{ "mode": "man", "parameter": "pdftocairo", "section": "1", "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/pdftocairo/1/json", "generated": "2026-07-05T13:18:45Z", "synopsis": "pdftocairo [options] PDF-file [output-file]", "sections": { "NAME": { "content": "pdftocairo - Portable Document Format (PDF) to PNG/JPEG/TIFF/PDF/PS/EPS/SVG using cairo\n", "subsections": [] }, "SYNOPSIS": { "content": "pdftocairo [options] PDF-file [output-file]\n", "subsections": [] }, "DESCRIPTION": { "content": "pdftocairo converts Portable Document Format (PDF) files, using the cairo output device of\nthe poppler PDF library, to any of the following output formats:\n\n• Portable Network Graphics (PNG)\n\n• JPEG Interchange Format (JPEG)\n\n• Tagged Image File Format (TIFF)\n\n• Portable Document Format (PDF)\n\n• PostScript (PS)\n\n• Encapsulated PostScript (EPS)\n\n• Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG)\n\n• Windows Printer\n\npdftocairo reads the PDF file, PDF-file, and writes to output-file. The image formats (PNG,\nJPEG, and TIFF) generate one file per page with the page number and file type appended to\noutput-file. When -singlefile is used with the image formats, the file type is appended to\noutput-file. When the output format is a vector format (PDF, PS, EPS, and SVG), output-file\nis the full filename.\n\nIf the PDF-file is “-” , the PDF is read from stdin. If the output-file is “-” , the output\nfile will be written to stdout. Using stdout is not valid with image formats unless -single‐\nfile is used. If output-file is not used, the output filename will be derived from the PDF-\nfile filename.\n\nNot all options are valid with all output formats. One (and only one) of the output format\noptions (-png, -jpeg, -tiff, -pdf, -print, -ps, -eps, or -svg) must be used.\n\nThe resolution options (-r, -rx, -ry) set the resolution of the image output formats. The im‐\nage dimensions will depend on the PDF page size and the resolution. For the vector outputs,\nregions of the page that can not be represented natively in the output format (eg translu‐\ncency in PS) will be rasterized at the resolution specified by the resolution options.\n\nThe -scale-to options may be used to set a fixed image size. The image resolution will vary\nwith the page size.\n\nThe cropping options (-x, -y, -W, and -H) use units of pixels with the image formats and\nPostScript points (1/72 inch) with the vector formats. When cropping is used with vector out‐\nput the cropped region is centered unless -nocenter is used in which case the cropped region\nis at the top left (SVG) or bottom left (PDF, PS, EPS).\n", "subsections": [] }, "OPTIONS": { "content": "", "subsections": [ { "name": "-png", "content": "" }, { "name": "-jpeg", "content": "" }, { "name": "-tiff", "content": "" }, { "name": "-pdf", "content": "" }, { "name": "-ps", "content": "" }, { "name": "-eps", "content": "with a multi-page PDF file, you must use -f and -l to specify a single page. The page\nsize options (-origpagesizes, -paper, -paperw, -paperh) can not be used with this op‐\ntion.\n" }, { "name": "-svg", "content": "" }, { "name": "-print", "content": "If an output file is not specified, the output will be sent to the printer.\nThe output file '-' can not be used with this option.\n" }, { "name": "-printdlg", "content": "(Windows only) Prints to a system printer. Displays the print dialog to allow the\nprint options to be modified before printing.\n" }, { "name": "-f", "content": "Specifies the first page to convert.\n", "flag": "-f" }, { "name": "-l", "content": "Specifies the last page to convert.\n", "flag": "-l" }, { "name": "-o", "content": "", "flag": "-o" }, { "name": "-e", "content": "", "flag": "-e" }, { "name": "-singlefile", "content": "Writes only the first page and does not add digits.\n" }, { "name": "-r", "content": "Specifies the X and Y resolution, in pixels per inch of image files (or rasterized re‐\ngions in vector output). The default is 150 PPI.\n", "flag": "-r" }, { "name": "-rx", "content": "Specifies the X resolution, in pixels per inch of image files (or rasterized regions\nin vector output). The default is 150 PPI.\n" }, { "name": "-ry", "content": "Specifies the Y resolution, in pixels per inch of image files (or rasterized regions\nin vector output). The default is 150 PPI.\n" }, { "name": "-scale-to", "content": "Scales the long side of each page (width for landscape pages, height for portrait\npages) to fit in scale-to pixels. The size of the short side will be determined by the\naspect ratio of the page (PNG/JPEG/TIFF only).