{pdf} is specifically about the PDF file format. If your question is about producing PDF output, choose an appropriate tag such as {pdftex} or {ps2pdf}. If your question concerns PDF reader software, also use {viewer} or a reader specific tag such as {acrobat}, {evince} or {okular}.
55
votes
6answers
6k views
How to create small PDF files for the Internet
I feel that PDF documents when intended to be uploaded to the Internet should be of a minimal final size in bytes. Many strategies exist to create a small document:
Pay attention to the size of the ...
42
votes
1answer
6k views
How to make the PDFs produced by `pdflatex` smaller?
I feel that the PDFs produced by pdflatex are too huge. So for example my 50 page book with no illustrations is 500KB. I feel it should be more like 50K or even less. The .tex files together are just ...
12
votes
3answers
3k views
\includegraphics PDF, color problem
I'm using pdflatex, and use \includegraphics to include content of figures from PDF. PDF are exported from InkScape.
\begin{figure} [!h]
\centering
\includegraphics[height=3cm]{fig/SUSAN.pdf}
...
60
votes
3answers
2k views
Showing the bibliographic entry in a popup when you hover over the citation key
I thought it would be useful to have bibliographic entries displayed as a tooltip so readers are not interrupted by following hyperlinks or trying to find the Bibliography, so I created the following ...
12
votes
3answers
22k views
How to convert PDF to (La)TeX?
I know that probably no information is passed to the PDF when a .tex file is compiled, but is there a tool that can convert a PDF document to (La)TeX?
27
votes
3answers
3k views
How to generate PDF/A and PDF/X?
I have heard about PDF subsets PDF/A (for archival) and PDF/X (for printing). How to generate LaTeX documents like that?
I'm also interested in answers with plain TeX and ConTeXt, and hopefully with ...
40
votes
1answer
1k views
Is it possible to provide alternative text to use when copying text from the PDF?
I’m using XeLaTeX within MiKTeX and have the following problem.
Let there be some acronym, e.g. USA. I would like to write it in real small caps using \textsc{usa} but these are, of course, ...
63
votes
1answer
4k views
PDF colour model and LaTeX
(Strictly speaking, this is a question about XeLaTeX and the xcolor package but I’m assuming that the issue is actually with the color model of PDF.)
I’m having the problem that colours in my PDF ...
44
votes
8answers
4k views
Can one TeX file output to multiple PDF files?
I'd like to be able to create a TeX file that will output multiple PDF files with one compilation. I'm not even sure if this is possible. Here is the setup:
I am writing dozens of cover letters for ...
31
votes
6answers
4k views
How to create individual chapter PDFs
My document structure has
one file with preamble (i.e. MainTex)
and around 75 individual .tex files (i.e. Chapter_01, Chapter_02, ..., Chapter_75) representing each chapter.
I am using \include ...
18
votes
2answers
2k views
Using opacity in TikZ causes strange rendering in Acrobat.
I have a problem using opacity in TikZ. Whenever I use it somewhere in a picture,
I get weird side-effects: colors in (some) other parts of the documents are changed apparently randomly and it makes ...
69
votes
3answers
2k views
Is there some way to embed LaTeX source code in a PDF file?
Several times now I have inadvertently lost the .tex file that generated a PDF file with pdflatex. Given what I know of the internal structure of PDF files, it should be possible to embed a text file ...
17
votes
3answers
5k views
Is it possible to produce a PDF with un-copyable text?
Is it possible to produce a PDF with un-copyable text? I mean, when you want to copy text from the PDF, you can't copy it or what you copy is nonsense characters.
16
votes
12answers
1k views
Output viewers for use with LaTeX
What viewers do you use for reviewing the beautifully-styled output of your LaTeX source?
List PDF, DVI and PostScript options.
Possibly, one entry per answer, and list platform availability, ...
25
votes
3answers
1k views
How to preserve hyperlinks in included pdf?
I have generated PDFs with figures that have hyperlinks (hyperref to websites, \href) in them. When I compile these figures standalone the hyperlinks work. But when I try to include these PDFs (as ...
10
votes
1answer
2k views
Box border lines not showing properly on PDF
I have the following code that generate a box with text content:
\documentclass{report}
\usepackage{color}
\usepackage{lipsum}
\newcommand\tipbox[1]{%
\begin{center}%
...
