![allanswers.org - v04INF1: PostScript Sources monthly FAQ v1.13 04-30-95 [2 of 3]](/logo.gif "allanswers.org - v04INF1: PostScript Sources monthly FAQ v1.13 04-30-95 [2 of 3]"){kind=logo}
|
|
| Home > Programming > postscript > |
v04INF1: PostScript Sources monthly FAQ v1.13 04-30-95 [2 of 3] |
Section 1 of 3 - Prev - Next
All sections - 1 - 2 - 3
-- PostScript Sources --
Introduction to comp.sources.postscript
(the comp.sources.postscript FAQ v1.13)
Allen Braunsdorf
postscript-faq@cc.purdue.edu
This FAQ is formatted as a digest.
Most news readers can skip from one question
to the next by pressing control-G. GNUs uses
C-c C-n to skip to the next question.
To contribute sources, read the section ``Submitting
Sources''.
Newsgroup-related mail that is not a submission should be
sent to me at postscript-request@cc.purdue.edu
Related FAQs: comp.lang.postscript, comp.sources.misc,
comp.text, comp.text.tex, comp.fonts, comp.graphics.
The comp.sources.postscript archives are available by ftp
to ftp.sterling.com in /usenet/comp.sources.postscript/ or
ftp.ips.cs.tu-bs.de in /usenet/comp.sources.postscript.
There is an index in the last section of this FAQ.
This FAQ and the indexes are available by anonymous ftp to
wilma.cs.brown.edu:pub/comp.sources.postscript. You can get
the comp.lang.postscript FAQ by anonymous ftp to
wilma.cs.brown.edu:pub/comp.lang.postscript. Both come in
ASCII, LaTeX, DVI, and PostScript formats.
5 PostScript Interpreters and Utilities
This section lists all the large PostScript programs that I
know of, both commercial and for free. These programs have
largely not been posted to comp.sources.postscript, but
there are references about where to get all programs. You
should look at the comp.sources.postscript index to see all
the PostScript programs posted there.
I would like very much to be able to recommend some of
these programs over others. Unfortunately, I have very
little information about most of them. Please send
information or additions! Programs without significant
information will be dropped shortly.
Included in this index are a number of ASCII to PostScript
conversion programs. These are quick and dirty programs,
and it is unclear why having so many of them is
interesting, so many will probably be deleted (send mail
about the ones you like most). If you really want to
convert ASCII to PostScript in a high quality way, what you
want is a real text formatter. (See the FAQ for comp.text
and comp.text.tex)
If you have a program, please let me know. Section 10 of
the comp.lang.postscript FAQ, ``About the FAQ'' has some
hints on what I'm hoping to get when I get a program
description.
I am grateful to Howard Gayle (howard@hal.com) for a large
portion of the below information.
Now that there is Linux, IBM PC (and clone) users can run
any of the X-windows and UNIX programs in the utilities
section.
5.1 How can I find a program?
To find a program, try using an ``archie'' server. Archie
will figure out which FTP sites have the program that you
are looking for. Please try archie before asking people for
the program.
I would be happy to answer questions about where to get
programs. Just send me email. If you find a good ftp site
for these programs, please let me know.
To use archie, just type ``archie'' or ``xarchie''. If you
don't have that program, then you can telnet to one of the
following addresses and type ``archie'' as the username. To
get help type ``help''.
archie.rutgers.edu (Rutgers University)
archie.unl.edu (University of Nebraska in Lincoln)
archie.sura.net (SURAnet archie server)
archie.ans.net (ANS archie server)
archie.au (Australian server)
archie.funet.fi (European server in Finland)
archie.doc.ic.ac.uk (UK/England server)
archie.cs.huji.ac.il (Israel server)
archie.wide.ad.jp (Japanese server)
If you don't have telnet, send email to archie at any of
the above sites with the subject ``help''.
5.2 How can I browse through PostScript programs?
To find ftp sites that carry PostScript programs, try
``archie postscript''. Then use ftp to look through them.
5.3 Keywords
What:
Bounding-Box
Determines the bounding box of a PostScript program
(so it can be converted to EPSF for example).
Converts
The program converts back and forth between formats
such as: ASCII, PostScript, TeX, Images, PCL
Converts-Images
A program that converts to too many image formats to
name!
