derosa@motcid.UUCP (John DeRosa) (03/23/90)
I am hot on the trail of a way to convert Sun Interleaf to Macintosh Pict. I thought I had the problem licked but have reached another road block. I have converted the Interleaf file to PS. What I mean by PS (postscript) is I have a file that is pure postscript code starting with #! Adobe. I then FTP'd the file to the Mac and was able to print the file with programs like Widgets and Postility. Postility also says it can convert EPS (encapsulated postscript) to Pict or Text. This did nothing with my PS Interleaf file. The question is; what is PS, and what is EPS? Can one be converted to the other? Does anyone know the solution to my conversion problem. Thanks in advance for any help. SIDE ISSUE: If I have a PS file from Interleaf, I can print it on the sun with the lpr command and I get the picture/document (not the PS code). If I try the same file on the mac and print it with a text editor like Edit, I get the PS code printout, not the picture/document (downloading it with Widgets works fine). Why the difference? SECOND SIDE ISSUE: A Macintosh PS file begins with the line #! Adobe 2.0, a Sun Interleaf PS file begins with the line #! Adobe. Does this mean that they are different versions of PostScript? The Sun file will print on the Mac but the Mac file will NOT print on the Sun. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= = John DeRosa, Motorola, Inc, Cellular Infrastructure Division = = e-mail: ...uunet!motcid!derosaj = = I do not hold by employer responsible for any information in this message = = nor am I responsible for anything my employer may do or say. = =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
henry@angel.Sun.COM (Henry McGilton--Software Products -- R.I.P.) (03/23/90)
In article <1816@diamond2.UUCP>, derosa@motcid.UUCP (John DeRosa) writes: * I am hot on the trail of a way to convert Sun Interleaf * to Macintosh Pict. I thought I had the problem licked * but have reached another road block. * * I have converted the Interleaf file to PS. What I mean * by PS (postscript) is I have a file that is pure postscript * code starting with #! Adobe. That should read something like %!PS-Adobe * I then FTP'd the file * to the Mac and was able to print the file with programs * like Widgets and Postility. * * Postility also says it can convert EPS (encapsulated postscript) * to Pict or Text. This did nothing with my PS Interleaf file. * * The question is; what is PS, and what is EPS? Can one * be converted to the other? Does anyone know the solution * to my conversion problem. Thanks in advance for any help. EPS (Encapsulated PostScript) is more a state of mind than anything magic. Briefly, a file claiming to be EPS follows certain well defined rules to ensure that when it is included into another PostScript file, it does nothing to disturb the environment of the including PostScript program. An EPS file has one important item of information, namely, a %%BoundingBox comment, that is not necessarily present in a `regular' PostScript program. A EPS file can also contain an optional preview section so that an including application can display on your screen an approximation of what the final printed image will look like. `Converting' PS to EPS would consist of, at a minimum, inserting a %%BoundingBox comment. One of the best ways to find out your bounding box, as was well flogged in this forum a few months ago, is to print the picture and measure it with a ruler. Note that many applications claiming to emit EPS do so in ways that will break the including application, or will fail to print. * * SIDE ISSUE: If I have a PS file from Interleaf, I can * print it on the sun with the lpr command and I get the * picture/document (not the PS code). If I try the * same file on the mac and print it with a text editor * like Edit, I get the PS code printout, not the * picture/document (downloading it with Widgets works * fine). Why the difference? Chances are some prolog file is missing from the Mac version. * * SECOND SIDE ISSUE: A Macintosh PS file begins with * the line #! Adobe 2.0, I am sure that should be %!PS-Adobe 2.0 * a Sun Interleaf PS file begins with the line #! Adobe. I am sure that should be %!PS-Adobe * Does this mean that they are * different versions of PostScript? The Sun file will * print on the Mac but the Mac file will NOT print on * the Sun. I suspect that this is done to work around `deficiciencies' in the version of TranScript shipped with the Sun system. If a PS file starts with %!PS-Adobe 2.0 or whatever, TranScript may attempt to perform page reversal on the file. The version of TranScript shipped with Sun doesn't correctly handle PostScript programs included inside other PostScript programs. There's supposed to be a %%BeginDocument / %%EndDocument convention to stop the page reversal program from trying to reverse pages in included documents, but TranScript doesn't implement this feature, so psrev breaks. ........ Henry | Henry McGilton | | | | Sun Microsystems | I saw the future, | arpa: hmcgilton@sun.com | | 2550 Garcia | and it didn't work. | uucp: ...!sun!angel!henry | | Mountain View, CA | | |
woody@chinacat.Unicom.COM (Woody Baker @ Eagle Signal) (03/23/90)
Eps information may be obtained from the Adobe file server. If you'll email me a message I'll send it to you (the info on how to access it, is included in the autopost.). I have a larg 25K information file that answers many questions. I'll be happy to send it to anyone who mails me a note. The reason for mailing the note, is to provide an automatic return path. The autoposting answers things that get asked over and over. Cheers Woody
derosa@motcid.UUCP (John DeRosa) (03/24/90)
