* ps conversion tools?
@ Thomas Ward
` Jason
` (3 more replies)
0 siblings, 4 replies; 19+ messages in thread
From: Thomas Ward @ UTC (permalink / raw)
To: speakup
Hi, list. I have a number of documents in ps and pdf format. I was wondering
if there are any good Linux tools I can use to turn them into a text file so
I can read them under Linux so I don't have to depend on that piece of junk
Acrobat Reader for Windows. I hate acrobat, and I am sure everyone on this
list feels the same way. It's a pain where a pill won't reach.
So if anyone has any advice please let me know. Thanks.
PS
Please give some brief discription of the command on how this conversion is
achieved.
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 19+ messages in thread* Re: ps conversion tools? ps conversion tools? Thomas Ward @ ` Jason ` Gregory Nowak ` (2 subsequent siblings) 3 siblings, 0 replies; 19+ messages in thread From: Jason @ UTC (permalink / raw) To: speakup it's called ghost script, command name gs it's usually used to send a post script file to a printer in that printer's native format. I'm not sure about the syntax to convert to plain text and output to the screen, but I'm pretty sure it can. I guess just check the documentation. On Thursday November 01, 2001 08:39 pm, you wrote: > Hi, list. I have a number of documents in ps and pdf format. I was > wondering if there are any good Linux tools I can use to turn them into a > text file so I can read them under Linux so I don't have to depend on that > piece of junk Acrobat Reader for Windows. I hate acrobat, and I am sure > everyone on this list feels the same way. It's a pain where a pill won't > reach. > So if anyone has any advice please let me know. Thanks. > > > PS > Please give some brief discription of the command on how this conversion is > achieved. > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Speakup mailing list > Speakup@braille.uwo.ca > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 19+ messages in thread
* Re: ps conversion tools? ps conversion tools? Thomas Ward ` Jason @ ` Gregory Nowak ` Yvonne Smith ` Kirk Reiser 3 siblings, 0 replies; 19+ messages in thread From: Gregory Nowak @ UTC (permalink / raw) To: speakup To turn pdf or ps files into plain ascii text, try ps2ascii. See "man ps2ascii" for details. This works grate with unencrypted pdf files. There is a patch for it to deal with the encrypted ones, but I have not had luck with it. Greg On Thu, Nov 01, 2001 at 10:39:27PM -0500, Thomas Ward wrote: > Hi, list. I have a number of documents in ps and pdf format. I was wondering > if there are any good Linux tools I can use to turn them into a text file so > I can read them under Linux so I don't have to depend on that piece of junk > Acrobat Reader for Windows. I hate acrobat, and I am sure everyone on this > list feels the same way. It's a pain where a pill won't reach. > So if anyone has any advice please let me know. Thanks. > > > PS > Please give some brief discription of the command on how this conversion is > achieved. > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Speakup mailing list > Speakup@braille.uwo.ca > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 19+ messages in thread
* ps conversion tools? ps conversion tools? Thomas Ward ` Jason ` Gregory Nowak @ ` Yvonne Smith ` Jason ` Gregory Nowak ` Kirk Reiser 3 siblings, 2 replies; 19+ messages in thread From: Yvonne Smith @ UTC (permalink / raw) To: speakup You guys are right, ghostscript will do it, but in my experience, and believe me, I've had more experience at converting files from different formats to text than you can possibly imagine, xpdf is better for the pdf stuff. It seems to do a whole heck of a lot better on the formatting, at least that's what I've noticed. ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 19+ messages in thread
* Re: ps conversion tools? ` Yvonne Smith @ ` Jason ` Yvonne Smith ` Gregory Nowak 1 sibling, 1 reply; 19+ messages in thread From: Jason @ UTC (permalink / raw) To: speakup Umm..... you seem to be forgetting what mailing list this is :-P On Thursday November 01, 2001 11:50 pm, you wrote: > You guys are right, ghostscript will do it, but in my experience, and > believe me, I've had more experience at converting files from > different formats to text than you can possibly imagine, xpdf is > better for the pdf stuff. It seems to do a whole heck of a lot better > on the formatting, at least that's what I've noticed. > > _______________________________________________ > Speakup mailing list > Speakup@braille.uwo.ca > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 19+ messages in thread
