pdftoppm(1) General Commands Manual pdftoppm(1)
NAME
pdftocairo - Portable Document Format (PDF) to PNG/JPEG/PDF/PS/EPS/SVG using cairo
SYNOPSIS
pdftocairo [options] PDF-file [output-file]
DESCRIPTION
pdftocairo converts Portable Document Format (PDF) files, using the cairo output device of the poppler PDF library, to any of the following
output formats:
o Portable Network Graphics (PNG)
o JPEG Interchange Format (JPEG)
o Portable Document Format (PDF)
o PostScript (PS)
o Encapsulated PostScript (EPS)
o Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG)
pdftocairo reads the PDF file, PDF-file, and writes to output-file. The image formats (PNG and JPEG) generate one file per page with the
page number and file type appended to output-file (except when -singlefile is used). When the output format is a vector format (PDF, PS,
EPS, and SVG) or when -singlefile is used, output-file is the full filename.
If the PDF-file is "-" , the PDF is read from stdin. If the output-file is "-" , the output file will be written to stdout. Using stdout
is not valid with image formats unless -singlefile is used. If output-file is not used, the output filename will be derived from the PDF-
file filename.
Not all options are valid with all output formats. One (and only one) of the output format options (-png, -jpeg, -pdf, -ps, -eps, or -svg)
must be used.
The resolution options (-r, -rx, -ry) set the resolution of the image output formats. The image dimensions will depend on the PDF page size
and the resolution. For the vector outputs, regions of the page that can not be represented natively in the output format (eg translucency
in PS) will be rasterized at the resolution specified by the resolution options.
The -scale-to options may be used to set a fixed image size. The image resolution will vary with the page size.
The cropping options (-x, -y, -W, and -H) use units of pixels with the image formats and PostScript points (1/72 inch) with the vector for-
mats. When cropping is used with vector output the cropped region is centered unless -nocenter is used in which case the cropped region is
at the top left (SVG) or bottom left (PDF, PS, EPS).
OPTIONS
-png Generates a PNG file(s)
-jpeg Generates a JPEG file(s)
-pdf Generates a PDF file
-ps Generate a PS file
-eps Generate an 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. The page size options (-origpagesizes, -paper, -paperw, -paperh) can not be used with this option.
-svg Generate a SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) file
-f number
Specifies the first page to convert.
-l number
Specifies the last page to convert.
-o Generates only the odd numbered pages.
-e Generates only the even numbered pages.
-singlefile
Writes only the first page and does not add digits.
-r number
Specifies the X and Y resolution, in pixels per inch of image files (or rasterized regions in vector output). The default is 150
PPI.
-rx number
Specifies the X resolution, in pixels per inch of image files (or rasterized regions in vector output). The default is 150 PPI.
-ry number
Specifies the Y resolution, in pixels per inch of image files (or rasterized regions in vector output). The default is 150 PPI.
-scale-to number
Scales each page to fit in scale-to*scale-to pixel box (PNG/JPEG only).
-scale-to-x number
Scales each page horizontally to fit in scale-to-x pixels (PNG/JPEG only).
-scale-to-y number
Scales each page vertically to fit in scale-to-y pixels (PNG/JPEG only).
-x number
Specifies the x-coordinate of the crop area top left corner in pixels (image output) or points (vector output)
-y number
Specifies the y-coordinate of the crop area top left corner in pixels (image output) or points (vector output)
-W number
Specifies the width of crop area in pixels (image output) or points (vector output) (default is 0)
-H number
Specifies the height of crop area in pixels (image output) or points (vector output) (default is 0)
-sz number
Specifies the size of crop square in pixels (image output) or points (vector output) (sets -W and -H)
-cropbox
Uses the crop box rather than media box when generating the files
-mono Generate a monochrome file (PNG only).
-gray Generate a grayscale file (PNG and JPEG only).
-transp
Use a transparent page color instead of white (PNG only).
-icc icc-file
Use the specified ICC file as the output profile (PNG only). The profile will be embedded in the PNG file.
-level2
Generate Level 2 PostScript (PS only).
-level3
Generate Level 3 PostScript (PS only). This enables all Level 2 features plus shading patterns and masked images. This is the
default setting.
-origpagesizes
Generate a file with variable page sizes and orientations (PS and PDF only). The size of each page will be the original page in the
PDF file. If the output is PS the file will contain %%DocumentMedia and %%PageMedia DSC comments specifying the size of each page.
Any specification of the page size via -paper, -paperw, or -paperh will get overridden as long as each page of the PDF file has a
defined paper size.
-paper size
Set the paper size to one of "letter", "legal", "A4", or "A3" (PS,PDF,SVG only). This can also be set to "match", which will set
the paper size to match the size specified in the PDF file. -origpagesizes overrides this setting if the PDF file has defined page
sizes.
-paperw size
Set the paper width, in points (PS,PDF,SVG only). -origpagesizes overrides this setting if the PDF file has defined page sizes.
-paperh size
Set the paper height, in points (PS,PDF,SVG only). -origpagesizes overrides this setting if the PDF file has defined page sizes.
-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 (PS,PDF,SVG only). By default, these pages are not scaled.
-noshrink
Don't scale PDF pages which are larger than the paper (PS,PDF,SVG only). By default, 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 (PS,PDF,SVG only).
-duplex
Adds the %%IncludeFeature: *Duplex DuplexNoTumble DSC comment to the PostScript file (PS only). This tells the print manager 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.
-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 poppler 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.
4 Error related to ICC profile.
99 Other error.
AUTHOR
The pdftocairo software and documentation are copyright 1996-2004 Glyph & Cog, LLC and copyright 2005-2011 The Poppler Developers.
SEE ALSO
pdffonts(1), pdfimages(1), pdfinfo(1), pdftohtml(1), pdftoppm(1), pdftops(1), pdftotext(1)
pdftoppm(1)