mutool - Man Page
all purpose tool for dealing with PDF files
Examples (TL;DR)
- Convert a range of pages to PNGs (Note:
%ndin the output placeholder must be replaced with a print modifier like%dor%2d):mutool convert -o path/to/output%nd.png path/to/input.pdf 1-10 - Convert one or more pages of a PDF into text in
stdout:mutool draw -F txt path/to/input.pdf 2,3,5,... - Concatenate multiple PDF files:
mutool merge -o path/to/output.pdf path/to/input1.pdf path/to/input2.pdf ... - Query information about all content embedded in a PDF:
mutool info path/to/input.pdf - Extract all images, fonts, and resources embedded in a PDF to the current directory:
mutool extract path/to/input.pdf - Show the outline (table of contents) of a PDF:
mutool show path/to/input.pdf outline
Synopsis
| mutool | sub-command [options] |
Description
mutool is a tool based on MuPDF for dealing with document files in various manners. There are several sub commands available, as described below.
Version
| mutool | -v |
Shows the MuPDF version used to build mutool.
Audit
| mutool | audit [options] file1.pdf [file2.pdf ...] |
Outputs a report of operator and space usage for each given PDF file.
- -o filename
The output filename for the report.
Bake
| mutool | bake [options] input.pdf [output.pdf] |
Normally annotations and form field widgets are separate content streams that get drawn on top of the page contents. This command bakes annotations and/or widgets into the page contents, making them inseparable. After baking in annotations and widgets they are just visual representaitons of what the original annotation/widget looked like, their properties can no longer be edited since they no longer exist as proper annotation/widgets.
- -A
Do not bake in annotations.
- -F
Do not bake in form field widgets.
- -O options
A comma-separated list of PDF options. See PDF Output Options below.
Barcode
| mutool | barcode -d [options] file1.pdf [pages1] [file2.pdf] [pages2] |
Decodes a barcode from an image or a document.
- -p password
Use the specified password if the file is encrypted.
- -o output
The output filename. If no output is specified, any text from decoded barcodes will go to stdout.
- -r angle
Hwo much to rotate the input pages in degrees (0-360), before trying to decode any barcodes.
- pages
Comma-separated list of page numbers and ranges (for example: 1,5,10-15,20-N), where the character N denotes the last page. If no pages are specified, then all pages will be processed.
| mutool | barcode -c [options] text |
Creates a new barcode containing text argument and formatted according to options specified.
- -o output
The output format is inferred from the output filename, either PNG or PDF. If no output is specified, the default is out.png
- -F format
The desired output barcode format: aztec
codabar
code39
code93
code128
databar
databarexpanded
datamatrix
ean8
ean13
itf
maxicode
pdf417
qrcode
upca
upce
microqrcode
rmqrcode
dxfilmedge
databarlimited- -s size
Set size in pixels for the output barcode. If not specified the smallest size that can be decoded is chosen.
- -q
Add quiet zones around the barcode. This puts an empty margin around created barcodes.
- -t
Add human-readable text, when available. Some barcodes, e.g. EAN-13, may have the barcode contents printed in human-readable text next to the barcode, which is enabled by this flag.
- -t level
Set error correction level (0-8). Some barcodes, e.g. QR-codes, support several levels of error correction, which can be customized through this option.
- text
The text to be encoded into a barcode.
Clean
| mutool | clean [options] input.pdf [output.pdf] [pages ...] |
The clean command pretty prints and rewrites the syntax of a PDF file. It can be used to repair broken files, expand compressed streams, filter out a range of pages, etc.
If no output file is specified, it will write the cleaned PDF to "out.pdf" in the current directory.
- -p password
Use the specified password if the file is encrypted.
- -g
Garbage collect objects that have no references from other objects.
- -gg
In addition to -g, also renumber all objects and compact the cross reference table.
- -ggg
In addition to -gg, also merge and reuse duplicate objects.
- -gggg
In addition to -ggg, also merge and reuse duplicate streams.
- -l
No longer supported! Linearize output. Used to create a "Web Optimized" output file.
- -D
Save file without encryption.
