# pdftosrc(1) - man - phpman

[pdftosrc(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/pdftosrc/1/markdown)                            General Commands Manual                           [pdftosrc(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/pdftosrc/1/markdown)



## NAME
       pdftosrc - extract source file or stream from PDF file

## SYNOPSIS
       **pdftosrc** _PDF-file_ [_stream-object-number_]

## DESCRIPTION
       If  only  _PDF-file_  is given as argument, **pdftosrc** extracts the embedded source file from the
       first found stream object with /Type /SourceFile within the _PDF-file_ and writes it to a  file
       with  the  name /SourceName as defined in that PDF stream object (see application example be‐
       low).

       If both _PDF-file_ and _stream-object-number_ are given as arguments, and _stream-object-number_ is
       positive,  **pdftosrc**  extracts  and  uncompresses  the  PDF  stream of the object given by its
       _stream-object-number_ from the _PDF-file_ and writes it to a file named  _PDF-file_._stream-object-_
       _number_ with the ending **.pdf** or **.PDF** stripped from the original _PDF-file_ name.

       A  special  case  is  related  to  XRef object streams that are part of the PDF standard from
       PDF-1.5 onward: If _stream-object-number_ equals -1, then **pdftosrc** decompresses the XRef stream
       from  the PDF file and writes it in human-readable PDF cross-reference table format to a file
       named _PDF-file_**.xref** (these XRef streams can not be extracted just by giving their object num‐
       ber).

       In any case an existing file with the output file name will be overwritten.

## OPTIONS
       None.

## FILES
       Just the executable **pdftosrc**.

## ENVIRONMENT
       None.

## DIAGNOSTICS
       At success the exit code of **pdftosrc** is 0, else 1.

       All messages go to stderr.  At program invocation, **pdftosrc** issues the current version number
       of the program **xpdf**, on which **pdftosrc** is based:

              pdftosrc version 3.01

       When **pdftosrc** was successful with the output file writing, one of the following messages will
       be issued:

              Source file extracted to _source-file-name_

       or

              Stream object extracted to _PDF-file_._stream-object-number_

       or

              Cross-reference table extracted to _PDF-file_.xref


       When  the object given by the _stream-object-number_ does not contain a stream, **pdftosrc** issues
       the following error message:

              Not a Stream object

       When the _PDF-file_ can't be opened, the error message is:

              Error: Couldn't open file '_PDF-file_'.

       When **pdftosrc** encounters an invalid PDF file, the error message (several lines) is:

              Error: May not be a PDF file (continuing anyway)
              (more lines)
              Invalid PDF file

       There are also more error messages from **pdftosrc** for various kinds of broken PDF files.

## NOTES
       An embedded source file will be written out unchanged, i. e. it will not be  uncompressed  in
       this process.

       Only the stream of the object will be written, i. e. not the dictionary of that object.

       Knowing  which _stream-object-number_ to query requires information about the PDF file that has
       to be gained elsewhere, e. g. by looking into the PDF file with an editor.

       The stream extraction capabilities of **pdftosrc** (e. g. regarding understood PDF  versions  and
       filter types) follow the capabilities of the underlying **xpdf** program version.

       Currently  the  generation number of the stream object is not supported.  The default value 0
       (zero) is taken.

       The wording _stream-object-number_ has nothing to do with the `object  streams'  introduced  by
       the Adobe PDF Reference, 5th edition, version 1.6.

## EXAMPLES
       When  using  pdftex,  a source file can be embedded into some _PDF-file_ by using pdftex primi‐
       tives, as illustrated by the following example:

       \immediate\pdfobj
           stream attr {/Type /SourceFile /SourceName (myfile.zip)}
           file{myfile.zip}
       \pdfcatalog{/SourceObject \the\pdflastobj\space 0 R}

       Then this zip file can be extracted from the _PDF-file_ by calling **pdftosrc** _PDF-file_.

## BUGS
       Not all embedded source files will be extracted, only the first found one.

       Email bug reports to **<pdftex@tug.org>.**

## SEE ALSO
       [**xpdf**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/xpdf/1/markdown), [**pdfimages**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/pdfimages/1/markdown), [**pdftotext**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/pdftotext/1/markdown), [**pdftex**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/pdftex/1/markdown),

## AUTHORS
       **pdftosrc** written by Han The Thanh, using **xpdf** functionality from Derek Noonburg.

       Man page written by Hartmut Henkel.

## COPYRIGHT
       Copyright (c) 1996-2006 Han The Thanh, <<thanh@pdftex.org>>

       This file is part of pdfTeX.

       pdfTeX is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the  GNU
       General  Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the
       License, or (at your option) any later version.

       pdfTeX is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY  WARRANTY;  without
       even  the  implied  warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
       GNU General Public License for more details.

       You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with pdfTeX; if  not,
       write  to  the  Free  Software  Foundation,  Inc.,  59  Temple  Place,  Suite 330, Boston, MA
       02111-1307  USA



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