Subject: Re: CCL:Software from SGI PS to Mac PS?

From: Konrad Hinsen <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 6 Sep 96 09:44:31 +0100

>  Does anyone know of a free or shareware that can convert a SGI
> postscript file to a macintosh postscript one?

There is only one PostScript (well, not quite, but let's ignore the
difference between level 1 and 2 for the moment). PostScript files are
ordinary text files that can be transferred between different machines
without too many problems. Just make sure you transfer the file as
text. If you use binary transfer, the file might look messed up on the
Mac (the end-of-line markers are different), but it still ought to
work when sent to a printer.

Another problem is making Mac programs recognize the file as a
PostScript file. This might require specifying the right file type.
There are utilities for that, but I can't give any details -
personally I try to stay away from Macs for exactly this reason.
-- 
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Konrad Hinsen                          | E-Mail: [email-masked]
Laboratoire de Dynamique Moleculaire   | Tel.: +33-76.88.99.28
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From: Jie Yuan <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 6 Sep 1996 07:46:49 -0400 (EDT)

On Fri, 6 Sep 1996 [email-masked] wrote:

> Dear All,
>  When I used "Mac GS Viewer" it created a PICT file from a SGI PS,
> but I could't know how to make a postscript file for mac.

The simpliest way is to print from the application (in your case, GS
Viewer, but it can be any application) using LaserWriter, to a file, not
the printer.  So, don't click the "Print" botton too soon, if you know
what I mean ... :-)

I heard that the core of the LW software is provided by Adobe ... :-)

Cheers!

Jie
-- Jie Yuan, PhD - U. Cincinnati - Pharmacology & C.B. --
== POBox 670575, Cin., OH 45267-0575  =  513-558-2352  ==
== [email-masked] = www.uc.edu/~yuanj =  using Pine   ==
== finger -l [email-masked] for my PGP pub. key=

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From: Jie Yuan <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 6 Sep 1996 07:38:04 -0400 (EDT)

> postscript file to a macintosh postscript one?

This depends on the application.  Although Adobe defined PostScript in the
first place, its flagship application Illustrator does not use the whole
set of PS language.  Therefore, to use Illustrator to edit/modify a PS
file, one has to "convert" it into one (with reduced command set) that
Illustrator can handle.  There are shareware/freeware applications that do
such convertions.  For example, "epsConverter".  If you use GhostView, you
do not need to convert.  If you simply want to print a PS file, you do not
have to convert.  The LW Utility, DropPS and a few other utility
applications can do it very easily.  As you can see, sometimes you have to
convert and sometimes you don't.  If you want more details, you should
provide us with a more specific question.

You can find these applications at any info-mac mirror sites.  My favorite
site is:

	http://hyperarchive.lcs.mit.edu/HyperArchive.html

I like the convenience of reading the abstracts before downloading the
applications.

Cheers!

Jie

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From: "John R. Nash" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 6 Sep 1996 07:34:54 -0500

Konrad Hinsen <[email-masked]> wrote, responding to
[email-masked]:

>without too many problems.

This is correct.  A relevant point is that PostScript is a printer graphic
description language, not a screen graphic language.  Any viewer, such as
GhostScript, is merely taking the place of a printer and sending the output
to the screen.  Since screens are almost always of lower resolution than
printers, the printed PostScript output usually looks better than what's on
the screen, provided a PostScript printer is used.  CambridgeSoft's
ChemDraw provides a classic example of this -- the printout always looks a
lot crisper than what's on the screen.  Most Mac laser printers are
PostScript printers, with a few of the more inexpensive ones being
"QuickDraw" printers (which would need an interpreter to correctly print
PS).

>personally I try to stay away from Macs for exactly this reason.

This really isn't a problem at all, as long as the PS file is correctly
transferred as text.  Any PostScript viewer will be automatically looking
for a text file, so this is a non-issue when opening from within the
application.  If one uses the freeware Internet Config, a file with
extension .ps will be automatically given a PostScript icon and can be
configured to launch your favorite viewer when double-clicked on. Printing
a PostScript file is as simple as dropping it onto an application such as
Drop*PS.  (Internet Config and Drop*PS are available at
http://hyperarchive.lcs.mit.edu/HyperArchive.html and many other archives.)
It all works rather smoothly -- personally I try to use Macs as much as
possible because of this ease-of-use.

The problem that the original poster may well be having is the need for an
_encapsulated_ PostScript file.  Whereas PostScript is a defined
cross-platform language made commercially by Adobe, and as such is "one"
format, EPS is an implementation that differs significantly among platforms
and even applications on the same platform.  The utility pstoeps (available
for unix and ported to many platforms, including PC and Mac, I think) will
generate some of the "standard" EPS files from PS files.  Specific programs
may need to have the EPS file "tweaked" in some way.  I know that Adobe
Illustrator comes with some utilities to help that program, and I've seen
many other free/shareware utilities on the net to manipulate these files.
The MIT site is also a good place to find these.  The mess of standards
that is EPS is unfortunate, but the damage has been done.  Generally, the
best course of action is to get output in raw PostScript and convert to the
correct EPS format yourself, rather than mess with changing other EPS files.

Good luck!

-john nash

p.s. I'll try to get my summary of the results of my "molecular volumes"
query posted today... the news is good!

-==-John R. Nash-==-Dept of Chemistry, UW-Madison-==[email-masked]==-

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From: Mark D Shenderovich <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 6 Sep 1996 10:11:57 -0700 (MST)

On Fri, 6 Sep 1996 [email-masked] wrote:

>  I appreciate your any advices.
> best wishes

Dear Netters:

I have a closely related question. Does anyone know a program that can
EDIT PS files. The minimum requirement is the ability to blow up / reduce
images along each axis. Preferable platforms are SGI or IBM RS/6000.
Yhank you in advance.

Mark Shenderovich.

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From: tj ODonnell <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 6 Sep 1996 13:48:12 -0500 (CDT)

> images along each axis. Preferable platforms are SGI or IBM RS/6000.

Mark-

On the SGI there is a program 'psrender' which I use to make
SG image files (.rgb files).  You can specify the width and
height, which may get you what you want.  Otherwise, you can
edit the rgb file, say in showcase, or Photoshop (if you have it),
or convert it to myriad other formats for further editing.
Showcase will even convert it back to a PS file.
I believe psrender is available from ftp://sgi.sgi.com/graphics/bin/
It looks like it might be called fromps or fromeps these days.
Hope this helps,
TJ
-- 
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From: "Robert Fraczkiewicz" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 6 Sep 1996 15:15:12 -0500

On Sep 6, 10:11am, Mark D Shenderovich wrote:
> Subject: CCL:Software from SGI PS to Mac PS?

Yes. It's called vi, or emacs, or any other screen editor on any platform ;-)
PS file is in ASCII format that you can directly edit. For shrinking/expanding
a picture add the following command  a f t e r  prolog and setup blocks, but
at the beginning of actual PostScript code:

<x> <y> scale

where <x> and <y> are numerical scaling factors in x and y direction,
respectively.
To move entire picture use "<x> <y> translate" in analogous fashion remembering
that <x> and <y> compose translation vector in units called "dots". In 1:1
scale there are 72 dots per inch.

Using these two commands and few other (rotate, moveto, etc.) I was able to
produce quite complicated picture arrangements using only text editor and
Ghostview to look at the final result.

Hope that helps,

Robert Fraczkiewicz
University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston