https://github.com/tavinus/pdfScale Skip to content Navigation Menu Toggle navigation Sign in * Product + Actions Automate any workflow + Packages Host and manage packages + Security Find and fix vulnerabilities + Codespaces Instant dev environments + GitHub Copilot Write better code with AI + Code review Manage code changes + Issues Plan and track work + Discussions Collaborate outside of code Explore + All features + Documentation + GitHub Skills + Blog * Solutions By size + Enterprise + Teams + Startups By industry + Healthcare + Financial services + Manufacturing By use case + CI/CD & Automation + DevOps + DevSecOps * Resources Resources + Learning Pathways + White papers, Ebooks, Webinars + Customer Stories + Partners * Open Source + GitHub Sponsors Fund open source developers + The ReadME Project GitHub community articles Repositories + Topics + Trending + Collections * Enterprise + Enterprise platform AI-powered developer platform Available add-ons + Advanced Security Enterprise-grade security features + GitHub Copilot Enterprise-grade AI features + Premium Support Enterprise-grade 24/7 support * Pricing Search or jump to... Search code, repositories, users, issues, pull requests... Search [ ] Clear Search syntax tips Provide feedback We read every piece of feedback, and take your input very seriously. [ ] [ ] Include my email address so I can be contacted Cancel Submit feedback Saved searches Use saved searches to filter your results more quickly Name [ ] Query [ ] To see all available qualifiers, see our documentation. Cancel Create saved search Sign in Sign up You signed in with another tab or window. Reload to refresh your session. You signed out in another tab or window. Reload to refresh your session. You switched accounts on another tab or window. Reload to refresh your session. Dismiss alert {{ message }} tavinus / pdfScale Public * * Notifications You must be signed in to change notification settings * Fork 35 * Star 223 Bash Script to Scale and Resize PDFs using Ghostscript 223 stars 35 forks Branches Tags Activity Star Notifications You must be signed in to change notification settings * Code * Issues 10 * Pull requests 1 * Discussions * Actions * Projects 0 * Wiki * Security * Insights Additional navigation options * Code * Issues * Pull requests * Discussions * Actions * Projects * Wiki * Security * Insights tavinus/pdfScale This commit does not belong to any branch on this repository, and may belong to a fork outside of the repository. master BranchesTags Go to file Code Folders and files Name Name Last commit message Last commit date Latest commit History 199 Commits .github .github .gitignore .gitignore Makefile Makefile README.md README.md pdfScale.sh pdfScale.sh View all files Repository files navigation * README pdfScale 2 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. --------------------------------------------------------------------- If you want to support this project, you can do it here [?] paypal-image --------------------------------------------------------------------- Example Runs Better than explaining is showing it: Checking File Information $ ./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 Scale by 0.95 (-5%) 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 Resize to A0 and Scale by 1.05 (+5%) $ 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 Resize to A2 and disables Auto-Rotation $ 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 Resize to custom 200x300 mm, disable Flip-Detection and Scale by 0.95 (-5%) $ 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 Help info $ pdfscale --help pdfscale v2.5.1 Usage: pdfscale pdfscale -i pdfscale [-v] [-s ] [-m ] [outfile.pdf] pdfscale [-v] [-r ] [-f ] [-a ] [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 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 Prints Paper Size information to screen and exits -s, --scale 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 Triggers the Resize Paper Mode, disables auto-scaling of 0.95 Resize PDF and fit-to-page can be: source, custom or a valid std paper name, read below -c, --cropbox Resets Cropboxes on all pages to a specific paper size Only applies to resize mode 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 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 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 Where to translate the scaled page Default: center Options: left, right, center --vert-align, --vertical-alignment Where to translate the scaled page Default: center Options: top, bottom, center --xoffset, --xtrans-offset Add/Subtract from the X translation (move left-right) Default: 0.0 (zero) Options: Positive or negative floating point number --yoffset, --ytrans-offset Add/Subtract from the Y translation (move top-bottom) Default: 0.0 (zero) Options: Positive or negative floating point number --pdf-settings Ghostscript PDF Profile to use in -dPDFSETTINGS Default: printer Options: screen, ebook, printer, prepress, default --print-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 Ghostscript Image Downsample Method Default: bicubic Options: subsample, average, bicubic --image-resolution Resolution in DPI of color and grayscale images in output Default: 300 --background-gray 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 ' 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 ..pdf is added to resized files ..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 ' 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" Standard Paper Tables 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 | +-----------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+ Dependencies 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. apt-get sudo apt-get install ghostscript bc yum sudo yum install ghostscript bc homebrew MacOS brew install ghostscript Optionals Page Size detection is by default in Adaptive Mode. It will try the following methods in sequence: 1. Try to get /MediaBox with grep (fastest) 2. Failed AND MacOS ? Try mdls 3. Failed ? Try pdfinfo 4. Failed ? Try ImageMagick's identify 5. Failed ? Exit with 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) apt-get sudo apt-get install imagemagick pdfinfo yum sudo yum install imagemagick pdfinfo homebrew MacOS brew install imagemagick xpdf Clone using git git clone https://github.com/tavinus/pdfScale.git cd ./pdfScale ./pdfScale.sh --version Self-Install 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 Run installer using curl or wget wget oneliners # 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 curl oneliners # 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 --install Remove /tmp/pdfScale.sh after done rm /tmp/pdfScale.sh Install with make The 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 Self-Upgrade 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 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Links ma.juii.net - The History SO - Scale pdf to add border for printing full size pages MichaelJCole original gist - pdfScale.sh About Bash Script to Scale and Resize PDFs using Ghostscript Topics macos pdf ghostscript imagemagick bash-script scale-pdfs pdfinfo resize-pdfs Resources Readme Activity Stars 223 stars Watchers 7 watching Forks 35 forks Report repository Releases 36 v2.5.7 - Fix typos / Fix unquoted PdfScale name Latest Jan 27, 2023 + 35 releases Sponsor this project * * ko_fi ko-fi.com/tavinus * https://bit.ly/paypaltavinus Learn more about GitHub Sponsors Packages 0 No packages published Contributors 6 * @tavinus * @boillodmanuel * @MichaelJCole * @czr * @brozkeff * @bkroggel Languages * Shell 99.8% * Makefile 0.2% Footer (c) 2024 GitHub, Inc. Footer navigation * Terms * Privacy * Security * Status * Docs * Contact * Manage cookies * Do not share my personal information You can't perform that action at this time.