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Subject:Re: Post Script vs. PDF From:Tim Altom <taltom -at- SIMPLYWRITTEN -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 12 Feb 1999 10:24:13 -0500
>Dumb question: A while ago, my boss was supposed to provide a
>document to a publisher, and the publisher specified that it was
>supposed to be in "native" PDF, _not_ generated from PostScript. Is
>there a way to do that? All the methods I know of getting to PDF
>involve a PostScript interim step. At least, I assume methods like
>PDFWriter use PostScript, even if it's not visible. True?
Nope, not for PDFWriter. That particular gem of a printer driver is just a
driver, not PostScript. That's why, when using PDFWriter, what you see is
REALLY what you get. For example, if you have an EPS graphic in your doc
with a TIF header, when you print to PDF with PDFWriter, you'll get a final
presentation of the header, not the EPS's PostScript'ed innards.
I don't have a clue what the publisher was talking about. PDF is actually a
subset of sorts of PostScript, optimized for orderly viewing. There is no
truly "native" PDF. Check your local bookstore for Thomas Merz' "PostScript
and Acrobat/PDF", ISBN 3-540-60854-0. It's far and away the best thing I've
ever seen for PDF and PostScript. It is, however, translated and expensive.
>P.S. I had trouble viewing PostScript files or printing partial
>PostScript files until I downloaded GSView, a Windows front-end for
>GhostScript. I recommend it to anyone who needs to view or print PS
>files: it's intuitive in use and works beautifully.
Yep, GostScript is one of the few apps in the world that'll read and display
PostScript. I haven't used the Windows front end. I'm glad to know that it
works.
Tim Altom
Adobe Certified Expert, Acrobat
Simply Written, Inc.
The FrameMaker support people
Ask about Clustar Method training and consulting
317.899.5882 http://www.simplywritten.com
