pdf2dcm(1)                        OFFIS DCMTK                       pdf2dcm(1)

NAME
       pdf2dcm - Encapsulate PDF file into DICOM file format


SYNOPSIS
       pdf2dcm [options] pdffile-in dcmfile-out

DESCRIPTION
       The  pdf2dcm  utility  reads  a PDF file (pdffile-in), converts it to a
       DICOM Encapsulated PDF Storage SOP instance and  stores  the  converted
       data to an output file (dcmfile-out).

PARAMETERS
       pdffile-in   PDF input filename to be encapsulated

       dcmfile-out  DICOM output filename ("-" for stdout)

OPTIONS
   general options
         -h   --help
                print this help text and exit

              --version
                print version information and exit

              --arguments
                print expanded command line arguments

         -q   --quiet
                quiet mode, print no warnings and errors

         -v   --verbose
                verbose mode, print processing details

         -d   --debug
                debug mode, print debug information

         -ll  --log-level  [l]evel: string constant
                (fatal, error, warn, info, debug, trace)
                use level l for the logger

         -lc  --log-config  [f]ilename: string
                use config file f for the logger

   DICOM document options
       document title:

         +t   --title  [t]itle: string (default: empty)
                document title

         +cn  --concept-name  [CSD] [CV] [CM]: string (default: empty)
                coded representation of document title defined by coding
                scheme designator CSD, code value CV and code meaning CM

       patient data:

         +pn  --patient-name  [n]ame: string
                patient's name in DICOM PN syntax

         +pi  --patient-id  [i]d: string
                patient identifier

         +pb  --patient-birthdate  [d]ate: string (YYYYMMDD)
                patient's birth date

         +ps  --patient-sex  [s]ex: string (M, F or O)
                patient's sex

       study and series:

         +sg  --generate
                generate new study and series UIDs (default)

         +st  --study-from  [f]ilename: string
                read patient/study data from DICOM file

         +se  --series-from  [f]ilename: string
                read patient/study/series data from DICOM file

       instance number:

         +i1  --instance-one
                use instance number 1 (default, not with +se)

         +ii  --instance-inc
                increment instance number (only with +se)

         +is  --instance-set [i]nstance number: integer
                use instance number i

       burned-in annotation:

         +an  --annotation-yes
                document contains patient identifying data (default)

         -an  --annotation-no
                document does not contain patient identifying data

   processing options
       other processing options:

         -k   --key  [k]ey: gggg,eeee="str", path or dictionary name="str"
                add further attribute

   output options
       output file format:

         +F   --write-file
                write file format (default)

         -F   --write-dataset
                write data set without file meta information

       group length encoding:

         +g=  --group-length-recalc
                recalculate group lengths if present (default)

         +g   --group-length-create
                always write with group length elements

         -g   --group-length-remove
                always write without group length elements

       length encoding in sequences and items:

         +e   --length-explicit
                write with explicit lengths (default)

         -e   --length-undefined
                write with undefined lengths

       data set trailing padding (not with --write-dataset):

         -p   --padding-off
                no padding (implicit if --write-dataset)

         +p   --padding-create  [f]ile-pad [i]tem-pad: integer
                align file on multiple of f bytes
                and items on multiple of i bytes

NOTES
   Attribute Sources
       The  application  may  be  fed  with  some additional input for filling
       mandatory (and optional) attributes in the new DICOM file like patient,
       study and series information:

       • The --key option can be used to add further attributes to  the  DICOM
         output file.

       • It is also possible to specify sequences, items and nested attributes
         using the --key option. In these cases, a special 'path' notation has
         to  be  used.  Details  on  this  path  notation  can be found in the
         documentation of dcmodify.

       • The --key option can be present more than once.

       • The value part (after the '=') may be absent causing the attribute to
         be set with zero length.

       • Please be advised that the --key option is applied at the  very  end,
         just  before  saving  the  DICOM  file, so there is no value checking
         whatsoever.

