[gs-devel] question about ps2pdf (gs 9.04 for windows binary distribution)

[Ken Sharp]

At 16:05 13/10/2011 -0700, greg aiken wrote:


>at the same time, it does appear that when gs, and ps2pdf is built for use 
>on nix type systems, apparently all of those notes about how ps2pdf may be 
>called with tons of 'adobe distiller' options are indeed supposed to work.

Unix shell scripts are much more sophisticated than Windows batch files, 
there's a lot more you can do with them than with even a recent Windows 
command shell.


>so im curious, if indeed ps2pdf really under the hood, only calls 
>'gs.exe', does that imply that 'gs.exe' should recognize all of these same 
>Adobe Distiller options (intended for the pdfwrite device)?

Yes, there is nothing you can do with ps2pdf that can't be done with 
Ghostscript, since ps2pdf is just a convenience script. Any switches 
supplied to ps2pdf will simply be passed directly to Ghostscript, on 
systems where the shell script actually stands a chance of working....


>its funny, but when i sped-read the 'ghostscript use.htm' page, i dont 
>remember reading anything at all about using Adobe Distiller options.  I 
>will h ave to re-read that page slower next time.  it really would be cool 
>if one could invoke some of those more detailed settings that control how 
>the pdfwrite device functions.

See ps2pdf.htm. Despite the name it refers to using Ghostscript, not the 
batch file.


                 Ken