1xpdf(1) General Commands Manual xpdf(1)
2
6 xpdf - Portable Document Format (PDF) file viewer (version 4.04)
7
9 xpdf [options] [PDF-file [:page | +dest]] ...
10 xpdf [options] -remote remote-name [command ...]
12 xpdf [options] -open [PDF-file]
14
16 Xpdf is a viewer for Portable Document Format (PDF) files. (These are
17 also sometimes also called ´Acrobat' files, from the name of Adobe's
18 PDF software.) Xpdf uses the Qt GUI toolkit and runs on Unix, OS X,
19 and Windows.
20 To run xpdf, type:
22 xpdf file.pdf
24 where file.pdf is your PDF file. The file name can be followed by a
26 page number to be displayed, prefixed with a colon:
27 xpdf file.pdf :18
29 or by a named destination, prefixed with ´+' (this is only useful with
31 PDF files that provide named destination targets):
32 xpdf file.pdf +destinationA
34 If you specify multiple files, they will each be opened in a separate
36 tab:
37 xpdf file1.pdf file2.pdf :18 file3.pdf
39 You can also start xpdf without opening any files:
41 xpdf
43
45 Xpdf reads a configuration file at startup. It first tries to find the
46 user's private config file, ~/.xpdfrc. If that doesn't exist, it looks
47 for a system-wide config file, typically /etc/xpdfrc (but this location
48 can be changed when xpdf is built). See the xpdfrc(5) man page for de‐
49 tails.
50
52 The following command line options are available. All command line op‐
53 tions must come before any PDF files to be opened.
54 Many of the options can be set with configuration file commands. These
56 are listed in square brackets with the description of the corresponding
57 command line option.
58 -geometry geometry
60 Set the initial window geometry.
61 -title title
63 Set the window title. By default, the title will be "xpdf:
64 foo.pdf".
65 -open [PDF-file]
67 This option sets up a default remote server. If Xpdf is already
68 running (with the "-open" switch), the PDF file (if any) is
69 opened in a new tab. If Xpdf (with the "-open" switch) is not
70 already running, starts Xpdf and opens the PDF file (if any).
71 This is useful for GUI desktop environments, e.g., the typical
72 double-click on a PDF file case.
73 -rv Set reverse video mode. This reverses the colors of everything
75 except images. It may not always produce great results for PDF
76 files which do weird things with color. This also causes the
77 paper color to default to black.
78 -papercolor color
80 Set the "paper color", i.e., the background of the page display.
81 The color can be #RRGGBB (hexadecimal) or a named color. This
82 option will not work well with PDF files that do things like
83 filling in white behind the text. [config file: paperColor]
84 -mattecolor color
86 Set the matte color, i.e., the color used for background outside
87 the actual page area. The color can be #RRGGBB (hexadecimal) or
88 a named color. [config file: matteColor]
89 -fsmattecolor color
91 Set the matte color for full-screen mode. The color can be
92 #RRGGBB (hexadecimal) or a named color. [config file:
93 fullScreenMatteColor]
94 -z zoom
96 Set the initial zoom factor. A number specifies a zoom percent‐
97 age, where 100 means 72 dpi. You may also specify ´page', to
98 fit the page to the window size, or ´width', to fit the page
99 width to the window width. [config file: initialZoom]
100 -rot angle
102 Rotate pages by 0 (the default), 90, 180, or 270 degrees.
103 -aa yes | no
105 Enable or disable font anti-aliasing. This defaults to "yes".
106 [config file: antialias]
107 -aaVector yes | no
109 Enable or disable vector anti-aliasing. This defaults to "yes".
110 [config file: vectorAntialias]
111 -enc encoding-name
113 Sets the encoding to use for text output. The encoding-name
114 must be defined with the unicodeMap command (see xpdfrc(5)).
115 This defaults to "Latin1" (which is a built-in encoding). [con‐
116 fig file: textEncoding]
117 -pw password
119 Specify the password for the PDF file. This can be either the
120 owner password (which will bypass all security restrictions) or
121 the user password.
122 -fullscreen
124 Open xpdf in full-screen mode, useful for presentations.
125 -remote remote-name
127 Start Xpdf in remote server mode. See the REMOVE SERVER MODE
128 section.