62
votes
3answers
9k views
Creating fillable PDFs
I'd like to create a LaTeX document that when rendered into PDF, has forms that can be filled out using Adobe Reader or other such programs. Then I'd like to be able to extract the data. I ...
62
votes
5answers
3k views
Is there any reason to compile to DVI rather than PDF these days?
I appreciate that in the past, latex was faster than pdflatex, but computer speeds being what they are nowadays, I can't see any difference in how quickly documents compile...
So, given that the end ...
34
votes
6answers
3k views
Which figure type to use: pdf or eps?
Both are vector graphics (typically) and both can be imported painlessly into a pdflatex document (so let's say we ignore dvi for this question).
What are the advantages and disadvantages of each? ...
44
votes
2answers
7k views
Creating Kindle-friendly versions of existing LaTeX documents
So let's say I have a large amount of documents (from ArXiv.org, suppose) that I have the LaTeX source for, and for which I would like to compile particularly Kindle-friendly versions. In particular, ...
35
votes
7answers
7k views
How to annotate PDF files generated by pdflatex?
I want to annotate some PDF files (created with pdflatex), e.g.
word x is missing here
this part of a sentence should be moved to the front
replace word x by y
highlight this sentence
insert a note
...
22
votes
7answers
3k views
How can I superimpose LaTeX / TeX output over a PDF file?
I have a form as a PDF file. I would like to use LaTeX/TeX to overlay my text over the form, and send the output to either a print or another PDF file.
Is this possible? How would I go about it?
19
votes
1answer
2k views
How to create tagged PDF?
How to create tagged PDF such that they will be:
good enough for PDF/UA
"reflowable" on smaller screens and ebook readers
Any syntax & any engine will do. Preferably using LaTeX with ...
16
votes
2answers
19k views
How to convert PDF to EPS?
I can't find a tool to convert PDF to EPS, neither in MikTeX nor in TeXLive. Is there such a tool actually?
Update:
Based on Herbert's accepted answer, I simplify his batch as follows:
#!/bin/sh
...
16
votes
4answers
2k views
‘Bundle’ TeX output in a directory
(My personal interest in this question is mainly for OS X but solutions/approaches for other operating systems are also appreciated.)
What I see as a main distraction with using TeX/LateX is that it ...
14
votes
1answer
7k views
URL with tilde character?
I'm trying to make a URL with a tilde character (~) in it:
\usepackage{url}
...
\url{http://lyle.smu.edu/~tspell/jaws}
It looks right in the resulting PDF, but when clicking on it the browser goes ...
10
votes
1answer
757 views
Can you have hyperlinks to locations in different PDFs?
It's possible to hyperlink to another PDF file using Adobe Acrobat using the following LaTeX code:
\href{run:target.pdf}{Click me!}
If this is placed in source.pdf, then you can click on the ...
8
votes
3answers
847 views
Minimize automatically the page size of the PDF outputs
I would like to produce the PDF version of the following TEX code without margins. How can I achieve this automaticcaly, even if it needs tricky code (I'm a regular user of Python) ?
I would like to ...
1
vote
2answers
3k views
Including pdf figures in Latex document using TexnicCenter
I am sorry if I missed anywhere the obvious answer to my problem, but after searching several hours for a solution I am a bit lost...
I am using Texniccenter and MikTex under Windows Vista to create ...
23
votes
10answers
12k views
How to avoid large margins around Matlab plot in PDF
I am preparing image files to be included in a latex document. The image file is generated by printing a Matlab plot.
If I print the plot in eps format, the content of the eps file is fully occupied ...
25
votes
2answers
1k views
Is hyperref really the best way to add metadata to a TeX file?
So I know one of hyperref's features is that it can add metadata to you PDFs. This is a nice feature and if you're putting stuff online, it's good to include metadata.
But is the hyperref package ...
18
votes
5answers
1k views
Constructing a dynamic PDF
I wish to create a dynamic PDF file to write an article. This article will contain some theorems. The user will click a theorem and this will drill down to reveal the proof of that theorem. I think ...
17
votes
4answers
850 views
Automatically increase PDF page height
I'd like to emulate HTML's infinite page height using LaTeX/XeTeX, i.e. have the PDF pages grow higher until a manual \newpage is issued.