Device-Utility
A utility for a PostScript device.
Document-Previewer
The previewer has options for viewing text documents.
NOTE: most previewers make passable document previewer
even without these extra options.
Example
The source code for this program is a programming
example for programmers.
Font-Utility
The program does something useful with font
descriptions.
Interpreter
The program can understand the PostScript language.
Level-2
The program can interpret a reasonable amount of
PostScript level 2.
Non-PostScript-Printer-Driver
The program allows PostScript drawings to be printed
on at least one non-PostScript printer.
Page-Reordering
The program allows you to either choose a page or a
few pages to print from a big document, or lets you
print in reverse order, or lets you ``N-Up'', which
means to put more than one page on a physical page.
These programs work only if the PostScript input
follows the Adobe Document Structuring Conventions.
(See Section 9 of the comp.lang.postscript FAQ,
``Encapsulated PostScript'').
Previewer
The interpreter displays PostScript on the screen.
Programmer-Utility
The program helps write PostScript programs.
Text-Formatter
The program formats text in some interesting way, or
lets you include PostScript in a text formatter.
Written-in-PostScript
The program is written entirely in PostScript and thus
can run on any computer with an interpreter, or on any
PostScript printer.
Status
Shareware
means that the program is free but the author would
like money.
Free
means that the program is freely available. This
usually means that source code is included and that it
is freely distributable.
Commercial
means that some company sells the program.
Platforms:
What computers does it run on? For the IBM PC, look
for ``MS-DOS''. For most workstations, look for
``UNIX''.
Get-From
tells where to get the program, through ftp or some
other source.
5.4 Interpreters
The following are all programs that understand the
PostScript graphics programming language. PostScript is an
interpreted language, which means that there is no compiler
for it. An interpreter is like a compiler that, instead of
producing a sequence of actions in machine language for the
computer to handle at some future time, performs the
actions itself immediately.
Most interpreters are also previewers, which allow you to
view the PostScript drawing as it is created by the
PostScript program. Unfortunately, viewing the document
on-line is not guaranteed to be a perfect simulation of
printing the document. Complex programs that use random
numbers or check the device type will almost certainly run
differently.
Some interpreters are meant for looking at text documents
without printing them. They usually have a number of
functions for flipping back and forth between pages. These
interpreters are called document previewers.
dxpsview
from DEC provides user selectable options to control its
execution. It will accept DSC comments and honor them,
but it allows the user to turn them off if that's the
best thing to do.
It images valid PostScript, it honors color (if the DEC
workstation is a color workstation), it images one page
and stops with the showpage so the user can see the
image. It allows you to page back and forth in the
document EVEN IF IT'S NOT DSC! (Sure, slow at times if
it's not DSC, but it still does the job!) It provides
scaling and rotation under user control.
What: Previewer. Status: commercial. Platforms:
DEC workstation. Get-From: Digital Equipment
Corporation.
Freedom of Press
???
For most users who only want to print to common printers
like DeskWriters, StyleWriters, or Personal LaserWriter
LS's, the light version of Freedom of the Press will
suffice. ( $ 55).
What: Interpreter, Non-PostScript-Printer-Driver.
Status: commercial ( $ 55). Platforms: ???.
Get-From: ???.
Gammascript
???
What: Interpreter. Status: ???. Platforms:
MS-DOS. Get-From: ???.
Ghostscript
is perhaps the most popular previewer. It is a PostScript
interpreter written by L. Peter Deutsch, and is
distributed under the terms of the GNU Library General
Public License. Unlike commercial interpreters,
ghostscript isn't tied to a particular piece of hardware.
Ghostscript will compile on most common platforms, and
has drivers for many common peripherals, including X11R [
345 ] , MS-DOS-VGA, Deskjet 500, Epson dot matrix
printers, and HP laserjets.