\n" }, { "name": "-scale-to-x", "content": "Scales each page horizontally to fit in scale-to-x pixels. If scale-to-y is set to -1,\nthe vertical size will determined by the aspect ratio of the page (PNG/JPEG/TIFF\nonly).\n" }, { "name": "-scale-to-y", "content": "Scales each page vertically to fit in scale-to-y pixels. If scale-to-x is set to -1,\nthe horizontal size will determined by the aspect ratio of the page (PNG/JPEG/TIFF\nonly).\n" }, { "name": "-x", "content": "Specifies the x-coordinate of the crop area top left corner in pixels (image output)\nor points (vector output)\n", "flag": "-x" }, { "name": "-y", "content": "Specifies the y-coordinate of the crop area top left corner in pixels (image output)\nor points (vector output)\n", "flag": "-y" }, { "name": "-W", "content": "Specifies the width of crop area in pixels (image output) or points (vector output)\n(default is 0)\n", "flag": "-W" }, { "name": "-H", "content": "Specifies the height of crop area in pixels (image output) or points (vector output)\n(default is 0)\n", "flag": "-H" }, { "name": "-sz", "content": "Specifies the size of crop square in pixels (image output) or points (vector output)\n(sets -W and -H)\n" }, { "name": "-cropbox", "content": "Uses the crop box rather than media box when generating the files (PNG/JPEG/TIFF only)\n" }, { "name": "-mono", "content": "" }, { "name": "-gray", "content": "" }, { "name": "-antialias", "content": "Set the cairo antialias option used for text and drawing in image files (or rasterized\nregions in vector output). The options are:\n\ndefault\nUse the default antialiasing for the target device. This is the default setting\nif -antialias is not used.\n\nnone Antialiasing is disabled.\n\ngray Perform single-color antialiasing using shades of gray.\n\nsubpixel\nPerform antialiasing by taking advantage of the order of subpixel elements on\ndevices such as LCD.\n\nfast Hint that the backend should perform some antialiasing but prefer speed over\nquality.\n\ngood The backend should balance quality against performance.\n\nbest Hint that the backend should render at the highest quality, sacrificing speed\nif necessary.\n" }, { "name": "-transp", "content": "Use a transparent page color instead of white (PNG and TIFF only).\n" }, { "name": "-icc", "content": "Use the specified ICC file as the output profile (PNG only). The profile will be em‐\nbedded in the PNG file.\n" }, { "name": "-jpegopt", "content": "When used with -jpeg, takes a list of options to control the jpeg compression. See\nJPEG OPTIONS for the available options.\n" }, { "name": "-level2", "content": "Generate Level 2 PostScript (PS only).\n" }, { "name": "-level3", "content": "Generate Level 3 PostScript (PS only). This enables all Level 2 features plus shading\npatterns and masked images. This is the default setting.\n" }, { "name": "-origpagesizes", "content": "This option is the same as \"-paper match\".\n" }, { "name": "-paper", "content": "Set the paper size to one of \"letter\", \"legal\", \"A4\", or \"A3\" (PS,PDF,SVG only). This\ncan also be set to \"match\", which will set the paper size of each page to match the\nsize specified in the PDF file. If none the -paper, -paperw, or -paperh options are\nspecified the default is to match the paper size.\n" }, { "name": "-paperw", "content": "Set the paper width, in points (PS,PDF,SVG only).\n" }, { "name": "-paperh", "content": "Set the paper height, in points (PS,PDF,SVG only).\n" }, { "name": "-nocrop", "content": "By default, printing output is cropped to the CropBox specified in the PDF file. This\noption disables cropping (PS,PDF,SVG only).\n" }, { "name": "-expand", "content": "Expand PDF pages smaller than the paper to fill the paper (PS,PDF,SVG only). By de‐\nfault, these pages are not scaled.\n" }, { "name": "-noshrink", "content": "Don't scale PDF pages which are larger than the paper (PS,PDF,SVG only). By default,\npages larger than the paper are shrunk to fit.\n" }, { "name": "-nocenter", "content": "By default, PDF pages smaller than the paper (after any scaling) are centered on the\npaper. This option causes them to be aligned to the lower-left corner of the paper\ninstead (PS,PDF,SVG only).\n" }, { "name": "-duplex", "content": "Adds the %%IncludeFeature: *Duplex DuplexNoTumble DSC comment to the PostScript file\n(PS only). This tells the print manager to enable duplexing.\n" }, { "name": "-printer", "content": "(Windows only). When used with -print, specifies the name of the printer to be used,\ninstead of the system default.\n" }, { "name": "-printopt", "content": "(Windows only). When used with -print, takes a list of options to be used to configure\nthe printer. See WINDOWS PRINTER OPTIONS for the available options.