PS2PDF(1) Ghostscript PS2PDF(1)
NAME
ps2pdf - Convert PostScript to PDF using ghostscript
ps2pdf12 - Convert PostScript to PDF 1.2 (Acrobat 3-and-later compati-
ble) using ghostscript
ps2pdf13 - Convert PostScript to PDF 1.3 (Acrobat 4-and-later compati-
ble) using ghostscript
ps2pdf14 - Convert PostScript to PDF 1.4 (Acrobat 5-and-later compati-
ble) using ghostscript
SYNOPSIS
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|-]
DESCRIPTION
The ps2pdf scripts are work-alikes for nearly all the functionality
(but not the user interface) of Adobe's Acrobat(TM) Distiller(TM) prod-
uct: 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 direc-
tory. 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 docu-
mentation for more information. A large number of Adobe Distiller(TM)
parameters which can be used to control the conversion are also docu-
mented there, including instructions for generating PDF/X and PDF/A
documents.
OPTIONS
The ps2pdf scripts use the same options as gs(1).
EXAMPLES
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 ALSO
gs(1), ps2pdfwr(1),
VectorDevices.htm in the Ghostscript documentation
BUGS
See http://bugs.ghostscript.com/ and the Usenet news group
comp.lang.postscript.
VERSION
This document was last revised for Ghostscript version 10.02.1.
AUTHOR
Artifex Software, Inc. are the primary maintainers of Ghostscript.
This manpage by George Ferguson.
10.02.1 01 November 2023 PS2PDF(1)
Generated by dwww version 1.16 on Tue Dec 16 14:58:24 CET 2025.