Ghostscript deals well with ``normal'' documents, such as
output from Tomas Rokicki's dvips. If you're into testing
the outer limits of PostScript, however, your mileage
with Ghostscript may vary. The output character quality
is (obviously) dependent upon the fonts which ghostscript
uses. Most of ghostscript's fonts are outlines generated
from the bitmap fonts that were donated by Adobe to the X
consortium. These are certainly good enough for screen
previewing, and rough drafts, but show their limitations
when used on laser printers. Fortunately, Ghostscript can
use type 1 fonts, so if you happen to have some around,
you'll find that the output quality is very close to that
of a PostScript interpreter. Ghostscript comes with a few
type 1 fonts that were donated to the X consortium from
Adobe, IBM, and Bitstream. Note that if you're using TeX
or LaTeX with the cmr fonts, this last statement implies
that ghostscript will probably suit your needs, since
your dvi-to-ps converter will include the cmr fonts in
its output PostScript file. It also handles the special
hints in Adobe Type 1 fonts (see Section 4 of the
comp.lang.postscript FAQ, ``Fonts'').
If you're using IBM OS/2 2.0, you can make a Ghostscript
icon and drag PostScript files onto it and they'll be
printed automatically.
Ghostscript 2.2 has been ported to the Atari ST platform
by Timothy Gallivan. It's available by ftp to
atari.archive.umich.edu.
Ghostscript has been ported to Amiga. It's available at
any Aminet FTP site, for example wuarchive.wustl.edu
pub/aminet/text/print/. The files are
'ghostscript2.6.1.lha' and 'gs2.3-fonts.lha'.
For more information about Ghostscript, read the
gnu.ghostscript.bug newsgroup, or contact the author,
Peter Deutsch, at ghost@aladdin.com.
What: Interpreter, Previewer, Programmer-Utility,
User-Utility, Non-PostScript-Printer-Driver,
Level-2, Converts-PostScript-to-GIF,
Converts-PostScript-to-PBM. Status: free.
Platforms: MS-DOS, UNIX, VMS, Xwindows,
Macintosh, Acorn Archimedes, Amiga, Atari-ST.
Get-From: Japan: ftp.cs.titech.ac.jp,
utsun.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp:ftpsync/prep Australia:
archie.oz.au:gnu Europe: src.doc.ic.ac.uk:gnu,
ftp.informatik.tu-muenchen.de,
ftp.informatik.rwth-aachen.de:pub/gnu,
nic.funet.fi:pub/gnu, ugle.unit.no, isy.liu.se,
ftp.stacken.kth.se, sunic.sunet.se,
ftp.win.tue.nl, ftp.diku.dk, ftp.eunet.ch,
archive.eu.net United States:
ftp.cs.wisc.edu:pub/X, prep.ai.mit.edu:pub/gnu,
wuarchive.wustl.edu, ftp.cs.widener.edu,
uxc.cso.uiuc.edu, col.hp.com,
gatekeeper.dec.com:pub/GNU,
ftp.uu.net:systems/gnu. Macintosh:
ftp.cs.wisc.edu:pub/ghost/ghostscript-2.5.2runtime*mac.hqx
Archimedes: contact David Elworthy
(David.Elworthy@cl.cam.ac.uk). Amiga: available
at any Aminet FTP site, for example
wuarchive.wustl.edu pub/aminet/text/print/. The
files are 'ghostscript2.6.1.lha' and
'gs2.3-fonts.lha'.
See Ghostview and GSPreview.
Ghostview
is an X11 user interface for ghostscript. It was written
by Tim Theisen, and is distributed under the terms of the
GNU General Public License. Ghostview runs on UNIX and
VMS platforms. To compile ghostview, you should have the
X11R5 distribution from MIT. Many vendors do not provide
the Athena widgets.
Ghostview provides a menu driven interface with ample
keyboard accelerators. It also provides popup zoom
windows and the ability to save or print selected pages.
For more information about ghostview, contact the author,
Tim Theisen, at ghostview@cs.wisc.edu.
What: Bounding-Box, Document-Previewer, Level-2,
Page-Reordering. Status: free. Platforms: X11 on
Unix or VMS systems. Get-From: Source:
ftp.cs.wisc.edu:/pub/X/ghostview-1.4.1.tar.Z or
prep.ai.mit.edu:/pub/gnu/ghostview-1.4.1.tar.Z or
other GNU distribution points (see ghostscript's
listing) Binaries:
ftp.cs.wisc.edu:/pub/X/ghostview-exe directory.
