<html><head><title>Overview of Ghostscript</title><!-- $Id: Readme.htm,v 1.2 2000/03/14 06:14:44 lpd Exp $ --><!-- Originally: README --></head> <body><!-- [1.0 begin visible header] ============================================ --> <!-- [1.1 begin headline] ================================================== --> <table width="100%" border="0"><tr><th align="center" bgcolor="#CCCC00"><font size=6>Overview of Ghostscript</font></table> <!-- [1.1 end headline] ==================================================== --> <!-- [1.3 begin hint] ====================================================== --> <p>If this is your first contact with Ghostscript, before continuing here youshould read the <a href="New-user.htm">documentation for new users</a>,where you'll find <ul><li><a href="New-user.htm#Overview">what Ghostscript does</a> (PostScriptand PDF previewing, conversion, and printing); <li>its <a href="New-user.htm#Find_Ghostscript">licensing terms</a> (freefor ordinary use); <li>what <a href="New-user.htm#Platforms">platforms it runs on</a> (everyplatform you're likely to be interested in); <li>where to find some <a href="New-user.htm#Ancillary_programs">usefulprograms</a> that enhance Ghostscript (like user-friendly previewers forUnix, VMS, MS Windows, DOS, and Macintosh); and <li>what to do <a href="New-user.htm#Need_help">if you need help</a>.</ul> <p>The rest of this document is a roadmap to the Ghostscript documentation.After looking through it, if you want to install Ghostscript and not onlyuse it, we recommend you read <a href="Install.htm">how to installGhostscript</a>, and <a href="Make.htm">how to compile Ghostscript</a> fromsource code (which is necessary before installing it on Unix and VMSsystems). <!-- [1.3 end hint] ======================================================== --> <hr> <!-- [1.2 begin table of contents] ========================================= --> <h2>Table of contents</h2> <blockquote><ul><li><a href="#Theme_roadmap">Document roadmap by theme</a><ul><li><a href="#New_users">What should I read if I'm a new user?</a><ul><li><a href="#Two_Ghostscripts">Aladdin Ghostscript and GNU Ghostscript</a><li><a href="#Before_building">Before building Ghostscript</a></ul><li><a href="#Not_a_new_user">What should I read if I'm not a new user?</a><li><a href="#Developer">What if I'm a developer?</a><li><a href="#Writer">What if I'm writing documentation?</a></ul><li><a href="#Web_presence">Presence on the World Wide Web</a><ul><li><a href="#Web_home_page">Ghostscript's home page</a><li><a href="#Aladdin_home_page">Aladdin's home page</a><li><a href="#Adobe_documentation">Adobe PostScript and PDF reference documentation</a><li><a href="#Web_other">Other material on the WWW</a></ul><li><a href="#Ordered_roadmap">Which document contains what?</a><blockquote><table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td valign=top><a href="#Bug-form">Bug-form.htm</a><br><a href="#C-style">C-style.htm</a><br><a href="#Commprod">Commprod.htm</a><br><a href="#Copying">Copying.htm</a><br><a href="#Current">Current.htm</a><br><a href="#DLL">DLL.htm</a><br><a href="#Devices">Devices.htm</a><br><a href="#Drivers">Drivers.htm</a><br><a href="#Fonts">Fonts.htm</a><br><a href="#Helpers">Helpers.htm</a><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<td valign=top><a href="#Hershey">Hershey.htm</a><br><a href="#History">History*.htm</a><br><a href="#Htmstyle">Htmstyle.htm</a><br><a href="#Humor">Humor.htm</a><br><a href="#Install">Install.htm</a><br><a href="#Language">Language.htm</a><br><a href="#Lib">Lib.htm</a><br><a href="#Make">Make.htm</a><br><a href="#New-user">New-user.htm</a><br><a href="#News">News.htm</a><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<td valign=top><a href="#Ps2pdf">Ps2pdf.htm</a><br><a href="#Psfiles">Psfiles.htm</a><br><a href="#Public">Public.htm</a><br><a href="#Readme">Readme.htm</a><br><a href="#Release">Release.htm</a><br><a href="#Source">Source.htm</a><br><a href="#Tester">Tester.htm</a><br><a href="#Unix-lpr">Unix-lpr.htm</a><br><a href="#Use">Use.htm</a><br><a href="#Xfonts">Xfonts.htm</a></table></blockquote></ul></blockquote> <!-- [1.2 end table of contents] =========================================== --> <hr> <!