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.
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 op-
tions (-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
contains 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
information. (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
images 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 Post-
Script 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 out-
put. 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-Ro-
man", 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.
-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 overprinting.
-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),
pdfunite(1)
15 August 2011 pdftops(1)