GoScript 3.0
???
What: Interpreter. Status: ???. Platforms:
MS-DOS. Get-From: ???.
GSPreview
A document previewer based on GhostScript, by Richard
Hesketh.
What: Document-Previewer, Level-2. Status: free.
Platforms: X Windows. Get-From: prep.ai.mit.edu.
Hijack-PS
is part of the Hijaak packge for DOS, or for Windows.
What: Interpreter, Converts-???. Status:
commercial. Platforms: IBM PC. Get-From:
MicroWarehouse sells it for $ 129.
Island Draw
is a picture editor that can save in and read in
PostScript. It contains a full PostScript interpreter.
What: Interpreter. Status: ???. Platforms: ???.
Get-From: ???.
JAWS
???
What: Interpreter. Status: Commercial. Platforms:
Sun. Get-From: ???.
Where to get it: uad1077@dircon.co.uk
Magus Pageturner
is a front-end for Ghostscript that (like Ghostview)
allows you to browse documents easily.
What: Interpreter Status: Commercial Platforms:
IBM PC, OS/2 2.1 Get-From: Indelible Blue, Inc.
(800-776-8284; 919-878-9700).
NeXTStep,
release 3.2 supports full level 2 PostScript.
What: Interpreter/OS/OO-Framework. Status:
commercial. Platforms: NeXT, Intel-486. Get-From:
NeXT (800-848-NEXT), PC-Connection,
Next-Connection (800-800-NEXT)
Opium
converts PostScript to several raster image formats. It
has several language extensions relating to image
processing (alpha channel, ``forall'' for images etc.)
and usability of PostScript as a general purpose script
language (``system'', secure and non-secure modes, etc.)
Converts to TIFF 5.0 (including RLE, LZW, fax3, fax4, and
JPEG compressions), PBM, PGM, PPM, Sixel (VT240, LN03),
Group 3 fax, ASCII, and HPGL (experimental).
What: Interpreter, Converts-PostScript-to-ASCII,
Converts PostScript-to-TIFF, Converts-Images,
Level-2, Converts-PostScript-to-HPGL. Status:
commercial. Platforms: UNIX, Sun, DECstation,
AIX, NeXT, Alpha and VMS. Get-From: Stream
Technologies Inc., Valkjarventie 2, SF-02130
Espoo, FINLAND, Tel: +358 0 43577340, Fax: +358 0
43577348, Email: info@sti.fi.
pageview
can preview PostScript on the Sun screen. The document
must follow the DSC conventions described in section 9 of
the comp.lang.postscript FAQ (EPSF).
What: Previewer. Status: commercial. Platforms:
OpenWindows. Get-From: Sun.
PixelScript
???
What: Interpreter, Previewer. Status: commercial.
Platforms: Amiga. Get-From: ???.
PowerPage
from Pipeline Associates handles the special hints in
Adobe Type 1 fonts (see Section 4 of the
comp.lang.postscript FAQ, ``Fonts'').
What: Interpreter. Status: commercial. Platforms:
???. Get-From: Pipeline Associates.
Post
turns PostScript files into screen images, image files,
and prints on non-PostScript printers. Scaling & pixel
density are adjustable by the user. It is excellent,
works in color, supports types 1 and 3 fonts. By Adrian
Aylward, 20 Maidstone Rd Swindon, WILTS. UK.
This is not the same as Post for MS-DOS.
What: Interpreter, Previewer, Converts-Images.
Status: free. Platforms: Amiga. Get-From:
Compuserve, or from any Amiga PD source, in the
well-known Fred Fish collection. Current version
is 1.7, on Fish Disk 669. Or
grind.isca.uiowa.edu, gatekeeper.dec.com [
/pub/micro/amiga/fish ] , monu6.cc.monash.edu.au,
ux1.cso.uiuc.edu [ amiga/fish/f6/ff669 ] .
PS-Magic
???
Registration is $ 40 and includes the usual 40 font
family. Otherwise it only includes the Times font family.
What: Interpreter. Status: shareware ( $ 40).
Platforms: ???. Get-From: Advantage Computer, Box
524, Fremont CA 94537, U.S.A. Or, in Toronto, it
can be downloaded from CRS: Canada Remote Systems
(Mississauga).
