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PostScript (PS) is the original Adobe page description language that defined professional printing from the mid-1980s through the 2000s. PDF (Portable Document Format) is PostScript's successor, also created by Adobe, which extracts the best of PostScript's rendering model while adding interactive features, document structure, accessibility, compression, and universal viewing capability. PDF is now an ISO standard (ISO 32000) and the world's most used document format.
PS-to-PDF is the natural evolution path — converting from the older print-focused format to its modern, universally viewable successor. This conversion preserves the visual fidelity of PostScript output while adding PDF's advantages: smaller file sizes, built-in fonts, searchable text, bookmarks, and native viewing in every web browser and operating system.
PostScript files require a PostScript interpreter (Ghostscript) or a PostScript-capable printer to view or output. PDF files open instantly in every web browser, operating system, and mobile device without any additional software. This alone makes PS-to-PDF conversion essential for any PostScript content that needs to be viewed, shared, or archived.
PDF provides significant technical advantages over PostScript: ZIP/Flate compression reduces file sizes by 50-90%, font subsetting embeds only the glyphs actually used, text is searchable and selectable, bookmarks provide navigation, and PDF/A archival format ensures long-term preservation. The PDF format also supports encryption, digital signatures, and form fields that PostScript cannot provide. For organizations with PostScript archives, converting to PDF is the standard digital preservation strategy.
Ghostscript performs the PS-to-PDF conversion using its ps2pdf pipeline, which interprets the PostScript program and outputs a structured PDF document. Unlike rasterization, this conversion preserves vector graphics, text as selectable characters, and embedded fonts — producing a PDF that maintains the mathematical precision of the original PostScript. Ghostscript applies Flate (ZIP) compression to reduce file size, subsets embedded fonts to include only used glyphs, and generates a proper PDF cross-reference table for efficient random access. The output conforms to PDF 1.4 or higher, with options for PDF/A (archival), PDF/X (prepress), and PDF/E (engineering) compliance. PostScript Level 1, 2, and 3 features are all supported.
PS-to-PDF conversion is essentially lossless for the visual content. Vector graphics remain as vectors, text remains as selectable characters, and embedded fonts are preserved. The PDF output renders identically to the PostScript original when viewed in a PDF reader. File size typically decreases significantly (50-90%) due to PDF's superior compression. The only quality consideration is for PostScript files that rely on Level 3 features not fully supported by the target PDF version, though this is rare. Color fidelity is preserved, including CMYK color spaces for prepress workflows.
| Device | PS | |
|---|---|---|
| Windows PC | Partial | Partial |
| macOS | Partial | Partial |
| iPhone/iPad | Partial | Partial |
| Android | Partial | Partial |
| Linux | Partial | Native |
| Web Browser | No |
PS-to-PDF is the most important PostScript conversion — it migrates content from an obsolete print-only format to the modern universal document standard with no quality loss, smaller file sizes, and universal viewability.
Beyond format conversion, our PDF toolkit covers compression, merging, signing, OCR, annotation, watermarking, PDF/A conversion, and 10 more utilities.
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Alle nettlesere, alle enheter
| Egenskap | PS | |
|---|---|---|
| Fullt navn | PostScript | Portable Document Format |
| Filendelse | .ps | |
| Best egnet for | Page description language | Universal format |