1PDFTEX(1)                   General Commands Manual                  PDFTEX(1)
2
3
4

NAME

6       pdftex - PDF output from TeX
7

SYNOPSIS

9       pdftex [options] [&format] [file|\commands]
10

DESCRIPTION

12       Run  the  pdfTeX typesetter on file, usually creating file.pdf.  If the
13       file argument has no extension, ".tex" will be appended to it.  Instead
14       of  a  filename,  a  set  of pdfTeX commands can be given, the first of
15       which must start with a backslash.  With a &format argument pdfTeX uses
16       a different set of precompiled commands, contained in format.fmt; it is
17       usually better to use the -fmt format option instead.
18
19       pdfTeX is a version of TeX, with the e-TeX extensions, that can  create
20       PDF files as well as DVI files.
21
22       In  DVI  mode, pdfTeX can be used as a complete replacement for the TeX
23       engine.
24
25       The typical use of pdfTeX is with a pregenerated formats for which  PDF
26       output has been enabled.  The pdftex command uses the equivalent of the
27       plain TeX format, and the pdflatex command uses the equivalent  of  the
28       LaTeX format.  To generate formats, use the -ini switch.
29
30       The pdfinitex and pdfvirtex commands are pdfTeX's analogues to the ini‐
31       tex and virtex commands.  In this installation,  if  the  links  exist,
32       they are symbolic links to the pdftex executable.
33
34       In  PDF  mode,  pdfTeX can natively handle the PDF, JPG, JBIG2, and PNG
35       graphics formats.  pdfTeX cannot  include  PostScript  or  Encapsulated
36       PostScript  (EPS)  graphics  files;  first  convert  them  to PDF using
37       epstopdf(1).  pdfTeX's handling of its command-line arguments is  simi‐
38       lar to that of of the other TeX programs in the web2c implementation.
39

OPTIONS

41       This version of pdfTeX understands the following command line options.
42
43       -draftmode
44              Sets  \pdfdraftmode  so  pdfTeX  doesn't write a PDF and doesn't
45              read any included images, thus speeding up execution.
46
47       -enc   Enable the encTeX extensions.  This option is only effective  in
48              combination  with  -ini.  For documentation of the encTeX exten‐
49              sions see http://www.olsak.net/enctex.html.
50
51       -etex  Enable the e-TeX extensions.  This option is only  effective  in
52              combination with -ini.  See etex(1).
53
54       -file-line-error
55              Print  error messages in the form file:line:error which is simi‐
56              lar to the way many compilers format them.
57
58       -no-file-line-error
59              Disable printing error messages in the file:line:error style.
60
61       -file-line-error-style
62              This is the old name of the -file-line-error option.
63
64       -fmt format
65              Use format as the name of the format to be used, instead of  the
66              name by which pdfTeX was called or a %& line.
67
68       -halt-on-error
69              Exit with an error code when an error is encountered during pro‐
70              cessing.
71
72       -help  Print help message and exit.
73
74       -ini   Start in INI mode, which is used to dump formats.  The INI  mode
75              can  be  used  for  typesetting, but no format is preloaded, and
76              basic initializations like setting catcodes may be required.
77
78       -interaction mode
79              Sets the interaction mode.  The mode can  be  either  batchmode,
80              nonstopmode,  scrollmode,  and  errorstopmode.   The  meaning of
81              these modes is the same as that of the corresponding \commands.
82
83       -ipc   Send DVI or PDF output to a socket as well as the  usual  output
84              file.  Whether this option is available is the choice of the in‐
85              staller.
86
87       -ipc-start
88              As -ipc, and starts  the  server  at  the  other  end  as  well.
89              Whether this option is available is the choice of the installer.
90
91       -jobname name
92              Use  name for the job name, instead of deriving it from the name
93              of the input file.
94
95       -kpathsea-debug bitmask
96              Sets path searching debugging flags according  to  the  bitmask.
97              See the Kpathsea manual for details.
98
99       -mktex fmt
100              Enable mktexfmt, where fmt must be either tex or tfm.
101
102       -mltex Enable  MLTeX  extensions.   Only  effective in combination with
103              -ini.
104
105       -no-mktex fmt
106              Disable mktexfmt, where fmt must be either tex or tfm.
107
108       -output-comment string
109              In DVI mode, use string for the DVI file comment instead of  the
110              date.  This option is ignored in PDF mode.
111
112       -output-directory directory
113              Write  output  files  in directory instead of the current direc‐
114              tory.  Look up input files in directory  first,  the  along  the
115              normal search path.
116
117       -output-format format
118              Set  the  output format mode, where format must be either pdf or
119              dvi.  This also influences the set of  graphics  formats  under‐
120              stood by pdfTeX.
121
122       -parse-first-line
123              If the first line of the main input file begins with %& parse it
124              to look for a dump name or a -translate-file option.
125
126       -no-parse-first-line
127              Disable parsing of the first line of the main input file.
128
129       -progname name
130              Pretend to be program name.  This affects both the  format  used
131              and the search paths.
132
133       -recorder
134              Enable  the filename recorder.  This leaves a trace of the files
135              opened for input and output in a file with extension .fls.
136
137       -shell-escape
138              Enable the \write18{command} construct.  The command can be  any
139              shell  command.  This construct is normally disallowed for secu‐
140              rity reasons.
141
142       -no-shell-escape
143              Disable the \write18{command} construct, even if it  is  enabled
144              in the texmf.cnf file.
145
146       -src-specials
147              In  DVI  mode,  insert  source specials into the DVI file.  This
148              option is ignored in PDF mode.
149
150       -src-specials where
151              In DVI mode, insert source specials in certain placed of the DVI
152              file.  where is a comma-separated value list: cr, display, hbox,
153              math, par, parent, or vbox.  This option is ignored in PDF mode.
154
155       -translate-file tcxname
156              Use the tcxname translation table to set the  mapping  of  input
157              characters and re-mapping of output characters.
158
159       -default-translate-file tcxname
160              Like  -translate-file  except  that  a %& line can overrule this
161              setting.
162
163       -version
164              Print version information and exit.
165

