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From: falk@peregrine.Eng.Sun.COM (Ed Falk)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.postscript
Subject: Re: Postscript => Raster Image
Message-ID: <138787@sun.Eng.Sun.COM>
Date: 12 Jul 90 05:17:18 GMT
References: <1990Jul11.142258.10596@eplrx7.uucp>
Sender: news@sun.Eng.Sun.COM
Lines: 34

In article <1990Jul11.142258.10596@eplrx7.uucp>, cristy@eplrx7.uucp (John Cristy) writes:
> 
>   I need a program that takes Postscript and converts it directly to a
>   raster image (i.e. TIFF, GIF, etc.).  Please Email recommendations
>   to cristy@dupont.com.  Thanks muchly in advance.

Isn't this in the frequently-asked questions posting?

Postscript is not an image format, or even a metafile format.  It's
a full programming language that just happens to have an accent on
graphics.  The way postscript printers work is that they have a
computer inside that speaks the postscript language.  You send a
postscript program to the printer and the printer executes that
program.  If the program tells the printer to print something, a
picture results.

Consequently, you can't "convert" postscript to a rasterfile.  You have
to feed the postscript file into a postscript interpreter.  The only
postscript interpreters I know of are:

	1) the interpreter inside postscript printers.  This will generate
	   hardcopy, but not a raster file.
	2) Sun's NeWS server.  Load your postscript program into the
	   utility program "pageview" and save the results to a rasterfile.
	3) GNU's ghostscript interpreter.  I don't know if it produces
	   rasterfiles, but I wouldn't be surprised.
	4) "Display Postscript" for X11 servers.  I know absolutely nothing
	   about this one.

--
	-ed falk, sun microsystems -- sun!falk, falk@sun.com
	"What are politicians going to tell people when the
	Constitution is gone and we still have a drug problem?"
			-- William Simpson, A.C.L.U.