LOGGING
       The level of logging output of  the  various  command  line  tools  and
       underlying  libraries  can  be  specified by the user. By default, only
       errors and warnings are written to the  standard  error  stream.  Using
       option  --verbose  also  informational messages like processing details
       are reported. Option --debug can be used to get  more  details  on  the
       internal  activity,  e.g.  for debugging purposes. Other logging levels
       can be selected using option --log-level. In --quiet  mode  only  fatal
       errors  are reported. In such very severe error events, the application
       will usually terminate. For  more  details  on  the  different  logging
       levels, see documentation of module 'oflog'.

       In  case  the logging output should be written to file (optionally with
       logfile rotation), to syslog (Unix) or the event log  (Windows)  option
       --log-config  can  be  used.  This  configuration  file also allows for
       directing only certain messages to a particular output stream  and  for
       filtering  certain  messages  based  on the module or application where
       they are generated.  An  example  configuration  file  is  provided  in
       <etcdir>/logger.cfg.

COMMAND LINE
       All  command  line  tools  use  the  following notation for parameters:
       square brackets enclose optional  values  (0-1),  three  trailing  dots
       indicate  that multiple values are allowed (1-n), a combination of both
       means 0 to n values.

       Command line options are distinguished from parameters by a leading '+'
       or '-' sign, respectively. Usually, order and position of command  line
       options  are  arbitrary  (i.e.  they  can appear anywhere). However, if
       options are mutually exclusive the rightmost appearance is  used.  This
       behavior  conforms  to  the  standard  evaluation  rules of common Unix
       shells.

       In addition, one or more command files can be specified  using  an  '@'
       sign  as  a  prefix to the filename (e.g. @command.txt). Such a command
       argument is replaced by the content  of  the  corresponding  text  file
       (multiple  whitespaces  are  treated  as a single separator unless they
       appear between two quotation marks) prior to  any  further  evaluation.
       Please  note  that  a command file cannot contain another command file.
       This simple but effective  approach  allows  one  to  summarize  common
       combinations  of  options/parameters  and  avoids longish and confusing
       command lines (an example is provided in file <datadir>/dumppat.txt).

EXIT CODES
       The pdf2dcm utility uses the following  exit  codes  when  terminating.
       This  enables  the  user  to  check  for the reason why the application
       terminated.

   general
       EXITCODE_NO_ERROR                 0
       EXITCODE_COMMANDLINE_SYNTAX_ERROR 1
       EXITCODE_MEMORY_EXHAUSTED         4

   input file errors
       EXITCODE_CANNOT_READ_INPUT_FILE   20
       EXITCODE_NO_INPUT_FILES           21
       EXITCODE_INVALID_INPUT_FILE       22

   output file errors
       EXITCODE_CANNOT_WRITE_OUTPUT_FILE 40

ENVIRONMENT
       The pdf2dcm utility  will  attempt  to  load  DICOM  data  dictionaries
       specified  in the DCMDICTPATH environment variable. By default, i.e. if
       the  DCMDICTPATH  environment   variable   is   not   set,   the   file
       <datadir>/dicom.dic  will be loaded unless the dictionary is built into
       the application (default for Windows).

       The  default  behavior  should  be  preferred   and   the   DCMDICTPATH
       environment  variable  only used when alternative data dictionaries are
       required. The DCMDICTPATH environment variable has the same  format  as
       the  Unix  shell PATH variable in that a colon (':') separates entries.
       On Windows systems, a semicolon (';') is used as a separator. The  data
       dictionary  code  will  attempt  to  load  each  file  specified in the
       DCMDICTPATH environment variable. It is an error if no data  dictionary
       can be loaded.

SEE ALSO
       dcm2pdf(1)

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright  (C)  2005-2024  by OFFIS e.V., Escherweg 2, 26121 Oldenburg,
       Germany.

Version 3.6.9                   Wed Dec 11 2024                     pdf2dcm(1)
