PS2PDF(1) Ghostscript PS2PDF(1)

# [NAME](#NAME)

ps2pdf - Convert PostScript to PDF using ghostscript  
ps2pdf12 - Convert PostScript to PDF 1.2 (Acrobat 3-and-later compatible) using ghostscript  
ps2pdf13 - Convert PostScript to PDF 1.3 (Acrobat 4-and-later compatible) using ghostscript  
ps2pdf14 - Convert PostScript to PDF 1.4 (Acrobat 5-and-later compatible) using ghostscript

# [SYNOPSIS](#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](#DESCRIPTION)

The **ps2pdf** scripts are work-alikes for nearly all the functionality (but not the user interface) of Adobe's Acrobat(TM) Distiller(TM) product: 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 directory. 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 documentation for more information. A large number of Adobe Distiller(TM) parameters which can be used to control the conversion are also documented there, including instructions for generating PDF/X and PDF/A documents.

# [OPTIONS](#OPTIONS)

The **ps2pdf** scripts use the same options as [**gs**(1)](/man/os/ghostscript/gs.1).

# [EXAMPLES](#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](#SEE_ALSO)

[**gs**(1)](/man/os/ghostscript/gs.1), [**ps2pdfwr**(1)](/man/os/ghostscript/ps2pdfwr.1),  
VectorDevices.htm in the Ghostscript documentation

# [BUGS](#BUGS)

See http://bugs.ghostscript.com/ and the Usenet news group comp.lang.postscript.

# [VERSION](#VERSION)

This document was last revised for Ghostscript version 10.04.0.

# [AUTHOR](#AUTHOR)

Artifex Software, Inc. are the primary maintainers of Ghostscript. This manpage by George Ferguson.

18 Sept 2024 10.04.0

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Document: ps2pdf12(1) from ghostscript 10.08.0-r1 (Chainguard OS)
Source: https://github.com/ArtifexSoftware/ghostpdl