- -E method
Save file with desired encryption method, one of: rc4-40,rc40-128,aes-128, or aes-256.
- -O password
Owner password used when encrypting output file. This is required to edit the output file.
- -U password
User password used when encrypting output file. This is required to view the output file.
- -P permissions
Permissions used when encrypting output file. These are the permissions that apply when the output file is viewed.
- -a
ASCII Hex encode binary streams. Use in conjunction with -d and -i or -f to ensure that although the images and/or fonts are compressed, the resulting file can still be viewed and edited with a text editor.
- -d
Decompress streams. This will make the output file larger, but provides easy access for reading and editing the contents with a text editor.
- -z
Deflate uncompressed streams.
If combined with -d, any decompressed streams will be recompressed.
If combined with -a, the streams will also be hex encoded after compression.- -e effort
Configure how much effort is spent compressing the output file. 0 is default amount, otherwise a percentage of the maximum effort, 1 for minimum and 100 for maximum effort.
- -f
Toggle decompression of font streams. Use in conjunction with -d to leave fonts compressed.
- -i
Toggle decompression of image streams. Use in conjunction with -d to leave images compressed.
- -c
Pretty-print graphics commands in content streams.
- -s
Sanitize graphics commands in content streams, this means, for example, removing invalid or redundant commands.
- -t
Use compact PDF object syntax. This saves space.
- -tt
Use indented PDF object syntax. This is more human-readable.
- -L
Print comments containing labels showing how each object can be reached from the Root.
- -v
Transform all text into vector graphics commands.
- -A
Create appearance streams for annotations that are missing appearance streams.
- -AA
Recreate appearance streams for all annotations.
- -m
Preserve metadata.
- -S
Subset fonts if possible. (EXPERIMENTAL!)
- -Z
Use object streams cross reference streams for extra compressoin.
- --(color|gray|bitonal)-(|lossy-|lossless-)image-subsample-method=method
Set the subsampling method (average or bicubic) for the desired image types, for example color-lossy and bitonal-lossless.
- --(color|gray|bitonal)-(|lossy-|lossless-)image-subsample-dpi=dpi[,dpi]
Set the resolution at which to subsample.
- --(color|gray|bitonal)-(|lossy-|lossless-)image-recompress-method=quality
Set the recompression quality to either of never, same, lossless, jpeg, j2k, fax, or jbig2.
- --recompress-images-when=(smaller|always)
Recompress images when the rewritten images by the subsampling- or recompression methods above are smaller (default), or always recompress them.
- --structure=(keep|drop)
Keep or drop the structure tree.
- pages
Comma-separated list of page numbers and ranges (for example: 1,5,10-15,20-N), where the character N denotes the last page. If no pages are specified, then all pages will be included.
Convert
| mutool | convert [options] input.pdf [pages ...] |
The convert command is used to convert a file from one format to another.
- -p password
Use the specified password if the file is encrypted.
- -o output
The output format is inferred from the output filename. Embed %d in the name to indicate the page number (for example: "page%d.png"). Printf modifiers are supported, for example "%03d". If no output is specified, the output will go to stdout.
- -F format
Enforce a specific output format. Only necessary when outputting to stdout since normally the output filename is used to infer the output format.
- -O options
Comma-separated list of format specific output options, see PDF Output Options and Output Options below.
- -b box
Use named page box (MediaBox, CropBox, BleedBox, TrimBox, or ArtBox).
- -A bits
Specify how many bits of anti-aliasing to use. The default is 8.
- -W width
Page width in points for EPUB layout.
- -H height
Page height in points for EPUB layout.
- -S size
Font size in points for EPUB layout.
- -U filename
User CSS stylesheet for EPUB layout. -X Disable document styles for EPUB layout.
- pages
Comma-separated list of page numbers and ranges (for example: 1,5,10-15,20-N), where the character N denotes the last page. If no pages are specified, then all pages will be rendered.
Create
| mutool | create [-o output.pdf] [options] page.txt [page2.txt ...] |
The create command creates a new PDF file with the contents created from one or more input files containing graphics commands.
- -o output
If no output file is specified, it will write the created PDF to "out.pdf" in the current directory.
