MuPDF on the command line#

MuPDF has few command line options available:

mupdf-gl#

The OpenGL based viewer can read PDF, XPS, CBZ, EPUB, & FB2 documents as well as typical image formats including SVG. It compiles on any platform that has a GLUT library. The latest release builds on Linux, Windows, and MacOS.

Command Line Options#

mupdf-gl [options] document [page]

[options]

-p password

The password needed to open a password protected PDF file.

-c profile.cc

Load an ICC profile to use for display (default is sRGB).

-r resolution

Set the initial zoom level, specified as DPI. The default value is 72.

-W width

Set the page width in points for EPUB layout.

-H height

Set the page height in points for EPUB layout.

-S size

Set the default font size in points for EPUB layout.

-U stylesheet

Specify a CSS file containing user styles to load for EPUB layout.

-X

Ignore publisher styles for EPUB layout.

-J

Disable JavaScript in PDF forms.

-A level

Set anti-aliasing level or pixel rendering rule.

  • 0: off.

  • 2: 4 levels.

  • 4: 16 levels.

  • 8: 256 levels.

  • 9: using centre of pixel rule.

  • 10: using any part of a pixel rule.

-I

Start in inverted color mode.

-B hex-color

Set black tint color (default 303030).

-C hex-color

Set white tint color (default FFFFF0).

-Y factor

Set UI scaling factor (default calculated from screen DPI).

[page]

The initial page number to show.

Example usage #1:

This will open the viewer with a file browser which allows you to choose the file you need.

mupdf-gl

Example usage #1:

This will open a specific file, in inverted color mode, on page 10.

mupdf-gl -I mupdf_explored.pdf 10

Mouse Bindings#

The middle mouse button (scroll wheel button) pans the document view.

The right mouse button selects a region and copies the marked text to the clipboard.

Key Bindings#

Several commands can take a number argument entered before the key, to modify the command. For example, to zoom to 150 dpi, type “150z”.

F1

Display help.

i

Show document information.

o

Show document outline.

L

Highlight links.

F

Highlight form fields.

a

Show annotation editor.

r

Reload document.

S

Save document (only for PDF).

q

Quit viewer.

<

Decrease E-book font size.

>

Increase E-book font size.

I

Toggle inverted color mode.

C

Toggle tinted color mode.

E

Toggle ICC color management.

e

Toggle spot color emulation.

A

Toggle anti-aliasing.

f

Toggle fullscreen.

w

Shrinkwrap window to fit page.

W

Fit page width to window.

H

Fit page height to window.

Z

Fit page size to window.

[number] z

Set zoom resolution in DPI.

+

Zoom in.

-

Zoom out.

[

Rotate counter-clockwise.

]

Rotate clockwise.

⬅️➡️⬆️⬇️ or h, j, k, l

Pan page in small increments.

b

Smart move one screenful backward.

[space]

Smart move one screenful forward.

[comma] or [page up]

Go one page backward.

[period] or [page down]

Go one page forward.

[number] g

Go to page number.

G

Go to last page.

m

Save current page to navigation history.

t

Go back in navigation history.

T

Go forward in navigation history.

[number] m

Save current page in numbered bookmark.

[number] t

Go to numbered bookmark.

/

Start searching forward.

?

Start searching backward.

n

Continue searching forward.

N

Continue searching backward.

muraster#

This is a much simpler version of mutool draw command. As such it can be used to quickly rasterize an input file with a set of options.

Command Line Options#

muraster [options] file [pages]

[options]

-p password

The password needed to open a password protected PDF file.

-o filename

The output file name.

-F format

The output format (default inferred from output file name), e.g. pam, pbm, pgm, pkm, ppm.

-s information

Show extra information: - m: show memory use. - t: show timings.

-R rotation

Set a rotation for the output (default auto): - auto. - 0. - 90. - 180. - 270. - clockwise.

-r x,y

Comma separated x and y resolution in DPI (default: 300,300).

-w width

Printable width (in inches) (default: 8.27).

-h height

Printable height (in inches) (default: 11.69).

-f

Fit file to page if too large.

-B height

Set the minimum band height (e.g. 32).

-M memory

Sets the maximum band memory (e.g. 655360).

-W width

Page width for EPUB layout.

-H height

Page height for EPUB layout.

-S size

Font size for EPUB layout.

-U filename

File name of user stylesheet for EPUB layout

-X

Disable document styles for EPUB layout

-A level

Set anti-aliasing level.

  • 0: off.

  • 2: 4 levels.

  • 4: 16 levels.

  • 8: 256 levels.

-A graphics level / text level

Independently set the anti-aliasing levels for graphics and text.

e.g. -A 0/4.

[pages]

A comma separated list of page numbers and ranges.

Example usage #1:

This will render a raster file from page one of the input file “mupdf_explored.pdf”. The output file will be called “test.ppm”, have a clockwise rotation and specific graphics/text anti-aliasing applied.

muraster -o test.ppm -R clockwise -A 0/8 mupdf_explored.pdf 1

mutool#

Note

It is advised to use rlwrap with mutool for command line history and cursor navigation (this can be also installed via Homebrew or MacPorts).

Note

Use mutool -help for summary usage.

For rendering and converting documents there are three commands available:

This is the more customizable tool, but also has a more difficult set of command line options. It is primarily used for rendering a document to image files.

This tool is used for converting documents into other formats, and is easier to use.

This is a debugging tool used for printing a trace of the graphics device calls on a page.

There are also several tools specifically for working with PDF files:

A tool for displaying the internal objects in a PDF file.

Extract images and embedded font resources.

Rewrite PDF files. Used to fix broken files, or to make a PDF file human editable.

Merge pages from multiple input files into a new PDF.

Divide pages of a PDF into pieces that can be printed and merged into a large poster.

Create a new PDF file from a text file with graphics commands.

List, verify, and sign digital signatures in PDF files.

Prints details about objects on each page in a PDF file.

Prints the size and rotation of each page in a PDF. Provides information about MediaBox, ArtBox, etc. for each page in a PDF file.

This command allows you to make a modified version of a PDF with content that falls inside or outside of defined boxes removed.

A tool for running JavaScript programs with access to the MuPDF library functions.

See the JavaScript API for more.

This software is provided AS-IS with no warranty, either express or implied. This software is distributed under license and may not be copied, modified or distributed except as expressly authorized under the terms of that license. Refer to licensing information at artifex.com or contact Artifex Software, Inc., 39 Mesa Street, Suite 108A, San Francisco, CA 94129, USA, for further information.

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