henry@angel.Sun.COM (Henry McGilton--Software Products -- R.I.P.) writes: >In article <1816@diamond2.UUCP>, derosa@motcid.UUCP (John DeRosa) writes: > * ......code starting with #! Adobe. >That should read something like %!PS-Adobe You are of course correct, working from memory (and being PostScript stupid) makes for errors like this. > * SIDE ISSUE: If I have a PS file from Interleaf, I can > * print it on the sun with the lpr command and I get the > * picture/document (not the PS code). If I try the > * same file on the mac and print it with a text editor > * like Edit, I get the PS code printout, not the > * picture/document (downloading it with Widgets works > * fine). Why the difference? >Chances are some prolog file is missing from the Mac version. No, that's not it. To start with, this is a sun document in PS. I get it to the Mac and can download it to the Laser just fine. But, if I just try to print it (i.e. using a text editor) I don't get the real document, I get a listing of the PS code. It would appear that the file is just fine PS, its something in the sending that causes the laser to ignore the %!PS-Adobe in the first line that should indicate "here comes postscript code, please draw a picture". I had heard once that PS must be in a particular font!? That would not seem to be the problem, I'm only sending ASCII to the printer. >I suspect that this is done to work around `deficiciencies' >in the version of TranScript shipped with the Sun system. >If a PS file starts with %!PS-Adobe 2.0 or whatever, TranScript >may attempt to perform page reversal on the file. The >version of TranScript shipped with Sun doesn't correctly >handle PostScript programs included inside other PostScript programs. >There's supposed to be a %%BeginDocument / %%EndDocument >convention to stop the page reversal program from trying to >reverse pages in included documents, but TranScript doesn't >implement this feature, so psrev breaks. Thanks for the info. Unfortunately, I still don't know how to convert Interleaf Graphics to the Mac, I may never find a way. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= = John DeRosa, Motorola, Inc, Cellular Infrastructure Division = = e-mail: ...uunet!motcid!derosaj = = I do not hold by employer responsible for any information in this message = = nor am I responsible for anything my employer may do or say. = =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
rsilverman@eagle.wesleyan.edu (03/24/90)
In article <1837@diamond2.UUCP>, derosa@motcid.UUCP (John DeRosa) writes: > >> * SIDE ISSUE: If I have a PS file from Interleaf, I can >> * print it on the sun with the lpr command and I get the >> * picture/document (not the PS code). If I try the >> * same file on the mac and print it with a text editor >> * like Edit, I get the PS code printout, not the >> * picture/document (downloading it with Widgets works >> * fine). Why the difference? John, The reason for this is simple. The lpr command in UNIX simply ships the data in the specified file off to the printer (possibly filtered along the way). That data is PostScript code, which describes an image -- the interpreter in the printer got it, interpreted it, and produced your image. On the Mac, though, you loaded the file into an editor. The editor brought the text up onto the screen. You then asked it to print the file. It did what people normally want when they ask for a file to be printed -- caused what you see on the screen to come out on the printer. To send explicit PostScript code to a LaserWriter on AppleTalk, you'll need a utility specifically for doing that. Adobe has released a simple one called SendPS into the public domain; I'm sure there are others. There are also fancier, interactive programming utilites, like LaserTalk from Emerald City Software. Richard Silverman arpa: rsilverman@eagle.wesleyan.edu Systems Engineer bitnet: rsilverman@wesleyan.bitnet AM Computer Products CIS: [72727,453] Southington, CT 06489
woody@chinacat.Unicom.COM (Woody Baker @ Eagle Signal) (03/26/90)
In article <1837@diamond2.UUCP>, derosa@motcid.UUCP (John DeRosa) writes: > henry@angel.Sun.COM (Henry McGilton--Software Products -- R.I.P.) writes: > > >In article <1816@diamond2.UUCP>, derosa@motcid.UUCP (John DeRosa) writes: > > * ......code starting with #! Adobe. > >Chances are some prolog file is missing from the Mac version. > > No, that's not it. To start with, this is a sun document in PS. > I get it to the Mac and can download it to the Laser just fine. > But, if I just try to print it (i.e. using a text editor) I don't > get the real document, I get a listing of the PS code. It would This is just as it should be. The text editor is probably using a laser driver. On the MAC, I think that if you print a file from an editor, it goes through a filter that converts it to text. The fact that you can download it to the laser and it prints the picture, but you print it from the editor and get a listing is diagnostic of this. Cheers Woody
philip@Kermit.Stanford.EDU (Philip Machanick) (03/27/90)
In article <1115@chinacat.Unicom.COM>, woody@chinacat.Unicom.COM (Woody Baker @ Eagle Signal) writes: > In article <1837@diamond2.UUCP>, derosa@motcid.UUCP (John DeRosa) writes: > > henry@angel.Sun.COM (Henry McGilton--Software Products -- R.I.P.) writes: > > > > >In article <1816@diamond2.UUCP>, derosa@motcid.UUCP (John DeRosa) writes: > > > * ......code starting with #! Adobe. > > >Chances are some prolog file is missing from the Mac version. > > > > No, that's not it. To start with, this is a sun document in PS. > > I get it to the Mac and can download it to the Laser just fine. > > But, if I just try to print it (i.e. using a text editor) I don't > > get the real document, I get a listing of the PS code. It would > > This is just as it should be. The text editor is probably using a laser > driver. On the MAC, I think that if you print a file from an editor, it > goes through a filter that converts it to text. The fact that you can > download it to the laser and it prints the picture, but you print it from > the editor and get a listing is diagnostic of this. > Not exactly. It IS text, so you don't have to filter it to text. The difference is some other operating systems use the first couple of bytes in a file to determine the file type. The Mac stores file type information somewhere else (not as part of the "text"). To a Mac program, the file is of type TEXT, and hence is printed as such. A counter-example: Adobe Illustrator stores its PostScript in plain text, but the file is tagged as "belonging" to Illustrator. Philip Machanick philip@pescadero.stanford.edu