- -O options
Comma-separated list of format specific output options, see PDF Output Options below.
- page.txt
A page is created for each input file, with the contents of the file copied into the content stream. Special comments in the input files are parsed to define the page dimensions and font and image resources:
- %%MediaBox LLX LLY URX URY
Set the page size (default A4).
- %%Rotate Angle
Set the page rotation (default 90 degrees).
- %%Font Name Filename Encoding
Create a simple font resource using the declared Name. Filename can be either a font file or one of the Base-14 font names (Times-Roman, etc). Encoding is one of Latin (for ISO-8859-1), Greek (for ISO-8859-7) or Cyrillic (for KOI-8).
- %%Font Name Language WMode Style Language
Create a CID font resource for CJK scripts using the declared Name. Language is one of zh-Hant, zh-Hans, ja, or ko. Wmode is one of H, or V. Style is serif, or sans.
- %%Image Im0 path/to/image.png
Create an image resource.
- COMPLETE EXAMPLE
This adds an image, a triangle and some text to a page:
%%MediaBox 0 0 595 842 %%Font TmRm Times-Roman %%Font Helv-C Helvetica Cyrillic %%Font Helv-G Helvetica Greek %%CJKFont Song zh-Hant %%CJKFont Mincho ja %%CJKFont Batang ko %%Image I0 docs/examples/huntingofthesnark.png % Draw an image. q 480 0 0 480 50 250 cm /I0 Do Q % Draw a triangle. q 1 0 0 rg 50 50 m 100 200 l 200 50 l f Q % Show some text. q 0 0 1 rg BT /TmRm 24 Tf 50 760 Td (Hello, world!) Tj ET BT /Helv-C 24 Tf 50 730 Td <fac4d2c1d7d3d4d7d5cad4c521> Tj ET BT /Helv-G 24 Tf 50 700 Td <eae1ebe7ecddf1e1> Tj ET BT /Song 24 Tf 50 670 Td <4F60 597D> Tj ET BT /Mincho 24 Tf 50 640 Td <3053 3093 306b 3061 306f> Tj ET BT /Batang 24 Tf 50 610 Td <c548 b155 d558 c138 c694> Tj ET Q
Draw
| mutool | draw [options] file [pages ...] |
The draw command will render a document to image files, convert to another vector format, or extract the text content.
The supported input document formats are: pdf, xps, cbz, md, and epub.
The supported output image formats are: pbm, pgm, ppm, pam, png, pwg, pcl, and ps.
The supported output vector formats are: svg,pdf, and debug trace (as xml).
The supported output text formats are: plain text ,html, and structured text (as xml or json).
- -p password
Use the specified password if the file is encrypted.
- -o output
The output format is inferred from the output filename. Embed %d in the name to indicate the page number (for example: "page%d.png"). Printf modifiers are supported, for example "%03d". If no output is specified, the output will go to stdout.
- -F format
Enforce a specific output format. Only necessary when outputting to stdout since normally the output filename is used to infer the output format.
- -q
Be quiet, do not print progress messages.
- -R angle
Rotate clockwise by given number of degrees.
- -r resolution
Render the page at the specified resolution. The default resolution is 72 dpi.
- -w width
Render the page at the specified width (or, if the -r flag is used, render with a maximum width).
- -h height
Render the page at the specified height (or, if the -r flag is used, render with a maximum height).
- -f
Fit exactly; ignore the aspect ratio when matching specified width/heights.
- -b box
Use named page box (MediaBox, CropBox, BleedBox, TrimBox, or ArtBox).
- -B bandheight
Render in banded mode with each band no taller than the given height. This uses less memory during rendering. Only compatible with pam, pgm, ppm, pnm and png output formats. Banded rendering and md5 checksumming may not be used at the same time.
- -T threads
Number of threads to use for rendering (banded mode only).
- -W width
Page width in points for EPUB layout.
- -H height
Page height in points for EPUB layout.
- -S size
Font size in points for EPUB layout.
- -U filename
User CSS stylesheet for EPUB layout.
- -X
Disable document styles for EPUB layout.
