Bash Script to scale and/or resize PDFs from the command line.
Uses ghostscript (gs) to create a scaled and/or resized version of the pdf input.
In scaling mode, the PDF paper size does not change, just the elements are scaled.
In resize mode, the PDF paper will be changed and fit-to-page will be applied.
In mixed mode, the PDF will first be resized then scaled with two Ghostscript calls.
A temporary file is used in mixed mode, at the target location.
1AJ9whK9g1Cq83JeQXcp9DdsKjZT7r91vH
Better than explaining is showing it:
$ ./pdfScale.sh -i ../input-nup.pdf
pdfScale.sh v2.3.7 - Paper Sizes
------------+-----------------------------
File | input-nup.pdf
Paper Type | A4 Landscape
------------+-----------------------------
| WIDTH x HEIGHT
Points | 842 x 595
Milimeters | 297 x 210
Inches | 11.7 x 8.3
This also shows a very special case of a PDF file that has no /MediaBox defined.
It is a dumb container of n-up binary PDF pages.
Ggrep fails, then PDFInfo fails (not installed), then ImageMagick does the job.
This was on CygWin64 @ Windows10 x64, MacOS would try mdls as well.
$ pdfscale -v ../input-nup.pdf
pdfscale v2.4.0 - Verbose Execution
Single Task: Scale PDF Contents
Dry-Run: FALSE
Input File: ../input-nup.pdf
Output File: ../input-nup.SCALED.pdf
Get Page Size: Adaptive Enabled
Method: Grep
Failed
Method: PDFInfo
Failed
Method: ImageMagick's Identify
Source Width: 842 postscript-points
Source Height: 595 postscript-points
Scale Factor: 0.95 (auto)
Vert-Align: CENTER
Hor-Align: CENTER
Translation X: 22.16 = 22.16 + 0.00 (offset)
Translation Y: 15.66 = 15.66 + 0.00 (offset)
Run Scaling: -5 %
Background: No background (default)
Final Status: File created successfully
$ pdfscale -v -r a0 -s 1.05 ../mixsync\ manual\ v1-2-3.pdf
pdfscale v2.4.0 - Verbose Execution
Mixed Tasks: Resize & Scale
Dry-Run: FALSE
Input File: ../mixsync manual v1-2-3.pdf
Output File: ../mixsync manual v1-2-3.A0.SCALED.pdf
Get Page Size: Adaptive Enabled
Method: Grep
Source Width: 842 postscript-points
Source Height: 595 postscript-points
Auto Rotate: PageByPage
Flip Detect: Wrong orientation detected!
Inverting Width <-> Height
Run Resizing: A0 ( 3370 x 2384 ) pts
New Width: 3370 postscript-points
New Height: 2384 postscript-points
Scale Factor: 1.05
Vert-Align: CENTER
Hor-Align: CENTER
Translation X: -80.24 = -80.24 + 0.00 (offset)
Translation Y: -56.76 = -56.76 + 0.00 (offset)
Run Scaling: 5 %
Background: No background (default)
Final Status: File created successfully
$ pdfscale -v -r A2 -a none ../input.pdf
pdfscale v2.4.0 - Verbose Execution
Single Task: Resize PDF Paper
Dry-Run: FALSE
Input File: ../input.pdf
Output File: ../input.A2.pdf
Get Page Size: Adaptive Enabled
Method: Grep
Source Width: 595 postscript-points
Source Height: 842 postscript-points
Scale Factor: Disabled (resize only)
Auto Rotate: None
Flip Detect: No change needed
Run Resizing: A2 ( 1191 x 1684 ) pts
Final Status: File created successfully
$ pdfscale -v -v -r 'custom mm 200 300' -f disable -s 0.95 ../mixsync\ manual\ v1-2-3.pdf
2018-08-09:04:56:39 | pdfscale v2.4.0 - Verbose Execution
2018-08-09:04:56:39 | Mixed Tasks: Resize & Scale
2018-08-09:04:56:39 | Dry-Run: FALSE
2018-08-09:04:56:39 | Input File: ../mixsync manual v1-2-3.pdf
2018-08-09:04:56:39 | Output File: ../mixsync manual v1-2-3.CUSTOM.SCALED.pdf
2018-08-09:04:56:39 | Get Page Size: Adaptive Enabled
2018-08-09:04:56:39 | Method: Grep
2018-08-09:04:56:39 | Source Width: 842 postscript-points
2018-08-09:04:56:39 | Source Height: 595 postscript-points
2018-08-09:04:56:40 | Auto Rotate: PageByPage
2018-08-09:04:56:40 | Flip Detect: Disabled
2018-08-09:04:56:40 | Run Resizing: CUSTOM ( 567 x 850 ) pts
2018-08-09:04:56:40 | New Width: 567 postscript-points