* Re: ps conversion tools? ` Jason @ ` Yvonne Smith ` Jason ` Shaun Oliver 0 siblings, 2 replies; 19+ messages in thread From: Yvonne Smith @ UTC (permalink / raw) To: speakup Jason writes: > Umm..... you seem to be forgetting what mailing list this is :-P > > On Thursday November 01, 2001 11:50 pm, you wrote: > > You guys are right, ghostscript will do it, but in my experience, and > > believe me, I've had more experience at converting files from > > different formats to text than you can possibly imagine, xpdf is > > better for the pdf stuff. It seems to do a whole heck of a lot better > > on the formatting, at least that's what I've noticed. Umm, no, I didn't forget. Yes it needs the x stuff, I think, but it works as a command line tool. you just type pdftotext filename and you get a text file. Believe me, I'm no more capable of using x than you are. I don't actually know where to get it from, but it is a debian package. I'm sorry I didn't make myself clear earlier. ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 19+ messages in thread
* Re: ps conversion tools? ` Yvonne Smith @ ` Jason ` Shaun Oliver ` ps conversion tools? Buddy Brannan ` Shaun Oliver 1 sibling, 2 replies; 19+ messages in thread From: Jason @ UTC (permalink / raw) To: speakup > Umm, no, I didn't forget. Yes it needs the x stuff, I think, but it > works as a command line tool. you just type pdftotext filename and you > get a text file. Believe me, I'm no more capable of using x than you > are. I don't actually know where to get it from, but it is a debian > package. > I'm sorry I didn't make myself clear earlier. well, for one, keep in mind most of my comments are intended to be at least a little bit funny. and actually in my case, I joined this list to find accessibility-conversion projects to join (I'm an OK programmer, BTW), and actually I'd like to do similar work for a living when I'm done with school. after joining I found out that I can at least answer some of the questions posted. my interest in blind-accessiblity issues actually has an interesting (short) story attached to it, but it's not appropriate for this list, but it includes an idea I have for accessibility-enhancing DVD-Videos, here's a hint: mandated DVS won't be very useful without a way to find the menu item that turns it on ;-) anyway, I'm way offtopic, so I'll end here. btw: is there a program like gAIM or everybuddy that runs on a standard console yet? If not I'd love to hack one together :-) ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 19+ messages in thread
* Re: ps conversion tools? ` Jason @ ` Shaun Oliver ` tac (was ps conversion tools?) William Hubbs ` ps conversion tools? Buddy Brannan 1 sibling, 1 reply; 19+ messages in thread From: Shaun Oliver @ UTC (permalink / raw) To: speakup I've got an aim clone called tac and it's a tcl based client. and it's tatally command line driven. On Fri, 2 Nov 2001, Jason wrote: > > Umm, no, I didn't forget. Yes it needs the x stuff, I think, but it > > works as a command line tool. you just type pdftotext filename and you > > get a text file. Believe me, I'm no more capable of using x than you > > are. I don't actually know where to get it from, but it is a debian > > package. > > I'm sorry I didn't make myself clear earlier. > > well, for one, keep in mind most of my comments are intended to be at least a > little bit funny. > > and actually in my case, I joined this list to find accessibility-conversion > projects to join (I'm an OK programmer, BTW), and actually I'd like to do > similar work for a living when I'm done with school. > > after joining I found out that I can at least answer some of the questions > posted. > > my interest in blind-accessiblity issues actually has an interesting (short) > story attached to it, but it's not appropriate for this list, but it includes > an idea I have for accessibility-enhancing DVD-Videos, here's a hint: > mandated DVS won't be very useful without a way to find the menu item that > turns it on ;-) > > anyway, I'm way offtopic, so I'll end here. > > btw: is there a program like gAIM or everybuddy that runs on a standard > console yet? If not I'd love to hack one together :-) > > > _______________________________________________ > Speakup mailing list > Speakup@braille.uwo.ca > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup > -- Shaun Oliver. "We realize we have a problem with communication. However, we're not going to discuss it with our staff." email: shauno@goanna.net.au ICQ: 76958435 ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 19+ messages in thread
