7 Responses to “Bulk convert HTML, RTF, etc. documents to PDF using the Mac OS X command line or an AppleScript”

1. murthy
   July 9th, 2009 at 16:26

   

   If i use the above command for converting html to pdf , the generated pdf not formatted properly.
   Please help me for generating pdf in required format.

2. Willem
   July 10th, 2009 at 09:24

   

   Hey Murthy

   If it’s a multi-page HTML document you’re trying to convert, maybe you should try using the “Save to PDF” feature available in all Cocoa apps (in the browser, click File->Print->PDF->Save as PDF).

   Alternatively (if you’re trying to capture a webpage that’s not too image-heavy) you could use an application like LittleSnapper to grab a full-page screenshot, then open that screenshot in Preview and save it to a PDF.

   Let me know if either of those suggestions work!

3. How to print emails from Mutt to PDF files on Mac OS X - OnMercury
   July 29th, 2009 at 22:52

   

   [...] I know about the muttprint package, but just needed a quick fix. I have got the idea for this hack from this article : http://www.geekology.co.za/blog/2009/02/bulk-convert-html-rtf-to-pdf-using-mac-os-x-command-line-or-... [...]

4. constantin
   July 31st, 2009 at 11:17

   

   @willem
   This is really a nice command! Thanks a lot for sharing it. Do you know of any documentation available for this command? I looked briefly but could not find anything quickly. I mean the help you get from the command itself is enough to get you going but still

5. willem
   July 31st, 2009 at 13:40

   

   Hi constantin

   Sorry, the only available documentation seems to be the built-in help:

   Usage: convert [ options ]
    
   Options:
    
     -f filename          Set file to be converted (otherwise stdin)
     -o filename          Set file to be generated (otherwise stdout)
     -i mime/type         Set input MIME type (otherwise auto-typed)
     -j mime/type         Set output MIME type (otherwise application/pdf)
     -P filename.ppd      Set PPD file
     -a 'name=value ...'  Set option(s)
     -U username          Set username for job
     -J title             Set title
     -c copies            Set number of copies
     -u                   Remove the PPD file when finished
     -D                   Remove the input file when finished

6. Jesse Bachrach
   October 28th, 2009 at 03:18

   

   First, thanks so much for this very helpful seeming tip. I’ve messed around some with Automator, but I am a scripting newbie and I am scared of terminal so I am trying to do it in Apple Script, but I keep getting this warning, and then it not working:
   convert: Unable to determine MIME type of, and then the path to the file I dropped onto it.
   Can you tell me what I am doing wrong?
   My ultimate goal is to be able to print mail .doc attachments as pdfs so they load faster for me to open them so I don’t need to be working in Word.
   Thanks so much for any assistance.

7. willem
   October 29th, 2009 at 08:53

   

   Hey Jesse

   When you say you want to convert mail .doc attachments, just keep in mind that you shouldn’t convert them directly in the “~/Library/Mail Downloads/”, else Mail won’t recognize them as the attachments on the messages.

   First, save the attachments somewhere else (e.g. a folder on your Desktop), then use the above script.

   I think the reason you’re getting that error message might be because it’s a Word document (.doc or .docx) that you’re trying to convert. The Microsoft Document standard is a closed standard and most apps can’t read it (in the case of applications like OpenOffice and Pages, their developers had to reverse-engineer the .DOC and .DOCX formats to be able to read and write them).

   I think unfortunately you’re either going to have to convert the DOC / DOCX files to RTF first, then run the above scripts, or print the files directly to PDF when you have them open. :/