Convert documents (ODT, DOC) to PDF from the command-line

August 2. 2010

Let’s say, for instance, that you want to convert several OpenOffice (or Microsoft Office) documents to PDF. Instead of opening each document at a time and exporting it to PDF, you could automate the process this way:

What tools do you need?

• OpenOffice.org (I’m using verson 3.2.1, downloaded directly from OOo)
• CUPS (most probably you already have it)
• CUPS-PDF (search repositories)

Once you have CUPS-PDF installed, you still may need to add the printer to CUPS. To do that, open a web browser and go to:

http://localhost:631/printers

If CUPS-PDF is not there, go the the “Administration” tab and click on “Add Printer”. Follow the steps to add CUPS-PDF, and when asked for a PPD file, look at (for Linux distributions other than Debian Lenny, the path may differ):

/usr/share/ppd/cups-pdf/CUPS-PDF.ppd

Once CUPS-PDF is configured you can start converting documents to PDF from the command-line.

To convert a single file type:

$ soffice -invisible -norestore -pt CUPS-PDF filename.odt

To convert all ODT files in the current directory:

$ for i in *.odt; do soffice -invisible -norestore -pt CUPS-PDF "$i"; done

And another way, with find:

$ find . -name '*.odt' -exec soffice -invisible -norestore -pt CUPS-PDF '{}' \;

You’ll find PDF files in a folder called “PDF”, in your home directory.

Further reading: http://www.oooninja.com/2008/02/batch-command-line-file-conversion-with.html

Permalink: https://www.yamamoto.com.ar/blog/?p=50
Categorías: GNU/Linux
Etiquetas: command-line, convert, GNU/Linux, OpenOffice