chic@mel.dit.csiro.au (Chris Ching) (10/04/90)
I just wonder whether there is any other postscript previewer. To me, xps is not really good. I would like to have a better postscript previewer under X. Any pointers? Thanks in advance. -- Chris Ching, DIT, CSIRO, | Open Communications Program | 55 Barry st, Carlton, | (TEL) +61 3 347 8644 (g3FAX) +61 3 347 8987 | VIC 3053, Australia. | Internet: chic@mel.dit.csiro.au |
phil@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (10/05/90)
> I just wonder whether there is any other postscript previewer. To me, xps is > not really good. I would like to have a better postscript previewer under X. > > Any pointers? > > Thanks in advance. I, too, and looking for just such a tool. Seems like someone who knows how will need to write one for our needs to be met. Here are features I'd like to see: 1. Ability to override the pixel size relationship, so that I can see what actual dots would be plotted on my 300dpi printer instead of what has to be plotted on my 75dpi (or whatever) X terminal. Since this would result in magnification of the image, the window should be a port to a virtual window with H and V scrollbars. 2. Both forward AND BACKWARD page buttons, to go between different pages. Bitmaps of previous pages should be kept to some specifiable maximum. 3. An option to tell the previewer to watch for the .ps file to be updated, and rerun it when it is, automatically. A rerun button should be there in either case. Additional features could have it look at other files for changes, and run programs that convert to .ps when THEY change, such as for .dvi files for TeXies. It would be nice to be able to have an edit window and a preview window, and the preview window reruns each time I make a file save from the edit window. --Phil Howard, KA9WGN-- | Individual CHOICE is fundamental to a free society <phil@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> | no matter what the particular issue is all about.
jgreely@morganucodon.cis.ohio-state.edu (J Greely) (10/05/90)
In article <22700017@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> phil@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu writes: >1. Ability to override the pixel size relationship, so that I can see what > actual dots would be plotted on my 300dpi printer instead of what has to > be plotted on my 75dpi (or whatever) X terminal. Since this would result > in magnification of the image, the window should be a port to a virtual > window with H and V scrollbars. Pageview (supplied with OpenWindows 2.0) does this nicely, although it won't show you the results of 300dpi halftoning. It would be a fairly trivial modification if you had the source, although it shouldn't be the default. >2. Both forward AND BACKWARD page buttons, to go between different pages. > Bitmaps of previous pages should be kept to some specifiable maximum. This is only reasonable if the PostScript document conforms to the Adobe Document Structuring Conventions (and it's still not easy unless they interpret it in a nice way :-)). Making the bitmap-caching scheme work on arbitrary PS would require a healthy, loving relationship between the interpreter and the user interface (offhand, the only interpreters I know of that are mature enough for this are Display PostScript and NeWS). >3. An option to tell the previewer to watch for the .ps file to be updated, > and rerun it when it is, automatically. Ick. How will it know when the updating process is finished? For something like a DVI converter, it could take several minutes to completely update the file, and if I'm currently looking at page thirty when the previewer notices that the file has been overwritten by the first 4K of the new version, I'll be very unhappy. Your other idea (having the previewer run one or more programs that produce a PostScript file to use as input) is more practical. > A rerun button should be there in either case. ... It would be > nice to be able to have an edit window Pageview does both of these, although the editor is a bit primitive. -- J Greely (jgreely@cis.ohio-state.edu; osu-cis!jgreely)
datri@convex.com (Anthony A. Datri) (10/06/90)
>> I just wonder whether there is any other postscript previewer. To me, xps is >> not really good. Try the newer version, "ralpage". There's a tar file for it on expo. Try also ghostscript 2.0, the [sigh] GNU postscript previewer. >1. Ability to override the pixel size relationship, so that I can see what > actual dots would be plotted on my 300dpi printer instead of what has to > be plotted on my 75dpi (or whatever) X terminal. Beware that PostScript devices define their own transfer functions, so without intimate knowledge of your specific printer, you can't always know exactly what dots will be plotted. Certainly, though, a blowup feature would give you a better idea of how the dots will come out on a printed page, albeit in an cumbersomely large window. --
mh2620@sarek.sbc.com (Mark Horstman [314-235-3417]) (10/08/90)
In article <JGREELY.90Oct5054556@morganucodon.cis.ohio-state.edu>, jgreely@morganucodon.cis.ohio-state.edu (J Greely) writes: |> Pageview (supplied with OpenWindows 2.0) does this nicely, although it |> won't show you the results of 300dpi halftoning. It would be a fairly |> trivial modification if you had the source, although it shouldn't be |> the default. |> But pageview will only run under the OpenWindows 2.0 server right? |> J Greely (jgreely@cis.ohio-state.edu; osu-cis!jgreely) -- Mark Horstman mh2620@sarek.sbc.com
jgreely@morganucodon.cis.ohio-state.edu (J Greely) (10/09/90)
In article <106894@convex.convex.com> datri@convex.com (Anthony A. Datri) writes: >Beware that PostScript devices define their own transfer functions, >so without intimate knowledge of your specific printer, you can't >always know exactly what dots will be plotted. Adobe supplies PPD (PostScript Printer Description) files for most or all real PostScript printers, available from the mail-server. Among other things, these contain the default halftone settings and transfer function. Damn handy. -- J Greely (jgreely@cis.ohio-state.edu; osu-cis!jgreely)
fgreco@dprg-330.GOVt.shearson.COM (Frank Greco) (10/11/90)
> > In article <JGREELY.90Oct5054556@morganucodon.cis.ohio-state.edu>, jgreely@morganucodon.cis.ohio-state.edu (J Greely) writes: > > |> Pageview (supplied with OpenWindows 2.0) does this nicely, although it > |> won't show you the results of 300dpi halftoning. It would be a fairly > |> trivial modification if you had the source, although it shouldn't be > |> the default. > |> > > But pageview will only run under the OpenWindows 2.0 server right? Yes. It uses the NeWS features of the X/NeWS merged server to do the Postscript rendering. It does not run in a X only environment. Try xps, ralpage or ghostscript for an X only environment. Frank G.