- -a
Disable usage of accelerator file.
- -c colorspace
Render in the specified colorspace. Supported colorspaces are: mono, gray, grayalpha, rgb, rgbalpha, cmyk, cmykalpha. Some abbreviations are allowed: m, g, ga, rgba, cmyka. The default is chosen based on the output format.
- -e filename
Proof ICC profile filename to use for rendering.
- -G gamma
Apply gamma correction. Some typical values are 0.7 or 1.4 to thin or darken text rendering.
- -I
Invert colors.
- -s [mft5]
Show various bits of information: m for glyph cache and total memory usage, f for page features such as whether the page is grayscale or color, t for per page rendering times as well statistics, and 5 for md5 checksums of rendered images that can be used to check if rendering has changed.
- -A bits
Specify how many bits of anti-aliasing to use. The default is 8.
- -A bits/bits
Specify how many bits of anti-aliasing to use. The default is 8. Bits for graphics is before the slash, bits for text after the slash.
- -l width
Minimum stroked line width (in pixels).
- -K
Do not draw text.
- -KK
Only draw text.
- -D
Disable use of display lists. May cause slowdowns, but should reduce the amount of memory used.
- -i
Ignore errors.
- -m limit
Limit memory usage in bytes.
- -L
Low memory mode (avoid caching objects by clearing cache after each page).
- -P
Run interpretation and rendering at the same time.
- -N
Disable ICC workflow.
- -M overprint
Control spot/overprint rendering: 0 for no spot rendering, 1 for Overprint simulation Overprint simulation (default), or 2 for full spot rendering.
- -t language
Specify language/script for OCR (default: eng)
- -d ocr-file-path
Specify path for OCR files (default: rely on TESSDATA_PREFIX environment variable.
- -k correction
Set the skew correction, either one of auto, 0 for increase size, 1 for maintain size, or 2 for decrease size.
- -k correction,angle
Set the skew correction as well as the angle.
- -y l
Print the layer configs to stderr.
- -y layer-number
Select layer config (by number from -y l ).
- -y layer-number,item1,item2, ...
Select layer config (by number from -y l ) and toggle the listed items.
- -Y
Print the individual layers to stderr.
- -z layer-number
Hide individual layer.
- -Z layer-number
Show individual layer.
- pages
Comma-separated list of page numbers and ranges (for example: 1,5,10-15,20-N), where the character N denotes the last page. If no pages are specified, then all pages will be rendered.
Extract
| mutool | extract [options] file.pdf [object-number ...] |
The extract command can be used to extract images and font files from a PDF. If no object numbers are given on the command line, all images and fonts will be extracted.
- -p password
Use the specified password if the file is encrypted.
- -r
Convert images to RGB when extracting them.
- -a
Embed SMasks as alpha channel..
- -N
Do not use ICC color conversions.
Info
| mutool | info [options] file.pdf [pages ...] |
The info command lists the resources used on each page in a PDF file. The default is to list all resource types, but if one or more flags are given, only the flagged types will be shown.
- -p password
Use the specified password if the file is encrypted.
- -F
List fonts.
- -I
List images.
- -M
List page dimensions.
- -P
List patterns.
- -S
List shadings.
- -X
List form and postscript XObjects.
- -Z
List ZUGFeRD info.
- pages
Comma-separated list of page numbers and ranges (for example: 1,5,10-15,20-N), where the character N denotes the last page. If no pages are specified, then all pages will be included.
Merge
| mutool | merge [options] file1 [pages1] [file2 [pages2] ...] |
The merge command is used to pick out pages from two or more files and merge them in order into a new PDF output file.
- -o output
The output filename.
- -O options
Comma-separated list of format specific output options, see PDF Output Options below.
Pages
| mutool | pages [options] input.pdf [pages ...] |
The pages command dumps information about the size and orientation of pages within the document.
- -p password
Use the specified password if the file is encrypted.
- pages
Comma-separated list of page numbers and ranges (for example: 1,5,10-15,20-N), where the character N denotes the last page. If no pages are specified, then all pages will be included.