\n" }, { "name": "-setupdlg", "content": "(Windows only). When used with -print, the printer properties dialog is displayed al‐\nlowing the print settings to be modified before printing. The paper size selected in\nthe print properties dialog will be used except when -origpagesizes is specified.\n" }, { "name": "-opw", "content": "Specify the owner password for the PDF file. Providing this will bypass all security\nrestrictions.\n" }, { "name": "-upw", "content": "Specify the user password for the PDF file.\n" }, { "name": "-q", "content": "", "flag": "-q" }, { "name": "-v", "content": "", "flag": "-v" }, { "name": "-h -help --help", "content": "", "flag": "-h", "long": "--help" } ] }, "EXIT CODES": { "content": "The poppler tools use the following exit codes:\n\n0 No error.\n\n1 Error opening a PDF file.\n\n2 Error opening an output file.\n\n3 Error related to PDF permissions.\n\n4 Error related to ICC profile.\n\n99 Other error.\n", "subsections": [] }, "JPEG OPTIONS": { "content": "When JPEG output is specified, the -jpegopt option can be used to control the JPEG compres‐\nsion parameters. It takes a string of the form \"=[,=]\". Currently the\navailable options are:\n", "subsections": [ { "name": "quality", "content": "Selects the JPEG quality value. The value must be an integer between 0 and 100.\n" }, { "name": "progressive", "content": "Select progressive JPEG output. The possible values are \"y\", \"n\", indicating progres‐\nsive (yes) or non-progressive (no), respectively.\n" }, { "name": "optimize", "content": "Sets whether to compute optimal Huffman coding tables for the JPEG output, which will\ncreate smaller files but make an extra pass over the data. The value must be \"y\" or\n\"n\", with \"y\" performing optimization, otherwise the default Huffman tables are used.\n" } ] }, "WINDOWS PRINTER OPTIONS": { "content": "In Windows, you can use the -print option to print directly to a system printer. Addition‐\nally, you can use the -printopt option to configure the printer. It takes a string of the\nform \"=[,=]\". Currently the available options are:\n\nsource Selects the source paper tray to be used (bin). The possible values are \"upper\", \"on‐\nlyone\", \"lower\", \"middle\", \"manual\", \"envelope\", \"envmanual\", \"auto\", \"tractor\",\n\"smallfmt\", \"largefmt\", \"largecapacity\", \"formsource\", or a numeric value to choose a\ndriver specific source.\n\nduplex Sets the duplex mode of the printer. The possible values are \"off\", \"short\" or \"long\",\nindicating no duplexing, short-edge binding, or long-edge binding, respectively. Gen‐\neral option -duplex is a synonym of \"duplex=long\". If both options are specified,\n-printopt has priority.\n", "subsections": [] }, "AUTHOR": { "content": "The pdftocairo software and documentation are copyright 1996-2004 Glyph & Cog, LLC and copy‐\nright 2005-2011 The Poppler Developers.\n", "subsections": [] }, "SEE ALSO": { "content": "pdfdetach(1), pdffonts(1), pdfimages(1), pdfinfo(1), pdftohtml(1), pdftoppm(1), pdftops(1),\npdftotext(1) pdfseparate(1), pdfsig(1), pdfunite(1)\n\n\n\npdftocairo(1)", "subsections": [] } }, "summary": "pdftocairo - Portable Document Format (PDF) to PNG/JPEG/TIFF/PDF/PS/EPS/SVG using cairo", "flags": [ { "flag": "", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "" }, { "flag": "", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "" }, { "flag": "", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "" }, { "flag": "", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "" }, { "flag": "", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "" }, { "flag": "", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "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 op‐ tion." }, { "flag": "", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "" }, { "flag": "", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "If an output file is not specified, the output will be sent to the printer. The output file '-' can not be used with this option." }, { "flag": "", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "(Windows only) Prints to a system printer. Displays the print dialog to allow the print options to be modified before printing." }, { "flag": "-f", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "Specifies the first page to convert." }, { "flag": "-l", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "Specifies the last page to convert." }, { "flag": "-o", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "" }, { "flag": "-e", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "" }, { "flag": "", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "Writes