-- [1.0 end visible header] ============================================== --> <!-- [2.0 begin contents] ================================================== --> <h1><a name="Theme_roadmap"></a>Document roadmap by theme</h1> <h2><a name="New_users"></a>What should I read if I'm a new user?</h2> <p>A new user of Ghostscript should begin by reading the material<a href="New-user.htm">specifically for new users</a>, then as many ofthese documents as seem useful: <ul><li>how to <a href="Install.htm">install Ghostscript</a> <li>how to <a href="Use.htm">use Ghostscript</a>; some of this informationinformation also found in <b><tt>gs.1</tt></b>, the Unix"man" page for Ghostscript. <li>the catalogs at the beginning of <b><tt>devs.mak</tt></b> and<b><tt>contrib.mak</tt></b>, which list all the devices for whichGhostscript is able to produce output (although if you got Ghostscript inbinary form, it will only include some of these devices) <li>detailed information about <a href="Devices.htm">some specificdevices</a> that Ghostscript knows about <li>more detailed information about how to use Ghostscript under<a href="Unix-lpr.htm">Unix with <b><tt>lpr</tt></b></a> as afilter for non-PostScript printers <li>a <a href="Bug-form.htm">problem-reporting form</a> -- but rememberthat Ghostscript comes with <b>NO WARRANTY</b> and <b>NOSUPPORT</b></ul> <h3><a name="Two_Ghostscripts"></a>Aladdin Ghostscript and GNU Ghostscript</h3> <p>Aladdin Ghostscript and GNU Ghostscript are<a href="New-user.htm#Find_Ghostscript">different releases</a>.  If youhave Aladdin Ghostscript, not the GNU Ghostscript releases distributed bythe <a href="http://www.gnu.org">Free Software Foundation</a>, you shouldread (or at least skim through): <ul><li>additional information about <a href="Public.htm">Aladdin Ghostscriptreleases</a> that is not relevant to GNU Ghostscript releases.</ul> <p>If you run into any questions, or if you are going to be using Ghostscriptextensively, you should at least skim, and probably eventually read: <ul><li> about the <a href="Fonts.htm">fonts distributed withGhostscript</a>, including how to add or replace fonts <li> a description of <a href="Language.htm">the Ghostscript language</a>,and its differences from the documented PostScript language <li> about the <a href="Psfiles.htm"><b><tt>.ps</tt></b> files distributed withGhostscript</a> (other than fonts)</ul> <h3><a name="Before_building"></a>Before building Ghostscript</h3> <p>If you are going to compile Ghostscript, rather than just use an executableyou got from somewhere, you should read: <ul><li> <a href="Make.htm">how to build Ghostscript</a> and<a href="Install.htm">install it</a></ul> <hr> <h2><a name="Not_a_new_user"></a>What should I read if I'm not a new user?</h2> <p>If you have already used Ghostscript, when you receive a new release youshould begin by reading this file, then <ul><li> <a href="News.htm">News.htm</a>, for changes and new features in thecurrent release; <li> <a href="Current.htm">Current.htm</a>, for known problems in thecurrent release; <li> if you wish, History#.htm (currently <ahref="History6.htm">History6.htm</a>), for changes in other releases.</ul> <hr> <h2><a name="Developer"></a>What if I'm a developer?</h2> <p>If you are going to write a new driver for Ghostscript, you should read <ul><li> the <a href="Source.htm">guide to the Ghostscript source code</a> <li> the interface between Ghostscript and <a href="Drivers.htm">devicedrivers</a> <li> about the <a href="Xfonts.htm">external font interface</a> betweenGhostscript and platform-supplied fonts (but read about<a href="Drivers.htm">drivers in general</a> first)</ul> <p>If you are considering distributing Ghostscript (either Aladdin or GNUversions) in conjunction with a commercial product, you should read the<a href="Public.htm">license</a> carefully, and you should also read <ul><li> additional clarification of the circumstances under which Ghostscriptcan be distributed <a href="Commprod.htm">with a commercial product</a></ul> <p>If you intend to use Ghostscript in the form of a dynamic link library(DLL) under OS/2 or Microsoft Windows, read <ul><li> documentation on <a href="DLL.htm">Ghostscript as a DLL</a></ul> <p>If you want to use Ghostscript as part of another program -- as a callablePostScript language interpreter -- and not as a DLL or as a self-containedexecutable application, you should begin by reading <ul><li> the source file <b><tt>imain.h</tt></b>, the documentedAPI for Ghostscript <em>not</em> as a DLL</ul> <p>or if you are going to use only the Ghostscript graphics library, <ul><li> about the structure of the <a href="Lib.htm">Ghostscript library</a>and its interfaces</ul> <hr> <h2><a name="Writer"></a>What if I'm writing documentation?