* tac (was ps conversion tools?) ` Shaun Oliver @ ` William Hubbs 0 siblings, 0 replies; 19+ messages in thread From: William Hubbs @ UTC (permalink / raw) To: speakup Hi Shaun, Where did you get this client? I would like to take a look at it. Thanks, William On Sat, Nov 03, 2001 at 12:15:45AM +1100, Shaun Oliver wrote: > I've got an aim clone called tac and it's a tcl based client. and it's > tatally command line driven. > > On Fri, 2 Nov 2001, Jason wrote: > > > > Umm, no, I didn't forget. Yes it needs the x stuff, I think, but it > > > works as a command line tool. you just type pdftotext filename and you > > > get a text file. Believe me, I'm no more capable of using x than you > > > are. I don't actually know where to get it from, but it is a debian > > > package. > > > I'm sorry I didn't make myself clear earlier. > > > > well, for one, keep in mind most of my comments are intended to be at least a > > little bit funny. > > > > and actually in my case, I joined this list to find accessibility-conversion > > projects to join (I'm an OK programmer, BTW), and actually I'd like to do > > similar work for a living when I'm done with school. > > > > after joining I found out that I can at least answer some of the questions > > posted. > > > > my interest in blind-accessiblity issues actually has an interesting (short) > > story attached to it, but it's not appropriate for this list, but it includes > > an idea I have for accessibility-enhancing DVD-Videos, here's a hint: > > mandated DVS won't be very useful without a way to find the menu item that > > turns it on ;-) > > > > anyway, I'm way offtopic, so I'll end here. > > > > btw: is there a program like gAIM or everybuddy that runs on a standard > > console yet? If not I'd love to hack one together :-) > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Speakup mailing list > > Speakup@braille.uwo.ca > > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup > > > > -- > Shaun Oliver. > > "We realize we have a problem with communication. However, we're not going > to discuss it with our staff." > email: shauno@goanna.net.au > ICQ: 76958435 > > > _______________________________________________ > Speakup mailing list > Speakup@braille.uwo.ca > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 19+ messages in thread
* Re: ps conversion tools? ` Jason ` Shaun Oliver @ ` Buddy Brannan 1 sibling, 0 replies; 19+ messages in thread From: Buddy Brannan @ UTC (permalink / raw) To: speakup I haven't found an AOHell Instant Messenger program that I like. Closest I've come is aimirc, which runs as an AIM-to-IRC gateway on an IRC server, accessed with your standard IRC client. -- Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV | From the pines down to the projects, Email: davros@ycardz.com | Life pushes up through the cracks. Phone: (972) 276-6360 | And it's only going forward, ICQ: 36621210 | And it's never going back.--Small Potatoes ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 19+ messages in thread
* Re: ps conversion tools? ` Yvonne Smith ` Jason @ ` Shaun Oliver 1 sibling, 0 replies; 19+ messages in thread From: Shaun Oliver @ UTC (permalink / raw) To: speakup no offence guys, but, is this not a list wherebye we can discuss not only speakup related issues but linux related issues as well? And as far as I can see, this is a valid discussion thread. Let's not forget that we're all here to help one another out whereever possible. Thanks for putting up with my gripe. On Fri, 2 Nov 2001, Yvonne Smith wrote: > Jason writes: > > Umm..... you seem to be forgetting what mailing list this is :-P > > > > On Thursday November 01, 2001 11:50 pm, you wrote: > > > You guys are right, ghostscript will do it, but in my experience, and > > > believe me, I've had more experience at converting files from > > > different formats to text than you can possibly imagine, xpdf is > > > better for the pdf stuff. It seems to do a whole heck of a lot better > > > on the