]
-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. [config file: psEmbedCID-
PostScriptFonts]
-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. [config file: psEmbedCIDTrueTypeFonts]
-preload
Convert PDF forms to PS procedures, and preload image data.
This uses more memory in the PostScript interpreter, but gener-
ates significantly smaller PS files in situations where, e.g.,
the same image is drawn on every page of a long document.
-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
to match the size specified in the PDF file. [config file:
psPaperSize]
-paperw size
Set the paper width, in points. [config file: psPaperSize]
-paperh size
Set the paper height, in points. [config file: psPaperSize]
-nocrop
By default, output is cropped to the CropBox specified in the
PDF file. This option disables cropping. [config file: psCrop]
-expand
Expand PDF pages smaller than the paper to fill the paper. By
default, these pages are not scaled. [config file: psExpandS-
maller]
-noshrink
Don't scale PDF pages which are larger than the paper. By
default, pages larger than the paper are shrunk to fit. [config
file: psShrinkLarger]
-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. [config
file: psCenter]
-pagecrop
Treat the CropBox as the PDF page size. By default, the Media-
Box is used as the page size.
-duplex
Set the Duplex pagedevice entry in the PostScript file. This
tells duplex-capable printers to enable duplexing. [config
file: psDuplex]
-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.
-q Don't print any messages or errors. [config file: errQuiet]
-cfg config-file
Read config-file in place of ~/.xpdfrc or the system-wide config
file.
-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 1996-2007 Glyph &
Cog, LLC.
SEE ALSO
xpdf(1), pdftotext(1), pdfinfo(1), pdffonts(1), pdftoppm(1), pdfim-
ages(1), xpdfrc(5)
http://www.foolabs.com/xpdf/
27 February 2007 pdftops(1)
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