129 -display display
131 Set the X display (only available with X11).
132 -cmd Print commands as they're executed (useful for debugging).
134 [config file: printCommands]
135 -tabstate tabstate-file
137 Sets the file used by the loadTabState and saveTabState com‐
138 mands. [config file: tabStateFile]
139 -cfg config-file
141 Read config-file in place of ~/.xpdfrc or the system-wide config
142 file.
143 -v Print copyright and version information.
145 -h Print usage information. (-help and --help are equivalent.)
147
149 Toolbar
150 toggle sidebar button
151 Toggles (i.e., shows or hides) the sidebar.
152 status indicator
154 This icon is animated while Xpdf is rendering a page. It turns
155 red when an error or warning has been issued. Clicking on it
156 opens the error dialog.
157 selection mode
159 This icon is an "I-beam" in linear selection mode, and an arrow
160 in block selection mode. Clicking on it toggles between the two
161 selection modes.
162 page number entry box
164 Move to a specific page number. Click in the box to activate
165 it, type the page number, then hit return. This will instead
166 display and accept page labels, if the "view - page labels" menu
167 item is checked.
168 left/right arrow buttons
170 Go backward or forward along the history path.
171 zoom out/in buttons
173 Zoom out or in (i.e., change magnification) incrementally.
174 zoom popup menu
176 Change the zoom factor (see the description of the -z option
177 above).
178 fit width button
180 Change the zoom factor to fit the page width to the window
181 width.
182 fit page button
184 Change the zoom factor to fit the page to the window size.
185 find entry box
187 Find a text string. Click in the box to activate it, type a
188 search string, then hit return.
189 find next button
191 Find the next occurrence of the search string.
192 find previous button
194 Find the previous occurrence of the search string.
195 find settings button
197 Display the current find settings: case sensitive (on/off), find
198 whole words (on/off).
199 Menu bar
201 The menu bar is above the toolbar. The menu items should be self-ex‐
202 planatory.
203 Tab list
205 The tab list is on the left, just below the toolbar. It lists all open
206 tabs.
207 Outline/layers/attachments pane
209 This pane is on the left, below the tab list. The popup allows you to
210 select from outline, layers, or attachments.
211 The outline is a tree-like structure of bookmarks that allows moving
213 within the PDF file. Not all PDF files have outlines.
214 Layers (a.k.a. optional content) allow parts of the PDF content to be
216 shown or hidden. Not all PDF files have layers.
217 Attachments are other files embedded within the PDF file. There is a
219 'save' button for each attached file. Not all PDF files have attach‐
220 ments.
221 Text selection
223 In block selection mode, dragging the mouse with the left button held
224 down will highlight an arbitrary rectangle. Shift-clicking will extend
225 the selection.
226 In linear selection mode, dragging with the left button will highlight
228 text in reading order. Double-clicking or triple-clicking will select
229 a word or a line, respectively. Shift-clicking will extend the selec‐
230 tion.
231 Selected text can be copied to the clipboard (with the edit/copy menu
233 item). On X11, selected text will be available in the X selection buf‐
234 fer.
235 Links
237 When the mouse is over a hyperlink, the link target will be shown in a
238 popup near the bottom of the window.
239 Clicking on a hyperlink will jump to the link's destination. A link to
241 another PDF document will make xpdf load that document. A ´launch'
242 link to an executable program will display a dialog, and if you click
243 ´ok', execute the program. URL links are opened in a system-dependent
244 way. (On UNIX, Qt uses the $BROWSER environment variable.)
245 Mouse bindings
247 The left mouse button is used to select text (see above).
248 Clicking on a link with the middle button opens the link in a new tab.
250 Dragging the mouse with the middle button held down pans the window.
252 The right mouse button opens a popup menu (see popupMenuCmd in
254 xpdfrc(5)).
255 Key bindings
257 This section lists the default key bindings. Bindings can be changed
258 using the config file (see xpdfrc(5)).
259 control-o
261 Open a new PDF file via a file requester.
262 control-r
264 Reload the current PDF file. Note that Xpdf will reload the
265 file automatically (on a page change or redraw) if it has
266 changed since it was last loaded.
