Re: Printing directly to PS printer?

Dewdman42 wrote:
Let me add further to that question. If I convert the postscript file
into a PDF using ghostscript, is the original postscript still
contained in that PDF

No.

or has it been converted into something else?

Yes.

My limited understanding, expressed simplistically, is that PS is a full programming language, PDF isn't, when you convert from PS to PDF, the PDF essentially contains a representation of the results of executing the PS program.

If I then try to print that PDF file from adobe reader or something,
what is sent to the printer? Something close to my original
postscript, or is it downconverted to something else and then piped
through the HP postscript driver to be converted back again to
postscript?

What gets sent to the printer depends very much on how your printer is defined in the operating system. A HP LaserJet could be defined as either a PS printer or a PCL printer. This determines whether the printer gets sent PS or PCL. A Windows application usually uses Windows GDI calls to convert it's internal representation of a page into a different abstract form understood by Windows print drivers, the printer drivers then effectively translate the GDI calls into whatever page description language the printer supports (or even to effectively a rasterised bitmap page image in the case of some printers).

So no, If you print a PDF to a PS printer, the PS that gets sent to the printer will be totally unlike the PS from which the PDF was generated. Usually this doesn't matter and the printed result is the same (or close enough).

Note that many printers can print PDF files directly (e.g. using your `copy` command).



i can't believe there is not a clean way to send postscript files/data
directly to a postscript printer *AND* control the behavior of the
printer for simple things like duplex, print quality, etc..


It depends how clean you mean by "clean".

For HP laserjets, You can either prefix and suffic the PS with PJL directives (as Aandi suggested) or insert appropriate PS directives into the PS.

The program that emits the PS could insert the directives (e.g. after consulting a PPD file) or some sort of postprocessor could do it, if the PS is marked up with DSC comments that allow a postprocessor to make sense of the structure of the PS file.

If you have a limited and well-defined target set of printers, such as recent lowish to mid-range HP Laserjets with PS level 2, you might get away with hardcoding appropriate common directives in an in-house application that generates the PS. I've done this for duplex. Be aware of the limitations and pitfalls though.
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: difference in output between postscript and pdf terminal
    ... Included plots are in eps, ... I use pdfLaTeX to generate pdf. ... And sometimes I need postscript output, for whatever reason, so I too want my source to be compatible between latex and pdflatex. ... same output for all terminals. ...
    (comp.graphics.apps.gnuplot)
  • Re: difference in output between postscript and pdf terminal
    ... I use pdfLaTeX to generate pdf. ... the LaTeX path with postscript in-/output. ... If we now take the gnuplot scripting language: ... to be correct in ALL output formats. ...
    (comp.graphics.apps.gnuplot)
  • Re: HP 4MP printer driver current?
    ... Incidentally, which version of Mac OS X is your older iMac G4 running, ... I upgraded the HP printer drivers but that didn't change ... Mac OS X uses PDF internally as the intermediate form of print output ... Postscript rather than genuine Adobe Postscript, ...
    (comp.sys.mac.system)
  • Re: PostScript Files
    ... I require a positive film for silkscreening the front ... I'm afraid that in using a PDF file ... >Sounds like you already have Acrobat Distiller. ... >There's your PostScript printer. ...
    (microsoft.public.publisher)
  • Re: HP 4MP printer driver current?
    ... Incidentally, which version of Mac OS X is your older iMac G4 running, ... Mac OS X uses PDF internally as the intermediate form of print output ... The LaserJet 4 series was one where HP used an emulation of ... Postscript rather than genuine Adobe Postscript, ...
    (comp.sys.mac.system)