In Unix, what are the up, 2up, 4up, 8up, and 16up utilities, and how do I use them to manipulate PostScript files?
In Unix, the up utility takes a PostScript
file as input, scales it, rotates it, and transforms it, so that you can
print more than one page on a single sheet of paper. Commonly included with
up are 2up, 4up, 8up,
and 16up, which are actually symbolic links to up
that specify a layout.
For example, to use up to print a file in landscape mode,
with two pages side-by-side on each piece of paper, at the Unix
prompt, enter:
Replace filename with the name of the PostScript file and
replace printcommand with the print command you want to
use (i.e., lpr for BSD-compatible systems and
lp in System V).
Note: The destination printer must be able to handle PostScript files.
To create printed output that displays in portrait mode and fits four
pages per printed sheet, you would use 4up. 8up
and 16up are similar, but they fit more pages per printed page.
Alternately, you can call specific layouts using up with the
-n option. For example, an equivalent to the 2up
command would be:
You can also design your own layouts by creating a .uprc
file. For more information, read the up and uprc
man pages. To do so, at the Unix prompt, enter one of the following:
At Indiana University, for personal or departmental Linux or Unix systems support, see At IU, how do I get support for Linux or Unix?
Last modified on June 20, 2012.