267 control-f
269 Find a text string. This sets keyboard focus to the ´find' box.
270 control-G
272 Find next occurrence.
273 control-C
275 Copy selected text to the clipboard.
276 control-P
278 Print.
279 control-0 (control-zero)
281 Set the zoom factor to 125%.
282 control-+ (control-plus)
284 Zoom in (increment the zoom factor by 1).
285 control-- (control-minus)
287 Zoom out (decrement the zoom factor by 1).
288 control-s
290 Save PDF via a file requester.
291 control-t
293 Open a new tab.
294 control-n
296 Open a new window.
297 control-w
299 Close the current tab. Closes the window if this was the last
300 open tab. Quits the application if this was the last open win‐
301 dow.
302 control-l
304 Toggle between full-screen and window modes.
305 control-q
307 Quit.
308 control-<tab>
310 Next tab.
311 control-shift-<tab>
313 Previous tab.
314 control-?
316 Help.
317 alt-<left-arrow>
319 Go backward along the history path.
320 alt-<right-arrow>
322 Go forward along the history path.
323 home Go to the top left of current page.
325 control-<home>
327 Go to the first page.
328 end Go to the bottom right of current page.
330 control-<end>
332 Go to the last page.
333 <space> or <PageDown>
335 Scroll down on the current page; if already at bottom, move to
336 next page.
337 control-<PageDown> or control-<down-arrow>
339 Go to the next page. If <ScrollLock> is active, this maintains
340 the relative position on the page.
341 <PageUp>
343 Scroll up on the current page; if already at top, move to previ‐
344 ous page.
345 control-<PageUp> or control-<up-arrow>
347 Go to the previous page. If <ScrollLock> is active, this main‐
348 tains the relative position on the page.
349 <esc> Exit full-screen mode.
351 arrows Scroll the current page.
353 g Set keyboard focus to the page number entry box.
355 z Set the zoom factor to ´page' (fit page to window).
357 w Set the zoom factor to ´width' (fit page width to window).
359
361 Xpdf can be placed into full-screen mode via the -fullscreen command
362 line option, the ´full screen' menu item, or a binding to the
363 fullScreenMode or toggleFullScreenMode command.
364 Entering full-screen mode automatically switches to single-page view
366 mode and to the fit-page zoom factor.
367 Full-screen mode can be exited via the default <esc> key binding, or
369 via a binding to the windowMode or toggleFullScreenModecommand.
370
372 Xpdf's key and mouse bindings are user-configurable, using the bind and
373 unbind commands in the config file (see xpdfrc(5)). The bind command
374 allows you to bind a key or mouse button to a sequence of one or more
375 commands.
376 In commands that take arguments (inside parentheses), special charac‐
378 ters (namely '(', ')', ',', and '\x01') can be escaped by preceding
379 them with a '\x01' character. This is mostly useful in things like
380 scripts that need to be able to open arbitrary PDF files, using the
381 ´openFile' command.
382 The following commands are supported:
384 about Open the ´about' dialog.
386 blockSelectMode
388 Set block selection mode. In this mode, the selection is a sim‐
389 ple rectangle. Any part of the page can be selected, regardless
390 of the content on the page.
391 checkOpenFile(file)
393 Check that file is open in the current tab, and open it if not.
394 checkOpenFileAtDest(file,dest)
396 Check that file is open in the current tab, and open it if not.
397 In either case go to the specified named destination.
398 checkOpenFileAtPage(file,page)
400 Check that file is open in the current tab, and open it if not.
401 In either case go to the specified page.
402 closeSidebar
404 Close the sidebar.
405 closeSidebarMoveResizeWin
407 Close the sidebar, resizing the window so that the document size
408 doesn't change, and moving the window so that the document stays
409 in the same place on the screen.
410 closeSidebarResizeWin
412 Close the sidebar, resizing the window so that the document size
413 doesn't change.
414 closeTabOrQuit
416 Close the tab. If this was the last open tab, close the window.
417 If this was the last window open, quit.
418 closeWindowOrQuit
420 Close the window. If this was the last open window, quit.
421 continuousMode
423 Switch to continuous view mode.
424 copy Copy selected text to the clipboard.
