Topic: Postscript files

[Clive]

Someone would like to send me a lot of postscript files but thinks that I may not be able to read them.  How do I know if I can read them before he goes to any trouble? 

[sam]

can't he just convert them to pdfs... I can do this simply with ps2pdf (but I bet he isn't a linux person). You can easily view postscript files on your machine though: http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/gsview/

[Clive]

Yes he can convert them to .pdf but it's too time consuming.  It's a particulary long paper full of drawings and tables all of which are in .ps format.  I apparently complained I was unable to read such files on a previous occasion but I don't really remember.  If I have to apply that program to each individual file then it would not make enjoyable reading and he has offered to post a copy of the paper to me anyway so perhaps that might be the best option. 

[Simon]

If the files can be read with GSView, Clive, you shouldn't need to convert each one, as it should just open in the program.  Can he not just send you one of the files to try?

[sam]

Huh, time consuming?

Code: [Select]

ps2pdf *
should do it for all files in a directory...  (but the question arises, why sep. files and not combined into one ps..)

Is this a scientific paper? (i.e. one anyone has access too?)

Sorry - just a little confused here.

how large are the files? (I could always convert them for you - will take me two seconds to type and I'll let the computer do the rest of the work)

EDIT: indeed as simon says (thinking about it) you can just open the files in GSView.

[Clive]

Thanks for all your help.  It's a draft copy of a scientific paper which is to appear in a future edition of The Observatory and he is now going to post it to me anyway.  I think I misunderstood when he wrote I could send you the paper if you would
be interested to see it, but it is all in Postscript files (lots of them -
one for each table and diagram!) that I think you can't read?  It would be
too much to convert them all to pdf, but I could send you the thing on
paper through the post.   It's obviously a single document that could have been viewed with GSView.     I have no intention of making myself appear even more stupid by telling him I
can now read postscript after all! 

[Simon]

Well, at least you'll know for another time, Clive.

[sam]

Thanks for all your help.  It's a draft copy of a scientific paper which is to appear in a future edition of The Observatory and he is now going to post it to me anyway.

I see, oh well... I was thinking of submitting something to the observatory but I'm always weary about the audience... :-D

[Clive]

Well, at least you'll know for another time, Clive.

Exactly Simon.

I see, oh well... I was thinking of submitting something to the observatory but I'm always weary about the audience... :-D

I don't blame you.  Pedants all.