Viewing and printing of PostScript

1. A reminder. The only place where PS is completely necessary for us is in the ray-tracing project. In all other cases you have the choice of PDF. Therefore you don't really need to read this page till you get to the ray-trace project. (Although, you can of course read it now and get ahead of the game.)
2. On unix machines.
- Printing. Any .ps file can be printed from any machine, even if remotely logged in.
  - a. You should have a genuine, error-free piece of Postscript code.
  - b. The first line should be "%!". (This is true of all files generated by to_ps.)
  - c. The file may be printed (as a picture) simply by commanding
```
		lpr -Pprintername yourfile.ps
		
```
  - d. In many circumstances you can omit the printer name. (For example if it is the default printer for a given lab.) But if you command lpr and don't get output, look into this.
- Viewing.
  - a. You need a connection that is more than a simple terminal. The only adequate connection that is generally available is the connection given by X-windows. The only public location offering X-windows is simlab.
  - b. For a sophisticated program like ghostview, X-windows needs to know your DISPLAY variable. (This is essentially the name of the X-client you are on.) I believe that in Simlab this is handled automatically. If you run into trouble, inquire locally, or ask me.
  - c. When these conditions are met, the command is simple:
```
		gs yourfile.ps
		
```
3. On a PC.
- Viewing. You will need a Postscript viewer, such as Ghostview and Ghostscript.
  - a. For home use, get your own ghostscrip/ghostview free from Ghostscript home page).
  - b. On campus, the only location where these are available is Math 217. Here, you must follow these instructions:
    - No usable form of ghostview/script has been permanently installed. You may need to go to the directory h:\GS and issue the command gsv27550. This starts up the installation of ghostscript/view on your machine. It is quick and easy; simply take all the default choices.
    - The "programs" menu should now have Ghostview as an option. It is pretty much self-explanatory.
    - When you come back to the same machine, Ghostview will still be there unless someone has deleted it or rebooted, in which case, go back to square one and reinstall.
    - Update Fall, 2000. I believe that by now Ghostview has been permanently installed in Math 217. It should be found on the programs pop-up menu.
- Printing.
  - a. In your home situation, simply accept "print" from within ghostview.
  - b. In Math 217, the file is printed from GSView. If you have a file open (showing in a view-screen), then GSView has an option of "print." Do not use this option. (It doesn't work.) Instead, close the file, and take File from the menu, followed by a choice of Print File . This should do it. Warning The printer in Math 217 seems to require that .ps files begin with %!PS, rather than the formerly acceptable %!. Older versions of to_ps won't have this. Be sure to revise accordingly.