Tribblix: manual page: pdftops.1

pdftops(1) User Commands pdftops(1)

NAME

pdftops - Portable Document Format (PDF) to PostScript converter
(version 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
compiled 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
rasterizes 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
PostScript 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
output. 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
disables 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-embedded 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
-rasterize 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 -processcolorformat 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 predictable 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
-processcolorformat 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.

NAME

SYNOPSIS

DESCRIPTION

OPTIONS

EXIT CODES

AUTHOR

SEE ALSO