summaryrefslogtreecommitdiff
path: root/gs/doc/Readme.htm
blob: 61523428bd69aef9b97f233979c3e00a4f3a5fa8 (plain)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496
497
498
499
500
501
502
503
504
505
506
507
508
509
510
511
512
513
514
515
516
517
518
519
520
521
522
523
524
525
526
527
528
529
530
531
532
533
534
535
536
537
538
539
540
541
542
543
544
545
546
547
548
549
550
551
552
553
554
555
556
557
558
559
560
561
562
563
564
565
566
567
568
569
570
571
572
573
574
575
576
577
578
579
580
581
582
583
584
585
586
587
588
589
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">
<html>
<head>
<title>Overview of Ghostscript</title>
<!-- $Id$ -->
<!-- Originally: README -->
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="gs.css" title="Ghostscript Style">
</head>

<body>
<!-- [1.0 begin visible header] ============================================ -->

<!-- [1.1 begin headline] ================================================== -->

<h1>Overview of Ghostscript</h1>

<!-- [1.1 end headline] ==================================================== -->

<!-- [1.3 begin hint] ====================================================== -->

<p>
This document is a roadmap to the Ghostscript documentation.
After looking through it, if you want to install Ghostscript and not only
use it, we recommend you read <a href="Install.htm">how to install
Ghostscript</a>, and <a href="Make.htm">how to compile Ghostscript</a> from
source code (which is necessary before installing it on Unix and VMS
systems).

<!-- [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>
<li><a href="#Two_Ghostscripts">GPL Ghostscript and commercial Ghostscript</a>
<li><a href="#Before_building">Before building Ghostscript</a>
<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 pages</a>
<li><a href="#Adobe_documentation">Adobe PostScript, Encapsulated
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>
<ul>
<li>Primarily for users:
<blockquote><table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0>
<tr><td valign=top>
<a href="#Deprecated">Deprecated.htm</a><br>
<a href="#Devices">Devices.htm</a><br>
<td>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<td valign=top>
<a href="#Helpers">Helpers.htm</a><br>
<a href="#Ps2epsi">Ps2epsi.htm</a><br>
<td>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<td valign=top>
<a href="#Ps2pdf">Ps2pdf.htm</a><br>
<a href="#Ps2ps2">Ps2ps2.htm</a><br>
<a href="#Readme">Readme.htm</a><br>
<a href="#Unix-lpr">Unix-lpr.htm</a><br>
<a href="#Use">Use.htm</a><br>
<tr><td valign=top>
</table></blockquote>
<li>For both users and developers:
<blockquote><table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0>
<tr><td valign=top>
<a href="#Changes">Changes.htm </a><br>
<a href="#Commprod">Commprod.htm</a><br>
<a href="#Fonts">Fonts.htm</a><br>
<a href="#Hershey">Hershey.htm</a><br>
<td>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<td valign=top>
<a href="#History">History*.htm</a><br>
<a href="#Install">Install.htm</a><br>
<a href="#Language">Language.htm</a><br>
<a href="#Make">Make.htm</a><br>
<td>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<td valign=top>
<a href="#News">News.htm</a><br>
<a href="#Psfiles">Psfiles.htm</a><br>
<a href="#COPYING">COPYING</a><br>
</table></blockquote>
<li>Primarily for developers:
<blockquote><table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0>
<tr><td valign=top>
<a href="#API">API.htm</a><br>
<a href="#C-style">C-style.htm</a><br>
<a href="#DLL">DLL.htm</a><br>
<a href="#Develop">Develop.htm</a><br>
<a href="#Drivers">Drivers.htm</a><br>
<td>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<td valign=top>
<a href="#Issues">Issues.htm</a><br>
<a href="#Lib">Lib.htm</a><br>
<a href="#Projects">Projects.htm</a><br>
<td>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<td valign=top>
<a href="#Ps-style">Ps-style.htm</a><br>
<a href="#Release">Release.htm</a><br>
<a href="#Source">Source.htm</a><br>
<a href="#Xfonts">Xfonts.htm</a><br>
</table></blockquote>
</ul>
</ul></blockquote>

<!-- [1.2 end table of contents] =========================================== -->

<hr>

<!-- [1.0 end visible header] ============================================== -->

<!-- [2.0 begin contents] ================================================== -->

<h2><a name="Theme_roadmap"></a>Document roadmap by theme</h2>

<h3><a name="New_users"></a>What should I read if I'm a new user?</h3>

<ul>

<li>how to <a href="Use.htm">use Ghostscript</a>. This includes both
a quickstart introduction to the commandline version and more extensive
reference material.

