[PLUG] Postscript (was Re: John "MAD DOG" Hall)

[Leonard Rosenthol <leonardr@lazerware.com>]

At 10:46 AM -0400 10/11/01, gabriel rosenkoetter wrote:
> Does Acrobat *Reader* actually read Postscript files? My
> understanding is that it only reads pdf files.

	You are correct, it only does PDF files.


>  Granted, ps2pdf works
> flawlessly, so ps files can be converted for Windows and Mac OS
> users without a hitch, but...

	Just make sure you have a version of Ghostscript >= 6.0, 
since the 5.x series generated REALLY S**TTY PDF!



> ... one of the great ironies of Mac OS and Windows has always been
> that they absolutely *refuse* to deal with Postscript in any sensible
> way.

	Excuse me??

	Given that Postscript was popularized on the Mac OS BEFORE it 
hit the Unix world (courtesy of the Apple LaserWriter and PageMaker), 
AND that to this day you get MUCH better quality PS from Mac OS OR 
Windows (modulo the MS driver in Win9x, that's seems like a silly 
statement.


> It's ridiculous that ps *cannot* be (usefully) used as an
> on-disk format in these operating systems,

	PS can certainly be used as an on-disk format, but it's not 
useful for anything other than printing - since that's what it is 
for!  Postscript is a PRINTER DESCRIPTION LANGUAGE - it was designed 
for sending to a printer to final output.  It's use on screen, and 
weird things like Display Postscript (DPS) were hacks, more so than 
anything else.


> especially since what
> they do with their fancy, resource-forked or MS-gobbledy-gooked
> formats is translate them to postscript before sending them down
> the wire to the printer (any printer, yes including Apple printers).

	Only Postscript printers get Postscript.  Others get PCL, 
BotherScript, or just "bags of bits" depending on the type of 
printer.   But that's EXACTLY my point - PS is for printing, NOT for 
on-screen viewing!

	Mac OS X takes the right approach, which is to use PDF as the 
native metafile format, including on-screen print preview.



Leonard
--
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                  You've got a SmartFriend? in Pennsylvania
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leonard Rosenthol      			Internet:       leonardr@lazerware.com
Web Site: <http://www.lazerware.com/>
Coola Signature: <http://signature.coola.com/?leonardr@lazerware.com>
PGP Fingerprint: C76E 0497 C459 182D 0C6B  AB6B CA10 B4DF 8067 5E65


______________________________________________________________________
Philadelphia Linux Users Group       -      http://www.phillylinux.org
Announcements-http://lists.phillylinux.org/mail/listinfo/plug-announce
General Discussion  -  http://lists.phillylinux.org/mail/listinfo/plug