Converting PDF Figures to EPS

The methods discussed here are for Mac. If you copy this article into ChatGPT and ask for an equivalent approach on another operating system, that should be straightforward.

Basic conversion methods

1. Use pdftops.
2. Use Ghostscript. Both pdftops and GS can convert PDF files directly to EPS, but I am personally not very satisfied with the result: the output EPS is rasterized, and jagged edges become visible when enlarged. Nevertheless, the main purpose of this article is to provide a script for this method.
3. Export the figure again from the software that originally created it. This is the least efficient option, but gives the best results. It is still the best approach.

The first two tools should be available from the command line after installing MacTeX. Open a terminal and enter pdftops or gs to inspect the output.

If they produce output, the tools are available. Below is a batch-conversion script using Ghostscript.

Ghostscript batch-processing script

Generated with ChatGPT.

#!/bin/bash

# 设置输出目录（可选）
output_dir="./eps_output"
mkdir -p "$output_dir"

# 遍历当前目录下所有 pdf 文件
for pdf_file in *.pdf; do
    # 提取文件名（不含扩展名）
    base_name="${pdf_file%.pdf}"
    eps_file="$output_dir/${base_name}.eps"

    echo "Converting $pdf_file -> $eps_file"

    gs -dNOPAUSE -dBATCH -dSAFER \
       -sDEVICE=eps2write \
       -dEPSCrop \
       -sOutputFile="$eps_file" "$pdf_file"
done

echo "All conversions done."

1. In the folder containing the PDFs you want to convert, create a file named pdf2eps.sh, paste the script into it, then save and close it.
2. Open a terminal and change the script’s permissions with sudo chmod +x ./pdf2eps.sh.
3. Run ./pdf2eps.sh to convert all PDF files in that folder.

Please inspect the converted files yourself. It is better to find any conversion problems before submitting them.