pdftops(1) General Commands Manual pdftops(1)
NAME
pdftops - Portable Document Format (PDF) to PostScript converter (ver-
sion 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 con-
tains 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 in-
formation. (This option is only available if pdftops was com-
piled 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 raster-
izes images with color masks. By default, pdftops rasterizes im-
ages 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 dis-
ables 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-embed-
ded 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 -ras-
terize to "always". Use this to eliminate fonts. To prevent ras-
terization, 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 -process-
colorformat 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 op-
tion sets the DefaultGray color space to the ICC profile stored
in defaultgrayprofilefile.
-defaultrgbprofile defaultrgbprofilefile
If poppler is compiled with colour management support, this op-
tion sets the DefaultRGB color space to the ICC profile stored in
defaultrgbprofilefile.
-defaultcmykprofile defaultcmykprofilefile
If poppler is compiled with colour management support, this op-
tion 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 pre-
dictable 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 de-
fault, 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 -processcol-
orformat 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.
AUTHOR
The pdftops software and documentation are copyright 1996-2011 Glyph &
Cog, LLC.
SEE ALSO
pdfdetach(1), pdffonts(1), pdfimages(1), pdfinfo(1), pdftocairo(1),
pdftohtml(1), pdftoppm(1), pdftotext(1) pdfseparate(1), pdfsig(1), pdfu-
nite(1)
15 August 2011 pdftops(1)
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