only the first page and does not add digits." }, { "flag": "-r", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "Specifies the X and Y resolution, in pixels per inch of image files (or rasterized re‐ gions in vector output). The default is 150 PPI." }, { "flag": "", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "Specifies the X resolution, in pixels per inch of image files (or rasterized regions in vector output). The default is 150 PPI." }, { "flag": "", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "Specifies the Y resolution, in pixels per inch of image files (or rasterized regions in vector output). The default is 150 PPI." }, { "flag": "", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "Scales the long side of each page (width for landscape pages, height for portrait pages) to fit in scale-to pixels. The size of the short side will be determined by the aspect ratio of the page (PNG/JPEG/TIFF only)." }, { "flag": "", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "Scales each page horizontally to fit in scale-to-x pixels. If scale-to-y is set to -1, the vertical size will determined by the aspect ratio of the page (PNG/JPEG/TIFF only)." }, { "flag": "", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "Scales each page vertically to fit in scale-to-y pixels. If scale-to-x is set to -1, the horizontal size will determined by the aspect ratio of the page (PNG/JPEG/TIFF only)." }, { "flag": "-x", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "Specifies the x-coordinate of the crop area top left corner in pixels (image output) or points (vector output)" }, { "flag": "-y", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "Specifies the y-coordinate of the crop area top left corner in pixels (image output) or points (vector output)" }, { "flag": "-W", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "Specifies the width of crop area in pixels (image output) or points (vector output) (default is 0)" }, { "flag": "-H", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "Specifies the height of crop area in pixels (image output) or points (vector output) (default is 0)" }, { "flag": "", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "Specifies the size of crop square in pixels (image output) or points (vector output) (sets -W and -H)" }, { "flag": "", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "Uses the crop box rather than media box when generating the files (PNG/JPEG/TIFF only)" }, { "flag": "", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "" }, { "flag": "", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "" }, { "flag": "", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "Set the cairo antialias option used for text and drawing in image files (or rasterized regions in vector output). The options are: default Use the default antialiasing for the target device. This is the default setting if -antialias is not used. none Antialiasing is disabled. gray Perform single-color antialiasing using shades of gray. subpixel Perform antialiasing by taking advantage of the order of subpixel elements on devices such as LCD. fast Hint that the backend should perform some antialiasing but prefer speed over quality. good The backend should balance quality against performance. best Hint that the backend should render at the highest quality, sacrificing speed if necessary." }, { "flag": "", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "Use a transparent page color instead of white (PNG and TIFF only)." }, { "flag": "", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "Use the specified ICC file as the output profile (PNG only). The profile will be em‐ bedded in the PNG file." }, { "flag": "", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "When used with -jpeg, takes a list of options to control the jpeg compression. See JPEG OPTIONS for the available options." }, { "flag": "", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "Generate Level 2 PostScript (PS only)." }, { "flag": "", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "Generate Level 3 PostScript (PS only). This enables all Level 2 features plus shading patterns and masked images. This is the default setting." }, { "flag": "", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "This option is the same as \"-paper match\"." }, { "flag": "", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "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 