Poster
| mutool | poster [options] input.pdf [output.pdf] |
The poster command splits each page into tiles, and puts each tile on a page of its own. It's useful for printing a large page onto smaller pieces of paper that can then be glued together to create a large poster.
- -p password
Use the specified password if the file is encrypted.
- -m margin
Margin (overlap) between pages in points or percent.
- -x factor
Split the page into this many horizontal pieces.
- -y factor
Split the page into this many vertical pieces.
- -r
Splits hoirzontally from right to left (default splits from left to right).
The output will have x times y number of pages for each input page.
Recolor
| mutool | recolor [options] input.pdf |
Change the color space used in a PDF to a desired one. This command can, for example, change a color PDF to be grayscale.
- -c colorspace
Desired output colorspace, choose one of gray (default), rgb, or cmyk.
- -o filename
The output filename.
- -r
Remove any output intents.
Run
| mutool | run script.js [arguments] |
Executes a Javascript program which has access to most of the features of the MuPDF library. The command supports ECMAScript 5 syntax in strict mode. All of the MuPDF constructors and function live in the global object, and the command line arguments are accessible from the global argv object.
If invoke without any arguments, it will drop you into an interactive REPL (read-eval-print-loop). On the interactive prompt, if you prefix a line with an equal character it will automatically print the results of the line.
See the MuPDF documentation at https://mupdf.readthedocs.io for details about the Javascript interfaces.
Show
| mutool | show [options] file.pdf [object-number ...] |
The show command will print the specified objects and streams to stdout. Streams are decoded and non-printable characters are represented with a period by default.
- -p password
Use the specified password if the file is encrypted.
- -o file
Write output to file instead of stdout.
- -e
Print streams in their original encoded (or compressed) form.
- -b
Print streams as binary data and omit the object header.
- -g
Print each object on a single line, suitable for grep.
- -r
Force repair before showing any objects.
- -L
Show object labels (how to reach an object from the root).
Specify what to show by using one of the following keywords, or a path to an object:
- 'trailer'
Print the trailer dictionary.
- 'xref'
Print the cross reference table.
- 'pages'
List the object numbers for every page.
- 'grep'
Print all the objects in the file in a compact one-line format suitable for piping to grep.
- 'outline'
Print the outline (also known as "table of contents" or "bookmarks").
- 'js'
Print document level Javascript.
- 'form'
Print form objects.
- <path>
A path starts with either an object number, a property in the trailer dictionary, or the keyword trailerorpages. Separate elements with a period . or slash /. Select a page object by using pages/N where N is the page number. The first page is number 1.
- *
You can use * as an element to iterate over all array indices or dictionary properties in an object.
Sign
| mutool | sign [options] input.pdf [signature-object-number ...] |
Reads a PDF file and prints information about each signature field object. With suitable options all or specified signatures can be verified, cleared or signed.
- -p password
Use the specified password if the file is encrypted.
- -v
Verify all signatures, or only the specified signature.
- -c
Clear all signatures, or only the specified signature.
- -s certificate-filename
Read a certificate from the given filename and use it to sign all, or just the specified signature.
- -P certificate-password
Use the specified password when opening the certificate.
- -o filename
The output filename. signature object numbers A list of PDF object number for signatures to verify/clear/sign. If no such object numbers are given, all signatures will be processed.
Trace
| mutool | trace [options] file1 [pages1] [file2 [pages2] ...] |
Prints a trace of device calls needed to render the desired pages from the given document.
- -p password
Use the specified password if the file is encrypted.
- -b box
Which box to trim to, either one of: (MediaBox (default), CropBox, BleedBox, TrimBox, or ArtBox).
- -W width
Page width in points for EPUB layout.
- -H height
Page height in points for EPUB layout.
- -S size
Font size in points for EPUB layout.
- -U filename
User CSS stylesheet for EPUB layout.
- -X
Disable document styles for EPUB layout.
- -d
Enable use of display lists.
- pages
Comma-separated list of page numbers and ranges (for example: 1,5,10-15,20-N), where the character N denotes the last page. If no pages are specified, then all pages will be rendered.
