cupsfilter

Convert a file to another format using cups filters.

Syntax
       cupsfilter [ --list-filters ] [ -D ] [ -U user ] [ -c config-file ] [ -d printer ]
          [ -e ] [ -i mime/type ] [ -j job-id[,N] ] [ -m mime/type ] [ -n copies ] [ -o name=value ]
             [ -p filename.ppd ] [ -t title ] [ -u ] filename

Options
   --list-filters
            Do not actually run the filters, just print the filters used to stdout.

   -D       Delete the input file after conversion.

   -U user
            The username to pass to the filter(s).
            default = the current user.

   -c config-file
            Use the named cups-files.conf configuration file.

   -d printer
            Use information from the named printer.

   -e       Use every filter from the PPD file.

   -i mime/type
            The  source file type. The default file type is guessed using the filename
            and contents of the file.

   -j job-id[,N]
            Convert document N from the specified job. If N is omitted, document 1 is converted.

   -m mime/type
            The destination file type. The default file type is application/pdf. Use
            printer/foo to convert to the printer format defined by the filters in the PPD
            file.

   -n copies
            The number of copies to generate.

   -o name=value
            Options to pass to the CUPS filters.

   -p filename.ppd
            The PPD file to use.

   -t title
            The document title.

   -u       Delete the PPD file after conversion.

cupsfilter is a front-end to the CUPS filter subsystem which allows you to convert a file to a specific format, just as if you had printed the file through CUPS. By default, cupsfilter generates a PDF file. The converted file is sent to the standard output.

Unlike when printing, filters run using the cupsfilter command use the current user and security session. This may result in different output or unexpected behavior.

ENVIRONMENT
All of the standard cups(1) environment variables affect the operation of cupsfilter.

FILES
/etc/cups/cups-files.conf
/etc/cups/*.convs
/etc/cups/*.types
/usr/share/cups/mime/*.convs
/usr/share/cups/mime/*.types

Examples

Read a text file and convert to a PDF:

cupsfilter foo.txt > foo.pdf

Generate a PDF preview of job 42 for a printer named "myprinter" and save it to a file named "preview.pdf":

cupsfilter -m application/pdf -d myprinter -j 42 >preview.pdf

“We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty” ~ Maya Angelou

Related macOS commands

cups(1)
cupsd.conf(5)
filter(7)
mime.convs(7)
mime.types(7)
CUPS Online Help (http://localhost:631/help)