For users seeking to create large format prints from PDF documents on macOS, especially for projects like posters or signage, mutool offers a powerful command-line solution. While command-line tools might seem daunting at first, mutool provides a flexible and efficient method to achieve poster printing directly from your terminal. This guide will walk you through using mutool to generate posterized PDFs, assuming you have a basic understanding of macOS and are comfortable using the Terminal application.
Understanding Mutool and MuPDF
mutool is a versatile command-line tool that is part of the mμPDF suite. MuPDF is a lightweight PDF and XPS viewer known for its speed and efficiency. While MuPDF itself is a comprehensive package with various functionalities, mutool specifically provides a set of command-line utilities for manipulating PDF and related documents. In the context of creating a “Poster From Print,” mutool‘s poster functionality allows you to take a standard PDF and divide it into multiple pages that, when printed and assembled, form a larger poster.
Installation via Homebrew
To utilize mutool on macOS, the recommended installation method is through Homebrew, a popular package manager for macOS. Homebrew simplifies the process of installing software and managing dependencies. Before installing mutool, ensure you have Homebrew installed on your system. If not, you can find installation instructions on the Homebrew website.
Once Homebrew is set up, installing mutool (which includes the broader MuPDF tools) is straightforward. Open your Terminal application and execute the following command:
brew install mupdfThis command instructs Homebrew to download and install the MuPDF package, which includes mutool. During the installation, Homebrew will also ensure that any necessary dependencies are installed. It’s important to note that Homebrew relies on Apple’s command-line developer tools. If these tools are not already present on your system, Homebrew will automatically install them as part of the process.
After the installation is complete, the mutool binary will be placed in a directory that your system might not automatically recognize. For Apple Silicon Macs, this is typically /opt/homebrew/bin, and for Intel-based Macs, it’s often /usr/local/bin. To ensure you can run mutool from any terminal location, you may need to adjust your Shell PATH environment variable to include the appropriate directory. However, in most standard Homebrew installations, this is handled automatically.
Generating Your Poster PDF
With mutool successfully installed, you can now proceed to create your poster PDF. The basic command structure for generating a poster is as follows:
mutool poster -x <columns> -y <rows> <input.pdf> <output.pdf>Let’s break down each part of this command:
mutool poster: This invokes thepostercommand within themutoolsuite.-x <columns>: This option specifies the number of columns in your poster layout. In other words, it defines how many pages wide your poster will be.-y <rows>: This option specifies the number of rows in your poster layout, determining the height of your poster in pages.<input.pdf>: Replace this with the filename of your original PDF document that you want to posterize.<output.pdf>: Specify the desired filename for the resulting poster PDF. This will be the file containing the multi-page poster layout.
For example, if you have a PDF file named original.pdf and you want to create a poster that is 3 pages wide and 4 pages tall, you would use the following command:
mutool poster -x 3 -y 4 original.pdf poster.pdfThis command will generate a new PDF file named poster.pdf. When you open poster.pdf with a PDF viewer like Apple’s Preview or Adobe Acrobat Reader, you will see that your original PDF content has been divided and expanded across multiple pages arranged in a 3×4 grid. Printing this PDF will then allow you to assemble the printed pages into a larger poster.
Locating the Mutool Binary
If you need to confirm the exact location of your mutool installation, you can use the which command in the Terminal:
which mutoolThis command will output the full path to the mutool executable, which will typically be either /opt/homebrew/bin/mutool (for Apple Silicon) or /usr/local/bin/mutool (for Intel Macs) if installed via Homebrew.
Further Resources
For more in-depth information about mutool and its various functionalities, you can consult the official manual page. You can access it online at https://www.mankier.com/1/mutool. This manual provides comprehensive details on all mutool commands and options.
Additionally, if you are using MacTeX, a TeX distribution for macOS, be aware that mutool is also offered as an optional installation component during the MacTeX 2024 installation process.
By using mutool and the command-line instructions outlined above, you can effectively create “poster from print” layouts from your PDF documents on macOS, providing a flexible and powerful tool for various printing needs.
