.TH PDFTEX 1 "14 February 2026" "Web2C 2026"
.\"=====================================================================
.if t .ds TX \fRT\\h'-0.10m'\\v'0.17v'E\\v'-0.17v'\\h'-0.06m'X\fP
.if n .ds TX TeX
.ie t .ds OX \fIT\h'-0.17m'\v'+0.21m'E\v'-0.21m'\h'-0.04m'X\fP
.el .ds OX TeX
.\" LX definition must follow TX so LX can use TX
.if t .ds LX \fRL\\h'-0.36m'\\v'-0.15v'\s-2A\s+2\\h'-0.15m'\\v'0.15v'\fP\*(TX
.if n .ds LX LaTeX
.\"=====================================================================
.SH NAME
pdftex, pdfetex \- PDF output from TeX
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B pdftex
.RI [ options ]
.RI [ \fB&\fPformat ]
\h'.25' [ \fIfile\fP [ \fImore-input\fP ] \h'.5'|\h'.5' [ \fB\e\fP\fImore-input\fP ]
.\"=====================================================================
.SH DESCRIPTION
Run the pdf\*(TX typesetter on
.IR file [.tex],
usually creating
.IR file.pdf .
If the file argument has no extension, ".tex" will be appended to it. See
.BR tex (1)
for details of command-line parsing.
.PP
pdf\*(TX is a descendant of \*(TX that can create pdf files directly as
well as dvi files (determined by the value of the \epdfoutput primitive
parameter). It includes the
.BR etex (1)
extensions, and adds many more extensions of its own. In dvi mode,
pdf\*(TX can be used as an upward-compatible replacement for the \*(TX
engine.
.PP
The typical use of pdf\*(TX is with pregenerated \*(TX formats
(\fI.fmt\fP files), usually with pdf output enabled. For example, the
.B pdftex
command uses the plain \*(TX format, and the
.BR pdflatex (1)
command uses the \*(LX format.  As described in 
.BR etex (1),
the e-\*(TX extensions are enabled when building the \fI.fmt\fP file.
.PP
.B Image formats supported
.PP
In pdf mode, pdf\*(TX can natively handle the
.IR pdf ,
.IR jpg ,
.IR jbig2 ,
and
.I png
graphics formats. It cannot include PostScript or Encapsulated
PostScript (eps) graphics files; you can convert them to pdf using, for
example,
.BR epstopdf (1).
The PostScript files output by
.BR mpost (1),
which are highly restricted in their use of PostScript, can be handled
directly using the \fIsupp-pdf.tex\fP macros, or converted to pdf with
.BR mptopdf (1).
.PP
.B Program variants
.PP
Starting with version 1.40 (around 2007), pdf\*(TX incorporated the
e-\*(TX extensions, and the
.B pdfetex
and
.B etex
executables became symlinks to the
.B pdftex
binary. The
.B etex
executable generates dvi files by default; \fBpdfetex\fP has the same
behavior as \fBpdftex\fP.
.PP
.B Both engine and driver
.PP
When generating pdf output, pdf\*(TX must have all necessary font and
device information and thus is acting like a device driver with dvi
output, similar to, say,
.BR dvips (1).
Therefore there are various primitives to specify the device
information, such as the height, width, resolution, and so forth. Also,
pdf\*(TX reads glyph information for the fonts used, e.g., from Type\~1
or PK bitmap files.  pdf\*(TX also supports TrueType fonts, but it's
necessary to define an encoding before using them (see references).
OpenType fonts are not supported.
.\"=====================================================================
.SH OPTIONS
For the common \*(TX command-line options and handling, see
.BR tex (1).
The following pdf\*(TX-specific options are also supported:
.\" from Master/tlpkg/bin/tloptdiff.
.TP
.B -draftmode
Enabled \epdfdraftmode, in which pdf\*(TX doesn't write a pdf and
doesn't read any included images, thus speeding up execution.
.TP
.B -etex
Enable the e-\*(TX extensions.  This option is only effective in
combination with
.BR -ini .
It is typically enabled implicitly, with a leading "*" on the format
initialization file, as described in
.BR etex (1).
.TP
.BI -output-format \ format
Set the output format mode;
.I format
must be either ``pdf'' or ``dvi''.
