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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.

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 v2.3.7 - 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 %
  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 v2.3.7 - 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 %
  Final Status: File created successfully

Resize to A2 and disables Auto-Rotation

$ pdfscale -v -r A2 -a none ../input.pdf
pdfscale v2.3.7 - 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
2018-04-27:18:59:45 | pdfscale v2.3.7 - Verbose Execution
2018-04-27:18:59:45 |    Mixed Tasks: Resize & Scale
2018-04-27:18:59:45 |        Dry-Run: FALSE
2018-04-27:18:59:45 |     Input File: ../mixsync manual v1-2-3.pdf
2018-04-27:18:59:45 |    Output File: ../mixsync manual v1-2-3.CUSTOM.SCALED.pdf
2018-04-27:18:59:45 |  Get Page Size: Adaptive Enabled
2018-04-27:18:59:45 |         Method: Grep
2018-04-27:18:59:45 |   Source Width: 842 postscript-points
2018-04-27:18:59:45 |  Source Height: 595 postscript-points
2018-04-27:18:59:45 |    Auto Rotate: PageByPage
2018-04-27:18:59:45 |    Flip Detect: Disabled
2018-04-27:18:59:45 |   Run Resizing: CUSTOM ( 567 x 850 ) pts
2018-04-27:18:59:45 |      New Width: 567 postscript-points
2018-04-27:18:59:45 |     New Height: 850 postscript-points
2018-04-27:18:59:45 |   Scale Factor: 0.95
2018-04-27:18:59:45 |     Vert-Align: CENTER
2018-04-27:18:59:45 |      Hor-Align: CENTER
2018-04-27:18:59:46 |  Translation X: 14.92 = 14.92 + 0.00 (offset)
2018-04-27:18:59:46 |  Translation Y: 22.37 = 22.37 + 0.00 (offset)
2018-04-27:18:59:46 |    Run Scaling: -5 %
2018-04-27:18:59:46 |   Final Status: File created successfully

Help info

$ pdfscale -h
pdfscale v2.3.9

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
 -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"
 --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
 --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
 --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

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
 - The scaling is centered and 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


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Bash Script to Scale and Resize PDFs using Ghostscript

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