426 copyLinkTarget
428 Copy the target of the link under the mouse cursor to the clip‐
429 board.
430 endPan End a pan operation.
432 endSelection
434 End a selection.
435 expandSidebar(n)
437 Expand the sidebar by n pixels. Opens the sidebar if it is cur‐
438 rently closed.
439 find Set keyboard focus to the ´find' box.
441 findFirst
443 Find the first occurrence of the search string.
444 findNext
446 Find the next occurrence of the search string.
447 findPrevious
449 Find the previous occurrence of the search string.
450 focusToDocWin
452 Set keyboard focus to the main document window.
453 focusToPageNum
455 Set keyboard focus to the page number text box.
456 followLink
458 Follow a hyperlink (does nothing if the mouse is not over a
459 link).
460 followLinkInNewTab
462 Follow a hyperlink, opening PDF files in a new tab (does nothing
463 if the mouse is not over a link). For links to non-PDF files,
464 this command is identical to followLink.
465 followLinkInNewTabNoSel
467 Same as followLinkInNewTab, but does nothing if there is a non-
468 empty selection. (This is useful as a mouse button binding.)
469 followLinkInNewWin
471 Follow a hyperlink, opening PDF files in a new window (does
472 nothing if the mouse is not over a link). For links to non-PDF
473 files, this command is identical to followLink.
474 followLinkInNewWinNoSel
476 Same as followLinkInNewWin, but does nothing if there is a non-
477 empty selection. (This is useful as a mouse button binding.)
478 followLinkNoSel
480 Same as followLink, but does nothing if there is a non-empty se‐
481 lection. (This is useful as a mouse button binding.)
482 fullScreenMode
484 Go to full-screen mode.
485 goBackward
487 Move backward along the history path.
488 goForward
490 Move forward along the history path.
491 gotoDest(dest)
493 Go to a named destination.
494 gotoLastPage
496 Go to the last page in the PDF file.
497 gotoPage(page)
499 Go to the specified page.
500 help Open the help URL.
502 hideMenuBar
504 Hide the menu bar.
505 hideToolbar
507 Hide the toolbar.
508 horizontalContinuousMode
510 Switch to horizontal continuous view mode.
511 linearSelectMode
513 Set linear selection mode. In this mode, the selection follows
514 text. Non-text regions cannot be selected.
515 loadTabState
517 Load the tab state file (which was written via the saveTabState
518 command), and restore the tabs listed in that file. The path
519 for the tab state file is specified with the tabStateFile set‐
520 ting (see xpdfrc(5)).
521 newTab Open an empty new tab.
523 newWindow
525 Open an empty new window.
526 nextPage
528 Go to the next page.
529 nextPageNoScroll
531 Go to the next page, with the current relative scroll position.
532 nextTab
534 Switch to the next tab.
535 open Open a PDF file in the current tab, using the open dialog.
537 openErrorWindow
539 Open the error window.
540 openFile(file)
542 Open the specified file in the current tab.
543 openFile2(file,page,dest,passwd,location)
545 Open the specified file. If dest is not empty, go to the speci‐
546 fied named destination. Else, if page is not empty, go to the
547 specified page number. If password is not empty, it is used as
548 the PDF password. If location is "win", open the file in a new
549 window; if it is "tab", open in a new tab; if it is "check",
550 open in the current tab, but only if the specified PDF file
551 isn't already open; else open in the current tab. Any/all of
552 the arguments, other than file, can be empty strings. For exam‐
553 ple:
554 openFile2(test.pdf,7,,,tab)
555 openFileAtDest(file,dest)
557 Open the specified file in the current tab at the specified
558 named destination.
559 openFileAtDestIn(file,dest,location)
561 Open the specified file at the specified named destination. Lo‐
562 cation must be "win" for a new window or "tab" for a new tab.
563 openFileAtPage(file,page)
565 Open the specified file in the current tab at the specified
566 page.
567 openFileAtPageIn(file,page,location)
569 Open the specified file at the specified page. Location must be
570 "win" for a new window or "tab" for a new tab.
