Question

I’d like to make a script on Mac OS 10.3 that converts a pdf to a png. I’ve been looking around but I’m not sure if its even possible. I keep reading about a “sips” command but it doesn’t seem to be available on 10.3, or at least this one. I typed man sips in the terminal and nothing came out.
I have written a couple bash scripts and kind of understand how they work but was hoping this specific issue at work would be a good way to practice. I could probably write something that changes the name, but I’m not sure that would work in and of itself as the new png file would probably not actually work.
Is there a way from the terminal to basically open preview, open each file and then save as a png? that would probably be the best option.
Thanks

Answer 1

I don’t have a suitable system to test on, but I think sips appeared in 10.3. (It’s definitely in 10.4.)

Just because there is no man page doesn’t mean that it isn’t there (try sips -h or ls /usr/bin/sips).

If it’s there, Sorpigal’s answer (+1) is good for the basic scripting, but replace

convert "$pdf" "${pdf%%.*}.png"

with

sips -s format png --out "${pdf%%.*}.png" "$pdf"