How to I convert a pdf to a ps format so that I can insert it into a document?

Question

I would like to insert an article into my thesis, and compile the thesis into postscript with normal LaTeX. (not pdfLaTeX). I have an article that is in pdf format that I'd also like to insert in there.

Every method I try to use to convert the pdf to ps (or eps) and insert it into the document results in a mess. When I try pdf2ps, and then use \includegraphics, it includes all of the article on 1 page, and the text isn't even centered. I get the same result when I try \epsfig.

I don't want to use pdfpages, as it only works with pdfLaTeX.

I also have the article source, but its a complete document with its own styles and document class. I don't know if there's a way to recompile the article too inside of the thesis compilation?

Answer 1

I'd try this (assuming that you absolutely must use latex instead of pdflatex, and you absolutely must produce PS instead of PDF as the final result):

• Use latex + dvips + ps2pdf to produce a PDF version of your thesis.
• Use pdftk to combine your thesis + the article. Now you have one PDF file, and everything should look good.
• Use pdftops (or something similar) to convert the result back to PostScript.

All other parts should be fairly reliable, except the last step. (But if you are producing PS, you shouldn't expect any portability anyway...)

Answer 2

You can use pdftk to split the pdf document into single pages, convert each page into postscript by pdf2ps, and insert each of them into your document.

Answer 3

Ok, here's what I ended up doing..

First off, I can't find a simple way to just merge a ps or eps into latex so it appears in the .dvi file.. go figure...

Jukka's comment about pdftops was the most helpful, as its the only way of converting my pdf to eps that actually gave a clear scaleable image.

in the end I cheated by converting each pdf page to eps, and saving as a different file. Since it was 4 pages, it was ok.. but def not a great solution. Then in my main master.tex, I include the article.tex file below. For each eps page, I included the following block in article.tex:

\thispagestyle{empty}
\begin{figure}[!ht]
  \vspace{-3.5cm}
  $$
  \epsfig{file=page_1,width=1.40\textwidth}
  $$
\end{figure}
\clearpage

I then cheated by adjusting the vspace and hoffset for the pages. Crappy.. but gives the desired result.

Thanks everyone for your help!

master.tex
----------------------------
\include{article}


article.tex
-----------------------------

\addtolength{\hoffset}{-1.2in}

\thispagestyle{empty}
\begin{figure}[!ht]
  \vspace{-3.5cm}
  $$
  \epsfig{file=opex_1,width=1.40\textwidth}
  $$
\end{figure}
\clearpage

\thispagestyle{empty}
\begin{figure}[!ht]
  \vspace{-3.5cm}
  $$
  \epsfig{file=opex_2,width=1.40\textwidth}
  $$
\end{figure}
\clearpage

\addtolength{\hoffset}{1.2in}
------------------------------------  End article.tex ---------------------

Answer 4

This is not an elegant approach, but you could print the pages of the article into individual .ps files and then include each page. Good luck!

Answer 5

This might be a long shot, but you could try using the combine package. It's designed for doing things like this, but it is somewhat fragile (and if the article is midway through the document I think you're out of luck).