Trim
| mutool | trim [options] input.pdf |
Makes a modified version of a PDF with content that falls inside (or outside) of the given box removed.
- -b box
Which box to trim to, either one of: (MediaBox (default), CropBox, BleedBox, TrimBox, or ArtBox).
- -f
Fallback to mediabox if specified box not available.
- -m all
Add same margins to all sides of the box, where all is positive for inwards, negative for outwards.
- -m vertical,horizontal
Add specific margins for vertical and horizontal sides of the box, where verticalandhorizontal are positive for inwards, negative for outwards.
- -m top,right,bottom,left
Add specific margins for top, right, bottom and left sides of the box, where top, right, bottom, and left each are positive for inwards, negative for outwards.
- -e
Exclude contents of box rather than include them.
- -o filename
The output filename.
Output Options
Configuring output is done by a comma-separated list of output options.
Raster output options
These apply to output formats: cbz, png, pnm, pgm, ppm, pam, pbm, pkm.
- rotate=N
Rotate rendered pagess N degrees counterclockwise.
- resolution=N
Set both X and Y resolution to N pixels per inch.
- x-resolution=N
Set X resolution of rendred pages in pixels per inch.
- y-resolution=N
Set Y resolution of rendred pages in pixels per inch.
- width=N
Render pages to fit N pixels wide (ignore resolution option).
- height=N
Render pages to fit N pixels tall (ignore resolution option).
- colorspace=(gray|rgb|cmyk)
Render pages using the specified colorspace.
- alpha
Render pages with alpha channel and transparent background.
- graphics=(aaN|cop|app) and text=(aaN|cop|app)
Set the rasterizer to use for graphics or text respectively:
- aaN
Antialias with N bits (0 to 8).
- cop
Center of pixel.
- app
Any part of pixel.
PCL options
These apply to print-raster output formats: pcl, pclm, ps, pwg.
- colorspace=(mono|rgb)
Render 1-bit black and white or a full color page.
- preset=(generic|ljet4|dj500|fs600|lj|lj2|lj3|lj4|lj4pl|lj4d|lp2563b|oce9050)
Render 1-bit black and white or a full color page.
- spacing=(0|1|2|3)
Set vertical spacing to none, PCL 3 (<ESC>*p+<n>Y), PCL 5 (<ESC>*b<n>Y), or PCL 6 (<ESC>*b<n>Y and clear seed row).
- mode2
Enable mode 2 graphics compression.
- mode3
Enable mode 3 graphics compression.
- eog_reset
End of graphics (<ESC>+rB) resets all parameters.
- has_duplex
Duplex supported (<ESC>&l<duplex>S).
- has_papersize
Papersize setting supported (<ESC>&l<sizecode>A).
- has_copies
Number of copies supported (<ESC>&l<copies>X).
- is_ljet4pjl
Disable/enable HP 4PJL model-specific output.
- is_oce9050
Disable/enable Oce 9050 models-specific output.
PCLm options
These apply only to: pclm.
- compression=(none|flate)
No compression (default), or enable flate compression.
- strip-height=N
Strip height (default 16).
PWG options
These apply only to: pwg.
- media_class=string
Set the media_class field.
- media_color=string
Set the media_color field.
- media_type=string
Set the media_type field.
- output_type=string
Set the output_type field.
- rendering_intent=string
Set the rendering_intent field.
- page_size_name=string
Set the page_size_name field.
- advance_distance=int
Set the advance_distance field.
- advance_media=int
Set the advance_media field.
- collate=int
Set the collate field.
- cut_media=int
Set the cut_media field.
- duplex=int
Set the duplex field.
- insert_sheet=int
Set the insert_sheet field.
- jog=int
Set the jog field.
- leading_edge=int
Set the leading_edge field.
- manual_feed=int
Set the manual_feed field.
- media_position=int
Set the media_position field.
- media_weight=int
Set the media_weight field.
- mirror_print=int
Set the mirror_print field.
- negative_print=int
Set the negative_print field.
- num_copies=int
Set the num_copies field.
- orientation=int
Set the orientation field.
- output_face_up=int
Set the output_face_up field.
- page_size_x=int
Set the page_size_x field.