2018-08-09:04:56:40 | New Height: 850 postscript-points
2018-08-09:04:56:40 | Scale Factor: 0.95
2018-08-09:04:56:40 | Vert-Align: CENTER
2018-08-09:04:56:40 | Hor-Align: CENTER
2018-08-09:04:56:40 | Translation X: 14.92 = 14.92 + 0.00 (offset)
2018-08-09:04:56:40 | Translation Y: 22.37 = 22.37 + 0.00 (offset)
2018-08-09:04:56:40 | Run Scaling: -5 %
2018-08-09:04:56:40 | Background: No background (default)
2018-08-09:04:56:40 | Final Status: File created successfully
$ pdfscale --help
pdfscale v2.5.1
Usage: pdfscale <inFile.pdf>
pdfscale -i <inFile.pdf>
pdfscale [-v] [-s <factor>] [-m <page-detection>] <inFile.pdf> [outfile.pdf]
pdfscale [-v] [-r <paper>] [-f <flip-detection>] [-a <auto-rotation>] <inFile.pdf> [outfile.pdf]
pdfscale -p
pdfscale -h
pdfscale -V
Parameters:
-v, --verbose
Verbose mode, prints extra information
Use twice for timestamp
-h, --help
Print this help to screen and exits
-V, --version
Prints version to screen and exits
--install, --self-install [target-path]
Install itself to [target-path] or /usr/local/bin/pdfscale if not specified
Should contain the full path with the desired executable name
--upgrade, --self-upgrade
Upgrades itself in-place (same path/name of the pdfScale.sh caller)
Downloads the master branch tarball and tries to self-upgrade
--insecure, --no-check-certificate
Use curl/wget without SSL library support
--yes, --assume-yes
Will answer yes to any prompt on install or upgrade, use with care
-n, --no-overwrite
Aborts execution if the output PDF file already exists
By default, the output file will be overwritten
-m, --mode <mode>
Paper size detection mode
Modes: a, adaptive Default mode, tries all the methods below
g, grep Forces the use of Grep method
m, mdls Forces the use of MacOS Quartz mdls
p, pdfinfo Forces the use of PDFInfo
i, identify Forces the use of ImageMagick's Identify
-i, --info <file>
Prints <file> Paper Size information to screen and exits
-s, --scale <factor>
Changes the scaling factor or forces mixed mode
Defaults: 0.95 (scale mode) / Disabled (resize mode)
MUST be a number bigger than zero
Eg. -s 0.8 for 80% of the original size
-r, --resize <paper>
Triggers the Resize Paper Mode, disables auto-scaling of 0.95
Resize PDF and fit-to-page
<paper> can be: source, custom or a valid std paper name, read below
-c, --cropbox <paper>
Resets Cropboxes on all pages to a specific paper size
Only applies to resize mode
<paper> can be: full | fullsize - Uses the same size as the main paper/mediabox
custom - Define a custom cropbox size in inches, mm or points
std paper name - Uses a paper size name (eg. a4, letter, etc)
-f, --flip-detect <mode>
Flip Detection Mode, defaults to 'auto'
Inverts Width <-> Height of a Resized PDF
Modes: a, auto Keeps source orientation, default
f, force Forces flip W <-> H
d, disable Disables flipping
-a, --auto-rotate <mode>
Setting for GS -dAutoRotatePages, defaults to 'PageByPage'
Uses text-orientation detection to set Portrait/Landscape
Modes: p, pagebypage Auto-rotates pages individually
n, none Retains orientation of each page
a, all Rotates all pages (or none) depending
on a kind of "majority decision"
--no-fit-to-page
Disables GS option dPDFFitPage (used when resizing)
--hor-align, --horizontal-alignment <left|center|right>
Where to translate the scaled page
Default: center
Options: left, right, center
--vert-align, --vertical-alignment <top|center|bottom>
Where to translate the scaled page
Default: center
Options: top, bottom, center
--xoffset, --xtrans-offset <FloatNumber>
Add/Subtract from the X translation (move left-right)
Default: 0.0 (zero)
Options: Positive or negative floating point number
--yoffset, --ytrans-offset <FloatNumber>
Add/Subtract from the Y translation (move top-bottom)
Default: 0.0 (zero)
