tumble

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tumble: build a PDF file from image files Copyright 2003-2022 Eric Smith [email protected]

Tumble is a utility to construct PDF files from one or more image files. Supported input image file formats are JPEG, and black and white TIFF (single- or multi-page). Black and white images will be encoded in the PDF output using lossless Group 4 fax compression (ITU-T recommendation T.6). This provides a very good compression ratio for text and line art. JPEG images will be preserved with the original coding.

The input and output files can be specified on the command line. Alternatively, a control file, typically with a ".tum" suffix, may be used which allows for more control over the files and options.

The general command line syntax is:

tumble [options] <input>... -o <output.pdf>

The options in this mode are:

-v        verbose
-b <fmt>  create bookmarks

If the "-b" option is given, bookmarks will be created using the format string, which may contain arbitrary text and/or the following format specifiers:

%F  file name, sans suffix  e.g., "foo.tif" will just appear as "foo"
%p  page number of input file, useful for multipage TIFF files

There is currently no documentation for the control file syntax, as it is still being refined, and many of the options planned for use in control files are not yet fully implemented. Features that will be available in control files include:

image resolution specification - useful for input files with
    unspecified resolution, or to override
image rotation, in units of 90 degrees
image cropping
grouping to allow different specifications for individual pages
    or groups of consecutive pages (e.g., chapters)
ability to control operations independently on even and odd pages
    (e.g., different rotation or cropping)
more flexible bookmark control
page labels, so that the PDF file can present the actual document
    page numbers such as xvii or 3-27

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 as published by the Free Software Foundation. Note that permission is not granted to redistribute this program under the terms of any other version of the General Public License.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111 USA