PSView
???
What: Interpreter. Status: ???. Platforms:
Macintosh. Get-From: ???.
TScript
???
For most users who only want to print to common printers
like DeskWriters, StyleWriters, or Personal LaserWriter
LS's, the Basic version of TScript will suffice ( $ 55).
A more complex version is available that works with more
esoteric printers, particularly color printers and
very-high-end imagesetters.
What: Interpreter. Status: commercial ( $ 55).
Platforms: Macintosh. Get-From: ???.
UltraScript PC
is a PostScript previewer for level 1 PostScript only.
UltraScript PC can print from within an application. This
feature requires about 1 Mbyte of memory above the
minimum requirement. It can process hinted type-1 (Adobe)
fonts. The products include QMS fonts with metrics that
match those of Adobe's fonts.
The main PostScript interpreter in UltraScript PC runs as
a TSR, mostly living in extended memory (occupies about
24K below the 640K line). There is a different TSR called
PCAPTURE that intercepts LPTn output and routes it to
UltraScript, which interprets it and prints to the real
printer. There's also a front-end program which selects
printing from an already-existing file or lets you run in
interactive mode (similar to ``executive'' on a
PostScript printer).
UltraScript PC is $ 195. It runs in PC/AT compatibles and
needs about 1M of extended memory. The basic version
includes 25 fonts. UltraScript PC Plus is $ 445 includes
47 fonts. The previewer requires Microsoft Windows 3.
UltraScript for the Macintosh requires at least a 2 Mbyte
system to run. The basic version is $ 195 and includes 15
fonts. UltraScript Plus is $ 495, includes 43 fonts, and
has an AppleTalk print spooler. It appears on the Chooser
as a printer.
What: Previewer, Non-PostScript-Printer-Driver,
Converts-PostScript-to-PCL,
Converts-PostScript-to-PCX,
Converts-PostScript-to-TIFF. Status: commercial.
Platforms: MS-DOS, Macintosh. Get-From: PM Ware
in Escondido, California, 1-800-845-4843 or
1-619-738-6633. CompuClassics, phone
1-800-733-3888.
5.5 Utilities
The following are utilities intended to make using
PostScript or programming in PostScript easier. Many
interpreters are also very useful utilities. A program that
makes something nice-looking but does not help you use or
program in PostScript would be in one of the next section,
PostScript Programs. This section has not yet been
created, but I am accepting information for it!
a2ps
v4.2 places two pages on each physical page, borders
surrounding pages, headers, line numbering, multiple
copies, landscape and portrait mode, wide format, lines
numbering, fold/cut long lines, control font size. It can
handle 8 bit characters, twin pages in portrait mode, and
two-side printing.
What: Converts-ASCII-to-PostScript. Status: free.
Platforms: UNIX, MS-DOS. Get-From: ftp from
imag.fr, in archive/postscript.
asc2ps
is part of Psroff3.0, and is integrated with psxlate. It
is of particular interest because it understands nroff's
backspace bold and italic conventions and doesn't
introduce lots of extra bells and whistles.
What: Converts-ASCII-to-PostScript. Status: free.
Platforms: ???. Get-From: See Psroff3.0.
asciiprint.ps
???
What: Converts-ASCII-to-PostScript, Example.
Status: free. Platforms: PostScript. Get-From:
zben@umd5.umd.edu (Ben Cranston).
ato2pps
prints ASCII printable text boxed, 2-up, in landscape
mode. Prints boxed header with date & time, file name,
and page number.
What: Converts-ASCII-to-PostScript. Status: free.
Platforms: UNIX, possibly available on Macintosh
(C program). Get-From: Mark Edwards
(edwards@vms.macc.wisc.edu).
Bar-a-Coda
is an application for creating PostScript (EPS and EPSI)
and TIFF bar codes. Bar-a-Coda allows you to easily
create an individual bar code, a sheet, or many sheets.
BarCodeKit
is an object library (in Objective-C) for creating
PostScript (EPS and EPSI) and TIFF bar codes.
The two products offer every major bar code symbology.
They can also create two-dimensional/multiple row bar
codes.
