ps2pdf

ps2pdf [options...] {input.[e]ps|-} [output.pdf|-]
ps2pdf12 [options...] {input.[e]ps|-} [output.pdf|-]
ps2pdf13 [options...] {input.[e]ps|-} [output.pdf|-]
ps2pdf14 [options...] {input.[e]ps|-} [output.pdf|-]

The ps2pdf scripts are work-alikes for nearly all the functionality (but not the user interface) of Adobe's Acrobat(TM) Distiller(TM) product: they convert PostScript files to Portable Document Format (PDF) files.

If the output filename is not specified, the output is placed in a file of the same name with a '.pdf' extension in the current working directory. Either the input filename or the output filename can be '-' to request reading from stdin or writing to stdout, respectively, when used as a filter.

The three scripts differ as follows:

• ps2pdf12 will always produce PDF 1.2 output (Acrobat 3-and-later compatible).

• ps2pdf13 will always produce PDF 1.3 output (Acrobat 4-and-later compatible).

• ps2pdf14 will always produce PDF 1.4 output (Acrobat 5-and-later compatible).

• ps2pdf per se currently produces PDF 1.4 output. However, this may change in the future. If you care about the compatibility level of the output, use ps2pdf12, ps2pdf13 or ps2pdf14, or use the -dCompatibilityLevel=1.x switch in the command line.

There are some limitations in ps2pdf's conversion. See the HTML documentation for more information. A large number of Adobe Distiller(TM) parameters which can be used to control the conversion are also documented there, including instructions for generating PDF/X and PDF/A documents.

The ps2pdf scripts use the same options as gs(1).

Converting a figure.ps to figure.pdf:

ps2pdf figure.ps

A conversion with more specifics:

ps2pdf -dPDFSETTINGS=/prepress figure.ps proof.pdf

Converting as part of a pipe:

make_report.pl -t ps | ps2pdf -dCompatibilityLevel=1.3 - - | lpr

See http://bugs.ghostscript.com/ and the Usenet news group comp.lang.postscript.

This document was last revised for Ghostscript version 9.53.3.

gs(1), ps2pdfwr(1), VectorDevices.htm in the Ghostscript documentation

Artifex Software, Inc. are the primary maintainers of Ghostscript. This manpage by George Ferguson.