</h2> <p>If you are editing or adding to Ghostscript's existing documentation inHTML format, or writing a new document, you should read <ul><li> the <a href="Htmstyle.htm">coding and style guidelines</a> forGhostscript's HTML-based documentation.</ul> <hr> <h1><a name="Web_presence"></a>Presence on the World Wide Web</h1> <h2><a name="Web_home_page"></a>Ghostscript's home page</h2> <p>Ghostscript has a home page on the World Wide Web with helpful informationsuch as the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) and a list of known problemsand workarounds for the current Aladdin Ghostscript release (in the"Obtaining" file for that release): <blockquote><a href="http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/">http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/</a></blockquote> <h2><a name="Aladdin_home_page"></a>Aladdin's home page</h2> <p>More material about Ghostscript can be found on Aladdin Enterprises' WorldWide Web site at <blockquote><a href="http://www.ghostscript.com/">http://www.ghostscript.com/</a></blockquote> <h2><a name="Adobe_documentation"></a>Adobe PostScript and PDF reference documentation</h2> <p>Adobe makes a wealth of relevant <ahref="http://partners.adobe.com/asn/developer/technotes.html">technicaldocumentation</a> available on its Web site, including the <ahref="http://partners.adobe.com/asn/developer/PDFS/TN/PLRM.pdf">PostScriptLanguage Reference Manual (Third Edition)</a>, the <ahref="http://partners.adobe.com/asn/developer/acrosdk/DOCS/pdfspec.pdf">PDF1.3 specification</a>, and the <ahref="http://partners.adobe.com/asn/developer/acrosdk/DOCS/pdfmark.pdf">pdfmark</a>and <ahref="http://partners.adobe.com/asn/developer/acrosdk/DOCS/distparm.pdf">distillerparameters</a> documentation. <h2><a name="Web_other"></a>Other material on the WWW</h2> <p>Much other material about Ghostscript is available on the World Wide Web,both as web pages and as archived Usenet and mailing list discussions.  Usethe well-known search engines to find such material. <p>There is a good manual for Ghostscript available in PDF form,in English and German (and soon in Japanese), at: <blockquote><a href="http://www.pdflib.com">http://www.pdflib.com/gsmanual</a></blockquote> <hr> <h1><a name="Ordered_roadmap"></a>Which document contains what?</h1> <p> Here is the list in alphabetic order of Ghostscript documentation,with explanations of the contents. <dl><dt><a name="Bug-form"></a><a href="Bug-form.htm"><b>Bug-form.htm</b></a><dd> A form to fill out and send to Aladdin to<a href="New-user.htm#Reporting_bugs">report a bug</a> in AladdinGhostscript -- but remember that Ghostscript comes with <b>NOWARRANTY</b> and <b>NO SUPPORT</b>. Please read the<a href="New-user.htm#Reporting_bugs">guidelines</a> before reporting abug.</dl> <dl><dt><a name="C-style"></a><a href="C-style.htm"><b>C-style.htm</b></a><dd> Aladdin's guidelines and style for C coding, which you should followif, for example, you <a href="#Drivers">write a new driver</a> or add orchange something in Ghostscript. For developers.</dl> <dl><dt><a name="Commprod"></a><a href="Commprod.htm"><b>Commprod.htm</b></a><dd> The conditions under which Ghostscript may be distributed in acommercial context.  See also the <a href="#Public">Aladdin Free PublicLicense</a>.</dl> <dl><dt><a name="Copying"></a><a href="Copying.htm"><b>Copying.htm</b></a><dd> A reminder that Aladdin Ghostscript is governed <b>NOT</b> bythe <a href="http://www.gnu.org/">Free Software Foundation's</a> GNU<a href="http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html">General Public License</a>but by the <a href="#Public">Aladdin Free Public License</a>.