1pdftops(1) General Commands Manual pdftops(1)
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6 pdftops - Portable Document Format (PDF) to PostScript converter (ver‐
7 sion 3.03)
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10 pdftops [options] <PDF-file> [<PS-file>]
11
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.
20
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 -eps Generate an Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) file. An EPS file
59 contains a single image, so if you use this option with a multi-
60 page PDF file, you must use -f and -l to specify a single page.
61 No more than one of the mode options (-eps, -form) may be given.
62 -form Generate a PostScript form which can be imported by software
64 that understands forms. A form contains a single page, so if
65 you use this option with a multi-page PDF file, you must use -f
66 and -l to specify a single page. The -level1 option cannot be
67 used with -form. No more than one of the mode options (-eps,
68 -form) may be given.
69 -opi Generate OPI comments for all images and forms which have OPI
71 information. (This option is only available if pdftops was com‐
72 piled with OPI support.)
73 -binary
75 Write binary data in Level 1 PostScript. By default, pdftops
76 writes hex-encoded data in Level 1 PostScript. Binary data is
77 non-standard in Level 1 PostScript but reduces the file size and
78 can be useful when Level 1 PostScript is required only for its
79 restricted use of PostScript operators.
80 -r number
82 Set the resolution in DPI when pdftops rasterizes images with
83 transparencies or, for Level 1 PostScript, when pdftops raster‐
84 izes images with color masks. By default, pdftops rasterizes
85 images to 300 DPI.
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 -aaRaster yes | no
120 Enable or disable raster anti-aliasing. This defaults to "no".
121 pdftops may need to rasterize transparencies and pattern image
122 masks in the PDF. If the PostScript will be printed, leave
123 -aaRaster disabled and set -r to the resolution of the printer.
124 If the PostScript will be viewed, enabling -aaRaster may make
125 rasterized text easier to read.
126 -optimizecolorspace
128 By default, bitmap images in the PDF pass through to the output
129 PostScript in their original color space, which produces pre‐
130 dictable results. This option converts RGB and CMYK images into
131 Gray images if every pixel of the image has equal components.
132 This can fix problems when doing color separations of PDFs that
133 contain embedded black and white images encoded as RGB.
134 -preload
136 preload images and forms
137 -paper size
139 Set the paper size to one of "letter", "legal", "A4", or "A3".
140 This can also be set to "match", which will set the paper size
141 of each page to match the size specified in the PDF file. If
142 none the -paper, -paperw, or -paperh options are specified the
143 default is to match the paper size.
144 -paperw size
146 Set the paper width, in points.
147 -paperh size
149 Set the paper height, in points.
150 -origpagesizes
152 This option is the same as "-paper match".
153 -nocrop
155 By default, output is cropped to the CropBox specified in the
156 PDF file. This option disables cropping.
157 -expand
159 Expand PDF pages smaller than the paper to fill the paper. By
160 default, these pages are not scaled.
161 -noshrink
163 Don't scale PDF pages which are larger than the paper. By
164 default, pages larger than the paper are shrunk to fit.
165 -nocenter
167 By default, PDF pages smaller than the paper (after any scaling)
168 are centered on the paper. This option causes them to be
169 aligned to the lower-left corner of the paper instead.
170 -duplex
172 Set the Duplex pagedevice entry in the PostScript file. This
173 tells duplex-capable printers to enable duplexing.
174 -opw password
176 Specify the owner password for the PDF file. Providing this
177 will bypass all security restrictions.
178 -upw password
180 Specify the user password for the PDF file.
181 -overprint
183 Enable overprinting.
184 -q Don't print any messages or errors.
186 -v Print copyright and version information.
188 -h Print usage information. (-help and --help are equivalent.)
190
192 The Xpdf tools use the following exit codes:
193 0 No error.
195 1 Error opening a PDF file.
197 2 Error opening an output file.
199 3 Error related to PDF permissions.
201 99 Other error.
203
205 The pdftops software and documentation are copyright 1996-2011 Glyph &
206 Cog, LLC.
207
209 pdfdetach(1), pdffonts(1), pdfimages(1), pdfinfo(1), pdftocairo(1),
210 pdftohtml(1), pdftoppm(1), pdftotext(1) pdfseparate(1), pdfsig(1),
211 pdfunite(1)
212 15 August 2011 pdftops(1)