.TP
.BI -synctex \ number
generate Sync\*(TX data for previewers according to bits of \fInumber\fP.
See
.BR synctex (1).
.\"=====================================================================
.SH ENVIRONMENT
See
.BR tex (1).
Also, this environment variable is specific to pdf\*(TX:
.TP
.B TEXMF_DEBUG_PNG_COPY
If set to "1", pdf\*(TX reports various attributes of each png image,
including whether the image is copied. This is useful when a document uses
numerous png images, since reencoding (instead of copying) can take
considerable time. See the Graphics chapter in the pdf\*(TX manual for
more information.
.PP
Also, these environment variables are considered for all engines except
original \*(TX:
.TP
.B SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH
If set, its value, taken to be in epoch-seconds, will be used for the
timestamps in the PDF output, such as the CreationDate and ModDate keys.
This is useful for making reproducible builds.
.TP
.B FORCE_SOURCE_DATE
If set to the value "1", the time-related \*(TX primitives
.RI ( \eyear ,
.IR \emonth ,
.IR \eday ,
.IR \etime )
are also initialized from the value of SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH.  This is not
recommended if there is any viable alternative.
.br
pdf\*(TX also has several primitives to support reproducible builds;
see the manual.
.\"=====================================================================
.SH FILES
See
.BR tex (1).
Also:
.TP
.I $TEXMFMAIN/tex/plain/config/etex.ini
The driver file that builds the plain format files for pdf\*(TX,
\fIpdftex.fmt\fP and \fIpdfetex.fmt\fP, in \*(TX Live.
.TP
.I $TEXMFMAIN/tex/plain/config/pdftexmagfix.tex
Make \emagnification work as expected under pdf\*(TX. Included in the
format files.
.TP
.I $TEXMFMAIN/tex/generic/tex-ini-files/pdftexconfig.tex
Define shared pdf settings, such as the default pdf version, the pdf
height and width, etc.
.TP
.I $TEXMF[SYS]CONFIG/tex/generic/tex-ini-files/pdftexconfig.tex
The installation-specific version of the above (in \*(TX Live), since
the default paper size is defined by the installation.
.TP
.I $TEXMF[SYS]VAR/fonts/map/pdftex/updmap/pdftex.map
Mapping of tfm files to Type\~1 fonts; generally maintained
automatically in \*(TX Live.
.\"=====================================================================
.SH BUGS
See
.BR tex (1).
.\"=====================================================================
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.BR epstopdf (1),
.BR etex (1),
.BR luatex (1),
.BR mptopdf (1),
.BR tex (1).
.PP
Micro-typographic extensions to the \*(TX typesetting system, by
H\[`a]n The Th\[`a]nh
(thesis describing the major new typesetting feature in pdf\*(TX):
https://tug.org/TUGboat/tb21-4/
.br
A closer look at TrueType fonts and pdf\*(TX, by 
H\[`a]n The Th\[`a]nh (on using TrueType fonts with \*(TX):
https://tug.org/TUGboat/tb30-1/tb94thanh.pdf
.br
pdf\*(TX home page: https://www.pdftex.org
.br
Package page on CTAN: https://ctan.org/pkg/pdftex
.br
pdf\*(TX manual: https://mirror.ctan.org/systems/doc/pdftex/manual/pdftex-a.pdf
.br
Web2c manual: https://tug.org/web2c
.br
Kpathsea manual: https://tug.org/kpathsea
.br
Sources for the \*(TX-world literate programs, as pdf:
https://ctan.org/pkg/knuth-pdf
.\"=====================================================================
.SH AUTHORS
\*(TX was created by Donald E. Knuth. The primary author of the
pdf\*(TX enhancements is H\[`a]n The Th\[`a]nh, with major contributions
from Petr Sojka, Jiri Zlatuska, and Peter Breitenlohner (e-\*(TX).
.\" the double accent 0x1EBF in Thanh's name is not easily available.
.PP
Public discussion list for pdf\*(TX-specific issues:
https://lists.tug.org/pdftex
.br
Public discussion list for \*(TX Live:
https://lists.tug.org/tex-live
.br
Public discussion list for all things \*(TX (and \*(LX):
https://lists.tug.org/texhax