pdf2eps

PDF to EPS Converter

This skill converts all PDF files in a specified directory to EPS format using the pdftops command-line tool.

Prerequisites

The pdftops utility must be installed and available in the system PATH. Common sources:

• Windows: MiKTeX, TeX Live, or Xpdf
• Linux: poppler-utils package (e.g., apt install poppler-utils)
• macOS: poppler via Homebrew (e.g., brew install poppler) or MacTeX

Workflow

CRITICAL — ALWAYS use the bundled Python script first. Do NOT invoke pdftops directly. The script handles dependency checks, error reporting, and batch processing correctly. Only fall back to manual conversion if Python is unavailable.

1. Run the bundled script:

   # Convert PDFs in current directory
   python scripts/pdf2eps.py .
   
   # Convert PDFs in a specific directory
   python scripts/pdf2eps.py /path/to/pdf/dir
   

   • The script checks that pdftops is installed, finds all .pdf files, converts each one, and reports successes/failures.
   • The base directory for the script is the skill directory: <skill-base>/scripts/pdf2eps.py
   • Always pass the target directory as a command-line argument to avoid interactive prompts.

2. Fallback (Python not available): ONLY use this if python or python3 cannot be found.

   • Check that pdftops is installed.
   • Find all .pdf files in the target directory.
   • For each PDF, run:

     pdftops -eps "<input.pdf>" "<output.eps>"
     

   • Quote file paths to handle spaces and preserve base filenames.
   • Continue through all files even if one fails, then report the total count, successes, and failures.

Error Handling

• Missing dependency: Explain what pdftops is and how to install it for the user's OS.
• No PDFs found: Clearly state that no .pdf files were detected in the target directory.
• Partial failures: Do not stop the batch on a single failure; complete all conversions and report which ones failed at the end.