</dl> <dl><dt><a name="Current"></a><a href="Current.htm"><b>Current.htm</b></a><dd> Information specifically about the current release of Ghostscript.See also the <a href="#News">latest news</a> of changes.</dl> <dl><dt><a name="DLL"></a><a href="DLL.htm"><b>DLL.htm</b></a><dd> On OS/2, MS Windows-16 and MS Windows-32 platforms, Ghostscript iscompiled as a dynamic link library (DLL).  This describes how to use it.For developers.</dl> <dl><dt><a name="Devices"></a><a href="Devices.htm"><b>Devices.htm</b></a><dd> Detailed information about some specific devices for which Ghostscriptcan produce output. Run "<b><tt>gs&nbsp;-h</tt></b>" to see whichdevices a particular version of Ghostscript is built to use.</dl> <dl><dt><a name="Drivers"></a><a href="Drivers.htm"><b>Drivers.htm</b></a><dd> Describes the interface between Ghostscript and device drivers.  Ifyou do this, you should also read and use the <a href="#C-style">C styleand coding guidelines</a>. Necessary to develop a new driver. Fordevelopers.</dl> <dl><dt><a name="Fonts"></a><a href="Fonts.htm"><b>Fonts.htm</b></a> <dd> Allabout fonts freely available for Ghostscript, and how to add and use newfonts.  Also describes how to use Ghostscript fonts as X Windows fonts. Forboth users and developers.</dl> <dl><dt><a name="Helpers"></a><a href="Helpers.htm"><b>Helpers.htm</b></a><dd> A note of thanks to people who have helped in the development ofGhostscript.</dl> <dl><dt><a name="Hershey"></a><a href="Hershey.htm"><b>Hershey.htm</b></a><dd> Part 1 of the five-part original Usenet distribution of the freeHershey fonts, giving the terms of use and describing their encoding.</dl> <dl><dt><a name="History"></a><b>History*.htm</b><dd> The history of changes in all Ghostscript releases:<blockquote><a href="History6.htm">History6.htm</a> for Ghostscript versions 6.n<br><a href="History5.htm">History5.htm</a> for Ghostscript versions 5.n<br><a href="History4.htm">History4.htm</a> for Ghostscript versions 4.n<br><a href="History3.htm">History3.htm</a> for Ghostscript versions 3.n<br><a href="History2.htm">History2.htm</a> for Ghostscript versions 2.n<br><a href="History1.htm">History1.htm</a> for Ghostscript versions 1.n</blockquote></dl> <dl><dt><a name="Htmstyle"></a><a href="Htmstyle.htm"><b>Htmstyle.htm</b></a><dd> The guidelines and style for HTML coding of Ghostscript'sdocumentation, which you should follow if, for example, you change existingHTML documentation or write new documents. For writers and editors. </dl> <dl><dt><a name="Humor"></a><a href="Humor.htm"><b>Humor.htm</b></a><dd> Another Ghostscript interpreter.</dl> <dl><dt><a name="Install"></a><a href="Install.htm"><b>Install.htm</b></a><dd> How to install Ghostscript.  See also <a href="#Make">how to buildit</a>.</dl> <dl><dt><a name="Language"></a><a href="Language.htm"><b>Language.htm</b></a><dd> The relationship between the Ghostscript interpreter and thePostScript language as defined by Adobe.</dl> <dl><dt><a name="Lib"></a><a href="Lib.htm"><b>Lib.htm</b></a><dd> A description of the Ghostscript library, a set of procedures toimplement the graphics and filtering capabilities that are primitiveoperations in the PostScript language and in Adobe Portable Document Format(PDF). For developers.</dl> <dl><dt><a name="Make"></a><a href="Make.htm"><b>Make.htm</b></a><dd> How to build Ghostscript executables from the source code.  See also<a href="#Install">how to install it</a>. It's not necessary to be a highlyexperienced developer to build or install Ghostscript, but some experienceis needed.</dl> <dl><dt><a name="New-user"></a><a href="New-user.htm"><b>New-user.htm</b></a><dd> Essential information for new users of Ghostscript.</dl> <dl><dt><a name="News"></a><a href="News.htm"><b>News.htm</b></a><dd> Changes in the latest releases of Ghostscript.  Changes in olderreleases are described in the history files"<b><tt>History*.htm</tt></b>", which are usually installedin the documentation directory. Run "<b><tt>gs&nbsp;-h</tt></b>"to see where that is.</dl> <dl><dt><a name="Ps2pdf"></a><a href="Ps2pdf.htm"><b>Ps2pdf.htm</b></a><dd> Detailed information on how to use Ghostscript through<tt><b>ps2pdf</b></tt> to convert PostScript to AdobePortable Document Format (PDF).</dl>

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