<li>detailed information about <a href="Devices.htm">specific
devices</a> that Ghostscript can use for output

<li>more detailed information about how to use Ghostscript under
Unix with <tt>lpr</tt> <a href="Unix-lpr.htm">as a filter</a>
for printing

<li>for information about known problems or to report a new one,
please visit <a href="http://bugs.ghostscript.com/">bugs.ghostscript.com</a> 
but remember that free versions of Ghostscript come with with
<strong>NO WARRANTY</strong> and <strong>NO SUPPORT</strong>
</ul>

<h3><a name="Two_Ghostscripts"></a>GPL and commercial Ghostscript</h3> 
<p>
GPL Ghostscript, Artifex Ghostscript and AFPL Ghostscript are <a href="Commprod.htm">different releases</a>.

<ul>
<li>additional information about <a href="COPYING">GPL Ghostscript
releases</a> that is not relevant to commercial versions.
</ul>

<p>
If you run into any questions, or if you are going to be using Ghostscript
extensively, you should at least skim, and probably eventually read:

<ul>
<li> about the <a href="Fonts.htm">fonts distributed with
Ghostscript</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">postscript files distributed with
Ghostscript</a> (other than fonts)
</ul>

<h3><a name="Before_building"></a>Before building Ghostscript</h3>

<p>
If you are going to compile Ghostscript from source, rather than just use an executable
you got from somewhere, you may want to 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 you
should begin by reading this file, then

<ul>
<li> <a href="News.htm">News.htm</a>, for incompatible changes and new
features in the current release;

<li> if you wish, History#.htm (currently <a
href="History9.htm">History9.htm</a>), for changes in the current and earlier releases.
</ul>

<hr>

<h2><a name="Developer"></a>What if I'm a developer?</h2>

<p>
If you are going to do any development on or with Ghostscript at all, you
should at least look at

<ul>
<li>the <a href="Develop.htm">roadmap documentation</a> for Ghostscript's
source files and architecture
</ul>

<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">device
drivers</a>

<li> about the <a href="Xfonts.htm">external font interface</a> between
Ghostscript and platform-supplied fonts
</ul>

<p>
If you are considering distributing GPL Ghostscript in conjunction 
with a commercial product, you should read the
<a href="COPYING">license</a> carefully, and you should also read

<ul>
<li> additional clarification of the circumstances under which Ghostscript
can 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 or in the form of shared object
under Linux, read

<ul>
<li> documentation on <a href="API.htm">Ghostscript Interpreter API</a>
</ul>

<p>
If you want to use Ghostscript as part of another program--as a callable
PostScript language interpreter--and not as a DLL or as a self-contained
executable application, you should begin by reading

<ul>
<li> the source file <code>imain.h</code>, the documented
API 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 in
HTML format, or writing a new document, you should read

<hr>

<h2><a name="Web_presence"></a>Presence on the World Wide Web</h2>

<h3><a name="Web_home_page"></a>Ghostscript's home page</h3>

<p>
Ghostscript has a home page on the World Wide Web with helpful information
such as the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) and a list of known problems
and workarounds for the current GPL Ghostscript release (in the
"Obtaining" file for that release):

<blockquote>
<a href="http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/" 
class="offsite">http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/</a>
</blockquote>

<p>
More material about Ghostscript can be found at

<blockquote>
<a href="http://www.ghostscript.com/" class="offsite">http://www.ghostscript.com/</a>
</blockquote>

<h3><a name="Adobe_documentation"></a>Adobe PostScript, Encapsulated
PostScript, and PDF reference documentation</h3>

<p>
Adobe makes a wealth of technical documentation available over the Web,
 including the
<a href="http://partners.adobe.com/public/developer/en/ps/PLRM.pdf"
class="offsite">
PostScript Language Reference Manual (Third Edition)</a>; the
<a href="http://partners.adobe.com/public/developer/en/ps/5002.EPSF_Spec.pdf" 
class="offsite">
Encapsulated PostScript</a> (EPS) Format Specification version 3, including
<a href="#Ps2epsi">Encapsulated PostScript Interchange (EPSI)</a>
 format; the
<a href="http://partners.adobe.com/public/developer/pdf/index_reference.html"
class="offsite">PDF Reference manuals</a>.
The <a href="http://partners.adobe.com/public/developer/acrobat/sdk/index.html" 
class="offsite">Acrobat SDK</a> contains
<a href="http://partners.adobe.com/public/developer/acrobat/sdk/index_doc.html" class="offset">
pdfmark and Acrobat Distiller parameters</a> documentation.  
Some of these documents
are also available at <a href="ftp://ftp.adobe.com/pub/adobe/"
class="offsite">Adobe's ftp
site</a>, but not necessarily under the same filenames.

