Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!uc!cs.umn.edu!kksys!orbit!pnet51!max
From: max@pnet51.orb.mn.org (Max Tardiveau)
Newsgroups: comp.misc
Subject: Re: Looking for a PostScript to ASCII converter
Message-ID: <2892@orbit.cts.com>
Date: 19 Jul 90 22:21:48 GMT
Sender: root@orbit.cts.com
Organization: People-Net [pnet51], Minneapolis, MN.
Lines: 34

I think many people don't realize that Postscript is not a graphics
format like TIFF. Postscript is a programming language, with all
rights and7 privileges. Programs that generate Postscript usually
use only a subset of the language (except programs like Illustrator
which take (almost) full advantage of the language).

So what does that mean to you, if you have a Postscript file and
you want to print it ? That means you must have a Postscript
interpreter. There is one (obviously) in all Postscript printers,
but you can also find others that can run on non-dedicated
computers (a Postscript printer is a dedicated computer with
the engine of a photocopy machine, roughly).

So where do you find Postscript interpreters ? A few names come
to my mind :

- Freedom of the Press is a Postscript clone that runs on Macintosh.
- Ghostscript is a GNU Postscript clone (a little rough, though).
- Postscript display systems like NeWS and NeXT. I think there is
  a driver that will print Postscript on an Imagewriter from a NeXT.

The bottom line is that you should not expect a simple translation
from Postscript to HPGL, Quickdraw, TIFF or Epson codes. You need
a complete interpreter, and that's not a piece of cake.

I hope this will clarify things a little bit.

Max

--------------------------------------------------------------------
We don't care. We don't have to. We're the phone company.
UUCP: {amdahl!bungia, uunet!rosevax, crash}!orbit!pnet51!max
ARPA: crash!orbit!pnet51!max@nosc.mil
INET: max@pnet51.orb.mn.org