ENVIRONMENT

167       See the Kpathsea library documentation (e.g., the `Path specifications'
168       node)  for  precise  details of how the environment variables are used.
169       The kpsewhich utility can be used to query the values of the variables.
170
171       One caveat: In most pdfTeX formats, you cannot use ~ in a filename  you
172       give directly to pdfTeX, because ~ is an active character, and hence is
173       expanded, not taken as part of the filename.  Other programs,  such  as
174       Metafont, do not have this problem.
175
176       TEXMFOUTPUT
177              Normally, pdfTeX puts its output files in the current directory.
178              If any output file cannot be opened there, it tries to  open  it
179              in the directory specified in the environment variable TEXMFOUT‐
180              PUT.  There is no default value for that variable.  For example,
181              if  you  say  pdftex  paper  and  the  current  directory is not
182              writable and TEXMFOUTPUT has the value /tmp, pdfTeX attempts  to
183              create /tmp/paper.log (and /tmp/paper.pdf, if any output is pro‐
184              duced.)  TEXMFOUTPUT is also checked for  input  files,  as  TeX
185              often  generates  files  that  need to be subsequently read; for
186              input, no suffixes (such as ``.tex'') are added by default,  the
187              input name is simply checked as given.
188
189       TEXINPUTS
190              Search  path  for  \input  and \openin files.  This should start
191              with ``.'', so that user files are found  before  system  files.
192              An  empty path component will be replaced with the paths defined
193              in  the  texmf.cnf  file.   For  example,   set   TEXINPUTS   to
194              ".:/home/user/tex:"   to   prepend  the  current  directory  and
195              ``/home/user/tex'' to the standard search path.
196
197       TEXFORMATS
198              Search path for format files.
199
200       TEXEDIT
201              Command template for switching to editor.  The default,  usually
202              vi, is set when pdfTeX is compiled.
203
204       TFMFONTS
205              Search path for font metric (.tfm) files.
206
207       SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH
208              If  set,  its  value, taken to be in epoch-seconds, will be used
209              for the timestamps in the PDF output, such as  the  CreationDate
210              and  ModDate  keys.   This  is  useful  for  making reproducible
211              builds.
212
213       FORCE_SOURCE_DATE
214              If set to the value "1", the time-related TeX primitives (\year,
215              \month,  \day,  \time)  are  also  initialized from the value of
216              SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH.  This is not  recommended  if  there  is  any
217              viable alternative.
218              pdfTeX  also  has  several  primitives  to  support reproducible
219              builds, which are preferable to setting these environment  vari‐
220              ables; see the main manual.
221
222       Many,  many more environment variables may be consulted related to path
223       searching.  See the Kpathsea manual.
224

FILES

226       The location of the files mentioned below varies from system to system.
227       Use the kpsewhich utility to find their locations.
228
229       pdftex.map
230              Font name mapping definitions.
231
232       *.tfm  Metric files for pdfTeX's fonts.
233
234       *.fmt  Predigested pdfTeX format (.fmt) files.
235

NOTES

237       Starting  with  version 1.40, pdfTeX incorporates the e-TeX extensions,
238       and pdfeTeX is just a copy of pdfTeX.  See etex(1).  This  manual  page
239       is  not  meant  to  be exhaustive.  The complete documentation for this
240       version of pdfTeX can be found in the pdfTeX manual and the info manual
241       Web2C: A TeX implementation.
242

BUGS

244       This  version  of  pdfTeX fails to trap arithmetic overflow when dimen‐
245       sions are added or subtracted.  Cases where this occurs are  rare,  but
246       when  it does the generated DVI file will be invalid.  Whether a gener‐
247       ated PDF file would be usable is unknown.
248

AVAILABILITY

250       pdfTeX is available for a large variety of  machine  architectures  and
251       operating systems.  pdfTeX is part of all major TeX distributions.
252       The pdfTeX home page: http://www.pdftex.org.
253       pdfTeX on CTAN: http://www.ctan.org/pkg/pdftex.
254       pdfTeX mailing list for all discussion: http://lists.tug.org/pdftex.
255

SEE ALSO

257       The full pdfTeX manual can be accessed from the home page or CTAN page.
258       Same for the Web2C, Kpathsea, and other  manuals.   Some  related  pro‐
259       grams:  epstopdf(1),  etex(1), latex(1), luatex(1), mptopdf(1), tex(1),
260       mf(1).
261

AUTHORS

263       The primary authors of pdfTeX are Han The Thanh, Petr Sojka, Jiri  Zla‐
264       tuska, and Peter Breitenlohner (eTeX).
265
266       TeX  was  designed by Donald E. Knuth, who implemented it using his Web
267       system for Pascal programs.  It was  ported  to  Unix  at  Stanford  by
268       Howard  Trickey,  and  at  Cornell  by  Pavel  Curtis.  The version now
269       offered with the Unix TeX distribution is that generated by the Web  to
270       C system (web2c), originally written by Tomas Rokicki and Tim Morgan.
271
272       The encTeX extensions were written by Petr Olsak.
273
274
275
276Web2C 2018                        4 May 2016                         PDFTEX(1)
Impressum