Options: Positive or negative floating point number
--pdf-settings <gs-pdf-profile>
Ghostscript PDF Profile to use in -dPDFSETTINGS
Default: printer
Options: screen, ebook, printer, prepress, default
--print-mode <mode>
Setting for GS -dPrinted, loads options for screen or printer
Defaults to nothing, which uses the print profile for files
The screen profile preserves URLs, but loses print annotations
Modes: s, screen Use screen options > '-dPrinted=false'
p, printer Use print options > '-dPrinted'
--image-downsample <gs-downsample-method>
Ghostscript Image Downsample Method
Default: bicubic
Options: subsample, average, bicubic
--image-resolution <dpi>
Resolution in DPI of color and grayscale images in output
Default: 300
--background-gray <percentage>
Creates a background with a gray color setting on PDF scaling
Percentage is a floating point percentage number between 0(black) and 1(white)
--background-cmyk <"C M Y K">
Creates a background with a CMYK color setting on PDF scaling
Must be quoted into a single parameter as in "0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2"
Each color parameter is a floating point percentage number (between 0 and 1)
--background-rgb <"R G B">
Creates a background with a RGB color setting on PDF scaling
Must be quoted into a single parameter as in "100 100 200"
RGB numbers are integers between 0 and 255 (255 122 50)
--dry-run, --simulate
Just simulate execution. Will not run ghostscript
--print-gs-call, --gs-call
Print GS call to stdout. Will print at the very end between markers
-p, --print-papers
Prints Standard Paper info tables to screen and exits
Scaling Mode:
- The default mode of operation is scaling mode with fixed paper
size and scaling pre-set to 0.95
- By not using the resize mode you are using scaling mode
- Flip-Detection and Auto-Rotation are disabled in Scaling mode,
you can use '-r source -s <scale>' to override.
- Ghostscript placement is from bottom-left position. This means that
a bottom-left placement has ZERO for both X and Y translations.
Resize Paper Mode:
- Disables the default scaling factor! (0.95)
- Changes the PDF Paper Size in points. Will fit-to-page
Mixed Mode:
- In mixed mode both the -s option and -r option must be specified
- The PDF will be first resized then scaled
Output filename:
- Having the extension .pdf on the output file name is optional,
it will be added if not present.
- The output filename is optional. If no file name is passed
the output file will have the same name/destination of the
input file with added suffixes:
.SCALED.pdf is added to scaled files
.<PAPERSIZE>.pdf is added to resized files
.<PAPERSIZE>.SCALED.pdf is added in mixed mode
Standard Paper Names: (case-insensitive)
A0 A1 A2 A3 A4
A4SMALL A5 A6 A7 A8
A9 A10 ISOB0 ISOB1 ISOB2
ISOB3 ISOB4 ISOB5 ISOB6 C0
C1 C2 C3 C4 C5
C6 11X17 LEDGER LEGAL LETTER
LETTERSMALL ARCHE ARCHD ARCHC ARCHB
ARCHA JISB0 JISB1 JISB2 JISB3
JISB4 JISB5 JISB6 FLSA FLSE
HALFLETTER HAGAKI
Custom Paper Size:
- Paper size can be set manually in Milimeters, Inches or Points
- Custom paper definition MUST be quoted into a single parameter
- Actual size is applied in points (mms and inches are transformed)
- Measurements: mm, mms, milimeters
pt, pts, points
in, inch, inches
Use: pdfscale -r 'custom <measurement> <width> <height>'
Ex: pdfscale -r 'custom mm 300 300'
Using Source Paper Size: (no-resizing)
- Wildcard 'source' is used used to keep paper size the same as the input
- Usefull to run Auto-Rotation without resizing
- Eg. pdfscale -r source ./input.pdf
Backgrounding: (paint a background)
- Backgrounding only happens when scaling
- Use a scale of 1.0 to force mixed mode and add background while resizing
Options and Parameters Parsing:
