Image/Thumbnail from PDF

1

Hi,

Any pointers/methods on how to create thumbnail/image from a PDF file?
Looking to have a preview of the PDF in a list.

thanks

Johan

2

If it is in a list, is it really worth the overhead to show a thumbnail of the current contents of each pdf? Just use a standard PDF ico/png in the list.

Just asking is the ROI worth the effort.

3

Hi Kevin

Yes, I what I am doing at the moment, but thinking could be a nice touch, especially if multiple PDF’s involved for the user to see a preview

Johan

4

See previous discussions e.g.

5

Hi,

Thank you for all the options, I forgot to add that this will be used on webpage as well as desktop.
So the idea is to store the thumbnail when the PDF is archived into database.
Well, documents are stored separately in a folder structure with a reference in the DB

Thinking the GhostScript DLL option Carl mentions in a previous post could work nicely
(PDF not working in Clarion IMAGE control)

thanks

Johan

6

My curiosity led me to ChatGPT and this is what I got back…

Q: What is the command line expression to convert the first page of a PDF into an PNG?

A:
You can use the `-dFirstPage` and `-dLastPage` switches to limit processing to the first page.

A typical command is:

```cmd
gswin64c.exe ^
  -dSAFER ^
  -dBATCH ^
  -dNOPAUSE ^
  -sDEVICE=png16m ^
  -r300 ^
  -dFirstPage=1 ^
  -dLastPage=1 ^
  -sOutputFile=page1.png ^
  input.pdf

Or, on a single line:

gswin64c.exe -dSAFER -dBATCH -dNOPAUSE -sDEVICE=png16m -r300 -dFirstPage=1 -dLastPage=1 -sOutputFile=page1.png input.pdf

Explanation

  • -dSAFER – Runs Ghostscript in safer mode.
  • -dBATCH – Exits when processing is complete.
  • -dNOPAUSE – Doesn’t pause between pages.
  • -sDEVICE=png16m – Creates a 24-bit colour PNG.
  • -r300 – Resolution of 300 DPI (adjust as needed).
  • -dFirstPage=1 – Start at page 1.
  • -dLastPage=1 – Stop after page 1.
  • -sOutputFile=page1.png – Output filename.
  • input.pdf – Source PDF.

Other useful devices

  • pnggray – Grayscale PNG
  • pngmono – Black & white PNG
  • pngalpha – PNG with transparent background (where supported)

For example:

gswin64c.exe -dBATCH -dNOPAUSE -sDEVICE=pngalpha -r600 -dFirstPage=1 -dLastPage=1 -sOutputFile=cover.png input.pdf

If you’re calling Ghostscript from a batch file or another program, I can also show you how to automatically generate the output filename from the PDF name.

7

Hi,

Thanks! Most helpful,
I will be using Oddjob to execute, it hides the window and captures the output into a string.
A very nifty template.

thanks

Johan