Overview of Ghostscript
If this is your first contact with Ghostscript, before continuing here you
should read the documentation for new users,
where you'll find
The rest of 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 how to install
Ghostscript, and how to compile Ghostscript from
source code (which is necessary before installing it on Unix and VMS
systems).
Table of contents
Document roadmap by theme
What should I read if I'm a new user?
A new user of Ghostscript should begin by reading the material
specifically for new users, then as many of
these documents as seem useful:
- how to use Ghostscript. This includes both
a quickstart introduction to the commandline version and more extensive
reference material.
- detailed information about specific
devices that Ghostscript can use for output
- information about reporting problems--but
remember that Ghostscript comes with NO WARRANTY and NO
SUPPORT
- more detailed information about how to use Ghostscript under
Unix with lpr as a filter
for printing
GPL Ghostscript and AFPL Ghostscript
GPL Ghostscript and AFPL Ghostscript are
different releases with different
licensing terms. Most particularly,commercial redistribution of AFPL Ghostscript
is prohibited. This release is licensed under the GPL.
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:
Before building Ghostscript
If you are going to compile Ghostscript from source, rather than just use an executable
you got from somewhere, you may want to read:
What should I read if I'm not a new user?
If you have already used Ghostscript, when you receive a new release you
should begin by reading this file, then
- News.htm, for incompatible changes and new
features in the current release;
- if you wish, Changes.htm, for a detailed list
of changes in the current release;
- if you wish, History#.htm (currently History8.htm), for changes in other releases.
What if I'm a developer?
If you are going to do any development on or with Ghostscript at all, you
should at least look at
If you are going to write a new driver for Ghostscript, you should read
If you are considering distributing Ghostscript (either AFPL or GPL
versions) in conjunction with a commercial product, you should read the
license carefully, and you should also read
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
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
- the source file imain.h, the documented
API for Ghostscript not as a DLL
or if you are going to use only the Ghostscript graphics library,
What if I'm writing documentation?
If you are editing or adding to Ghostscript's existing documentation in
HTML format, or writing a new document, you should read
Presence on the World Wide Web
Ghostscript's home page
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 release (in the
"Obtaining" file for that release):
http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/
More material about Ghostscript can be found at
http://www.ghostscript.com/
Adobe PostScript, Encapsulated
PostScript, and PDF reference documentation
Adobe makes a wealth of
technical documentation available over the Web, including the
PostScript Language Reference Manual (Third Edition); the
Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) Format Specification version 3, including
Encapsulated PostScript Interchange (EPSI)
format; the
PDF 1.3 specification; and the
pdfmark,
transparency and
Acrobat Distiller parameters documentation. Some of these documents
are also available at Adobe's ftp
site, but not necessarily under the same filenames.
Other material on the WWW
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.
There is a good manual for Ghostscript available in PDF form,
in English and German (and soon in Japanese), at:
http://www.pdflib.com/gsmanual
There is a translation of the Ghostscript 'man' pages into Czech at:
http://www.volny.cz/rebus/ghostscript/
Which document contains what?
Here is the list in alphabetic order of Ghostscript documentation,
with explanations of the contents.
- API.htm
- 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.
- Bug-form.htm
- A form to fill out and email to report a problem with GPL
Ghostscript--but remember that Ghostscript comes with NO WARRANTY
and NO SUPPORT. Please read the instructions before reporting a bug. Also,
please try reproducing the bug with the current development code,
which is released as AFPL Ghostscript.
- Bug-info.htm
- Information about how to report problems with Ghostscript--but
remember that Ghostscript comes with NO WARRANTY and NO
SUPPORT. Please read this before reporting a problem.
- C-style.htm
- Guidelines and style for C coding, which you should follow
if, for example, you write a new driver or add or
change something in Ghostscript. For developers.
- Changes.htm
- A detailed list of all code changes in the current release or
pre-release, generated mechanically from the CVS logs. For developers.
- Commprod.htm
- The conditions under which Ghostscript may be distributed in a
commercial context. See also the Aladdin Free Public
License.
- Copying.htm
- This is
the Free Software Foundation's GNU
General Public License,
the license governing use and distribution of this version of GPL Ghostscript.
