1pdftops(1) General Commands Manual pdftops(1)
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6 pdftops - Portable Document Format (PDF) to PostScript converter (ver‐
7 sion 3.00)
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10 pdftops [options] <PDF-file> [<PS-file>]
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13 Pdftops converts Portable Document Format (PDF) files to PostScript so
14 they can be printed.
15 Pdftops reads the PDF file, PDF-file, and writes a PostScript file, PS-
17 file. If PS-file is not specified, pdftops converts file.pdf to
18 file.ps (or file.eps with the -eps option). If PS-file is ´-', the
19 PostScript is sent to stdout.
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22 -f number
23 Specifies the first page to print.
24 -l number
26 Specifies the last page to print.
27 -level1
29 Generate Level 1 PostScript. The resulting PostScript files
30 will be significantly larger (if they contain images), but will
31 print on Level 1 printers. This also converts all images to
32 black and white. No more than one of the PostScript level
33 options (-level1, -level1sep, -level2, -level2sep, -level3,
34 -level3Sep) may be given.
35 -level1sep
37 Generate Level 1 separable PostScript. All colors are converted
38 to CMYK. Images are written with separate stream data for the
39 four components.
40 -level2
42 Generate Level 2 PostScript. Level 2 supports color images and
43 image compression. This is the default setting.
44 -level2sep
46 Generate Level 2 separable PostScript. All colors are converted
47 to CMYK. The PostScript separation convention operators are
48 used to handle custom (spot) colors.
49 -level3
51 Generate Level 3 PostScript. This enables all Level 2 features
52 plus CID font embedding.
53 -level3Sep
55 Generate Level 3 separable PostScript. The separation handling
56 is the same as for -level2Sep.
57 -origpagesizes
59 Generate a PostScript file with variable page sizes and orienta‐
60 tions, taking for each page the size of the original page in the
61 PDF file. The PostScript file contains "<</PageSize [WIDTH
62 HEIGHT]>> setpagedevice" lines in each page header, so that the
63 paper input tray gets correctly changed on the printer. This
64 option should be used when pdftops is used as a print filter.
65 Any specification of the page size via -paper, -paperw, or
66 -paperh will get overridden as long as each page of the PDF file
67 has a defined paper size. No more than one of the mode options
68 (-origpagesizes, -eps, -form) may be given.
69 -eps Generate an Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) file. An EPS file
71 contains a single image, so if you use this option with a multi-
72 page PDF file, you must use -f and -l to specify a single page.
73 No more than one of the mode options (-origpagesizes, -eps,
74 -form) may be given.
75 -form Generate a PostScript form which can be imported by software
77 that understands forms. A form contains a single page, so if
78 you use this option with a multi-page PDF file, you must use -f
79 and -l to specify a single page. The -level1 option cannot be
80 used with -form. No more than one of the mode options (-origpa‐
81 gesizes, -eps, -form) may be given.
82 -opi Generate OPI comments for all images and forms which have OPI
84 information. (This option is only available if pdftops was com‐
85 piled with OPI support.)
86 -noembt1
88 By default, any Type 1 fonts which are embedded in the PDF file
89 are copied into the PostScript file. This option causes pdftops
90 to substitute base fonts instead. Embedded fonts make Post‐
91 Script files larger, but may be necessary for readable output.
92 -noembtt
94 By default, any TrueType fonts which are embedded in the PDF
95 file are copied into the PostScript file. This option causes
96 pdftops to substitute base fonts instead. Embedded fonts make
97 PostScript files larger, but may be necessary for readable out‐
98 put. Also, some PostScript interpreters do not have TrueType
99 rasterizers.
100 -noembcidps
102 By default, any CID PostScript fonts which are embedded in the
103 PDF file are copied into the PostScript file. This option dis‐
104 ables that embedding. No attempt is made to substitute for non-
105 embedded CID PostScript fonts.
106 -noembcidtt
108 By default, any CID TrueType fonts which are embedded in the PDF
109 file are copied into the PostScript file. This option disables
110 that embedding. No attempt is made to substitute for non-embed‐
111 ded CID TrueType fonts.
112 -passfonts
114 By default, references to non-embedded 8-bit fonts in the PDF
115 file are substituted with the closest "Helvetica", "Times-
116 Roman", or "Courier" font. This option passes references to
117 non-embedded fonts through to the PostScript file.
118 -preload
120 preload images and forms
121 -paper size
123 Set the paper size to one of "letter", "legal", "A4", or "A3".
124 This can also be set to "match", which will set the paper size
125 to match the size specified in the PDF file. -origpagesizes
126 overrides this setting if the PDF file has defined page sizes.
127 -paperw size
129 Set the paper width, in points. -origpagesizes overrides this
130 setting if the PDF file has defined page sizes.
131 -paperh size
133 Set the paper height, in points. -origpagesizes overrides this
134 setting if the PDF file has defined page sizes.
135 -nocrop
137 By default, output is cropped to the CropBox specified in the
138 PDF file. This option disables cropping.
139 -expand
141 Expand PDF pages smaller than the paper to fill the paper. By
142 default, these pages are not scaled.
143 -noshrink
145 Don't scale PDF pages which are larger than the paper. By
146 default, pages larger than the paper are shrunk to fit.
147 -nocenter
149 By default, PDF pages smaller than the paper (after any scaling)
150 are centered on the paper. This option causes them to be
151 aligned to the lower-left corner of the paper instead.
152 -duplex
154 Set the Duplex pagedevice entry in the PostScript file. This
155 tells duplex-capable printers to enable duplexing.
156 -opw password
158 Specify the owner password for the PDF file. Providing this
159 will bypass all security restrictions.
160 -upw password
162 Specify the user password for the PDF file.
163 -q Don't print any messages or errors.
165 -v Print copyright and version information.
167 -h Print usage information. (-help and --help are equivalent.)
169
171 The Xpdf tools use the following exit codes:
172 0 No error.
174 1 Error opening a PDF file.
176 2 Error opening an output file.
178 3 Error related to PDF permissions.
180 99 Other error.
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184 The pdftops software and documentation are copyright 1996-2004 Glyph &
185 Cog, LLC.
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188 pdftotext(1), pdfinfo(1), pdffonts(1), pdftoppm(1), pdfimages(1),
189 31 July 2009 pdftops(1)