- From v2.1.0 (long-opts) there is no need to pass file names at the end
- Anything that is not a short-option is case-insensitive
- Short-options: case-sensitive Eg. -v for Verbose, -V for Version
- Long-options: case-insensitive Eg. --SCALE and --scale are the same
- Subparameters: case-insensitive Eg. -m PdFinFo is valid
- Grouping short-options is not supported Eg. -vv, or -vs 0.9
Additional Notes:
- File and folder names with spaces should be quoted or escaped
- Using a scale bigger than 1.0 may result on cropping parts of the PDF
- For detailed paper types information, use: pdfscale -p
Examples:
pdfscale myPdfFile.pdf
pdfscale -i '/home/My Folder/My PDF File.pdf'
pdfscale myPdfFile.pdf "My Scaled Pdf"
pdfscale -v -v myPdfFile.pdf
pdfscale -s 0.85 myPdfFile.pdf My\ Scaled\ Pdf.pdf
pdfscale -m pdfinfo -s 0.80 -v myPdfFile.pdf
pdfscale -v -v -m i -s 0.7 myPdfFile.pdf
pdfscale -r A4 myPdfFile.pdf
pdfscale -v -v -r "custom mm 252 356" -s 0.9 -f "../input file.pdf" "../my new pdf"
The -p parameter prints detailed paper types information
$ pdfscale -p
pdfscale v2.3.7
Paper Sizes Information
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
| ISO STANDARD |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
| Name | inchW | inchH | mm W | mm H | pts W | pts H |
+-----------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
| a0 | 33.1 | 46.8 | 841 | 1189 | 2384 | 3370 |
| a1 | 23.4 | 33.1 | 594 | 841 | 1684 | 2384 |
| a2 | 16.5 | 23.4 | 420 | 594 | 1191 | 1684 |
| a3 | 11.7 | 16.5 | 297 | 420 | 842 | 1191 |
| a4 | 8.3 | 11.7 | 210 | 297 | 595 | 842 |
| a4small | 8.3 | 11.7 | 210 | 297 | 595 | 842 |
| a5 | 5.8 | 8.3 | 148 | 210 | 420 | 595 |
| a6 | 4.1 | 5.8 | 105 | 148 | 297 | 420 |
| a7 | 2.9 | 4.1 | 74 | 105 | 210 | 297 |
| a8 | 2.1 | 2.9 | 52 | 74 | 148 | 210 |
| a9 | 1.5 | 2.1 | 37 | 52 | 105 | 148 |
| a10 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 26 | 37 | 73 | 105 |
| isob0 | 39.4 | 55.7 | 1000 | 1414 | 2835 | 4008 |
| isob1 | 27.8 | 39.4 | 707 | 1000 | 2004 | 2835 |
| isob2 | 19.7 | 27.8 | 500 | 707 | 1417 | 2004 |
| isob3 | 13.9 | 19.7 | 353 | 500 | 1001 | 1417 |
| isob4 | 9.8 | 13.9 | 250 | 353 | 709 | 1001 |
| isob5 | 6.9 | 9.8 | 176 | 250 | 499 | 709 |
| isob6 | 4.9 | 6.9 | 125 | 176 | 354 | 499 |
| c0 | 36.1 | 51.1 | 917 | 1297 | 2599 | 3677 |
| c1 | 25.5 | 36.1 | 648 | 917 | 1837 | 2599 |
| c2 | 18.0 | 25.5 | 458 | 648 | 1298 | 1837 |
| c3 | 12.8 | 18.0 | 324 | 458 | 918 | 1298 |
| c4 | 9.0 | 12.8 | 229 | 324 | 649 | 918 |
| c5 | 6.4 | 9.0 | 162 | 229 | 459 | 649 |
| c6 | 4.5 | 6.4 | 114 | 162 | 323 | 459 |
+-----------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
| US STANDARD |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
| Name | inchW | inchH | mm W | mm H | pts W | pts H |
+-----------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
| 11x17 | 11.0 | 17.0 | 279 | 432 | 792 | 1224 |
| ledger | 17.0 | 11.0 | 432 | 279 | 1224 | 792 |
| legal | 8.5 | 14.0 | 216 | 356 | 612 | 1008 |
| letter | 8.5 | 11.0 | 216 | 279 | 612 | 792 |
| lettersmall | 8.5 | 11.0 | 216 | 279 | 612 | 792 |
| archE | 36.0 | 48.0 | 914 | 1219 | 2592 | 3456 |
| archD | 24.0 | 36.0 | 610 | 914 | 1728 | 2592 |
| archC | 18.0 | 24.0 | 457 | 610 | 1296 | 1728 |
| archB | 12.0 | 18.0 | 305 | 457 | 864 | 1296 |
| archA | 9.0 | 12.0 | 229 | 305 | 648 | 864 |
+-----------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
| JIS STANDARD *Aproximated Points |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
| Name | inchW | inchH | mm W | mm H | pts W | pts H |
+-----------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
| jisb0 | NA | NA | 1030 | 1456 | 2920 | 4127 |
| jisb1 | NA | NA | 728 | 1030 | 2064 | 2920 |
| jisb2 | NA | NA | 515 | 728 | 1460 | 2064 |
| jisb3 | NA | NA | 364 | 515 | 1032 | 1460 |