- DLL.htm
- 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. This DLL interface is obsolete.
Use API.htm instead.
- Develop.htm
- Code orientation for developers. Contains a detailed breakdown of
the source files by functional group, and overviews of the major
architectural features and services.
- Deprecated.htm
- Documention for deprecated devices and features. Features described here
will be removed in future versions of Ghostscript.
- Devices.htm
- Detailed information about some specific devices for which Ghostscript
can produce output. Run "gs -h" to see which
devices a particular version of Ghostscript is built to use.
- Drivers.htm
- Describes the interface between Ghostscript and device drivers. If
you do this, you should also read and use the C style
and coding guidelines. Necessary to develop a new driver. For
developers.
- Fonts.htm
- 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.
- Helpers.htm
- A note of thanks to people who have helped in the development of
Ghostscript.
- Hershey.htm
- Part 1 of the five-part original Usenet distribution of the free
Hershey fonts, giving the terms of use and describing their encoding.
- History*.htm
- The history of changes in all Ghostscript releases:
History8.htm for Ghostscript versions 8.n
History7.htm for Ghostscript versions 7.n
History6.htm for Ghostscript versions 6.n
History5.htm for Ghostscript versions 5.n
History4.htm for Ghostscript versions 4.n
History3.htm for Ghostscript versions 3.n
History2.htm for Ghostscript versions 2.n
History1.htm for Ghostscript versions 1.n
- Htmstyle.htm
- The guidelines and style for HTML coding of Ghostscript's
documentation, which you should follow if, for example, you change existing
HTML documentation or write new documents. For writers and editors.
- Humor.htm
- Another Ghostscript interpreter.
- Install.htm
- How to install Ghostscript. See also how to build
it.
- Issues.htm
- A list of outstanding open issues in Ghostscript. These include
known limitations, minor bugs, performance issues, differences from
Adobe implementations, and others.
- Language.htm
- The relationship between the Ghostscript interpreter and the
PostScript language as defined by Adobe.
- Lib.htm
- 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.
- Maintain.htm
- Assorted Ghostscript maintenance procedures. For developers.
- Make.htm
- How to build Ghostscript executables from the source code. See also
how to install it. It's not necessary to be a highly
experienced developer to build or install Ghostscript, but some experience
is needed.
- New-user.htm
- Essential information for new users of Ghostscript.
- News.htm
- 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 "History*.htm",
which are usually installed in the documentation directory. Run
"gs -h" to see where that is.
- Projects.htm
- A list of Ghostscript development projects with which we would like
help.
- Ps-style.htm
- 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.
- Ps2epsi.htm
- Detailed information on how to use Ghostscript through
ps2epsi to convert PostScript to Adobe
Encapsulated PostScript Interchange (EPSI) format.
- Ps2pdf.htm
- Detailed information on how to use Ghostscript through
ps2pdf to convert PostScript to Adobe
Portable Document Format (PDF).
- Psfiles.htm
- A description of the PostScript files (other than font files)
distributed with Ghostscript, including initialization routines, utility
programs, and sample printable files.
- Public.htm
- The Aladdin Free Public License, which states the conditions for using
and redistributing AFPL Ghostscript.
- Readme.htm
- This document.
- Release.htm
- 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.
- Source.htm
- A guide to the Ghostscript source code, for development and debugging.
- Tester.htm
- A short questionnaire to fill out if you would like to be notified of
new tester / beta releases.
- Testing.htm
- Documentation for using the test scripts located in the toolbin/tests directory, and conventions for
writing new testing scripts.
- Unix-lpr.htm
- How to set up Ghostscript as a Unix lpr
filter.
- Use.htm
- 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.
- Xfonts.htm
- Ghostscript's external font interface to a host platform's
font-rendering mechanism, for developers.
Copyright © 1996-2002 artofcode LLC. All rights reserved.
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 the license contained in the file LICENSE in this distribution.
For more information about licensing, please refer to
http://www.ghostscript.com/licensing/. For information on
commercial licensing, go to http://www.artifex.com/licensing/ or
contact Artifex Software, Inc., 101 Lucas Valley Road #110,
San Rafael, CA 94903, U.S.A., +1(415)492-9861.
Ghostscript version 8.01, 30 January 2004