Bar codes can be scaled and rotated, colorized, dragged
and dropped into documents and accessed from any
application via the NEXTSTEP Services menu.
What: User-Utility. Status: Commercial.
Platforms: NEXTSTEP. Get-From: Hot Technologies,
email to info@hot.com or phone 617-252-0088.
bbfig
will let you calculate the bounding box of a PostScript
picture. It prints the figure and then calculates the
bounding box around the figure and print the box and its
coordinates. This usually works. However, for the times
that it fails you have to measure it by hand.
What: Bounding-Box. Status: free. Platforms: ???.
Get-From:
world.std.com:/src/text/tex/dvips/contrib,
emx.cc.utexas.edu:/pub/mnt/source/tex/dvi3ps,
isfs.kuis.kyoto-u.ac.jp:/TeX/styles/kth.se.
behandler.ps
is a PostScript error handler. If you prepend it to a
broken PostScript file it will give a lot of information
when the program crashes.
What: Programmer-Utility. Status: free.
Platforms: PostScript. Get-From:
wilma.cs.brown.edu:pub/postscript/behandler.ps
and behandler.doc.
cz
is table-driven, handles almost any character set, uses
any font on printer, control font sizes, paper size, page
layout, number of columns, line numbers, portrait or
landscape mode, page reversal, leading (line spacing),
tab expansion. Emacs interface. By Howard Gayle.
What: Converts-ASCII-to-PostScript. Status: free.
Platforms: UNIX. Get-From: comp.sources.misc
volume 8 issues 65-75, 77-78 ( 1 Oct 1989) issue
97 (28 Oct 1989) (Other prerequisites: see README
file at beginning of issue 65.).
crossword.ps
converts a specially formatted ASCII file to a crossword
puzzle. By Carl Lydick. Just prepend to an ASCII file and
send it to the printer.
What: Written-in-PostScript,
Converts-ASCII-to-PostScript. Status: free.
Platforms: PostScript. Get-From: send a mail
message whose body consists of the line ``SEND
ASCII_TO_POSTSCRIPT'' to
FILESERV@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU (or, if you're on
ESnet/NSInet, to SOL1::FILESERV).
double.ps
prints two pages of ASCII side by side in landscape mode.
By Carl Lydick.
What: Written-in-PostScript,
Converts-ASCII-to-PostScript. Status: free.
Platforms: PostScript. Get-From: send a mail
message whose body consists of the line ``SEND
ASCII_TO_POSTSCRIPT'' to
FILESERV@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU (or, if you're on
ESnet/NSInet, to SOL1::FILESERV).
dvips
, by Tomas Rokicki of Radical Eye Software, is the most
popular DVI to PostScript conversion program. It converts
TeX and LaTeX DVI files into PostScript. It also allow
you to use PostScript fonts and PostScript graphics
inside TeX and LaTeX documents. The distribution includes
the epsffile and psfig macro packages for including
PostScript graphics.
What: Converts-DVI-to-PostScript,
Converts-PostScript-to-TeX,
Converts-PostScript-to-LaTeX. Status: free.
Platforms: UNIX. Get-From:
labrea.stanford.edu:/pub/dvips*.tar.Z.
Documenter's Workbench (DWB)
is the successor to the original Bell Labs version of
troff. The current package, DWB 3.4, includes 86
commands: troff, tbl, eqn, grap, pic, picasso, a pipeline
builder, PostScript drivers and utilities for bounding
box computation and device interrogation; optional (at no
cost) LaserJet and Imagen printer support; man, mm and
other macro packages, font tables, etc. A companion
add-on, DWBX 3.4, provides an X Window previewer, drawing
program, spell corrector and hypertext man page viewer.
What: Converts-ASCII-to-PostScript Status:
Commercial. Platforms: UNIX Get-From: AT & T
Software Solutions, 1-800-462-8146 (US),
+1-908-580-5719 from elsewhere; fax
1-908-580-6355. Technical inquiries:
dwb@mhpo.att.com.
enscript
formats text in 1 or 2 columns, portrait or landscape,
Section 1 of 3 - Prev - Next
All sections - 1 - 2 - 3
| Back to category postscript - Use Smart Search |
| Home - Smart Search - About the project - Feedback |
© allanswers.org | Terms of use