| jisb4 | NA | NA | 257 | 364 | 729 | 1032 |
| jisb5 | NA | NA | 182 | 257 | 516 | 729 |
| jisb6 | NA | NA | 128 | 182 | 363 | 516 |
+-----------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
| OTHERS |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
| Name | inchW | inchH | mm W | mm H | pts W | pts H |
+-----------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
| flsa | 8.5 | 13.0 | 216 | 330 | 612 | 936 |
| flse | 8.5 | 13.0 | 216 | 330 | 612 | 936 |
| halfletter | 5.5 | 8.5 | 140 | 216 | 396 | 612 |
| hagaki | 3.9 | 5.8 | 100 | 148 | 283 | 420 |
+-----------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
The script uses basename, grep, bc and gs (ghostscript).
You probably have everything installed already, except for ghostscript.
Optional dependencies are imagemagick, pdfinfo and mdls (Mac).
This app is focused in Bash, so it will probably not run in other shells.
The script will need to see the dependencies on your $PATH variable.
sudo apt-get install ghostscript bc
sudo yum install ghostscript bc
brew install ghostscript
Page Size detection is by default in Adaptive Mode.
It will try the following methods in sequence:
- Try to get
/MediaBoxwithgrep(fastest) - Failed AND MacOS ? Try
mdls - Failed ? Try
pdfinfo - Failed ? Try ImageMagick's
identify - Failed ?
Exitwith error message
The grep method will fail on PDFs without a /MediaBox.
You may install any of the optionals to be used in that case.
MacOS is fine using mdls if the metadata of the file is accurate.
The metadata is generated automatically by the OS (Spotlight)
sudo apt-get install imagemagick pdfinfo
sudo yum install imagemagick pdfinfo
brew install imagemagick xpdf
git clone https://github.com/tavinus/pdfScale.git
cd ./pdfScale
./pdfScale.sh --version
Since v2.3.0 pdfScale can install itself using the parameter --install.
By default it will install to /usr/local/bin/pdfscale
./pdfScale.sh --install
A custom location can be specified as a parameter.
Should contain full path to executable file.
./pdfScale.sh --install /opt/pdfscale/pdfscale
# Normal install with prompts
wget -q -O /tmp/pdfScale.sh 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tavinus/pdfScale/master/pdfScale.sh' && bash /tmp/pdfScale.sh --install
# Automated install with --assume-yes
wget -q -O /tmp/pdfScale.sh 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tavinus/pdfScale/master/pdfScale.sh' && bash /tmp/pdfScale.sh --install --assume-yes
# To ignore SSL, use --no-check-certificate
wget --no-check-certificate -q -O /tmp/pdfScale.sh 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tavinus/pdfScale/master/pdfScale.sh' && bash /tmp/pdfScale.sh --install# Normal install with prompts
curl -s -o /tmp/pdfScale.sh 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tavinus/pdfScale/master/pdfScale.sh' && bash /tmp/pdfScale.sh --install
# Automated install with --assume-yes
curl -s -o /tmp/pdfScale.sh 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tavinus/pdfScale/master/pdfScale.sh' && bash /tmp/pdfScale.sh --install --assume-yes
# To ignore SSL, use --insecure
curl --insecure -s -o /tmp/pdfScale.sh 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tavinus/pdfScale/master/pdfScale.sh' && bash /tmp/pdfScale.sh --installrm /tmp/pdfScale.shThe make installer will name the executable as pdfscale with no uppercase chars and without the .sh extension.
If you have make installed you can use it to install to /usr/local/bin/pdfscale with:
sudo make install
To remove the installation use:
sudo make uninstall
Since v2.3.0 pdfScale can upgrade itself using the parameter --upgrade.
It will try to get the master branch and update itself in-place.
pdfscale --upgrade
More info on the Self-Upgrade Wiki