pdftowrite 2021.4.24

PDF <-> Write document converter

pdftowrite: PDF <-> Write with text

A utility that converts PDF to Stylus Labs Write document preserving text as selectable characters, and vice versa.

How does it work

pdftowrite converts PDF pages to SVG paths, adds an invisible but selectable text layer to each page, and merges them into a Write document.

writetopdf converts a Write document to a PDF.

Why do I need writetopdf? Write itself can export PDF

The PDF exporter of Write does not support some features (e.g. Unicode text, multi-coords tspans, etc.), but writetopdf does.

If I convert PDF -> Write -> PDF, Is the latter PDF is 100% the same as the former?

No, the program does not guarantee it. pdftowrite converts PDF pages to SVG paths, so original text elements are deleted. Instead, a text layer is added to the page as mentioned earlier.

Install

pip install --user pdftowrite

Requirements

pdftowrite:

• Poppler
• Inkscape (either native or flatpak)
• ImageMagick
• gzip
• lxml (libxml2, libxslt)

writetopdf:

• wkhtmltopdf
• PDFtk(pdftk-java) or Poppler
• gzip

You need to manually install the packages. e.g.:

• Debian/Ubuntu: sudo apt install poppler-utils inkscape imagemagick gzip libxml2-dev libxslt-dev wkhtmltopdf pdftk
• Fedora: sudo dnf install poppler inkscape ImageMagick gzip libxml2-devel libxslt-devel wkhtmltopdf pdftk
• Arch: sudo pacman -S poppler inkscape imagemagick gzip libxslt wkhtmltopdf pdftk

Example

pdftowrite example.pdf

writetopdf example.svgz

Usage

pdftowrite

usage: pdftowrite [-h] [-v] [-o OUTPUT] [-m {mixed,poppler,inkscape}] [-C]
                  [-d DPI] [-g PAGES] [-u NODUP_PAGES] [-Z] [-s SCALE] [-x X]
                  [-y Y] [-X XRULING] [-Y YRULING] [-l MARGIN_LEFT]
                  [-p PAPERCOLOR] [-r RULECOLOR]
                  FILE

Convert PDF to Stylus Labs Write document

positional arguments:
  FILE                  A pdf file

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -v, --version         show program's version number and exit
  -o OUTPUT, --output OUTPUT
                        Specify output filename
  -m {mixed,poppler,inkscape}, --mode {mixed,poppler,inkscape}
                        Specify render mode (default: mixed)
  -C, --no-compat-mode  Turn off Write compatibility mode
  -d DPI, --dpi DPI     Specify resolution for bitmaps and rasterized filters
                        (default: 96)
  -g PAGES, --pages PAGES
                        Specify pages to convert (e.g. "1 2 3", "1-3")
                        (default: all)
  -u NODUP_PAGES, --nodup-pages NODUP_PAGES
                        Specify no-dup pages (e.g. "1 2 3", "1-3") (default:
                        all)
  -Z, --nozip           Do not compress output
  -s SCALE, --scale SCALE
                        Scale page size (default: 1.0)
  -x X                  Specify the x coordinate of the viewport of <svg>
                        (default: 10.0)
  -y Y                  Specify the y coordinate of the viewport of <svg>
                        (default: 10.0)
  -X XRULING, --xruling XRULING
                        Specify x rulling (default: 0.0)
  -Y YRULING, --yruling YRULING
                        Specify y rulling (default: 40.0)
  -l MARGIN_LEFT, --margin-left MARGIN_LEFT
                        Specify margin left (default: 100.0)
  -p PAPERCOLOR, --papercolor PAPERCOLOR
                        Specify paper color (default: #FFFFFF)
  -r RULECOLOR, --rulecolor RULECOLOR
                        Specify rule color (default: #9F0000FF)

writetopdf

usage: writetopdf [-h] [-v] [-o OUTPUT] [-g PAGES] [-s SCALE] FILE

Convert Stylus Labs Write document to PDF

positional arguments:
  FILE                  A Write document

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -v, --version         show program's version number and exit
  -o OUTPUT, --output OUTPUT
                        Specify output filename
  -g PAGES, --pages PAGES
                        Specify pages to convert (e.g. "1 2 3", "1-3")
                        (default: all)
  -s SCALE, --scale SCALE
                        Scale page size (default: 1.0)