This could be emulated by setting a very large page height ...
19
votes
6answers
4k views
How to track changes between PDFs?
I've got a modestly large document (60 pages or so), of technical documentation, in two versions (one of them improved). Unfortunately, I seem to have lost the source of the older version (but I do ...
18
votes
3answers
2k views
Is there a way to make standard LaTex PDF output look good *on screen* as well
While LaTeX-based PDFs are generally very good when printed, I find most of them really hard and annoying to read on-screen when viewing the full page. Most line widths are very small, which results ...
9
votes
4answers
2k views
Inkscape → PDF → includegraphics → XeLaTeX → changed colors
I have an SVG file, which I have made/edited with Inkscape. I want to include this image in my thesis. The svg file is here: http://brussense.be/temp/theSVG.svg
(because Inkscape uses a non-standard ...
54
votes
3answers
7k views
LaTeX options for kindle?
I was wondering if there are any good settings to produce a PDF suitable for
reading on a (6 inch) kindle. Main use is for intermediate reading of academic papers while they are being written:
Text ...
48
votes
9answers
5k views
Preparing PDF files for ebook readers, etc.
People are nowadays increasingly often reading papers on screen, using ebook readers, tablet PCs, laptops, etc. A typical PDF file generated with Latex is far from ideal for such use; in particular, ...
23
votes
4answers
8k views
How to setup synctex with vim, pdflatex and an open-source PDF-viewer under Linux?
Inspired by the comments to this answer I am curious how to actually setup and use forward/reverse (inverse) search with vim, pdflatex and an open-source PDF-viewer under Linux.
Btw, to give more ...
16
votes
4answers
2k views
How to create PDF and HTML output from the same source
I'm working on a document that has been published only as a PDF file until now. To utilize some of PDF's features, it uses the packages pdfpages and pdftex and commands like includepdf{}.
But soon ...
26
votes
3answers
3k views
Why can't “fi” be separated when being copied from a compiled pdf?
I notice that in a pdf file compiled from Latex, "fi" such as in "field" cannot be separated as "f" and "i" when copying text out of the pdf file. I wonder why and if this can be changed? Thanks and ...
26
votes
5answers
1k views
LaTeX accessibility
Does anyone know of any LaTeX modules that makes the pdf output generated by pdflatex Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA)/Seciton 508 compliant?
Specifics:
With regard to math. One simple ...
15
votes
3answers
2k views
PDF version issue when including PDF figures
I keep getting the following line in my log file
** WARNING ** Version of PDF file (1.5) is newer than version limit specification.
with reference to each image I'm trying to include in my ...
13
votes
1answer
3k views
How to set security options to create PDF using pdflatex
My questions is very simple.
How can I set security setting for a PDF file created with PDFLatex?
I should set some password or print permissions, etc.
27
votes
4answers
1k views
PDF conformance tool
Is there a (freely available) tool that will check the conformance of a PDF file to the PDF standard?
I've heard this referred to as "pre-flight" or something along those lines.
37
votes
4answers
2k views
Is there a specialized Pdf viewer for Latex-Beamer presentations on Linux?
Most of the time when presenting a talk people connect their laptop to a video projector. So they effectively have an extra screen at their disposal. Because of that many Software options for ...
33
votes
8answers
4k views
Is anybody using TeX for business reporting?
Would TeX (LaTeX, ConTeXt, etc) be a good solution for PDF business reports that require dynamically generated graphs and tables?
I need to create financial reports that must look top-notch in their ...
19
votes
1answer
570 views
Placing the un-ligatured text in the OCR layer
I was reading Why can't "fi" be separated when being copied from a compiled pdf? and had a thought:
I know that v1.4 and up PDF documents have an OCR layer. Would it be possible to have ...
17
votes
1answer
593 views
How to make text copy in PDF previewers ignore lineno line numbers?
I'm using lineno for a document. I have it configured to put line numbers in the margins of the document. I generate PDF using pdflatex. Here's the problem: when people copy a region of text in a ...
10
votes
2answers
843 views
PDF image files and `htlatex`
When eps files are provided, htlatex from tex4ht automatically converts to png files so that graphic files can be shown in the final html output. However, I use most of the time the pdf graphic file ...