571 openFileIn(file,location)
573 Open the specified file. Location must be "win" for a new win‐
574 dow or "tab" for a new tab.
575 openIn(location)
577 Open a PDF file, using the open dialog. Location must be "win"
578 for a new window or "tab" for a new tab.
579 openSidebar
581 Open the sidebar.
582 openSidebarMoveResizeWin
584 Open the sidebar, resizing the window so that the document size
585 doesn't change, and moving the window so that the document stays
586 in the same place on the screen.
587 openSidebarResizeWin
589 Open the sidebar, resizing the window so that the document size
590 doesn't change.
591 pageDown
593 Scroll down by one screenful.
594 pageUp Scroll up by one screenful.
596 postPopupMenu
598 Display the popup menu.
599 prevPage
601 Go to the previous page.
602 prevPageNoScroll
604 Go to the previous page, with the current relative scroll posi‐
605 tion.
606 prevTab
608 Switch to the previous tab.
609 print Open the ´print' dialog.
611 quit Quit from xpdf.
613 raise Bring the xpdf window to the front.
615 reload Reload the current PDF file.
617 rotateCCW
619 Rotate the page 90 degrees counterclockwise.
620 rotateCW
622 Rotate the page 90 degrees clockwise.
623 run(external-command-string)
625 Run an external command. The following escapes are allowed in
626 the command string:
627 %f => PDF file name (or an empty string if no
629 file is open)
630 %b => PDF file base name, i.e., file name minus
631 the extension (or an empty string if no
632 file is open)
633 %u => link URL (or an empty string if not over
634 a URL link)
635 %p => current page number (or an empty string if
636 no file is open)
637 %x => selection upper-left x coordinate
638 (or 0 if there is no selection)
639 %y => selection upper-left y coordinate
640 (or 0 if there is no selection)
641 %X => selection lower-right x coordinate
642 (or 0 if there is no selection)
643 %Y => selection lower-right y coordinate
644 (or 0 if there is no selection)
645 %i => page containing the mouse pointer
646 %j => x coordinate of the mouse pointer
647 %k => y coordinate of the mouse pointer
648 %% => %
649 The external command string will often contain spaces, so the
651 whole command must be quoted in the xpdfrc file:
652 bind x "run(ls -l)"
654 The command string may not be run through a shell. It is recom‐
656 mended to keep the command simple, so that it doesn't depend on
657 specific shell functionality. For complex things, you can have
658 the command string run a shell script.
659 saveAs Save PDF via a file requester.
661 saveImage
663 Open the ´save image' dialog.
664 saveTabState
666 Save a list of all tabs open in this window to the tab state
667 file. For each tab, this writes the PDF file name and page num‐
668 ber (on separate lines). This file can be loaded later with the
669 loadTabState command. The path for the tab state file is speci‐
670 fied with the tabStateFile setting (see xpdfrc(5)).
671 scrollDown(n)
673 Scroll down by n pixels.
674 scrollDownNextPage(n)
676 Scroll down by n pixels, moving to the next page if appropriate.
677 scrollLeft(n)
679 Scroll left by n pixels.
680 scrollOutlineDown(n)
682 Scroll the outline down by n increments.
683 scrollOutlineUp(n)
685 Scroll the outline up by n increments.
686 scrollRight(n)
688 Scroll right by n pixels.
689 scrollToBottomEdge
691 Scroll to the bottom edge of the last displayed page, with no
692 horizontal movement.
693 scrollToBottomRight
695 Scroll to the bottom-right corner of the last displayed page.
696 scrollToLeftEdge
698 Scroll to the left edge of the current page, with no vertical
699 movement.
700 scrollToRightEdge
702 Scroll to the right edge of the current page, with no vertical
703 movement.
704 scrollToTopEdge
706 Scroll to the top edge of the first displayed page, with no hor‐
707 izontal movement.
708 scrollToTopLeft
710 Scroll to the top-left corner of the first displayed page.
711 scrollUp(n)
713 Scroll up by n pixels.
714 scrollUpPrevPage(n)
716 Scroll up by n pixels, moving to the previous page if appropri‐
717 ate.
