bmp2pdf – Convert BMP Files to PDF

Version: 3.0

Part of DaVince Tools
Web Site: www.davince.com

Last Modified: July 8, 2004

Command Syntax

Description

New Features / Changes

Additional Information

About DaVince Tools

Command Syntax

Refer to the "DaVince Tools" Converters page for a description of the command line syntax for all converters.

Description

"bmp2pdf" is a command line program that converts Microsoft BMP files to PDF (Portable Document Format) files (for a Windows interface to this program, see wdavince). BMP is a file in many Microsoft applications. The program takes the BMP data and converts it to PDF format. The resulting PDF file can be many times smaller than the original BMP file due to compression of the image data in the PDF file. The key features of this program are:

BMP color and black and white formats supported
Bookmark support
Web optimization support
Convert many BMP files to one PDF (many to one), create a PDF file for each specified BMP file (one to one), or create a PDF file for each BMP subdirectory specified (many to few)
Individual filenames with wildcard support and/or an entire directory may be specified for conversion
Specify files or directories to convert either via the command line or a command file
Large file support (1,000+ pages)
Creates a version 1.2 PDF file with a unique file ID in trailer

The height, width and resolution information embedded in the BMP file are used to determine the physical page size. For example, an image 2,544 pixels wide and 3,287 pixels long and scanned at 300 DPI results in a PDF page size of 2,544/300 by 3,287/300, or 8.48 inches wide by 10.96 inches long. The resulting page size may not match a standard paper size, however, this is not a problem for viewers like Adobe Acrobat. The advantage to this method is that a multiple page conversion can contain images scanned at different sizes. This allows, for example, a converted PDF file to contain both U.S. letter and legal size pages, as well as differing European sizes (A1, A2, etc.) or even a combination of the two.

The screen output can be redirected to a file adding the DOS syntax ">filename" to the end of the command line. This can be used to redirect output to a log file. The program returns an error code of 1 when a fatal error occurs, used in batch programs to test the success of the program.

The initialization file and the use of profiles is described in the "DaVince Tools" Converters page.

Profile Settings

Refer to the "DaVince Tools" Converters page for a description of the common profile settings. There are no unique converter settings for bmp2pdf.

New Features / Changes:

A list of new features and changes, along with a version history, can be found in the release notes.

Additional Information:

Any DaVince Tool product that creates a PDF must create an intermediate file prior to writing the PDF file. The filename of this intermediate file begins with "tmps" and appears in the directory pointed to by the environment variable "TMP". If this environment does not exist, then the temporary file is written in the current directory. The intermediate file exists only during the execution of the program.

About DaVince Tools:

Visit the DaVince Tools web site at http://www.davince.com for the latest version of this software and the latest documentation. DaVince Tools is shareware and software registration is urged if you find these programs useful. You can register the software on-line at http://www.davince.com.

DaVince Tools was written in C++ using the DaVince Class Library, written by the same author as this program. The DaVince Class Library is a C++ library for developing PDF and TIFF applications. Contact the author at info@davince.com for more information on the availability of the class library.