- page_size_y=int
Set the page_size_y field.
- separations=int
Set the separations field.
- tray_switch=int
Set the tray_switch field.
- tumble=int
Set the tumble field.
- media_type_num=int
Set the media_type_num field.
- compression=int
Set the compression field.
- row_count=int
Set the row_count field.
- row_feed=int
Set the row_feed field.
- row_step=int
Set the row_step field.
SVG options
These apply only to: svg.
- text=text
Emit text as <text> elements (inaccurate fonts).
- text=path
Emit text as <path> elements (accurate fonts).
- no-reuse-images
Do not reuse image using <symbol> definitions.
Text options
These apply to output formats: html, xhtml, text, stext.
- preserve-images
Keep imagess in output.
- preserve-ligatures
Do not expand ligature into constituent characters.
- preserve-spans
Do not merge spans on the same line.
- preserve-whitespace
Do not convert all whitespace into space characters.
- inhibit-spaces
Do not add spaces between gaps in the text.
- paragraph-break
Break blocks at paragraph boundaries.
- dehyphenate
Attempts to join up hyphenated words.
- ignore-actualtext
Do not apply ActualText replacements.
- use-cid-for-unknown-unicode
Use character code if unicode mapping fails.
- use-gid-for-unknown-unicode
Use glyph index if unicode mapping fails.
- accurate-bboxes
Calculate bboxes from the outlines.
- accurate-ascenders
Calculate ascender/descender from font glyphs.
- accurate-side-bearings
Expand character bboxes to completely include width of glyphs.
- collect-styles
Attempt to detect text features (fake bold, strikeout, underlined, etc.)
- clip
Do not include text that is completely clipped.
- clip-rect=x0:y0:x1:y1
Specify clipping rectangle within which to collect content.
- structured
Collect structure markup.
- vectors
Include vector bboxes in output.
- lazy-vectors
Delay vectors in the extraction that would otherwise split a text line.
- fuzzy-vectors
Merge abutting horizontal and vertical vectors.
- segment
Attempt to segment the page.
- table-hunt
Hunt for tables within a (segmented) page.
- vertically-collapse-bordered-cells (experimental)
If true, consider the contents of completely bordered super-cells as being vertically collapsible.
PDF Output Options
These apply only to: PDF.
- decompress
Decompress all streams (except compress-fonts/images).
- compress=(yes|flate|brotli)
Compress all streams, if no value is given, or the value is yes the default is to use flate.
- compress-fonts
Compress object stream for embedded fonts.
- compress-images
Compress object streams for images.
- compress-effort=(0|percentage)
Effort spent compressing, 0 is default, otherwise percentage of max effort.
- ascii
Encode object streams using ASCII hex encoding.
- pretty
Pretty-print objects with indentation.
- labels
Print object labels.
- linearize
No longer supported! Optimize document for progressive loading in viewers.
- clean
Pretty-print graphics commands in content streams.
- sanitize
Clean up graphics command in content streams.
- garbage
Garbage collect unused objects.
- garbage=compact
Garbage collect unused object, and compact cross reference table.
- garbage=deduplicate
Garbage collect unused objects, compact cross reference table, and recombine duplicate objects.
- incremental
Write changes as incremental update.
- objstms
Use object streams and cross reference streams.
- appearance=(yes|all)
Synthesize just missing, or all, annotation/widget appearance streams.
- continue-on-error
Continue saving the document even if there is an error.
- decrypt
This option is deprecated: instead of decrypt use encrypt=none.
- encrypt=(none|keep|rc4-40|rc4-128|aes-128|aes-256)
Write encrypted document using specified encryption method. The default value is keep.
- permissions=number
Document permissions to grant when encrypting.
- user-password=password
Password required to read document.
- owner-password=password
Password required to edit document.
- regenerate-id=(yes|no)
Regenerate document id (default yes).
- reproducible=(yes|no)
Attempt to make produced documents reproducible (default no).
Exit Status
The exit status is 0 upon successful execution and non-zero upon error.
See Also
Author
MuPDF is Copyright 2004-2026 Artifex Software, Inc.