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pdfghostscriptvector-graphics

ps2pdf: preserve page size

I have myfile.ps with a vector image included. But when I run

ps2pdf myfile.ps

it seems that the output page size is A4: the vector image is too large and become cut away, so about one inch is lost.

The following pseudo-header is printed in the output PDF file, in addition to the original vector image:

PLOT SIZE:8.02x8.62Inches
Magnification:7354.21X

Is there any option or any way to convert the PS file to a PDF preserving the original paper size?

Solution

  • I doubt your quoted 2 lines are really inside the PS file as quoted... Aren't they preceeded by % comment characters?

    • If they weren't preceeded by such characters, no PS interpreter would work, because they are no known PostScript operators.

    • If they are preceeded by such characters, the PS interpreter would simply ignore them, because... they are comments only! :-)

    If you want to convert this PS file to PDF, it is better to run Ghostscript directly (ps2pdf is only a thin shell script wrapper around a Ghostscript command anyway):

    gs -o myfile.pdf     \
   -sDEVICE=pdfwrite \
   -g5775x6207       \
   -dPDFFitPage      \
    myfile.ps

    Explanation:

    1. -g... gives the medium size in pixels.
    2. An A4 page has a dimension of 595x842pt (PostScript points).
    3. 1 Inch is the same as 72 PostScript points.
    4. Ghostscript internally by default computes with a resolution of 720 pixels per inch when it comes to PDF output.
    5. Hence for PDF output 595x842pt == 5950x8420px.
    6. Hence for your case in question 8.02x8.62Inches ≈≈ 5775x6207px.