<h3><a name="Web_other"></a>Other material on the WWW</h3>

<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.  Use
the well-known search engines to find such material.

<p>
There is a translation of the Ghostscript 'man' pages into Czech at:

<blockquote>
<a href="http://www.volny.cz/rebus/ghostscript/" 
class="offsite">http://www.volny.cz/rebus/ghostscript/</a>
</blockquote>

<hr>

<h2><a name="Ordered_roadmap"></a>Which document contains what?</h2>

<p> Here is the list in alphabetic order of Ghostscript documentation,
with explanations of the contents.

<dl>
<dt><a name="API"></a><a href="API.htm"><b>API.htm</b></a>
<dd> On MS-Windows and OS/2, Ghostscript is compiled as a dynamic 
link library (DLL).  On Linux, Ghostscript can be compiled as
a shared object.  This describes how to use it.
For developers.
</dl>

<dl>
<dt><a name="C-style"></a><a href="C-style.htm"><b>C-style.htm</b></a>
<dd> Guidelines and style for C coding, which you should follow
if, for example, you <a href="#Drivers">write a new driver</a> or add or
change something in Ghostscript. For developers.
</dl>

<dl>
<dt><a name="Changes"></a><a href="Changes.htm"><b>Changes.htm</b></a> (Deprecated, please see <a href="News.htm"><b>News.htm</b></a>)
<dd> A detailed list of all code changes in the current release or
pre-release, generated mechanically from the CVS logs. 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 a
commercial context.  See also the <a href="#COPYING">GNU General Public License</a>.
</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 is
compiled as a dynamic link library (DLL).  This describes how to use it.
For developers. <b>This DLL interface is obsolete.</b>  
Use <a href="#API"><b>API.htm</b></a> instead.
</dl>

<dl>
<dt><a name="Develop"></a><a href="Develop.htm"><b>Develop.htm</b></a>
<dd> Code orientation for developers. Contains a detailed breakdown of
the source files by functional group, and overviews of the major
architectural features and services.
</dl>

<dl>
<dt><a name="Deprecated"></a><a href="Deprecated.htm"><b>Deprecated.htm</b></a></dt>
<dd> Documention for deprecated devices and features. Features described here
will be removed in future versions of Ghostscript.</dd>
</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 Ghostscript
can produce output. Run "<code>gs&nbsp;-h</code>" to see which
devices 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.  If
you do this, you should also read and use the <a href="#C-style">C style
and coding guidelines</a>. Necessary to develop a new driver. For
developers.
</dl>

<dl>
<dt><a name="Fonts"></a><a href="Fonts.htm"><b>Fonts.htm</b></a> <dd> All
about fonts freely available for Ghostscript, and how to add and use new
fonts.  Also describes how to use Ghostscript fonts as X Windows fonts. For
both 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 of
Ghostscript.
</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 free
Hershey 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="History9.htm">History9.htm</a> for Ghostscript versions 9.n<br>
<a href="History8.htm">History8.htm</a> for Ghostscript versions 8.n<br>
<a href="History7.htm">History7.htm</a> for Ghostscript versions 7.n<br>
<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="Install"></a><a href="Install.htm"><b>Install.htm</b></a>
<dd> How to install Ghostscript.  See also <a href="#Make">how to build
it</a>.
</dl>

<dl>
<dt><a name="Issues"></a><a href="Issues.htm"><b>Issues.htm</b></a>
<dd> A list of outstanding open issues in Ghostscript. These include
known limitations, minor bugs, performance issues, differences from
Adobe implementations, and others.
</dl>

<dl>
<dt><a name="Language"></a><a href="Language.htm"><b>Language.htm</b></a>
<dd> The relationship between the Ghostscript interpreter and the
PostScript 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 to
implement the graphics and filtering capabilities that are primitive
operations 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 highly
experienced developer to build or install Ghostscript, but some experience
is needed.
</dl>

