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From: blarsen@spider.uio.no (Bjorn Larsen)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.postscript,comp.sys.mac.system
Subject: Re: PostScript vs TrueType?
Message-ID: <BLARSEN.90Aug28202445@spider.uio.no>
Date: 28 Aug 90 18:24:45 GMT
References: <9724@goofy.Apple.COM> <438@three.mv.com> <9931@goofy.Apple.COM>
Sender: news@ulrik.uio.no (USENET News System)
Reply-To: Bjorn.Larsen@usit.uio.no
Organization: University of Oslo, Norway
Lines: 49
In-Reply-To: chewy@apple.com's message of 25 Aug 90 01:13:17 GMT


In article <9931@goofy.Apple.COM> chewy@apple.com (Paul Snively) writes:
> Geez, relax, will ya?  What this means is that different devices will 
> probably require a different driver (gee, what a shock.  That already 
> seems to be true).

False. I run a printer spooler that accepts PostScript code from
PCs, VAX/VMS, Unix, NOS/VE and Macs.

It spools output to a big variety of PostScript printers; most
with Adobe RIPs: Apple LaserWriter, LN03R, LPS-40, LPS-20,
Agfa Matrix SlideWriter, QMS 100 ColorScript, TI MicroLaser,
Linotronic 100/RIP3, and others.

In general I can send PostScript code generated on a Mac
to any device. Just a few programs demand special attention:

- the Apple LaserPrep file is badly written. I have prepared custom
  versions of this for the various RIPs, and my spooler strips the
  original ProcSet and adds one suited for the target printer.

- the Apple LaserWriter driver doesn't care to document the
  use of fonts (using DocumentFonts/DocumentNeededFonts), so I have
  to do a RE-search through the document for font invocations, and
  add the right comments before handing the PS file to the font
  downloader. A drag, but it works.

- Freehand 2.0 insists on using letter/a4 operators without checking
  if they are defined or not. I use the ProcSet-substitution
  for that as well.

- Fullwrite Professional 1.1 starts one of it's ProcSets with
     %%BeginProcSet
  as required, but ends it with
     %% End of Fullwrite ProcSet
  so as to implement my ProcSet substitution, I have to recognize
  that as a legal way to end a ProcSet. Ugh.

Apart from these minor things (which my spooler fixes for me), I am
able to print from any Mac to any make of PostScript printer. No
matter what the hardware in the RIP consists of.  

So yes, PostScript has acheived it's goal about being device independent.
And all in all - most PostScript generating software does a decent job
about being printer-independent.

--
Bjorn Larsen                University of Oslo,  Norway
                               Bjorn.Larsen@usit.uio.no