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." }, { "flag": "", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "Set the paper width, in points (PS,PDF,SVG only)." }, { "flag": "", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "Set the paper height, in points (PS,PDF,SVG only)." }, { "flag": "", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "By default, printing output is cropped to the CropBox specified in the PDF file. This option disables cropping (PS,PDF,SVG only)." }, { "flag": "", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "Expand PDF pages smaller than the paper to fill the paper (PS,PDF,SVG only). By de‐ fault, these pages are not scaled." }, { "flag": "", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "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." }, { "flag": "", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "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)." }, { "flag": "", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "Adds the %%IncludeFeature: *Duplex DuplexNoTumble DSC comment to the PostScript file (PS only). This tells the print manager to enable duplexing." }, { "flag": "", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "(Windows only). When used with -print, specifies the name of the printer to be used, instead of the system default." }, { "flag": "", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "(Windows only). When used with -print, takes a list of options to be used to configure the printer. See WINDOWS PRINTER OPTIONS for the available options." }, { "flag": "", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "(Windows only). When used with -print, the printer properties dialog is displayed al‐ lowing the print settings to be modified before printing. The paper size selected in the print properties dialog will be used except when -origpagesizes is specified." }, { "flag": "", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "Specify the owner password for the PDF file. Providing this will bypass all security restrictions." }, { "flag": "", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "Specify the user password for the PDF file." }, { "flag": "-q", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "" }, { "flag": "-v", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "" }, { "flag": "-h", "long": "--help", "arg": null, "description": "" } ], "examples": [], "see_also": [ { "name": "pdfdetach", "section": "1", "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/pdfdetach/1/json" }, { "name": "pdffonts", "section": "1", "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/pdffonts/1/json" }, { "name": "pdfimages", "section": "1", "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/pdfimages/1/json" }, { "name": "pdfinfo", "section": "1", "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/pdfinfo/1/json" }, { "name": "pdftohtml", "section": "1", "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/pdftohtml/1/json" }, { "name": "pdftoppm", "section": "1", "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/pdftoppm/1/json" }, { "name": "pdftops", "section": "1", "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/pdftops/1/json" }, { "name": "pdftotext", "section": "1", "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/pdftotext/1/json" }, { "name": "pdfseparate", "section": "1", "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/pdfseparate/1/json" }, { "name": "pdfsig", "section": "1", "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/pdfsig/1/json" }, { "name": "pdfunite", "section": "1", "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/pdfunite/1/json" } ], "tldr": { "source": "official", "description": "Convert PDF files to PNG/JPEG/TIFF/PDF/PS/EPS/SVG using cairo.", "examples": [ { "description": "Convert a PDF file to JPEG", "command": "pdftocairo {{path/to/file.pdf}} -jpeg" }, { "description": "Convert to PDF expanding the output to fill the paper", "command": "pdftocairo {{path/to/file.pdf}} {{output.pdf}} -pdf -expand" }, { "description": "Convert to SVG specifying the first/last page to convert", "command": "pdftocairo {{path/to/file.pdf}} {{output.svg}} -svg -f {{first_page}} -l {{last_page}}" }, { "description": "Convert to PNG with 200ppi resolution", "command": "pdftocairo {{path/to/file.pdf}} {{output.png}} -png -r 200" }, { "description": "Convert to grayscale TIFF setting paper size to A3", "command": "pdftocairo {{path/to/file.pdf}} -tiff -gray -paper A3" }, { "description": "Convert to PNG cropping x and y pixels from the top-left corner", "command": "pdftocairo {{path/to/file.pdf}} -png -x {{x_pixels}} -y {{y_pixels}}" } ] } }