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Manual page for GS(1)

gs - Ghostscript version 2.6 interpreter/previewer

SYNOPSIS

gs [ options ] [ files ] ...

DESCRIPTION

Ghostscript is a programming language similar to Adobe Systems' PostScript (tm) language, which is in turn similar to Forth. Gs reads files in sequence and executes them as Ghostscript programs. After doing this, it reads further input from the standard input stream (normally the keyboard). Each line is interpreted separately. To exit from the interpreter, enter the `quit' command. The interpreter also exits gracefully if it encounters end-of-file. Typing the interrupt character (e.g. Control-C) is also safe.

The interpreter recognizes several switches described below, which may appear anywhere in the command line and apply to all files thereafter.

You can get a help message by invoking Ghostscript with the -h or -? option. This message also lists the available devices.

Ghostscript may be built with multiple output devices. Ghostscript normally opens the first one and directs output to it. To use device xyz as the initial output device, include the switch

	-sDEVICE=xyz

in the command line. Note that this switch must precede the first .ps file, and only its first invocation has any effect. For example, for printer output in a normal configuration that includes an Epson printer driver, you might use the shell command

	gs -sDEVICE=epson myfile.ps

instead of just

	gs myfile.ps

Alternatively, you can type

	(epson) selectdevice
	(myfile.ps) run

All output then goes to the printer instead of the display until further notice. You can switch devices at any time by using the selectdevice procedure, e.g.,

	(vga) selectdevice

	(epson) selectdevice

As yet a third alternative, you can define an environment variable GS_DEVICE as the desired default device name. The order of precedence for these alternatives, highest to lowest, is:

	selectdevice
	(command line)
	GS_DEVICE
	(first device in build list)

To select the density on a printer, use

	gs -sDEVICE=<device> -r<xres>x<yres>

For example, on a 9-pin Epson-compatible printer, you can get the lowest-density (fastest) mode with

	gs -sDEVICE=epson -r60x72

and the highest-density mode with

	gs -sDEVICE=epson -r240x72.

If you select a printer as the output device, Ghostscript also allows you to control where the device sends its output. Normally, output goes directly to a scratch file on Unix systems. To send the output to a series of files foo1.xyz, foo2.xyz, ..., use the switch

	-sOutputFile=foo%d.xyz

The %d is a printf format specification; you can use other formats like %02d. Each file will receive one page of output. Alternatively, to send the output to a single file foo.xyz, with all the pages concatenated, use the switch

	-sOutputFile=foo.xyz

On Unix systems, you can send the output directly to a pipe. For example, to pipe the output to the command `lpr' (which, on many Unix systems, is the command that spools output for a printer), use the switch

	-sOutputFile=lpr

You can also send output to stdout for piping with the switch

	-sOutputFile=-

In this case you must also use the -q switch, to prevent Ghostscript from writing messages to stdout.

To find out what devices are available, type

	devicenames ==

after starting up Ghostscript. Alternatively, you can use the -h or -? switch in the command line; the help message also lists the available devices.

When looking for the initialization files (gs_*.ps), the files related to fonts, or the file for the `run' operator, Ghostscript first tries opening the file with the name as given (i.e., using the current working directory if none is specified). If this fails, and the file name doesn't specify an explicit directory or drive (i.e., doesn't begin with `/' on Unix systems), Ghostscript will try directories in the following order:

1.: The directory/ies specified by the -I switch(es) in the command line (see below), if any;
2.: The directory/ies specified by the GS_LIB environment variable, if any;
3.: The directory/ies specified by the GS_LIB_DEFAULT macro in the Ghostscript makefile (which has been set to "/usr/local/lib/ghostscript:/usr/local/lib/ghostscript/fonts").

Each of these (GS_LIB_DEFAULT, GS_LIB, and -I parameter) may be either a single directory, or a list of directories separated by a `:'.

X RESOURCES

Ghostscript looks for the following resources under the program name `Ghostscript':

borderWidth: The border width in pixels (default = 1).
borderColor: The name of the border color (default = black).
geometry: The window size and placement, WxH+X+Y (default is NULL).
xResolution: The number of x pixels per inch (default is computed from WidthOfScreen and WidthMMOfScreen).
yResolution: The number of y pixels per inch (default is computed from HeightOfScreen and HeightMMOfScreen).
useBackingPixmap: Determines whether backing store is to be used for saving display window (default = true).

See the file `use.doc' for a more complete list of resources.

To set these resources, put them in a file (such as ~/.Xresources) in the following form:

	Ghostscript*geometry:	612x792-0+0
	Ghostscript*xResolution: 72
	Ghostscript*yResolution: 72

Then load the defaults into the X server:

	% xrdb -merge ~/.Xresources

OPTIONS

-- filename arg1 ...

Takes the next argument as a file name as usual, but takes all remaining arguments (even if they have the syntactic form of switches) and defines the name ARGUMENTS in userdict (not systemdict) as an array of those strings, before running the file. When Ghostscript finishes executing the file, it exits back to the shell.

-Dname=token