---
name: "pod2pdf"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "perl-pod2pdf"
version: "0.42-3"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/pod2pdf"
---

# pod2pdf(1)

converts Pod to PDF format

## NAME

pod2pdf - converts Pod to PDF format

## DESCRIPTION

pod2pdf converts documents written in Perl's POD (Plain Old Documentation) format to PDF files.

### Usage

```
 pod2pdf [options] input.pod >output.pdf
```

If no input filename is specified, pod2pdf will read from STDIN, e.g.

```
 perldoc -u File::Find | pod2pdf [options] >File-Find.pdf
```

### Options

pod2pdf accepts the following command-line options:

- "--output-file"

  Sets the output filename for the generated PDF file. By default pod2pdf will output to STDOUT.

- "--page-size"

  Sets the page size to be used in the PDF file, can be set to any of the standard paper sizes (A4, A5, Letter, etc). Defaults to A4.

- "--page-orientation"

  Controls if pages are produces in landscape or portrait format. Defaults to 'portrait'.

- "--page-width", "--page-height"

  Sets the width and height of the generated pages in points (for using non-standard paper sizes).

- "--left-margin", "--right-margin", "--top-margin", "--bottom-margin"

  Allows each of the page margins (top, bottom, left, and right) to be individually set in points.

- "--margins"

  Sets all page margins to the same size (specified in points).

- "--header", "--noheader"

  Controls if a header (containing the page title, and optional timestamp and icon) will be included on each page. Defaults to on, so use `"--noheader"` to disable.

- "--title"

  Sets the page title (defaults to the input filename).

- "--timestamp"

  Boolean option - if set, includes the 'last modified' timestamp of the input file in the page header.

- "--icon"

  Filename of an icon to be displayed in the top left corner of each page.

- "--icon-scale"

  Scaling value for the header icon (defaults to 0.25).

- "--footer", "--nofooter"

  Controls if a footer (containg the current page number and optional text string) will be included on each page. By default the footer will be included, so use  `"--nofooter"` to disable.

- "--footer-text"

  Sets an optional footer text string that will be included in the bottom left corner of each page.

- "--version"

  Prints version number and exits.

### Configuration files

Sets of command-line options may be saved into configuration files.

A configuration file contains options in the same format as used by pod2pdf on the command-line, with one option given on each line of the file, e.g.

```
 --page-size A5
 --page-orientation landscape
```

To use a config file, invoke pod2pdf with the option `"@/path/to/configfile.conf"`.

For example, if you wanted to always include a company logo, timestamp, and copyright  notice in your PDF files, create a file *mycompany.conf* containing the following:

```
 --icon "/path/to/your/logo.png"
 --footer-text "Copyright 2007 MyCompany Limited"
 --timestamp
```

Then invoke pod2pdf as:

```
 pod2pdf @/path/to/mycompany.conf input.pod >output.pdf
```

If you create a config file called *pod2pdf.conf* and place this in the same  directory as the pod2pdf script, it will be loaded as the default configuration.

## POD ENTENSIONS

As well as the standard POD commands (see perlpodspec), pod2pdf supports the following extensions to the POD format:

- "=ff"

  The `"=ff"` command inserts a page bread (form feed) into the document.

- "O\<...\>"

  The `"O<...>"` formatting code inserts an external object (file) into the document. This is primarily intended for embedding images, e.g.

  ```
   O</path/to/figure1.jpg>
  ```

  to insert diagrams, etc into documentation.

  pod2pdf supports the file types JPG, GIF, TIFF, PNG, and PNM for embedded objects.

## DEPENDENCIES

pod2pdf requires the following modules to be installed:

- PDF::API2

  - Pod::Escapes

  - Getopt::ArgvFile

  Additionally to use images, the modules File::Type and Image::Size must be installed, and to specify alternative page sizes the Paper::Specs module is required.

## SEE ALSO

The pod2pdf homepage: \<http://perl.jonallen.info/projects/pod2pdf\>

For more information about POD, read the perlpod manpage or see the POD page on the Perl 5 Wiki (\<http://www.perlfoundation.org/perl5/index.cgi?pod\>).

## COPYRIGHT and LICENSE

Copyright (C) 2007 Jon Allen (JJ) \<jj@jonallen.info\>

This software is licensed under the terms of the Artistic License version 2.0.

For full license details, please read the file *artistic-2\_0.txt*  included with this distribution, or see \<http://www.perlfoundation.org/legal/licenses/artistic-2\_0.html\>.