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From: henry@angel.Eng.Sun.COM (Henry McGilton)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.postscript
Subject: Re: Learning Postscript...
Summary: Right On
Message-ID: <415@appserv.Eng.Sun.COM>
Date: 5 Feb 91 02:08:57 GMT
References: <03029102:59:01JSW5@lehigh.bitnet>
Sender: news@appserv.Eng.Sun.COM
Lines: 25

In article <03029102:59:01JSW5@lehigh.bitnet>, JSW5@NS.CC.LEHIGH.EDU (Jeffrey Spencer Warrington) writes:

    *  . . . new to postscript but got off to a great start by reading
    *  Learning Postscipt  A Visual Approach   by Ross Smith
    *  It just starts with the basics and shows you a piece of code
    *  and what it does.  Lot's of examples.  The best way to learn...

I recommend Ross Smith's book a lot for PostScript beginners.  I
especially like the book because it's almost half pictures -- a big
plus in a book about a language designed for graphical imaging.  I am
always bemused by books on graphics that consist primarily of text.

I did however find one very very minor error in the book.  At the
back there is a program for listing the fonts in the font directory
of your printer.  The program assumes that Type 3 fonts must be
downloaded fonts, which is a reasonable assumption.  But the converse
situation is not true -- Type 1, Type 4, Type 5, and so on, fonts can
also be downloaded.  Once a non-Type 3 font is installed, there is as
far as I know, no way to determine if it was downloaded -- apres moi
le deluge.  The program essentially assumes that `Type 3 fonts are
downloaded', which is quite different from the notion that
`downloaded fonts must be Type 3'.  As I said, it's only a minor
problem in an otherwise fine beginner's guide.

	........  Henry