formatting, at least that's what I've noticed. > > Umm, no, I didn't forget. Yes it needs the x stuff, I think, but it > works as a command line tool. you just type pdftotext filename and you > get a text file. Believe me, I'm no more capable of using x than you > are. I don't actually know where to get it from, but it is a debian > package. > I'm sorry I didn't make myself clear earlier. > > _______________________________________________ > Speakup mailing list > Speakup@braille.uwo.ca > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup > -- Shaun Oliver. "We realize we have a problem with communication. However, we're not going to discuss it with our staff." email: shauno@goanna.net.au ICQ: 76958435 ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 19+ messages in thread
* Re: ps conversion tools? ` Yvonne Smith ` Jason @ ` Gregory Nowak ` Yvonne Smith ` Charles Hallenbeck 1 sibling, 2 replies; 19+ messages in thread From: Gregory Nowak @ UTC (permalink / raw) To: speakup Can it be used without configuring x? Greg On Fri, Nov 02, 2001 at 05:50:45PM +1100, Yvonne Smith wrote: > You guys are right, ghostscript will do it, but in my experience, and > believe me, I've had more experience at converting files from > different formats to text than you can possibly imagine, xpdf is > better for the pdf stuff. It seems to do a whole heck of a lot better > on the formatting, at least that's what I've noticed. > > _______________________________________________ > Speakup mailing list > Speakup@braille.uwo.ca > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 19+ messages in thread
* Re: ps conversion tools? ` Gregory Nowak @ ` Yvonne Smith ` Charles Hallenbeck 1 sibling, 0 replies; 19+ messages in thread From: Yvonne Smith @ UTC (permalink / raw) To: speakup Gregory Nowak writes: > Can it be used without configuring x? Far as I know, yes it can. As long as you've got the dependencies, and I can't even begin to remember what they are now, pdftotext is just a command line ap. ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 19+ messages in thread
* Re: ps conversion tools? ` Gregory Nowak ` Yvonne Smith @ ` Charles Hallenbeck ` Yvonne Smith 1 sibling, 1 reply; 19+ messages in thread From: Charles Hallenbeck @ UTC (permalink / raw) To: speakup Hi Greg On Fri, 2 Nov 2001, Gregory Nowak wrote: > Can it be used without configuring x? > Greg I found xpdf on my Slackware 8.0 system, but when I tried to use it on a pdf file, here is what happened: $ xpdf a-83.pdf LTK Error: Cannot connect to X server I have not configured X on my system, so I guess the answer to your question is 'no'. Darn! Chuck Visit me at http://www.mhonline.net/~chuckh "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." -- Benjamin Franklin, 1759. ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 19+ messages in thread
* Re: ps conversion tools? ` Charles Hallenbeck @ ` Yvonne Smith 0 siblings, 0 replies; 19+ messages in thread From: Yvonne Smith @ UTC (permalink / raw) To: speakup Charles Hallenbeck writes: > Hi Greg > On Fri, 2 Nov 2001, Gregory Nowak wrote: > > > Can it be used without configuring x? > > Greg > I found xpdf on my Slackware 8.0 system, but when I tried to use it on a > pdf file, here is what happened: > > $ xpdf a-83.pdf > LTK Error: Cannot connect to X server > > I have not configured X on my system, so I guess the answer to your > question is 'no'. Darn! No, sorry. Use pdftotext <filename> don't directly run xpdf. ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 19+ messages in thread
* Re: ps conversion tools? ps conversion tools? Thomas Ward ` (2 preceding siblings ...) ` Yvonne Smith @ ` Kirk Reiser ` Janina Sajka 3 siblings, 1 reply; 19+ messages in thread From: Kirk Reiser @ UTC (permalink / raw) To: speakup There are three packages I know and use for postscript/pdf conversion to text. Two of them have already been mentioned xpdf (pdf2text) and ps2ascii part of the ghostscript system. There is a third one which works quite nicely as well pstotext. In debian at least it is it's own package. Kirk -- Kirk Reiser The Computer Braille Facility e-mail: kirk@braille.uwo.ca University of Western Ontario phone: (519) 661-3061 ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 19+ messages in thread
