pdftops
TLDR
Convert PDF to PostScript
$ pdftops [input.pdf] [output.ps]
Convert specific pages$ pdftops -f [1] -l [10] [input.pdf] [output.ps]
Level 2 PostScript output$ pdftops -level2 [input.pdf] [output.ps]
Optimize for printing$ pdftops -optimizecolorspace [input.pdf] [output.ps]
SYNOPSIS
pdftops [options] PDF-file [PS-file]
DESCRIPTION
pdftops converts PDF to PostScript format. Part of Poppler utilities, it produces higher quality output than pdf2ps from Ghostscript for most documents.
PARAMETERS
-f num
First page.-l num
Last page.-level1, -level2, -level3
PostScript level.-eps
Generate EPS.-optimizecolorspace
Optimize colors.-paper size
Paper size.-r dpi
Resolution for images.
EXAMPLES
$ # Basic conversion
pdftops document.pdf document.ps
# Create EPS from first page
pdftops -eps -f 1 -l 1 figure.pdf figure.eps
# Print to PostScript printer
pdftops document.pdf - | lpr -P ps_printer
pdftops document.pdf document.ps
# Create EPS from first page
pdftops -eps -f 1 -l 1 figure.pdf figure.eps
# Print to PostScript printer
pdftops document.pdf - | lpr -P ps_printer
POSTSCRIPT LEVELS
$ Level 1 - Maximum compatibility
Level 2 - Color, compression
Level 3 - Smooth shading, masks
Level 2 - Color, compression
Level 3 - Smooth shading, masks
CAVEATS
Output can be large. EPS mode only for single pages. Part of poppler-utils package.
HISTORY
pdftops is part of Poppler, the PDF rendering library forked from Xpdf by Derek Noonburg.
SEE ALSO
pdf2ps(1), pdftotext(1), ps2pdf(1), poppler-utils(1)
