Making a PostScript File Annotated: A Tech Support Query
PostScript is a powerful page description language that has been widely used in the printing and publishing industry for many years. If you have created a little PostScript program and executed it well using the Emacs PostScript debugger, you might want to convert it into a PDF format for easier distribution or printing.
Converting PostScript to PDF
Converting PostScript to PDF is a straightforward process that can be done using various tools and utilities. One such utility is ps2pdf, which is a command-line tool that converts PostScript files to PDF format.
To convert a PostScript file to PDF using ps2pdf, you can use the following command:
ps2pdf -dNOPAUSE -dNOSAFER -sPAPERSIZE=a4 -r1200 input.ps output.pdf
In this command:
-dNOPAUSE- This option disables the pausing between pages during the conversion process.-dNOSAFER- This option allows the conversion of PostScript files that contain potentially unsafe operations.-sPAPERSIZE=a4- This option sets the paper size to A4.-r1200- This option sets the resolution to 1200 dpi.input.ps- This is the input PostScript file.output.pdf- This is the output PDF file.
Creating an Annotated PostScript File
If you want to create an annotated PostScript file, you can use the annotate PS tool, which allows you to add annotations, such as text boxes, highlights, and stamps, to your PostScript files.
To use annotate PS, you can follow these steps:
- Download and install annotate PS from https://www.psdan.org/annotate-ps.html.
- Open your PostScript file in a text editor and add annotations using the annotate PS syntax.
- Save the annotated PostScript file and run it through the Emacs PostScript debugger or any other PostScript interpreter to verify that the annotations are displayed correctly.
Example of an Annotated PostScript File
Here is an example of an annotated PostScript file that displays a simple message box:
%!PS
/Message (Hello, world!) def
/box {
newpath
50 50 moveto
100 50 lineto
100 100 lineto
50 100 lineto
closepath
gsave
0.5 setgray fill
grestore
0 setgray
55 75 moveto
Message show
} def
box
showpage
In this example, the annotation is the Message variable, which contains the text to be displayed in the message box. The box procedure creates the message box and displays the message using the show command.
- PostScript is a powerful page description language used in the printing and publishing industry.
- Converting PostScript to PDF can be done using various tools and utilities, such as ps2pdf.
- Annotated PostScript files can be created using the annotate PS tool, which allows you to add annotations, such as text boxes, highlights, and stamps, to your PostScript files.