718 selectLine
720 Set the selection to the line at the current mouse position.
721 selectWord
723 Set the selection to the word at the current mouse position.
724 setSelection(pg,ulx,uly,lrx,lry)
726 Set the selection to the specified coordinates on the specified
727 page.
728 showAttachmentsPane
730 Shows the attachments in the outline/layers/attachments pane.
731 showDocumentInfo
733 Open the document information dialog.
734 showKeyBindings
736 Open the key bindings dialog.
737 showLayersPane
739 Shows the layers in the outline/layers/attachments pane.
740 showMenuBar
742 Show the menu bar.
743 showOutlinePane
745 Shows the outline in the outline/layers/attachments pane.
746 showToolbar
748 Show the toolbar.
749 shrinkSidebar(n)
751 Shrink the sidebar by n pixels. Closes the sidebar if shrinking
752 it would go below the minimum allowed side.
753 sideBySideContinuousMode
755 Switch to side-by-side continuous view mode.
756 sideBySideSingleMode
758 Switch to side-by-side two-page view mode.
759 singlePageMode
761 Switch to single-page view mode.
762 startExtendedSelection
764 Extend the selection to the current mouse position, and continue
765 extending as the mouse moves.
766 startPan
768 Start a pan operation at the current mouse position, which will
769 scroll the document as the mouse moves.
770 startSelection
772 Start a selection at the current mouse position, which will be
773 extended as the mouse moves.
774 toggleContinuousMode
776 Toggle between continuous and single page view modes.
777 toggleFullScreenMode
779 Toggle between full-screen and window modes.
780 toggleMenuBar
782 Toggle the menu bar between shown and hidden.
783 toggleSelectMode
785 Toggle between block and linear selection mode.
786 toggleSidebar
788 Toggle the sidebar between open and closed.
789 toggleSidebarMoveResizeWin
791 Toggle the sidebar between open and closed, resizing the window
792 so that the document size doesn't change, and moving the window
793 so that the document stays in the same place on the screen.
794 toggleSidebarResizeWin
796 Toggle the sidebar between open and closed, resizing the window
797 so that the document size doesn't change.
798 toggleToolbar
800 Toggle the toolbar between shown and hidden.
801 viewPageLabels
803 Show page labels (if the PDF file has them), rather than page
804 numbers.
805 viewPageNumbers
807 Show page numbers, rather than page labels.
808 windowMode
810 Go to window (non-full-screen) mode.
811 zoomFitPage
813 Set the zoom factor to fit-page.
814 zoomFitWidth
816 Set the zoom factor to fit-width.
817 zoomIn Zoom in - go to the next higher zoom factor.
819 zoomOut
821 Zoom out - go the next lower zoom factor.
822 zoomPercent(z)
824 Set the zoom factor to z%.
825 zoomToSelection
827 Zoom to the current selection.
828
830 Starting xpdf with the "-remote" switch puts it into remote server
831 mode. All remaining command line options are commands (see the COM‐
832 MANDS section). Subsequent invocations of "xpdf -remote" with the same
833 remote server name will send commands to the already-running instance
834 of xpdf. The "checkOpenFile" commands are useful here for things like
835 changing pages. For example:
836 # Start up xpdf, and open something.pdf.
838 xpdf -remote foo 'openFile(something.pdf)'
839 # Switch to page 7 in the already-open something.pdf. If
841 the user
842 # has closed xpdf in the meantime, this will restart it and
843 reopen
844 # the file.
845 xpdf -remote foo 'checkOpenFileAtPage(something.pdf, 7)'
846
848 The Xpdf tools use the following exit codes:
849 0 No error.
851 1 Error opening a PDF file.
853 2 Error opening an output file.
855 3 Error related to PDF permissions.
857 99 Other error.
859
861 The xpdf software and documentation are copyright 1996-2022 Glyph &
862 Cog, LLC.
863
865 pdftops(1), pdftotext(1), pdftohtml(1), pdfinfo(1), pdffonts(1), pdfde‐
866 tach(1), pdftoppm(1), pdftopng(1), pdfimages(1), xpdfrc(5)
867 http://www.xpdfreader.com/
868 18 Apr 2022 xpdf(1)