* Re: ps conversion tools? ` Kirk Reiser @ ` Janina Sajka ` Steve Holmes 0 siblings, 1 reply; 19+ messages in thread From: Janina Sajka @ UTC (permalink / raw) To: speakup Here are two urls that will be of interest on this issue: http://members.ozemail.com.au/~geoffk/pdfencrypt/ http://members.ozemail.com.au/~geoffk/pdfencrypt/ On 2 Nov 2001, Kirk Reiser wrote: > There are three packages I know and use for postscript/pdf conversion > to text. Two of them have already been mentioned xpdf (pdf2text) and > ps2ascii part of the ghostscript system. There is a third one which > works quite nicely as well pstotext. In debian at least it is it's > own package. > > Kirk > > -- Janina Sajka, Director Technology Research and Development Governmental Relations Group American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) Email: janina@afb.net Phone: (202) 408-8175 Chair, Accessibility SIG Open Electronic Book Forum (OEBF) http://www.openebook.org Will electronic books surpass print books? Read our white paper, Surpassing Gutenberg, at http://www.afb.org/ebook.asp Download a free sample Digital Talking Book edition of Martin Luther King Jr's inspiring "I Have A Dream" speech at http://www.afb.org/mlkweb.asp Learn how to make accessible software at http://www.afb.org/accessapp.asp ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 19+ messages in thread
* Re: ps conversion tools? ` Janina Sajka @ ` Steve Holmes ` Janina Sajka 0 siblings, 1 reply; 19+ messages in thread From: Steve Holmes @ UTC (permalink / raw) To: speakup Ah but these two URL's are exactly the same:). On Fri, 2 Nov 2001, Janina Sajka wrote: > Here are two urls that will be of interest on this issue: > > http://members.ozemail.com.au/~geoffk/pdfencrypt/ > http://members.ozemail.com.au/~geoffk/pdfencrypt/ > > On 2 Nov 2001, Kirk Reiser wrote: > > > There are three packages I know and use for postscript/pdf conversion > > to text. Two of them have already been mentioned xpdf (pdf2text) and > > ps2ascii part of the ghostscript system. There is a third one which > > works quite nicely as well pstotext. In debian at least it is it's > > own package. > > > > Kirk > > > > > > ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 19+ messages in thread
* Re: ps conversion tools? ` Steve Holmes @ ` Janina Sajka 0 siblings, 0 replies; 19+ messages in thread From: Janina Sajka @ UTC (permalink / raw) To: speakup Oh, dear. I am sorry ... Let me try that again ... http://www.ecn.purdue.edu/~laird/PDF/ http://members.ozemail.com.au/~geoffk/pdfencrypt/ On Fri, 2 Nov 2001, Steve Holmes wrote: > Ah but these two URL's are exactly the same:). > > On Fri, 2 Nov 2001, Janina Sajka wrote: > > > Here are two urls that will be of interest on this issue: > > > > http://members.ozemail.com.au/~geoffk/pdfencrypt/ > > http://members.ozemail.com.au/~geoffk/pdfencrypt/ > > > > On 2 Nov 2001, Kirk Reiser wrote: > > > > > There are three packages I know and use for postscript/pdf conversion > > > to text. Two of them have already been mentioned xpdf (pdf2text) and > > > ps2ascii part of the ghostscript system. There is a third one which > > > works quite nicely as well pstotext. In debian at least it is it's > > > own package. > > > > > > Kirk > > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Speakup mailing list > Speakup@braille.uwo.ca > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup > -- Janina Sajka, Director Technology Research and Development Governmental Relations Group American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) Email: janina@afb.net Phone: (202) 408-8175 Chair, Accessibility SIG Open Electronic Book Forum (OEBF) http://www.openebook.org Will electronic books surpass print books? Read our white paper, Surpassing Gutenberg, at http://www.afb.org/ebook.asp Download a free sample Digital Talking Book edition of Martin Luther King Jr's inspiring "I Have A Dream" speech at http://www.afb.org/mlkweb.asp Learn how to make accessible software at http://www.afb.org/accessapp.asp ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 19+ messages in thread
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ps conversion tools? Thomas Ward
` Jason
` Gregory Nowak
` Yvonne Smith
` Jason
` Yvonne Smith
` Jason
` Shaun Oliver
` tac (was ps conversion tools?) William Hubbs
` ps conversion tools? Buddy Brannan
` Shaun Oliver
` Gregory Nowak
` Yvonne Smith
` Charles Hallenbeck
` Yvonne Smith
` Kirk Reiser
` Janina Sajka
` Steve Holmes
` Janina Sajka
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