<dl>
<dt><a name="News"></a><a href="News.htm"><b>News.htm</b></a>
<dd> A brief description of the latest release or pre-release of
Ghostscript, and a list of any incompatible changes in it.  Changes in older
releases are described in the history files "<code>History*.htm</code>",
which are usually installed in the documentation directory. Run
"<code>gs&nbsp;-h</code>" to see where that is.
</dl>

<dl>
<dt><a name="Projects"></a><a href="Projects.htm"><b>Projects.htm</b></a>
<dd> A list of Ghostscript development projects with which we would like
help.
</dl>

<dl>
<dt><a name="Ps-style"></a><a
href="Ps-style.htm"><b>Ps-style.htm</b></a>
<dd> The guidelines and style for postscript coding in Ghostscript. Some
of Ghostscript is implemented in the postscript language itself, and
various utilities and examples are distributed with it. You should
follow these guidelines if you're extending or modifying those files.
For developers.
</dl>

<dl>
<dt><a name="Ps2epsi"></a><a href="Ps2epsi.htm"><b>Ps2epsi.htm</b></a>
<dd> Detailed information on how to use Ghostscript through
<code>ps2epsi</code> to convert PostScript to Adobe
Encapsulated PostScript Interchange (EPSI) format.
</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
<code>ps2pdf</code> to convert PostScript to Adobe
Portable Document Format (PDF).
</dl>

<dl>
<dt><a name="Ps2ps2"></a><a href="Ps2ps2.htm"><b>Ps2ps2.htm</b></a>
<dd> Detailed information on how to use Ghostscript through
<code>ps2ps2</code> to convert Adobe
Portable Document Format (PDF) or Adobe Postscript Level 3
into Adobe Postscript Level 2.
</dl>

<dl>
<dt><a name="Psfiles"></a><a href="Psfiles.htm"><b>Psfiles.htm</b></a>
<dd> A description of the PostScript files (other than font files)
distributed with Ghostscript, including initialization routines, utility
programs, and sample printable files.
</dl>

<dl>
<dt><a name="COPYING"></a><a href="COPYING"><b>COPYING</b></a>
<dd> The GNU General Public License, which states the conditions for using
and redistributing GPL Ghostscript.
</dl>

<dl>
<dt><a name="Readme"></a><b>Readme.htm</b>
<dd> This document.
</dl>

<dl>
<dt><a name="Release"></a><a href="Release.htm"><b>Release.htm</b></a>
<dd> A description of how to prepare and test a Ghostscript release.  Of
interest only to developers who want to create new Ghostscript versions for
distribution.
</dl>

<dl>
<dt><a name="Source"></a><a href="Source.htm"><b>Source.htm</b></a>
<dd> A guide to the Ghostscript source code, for development and debugging.
</dl>

<dl>
<dt><a name="Unix-lpr"></a><a href="Unix-lpr.htm"><b>Unix-lpr.htm</b></a>
<dd> How to set up Ghostscript as a Unix <code>lpr</code>
filter.
</dl>

<dl>
<dt><a name="Use"></a><a href="Use.htm"><b>Use.htm</b></a>
<dd> Detailed instructions on how to use Ghostscript, including such
matters as designating an output device; choosing a default paper size;
how Ghostscript finds files, including font files; how it uses environment
variables; notes on specific platforms, including the X Window System; and
command-line options.
</dl>

<dl>
<dt><a name="Xfonts"></a><a href="Xfonts.htm"><b>Xfonts.htm</b></a>
<dd> Ghostscript's external font interface to a host platform's
font-rendering mechanism, for developers.
</dl>

<!-- [2.0 end contents] ==================================================== -->

<!-- [3.0 begin visible trailer] =========================================== -->
<hr>

<p>
<small>Copyright &copy; 2000-2006 Artifex Software, Inc.  All rights reserved.</small>

<p>
This software is provided AS-IS with no warranty, either express or
implied.

This software is distributed under license and may not be copied, modified
or distributed except as expressly authorized under the terms of that
license.  Refer to licensing information at http://www.artifex.com/
or contact Artifex Software, Inc.,  7 Mt. Lassen Drive - Suite A-134,
San Rafael, CA  94903, U.S.A., +1(415)492-9861, for further information.

<p>
<small>Ghostscript version 9.02, 28 March 2011

<!-- [3.0 end visible trailer] ============================================= -->

</body>
</html>