How to create linearized PDF using TeX?

Question

Is it possible to create linearized PDFs (optimized for "fast web view") using TeX with free software? (I don't have Acrobat available.)

It has been deprecated a decade ago, being incompatible with cross-referenced PDF 1.5 — see bugs.ghostscript.com/show_bug.cgi?id=694099 — Leandro, Mar 10, 2017 at 14:01

nickpapior · Accepted Answer · 2017-03-13 09:52:13Z

13

The fast web view is simply a method of allowing content to be displayed as it is being downloaded.

It will not, however, be fast. As such the name fast can be deviating from its meaning.

You should use qpdf --linearize as noted by @MartinSchroeder (pdfopt is deprecated as noted in the comments).

PDFcrop will also do that for you, however with additional work done, i.e. cropping your PDF.

answered Mar 8, 2012 at 12:18

nickpapior

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pdfopt does the job. (In Adobe Reader, under properties it now says, "Fast Web View: Yes", that's all I wanted.)
– fuenfundachtzig
Mar 8, 2012 at 12:29
2

pdfopt is not longer part of ghostscript. Instead of pdfopt the pdfwriter of gs provides an option -dFastWebView=true. So you have to use, e.g., gs -dNOPAUSE -dBATCH -sDEVICE=pdfwrite -dFastWebView=true -sOutputFile=output.pdf input.pdf instead of pdfopt.
– Schweinebacke
Mar 10, 2017 at 8:57

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Peeter Joot · Accepted Answer · 2013-01-14 17:52:12Z

31

Use qpdf --linearize, not pdfopt.

qpdf uses a pdf library while pdfopt uses ghostscript and as such has a much larger footprint and is more fragile.

Peeter Joot

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answered Mar 9, 2012 at 9:14

Martin Schröder

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Would you also tell about the differences between the two tools?
– Andrey Vihrov
Mar 9, 2012 at 9:16
@AndreyVihrov: done.
– Martin Schröder
Mar 9, 2012 at 9:26

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2 Answers 2