Re: ps2pdf issue with ps files

[Barrie Stott]

Hi Philippe,

Some time ago I had a similar problem but I don't remember details. What 
follows below is what was used to solve the problem for me. I have not tried 
this recently but simply copied the email so use it with some caution.

Barrie.
===================
On 20 Jun 2011, at 10:07, Barrie Stott wrote:

> 
> On 18 Jun 2011, at 19:29, Tristan Williams wrote:
> 
>> On 16Jun11 11:10, Barrie Stott wrote:
>>> Does anyone use lout successfully on OS X? In particular, do documents 
>>> print properly?
>>> 
>>> I use gv to display and to print my lout-produced documents. gv displays 
>>> internally using ghostscript so fonts such as palatino and bookman, which 
>>> lout knows about, display without problem. I have gv set to print using lp 
>>> since ghostscript doesn't know about my printer, an old HP LaserJet 4L. 
>>> This uses Apple fonts so palatino displays ok but bookman is not in my set 
>>> of mac fonts, causing  a different font to be substituted; it makes text 
>>> readable but not worth using permanently.
>>> 
>>> If anyone knows how to solve my problem, I would be very pleased to hear 
>>> how!
>>> 
>>> Barrie.
>> 
>> This is really very, very similar to Wolfram's suggestion, with
>> -dPDFSETTINGS=/prepress being key, but I did not want to have the
>> chain of scripts that ps2pdf calls as some of the (non OS X) machines
>> I work on didn't have them. 
>> 
>> I use lout on OS X extensively. I get lout to produce Postscript
>> output and ghostscript to convert that Postscript to pdf. A command
>> line something like this might work for you.
>> 
>> lout file.lout | gs -sDEVICE=pdfwrite              \
>>              -dBATCH                             \
>>              -dSAFER                             \
>>              -sPAPERSIZE=a4                      \
>>              -sOutputFile=file.pdf               \
>>              -dPDFSETTINGS=/prepress             \
>>              -c .setpdfwrite                     \
>>              -
>> 
>> where file.lout, file.pdf, a4 should be changed as appropriate and \
>> means a line continuation. The resultant pdf should be printable by
>> any printer supported by OS X. Wrap (carefully) the above command in a
>> shell script and you have print-to-pdf from lout.
> 
> Many thanks for your reply and I apologize for the delay in replying; I've 
> been busy with a funeral and a ruby wedding celebration.
> 
> After an initial hiccup it simply worked! I've struggled with printing since 
> the beginning of the year; pages that printed fine on linux would be offset 
> slightly. On the one and only print I've tried, even that seems to be 
> correct. To say that I'm overjoyed is an understatement. Now I have to 
> convince myself that my single correct print is merely the start of all 
> prints being correct.
> 
> Wolfram's solution didn't work for me so I'll pass on your solution to him.
> 
>> I would add, however, that the pleasure of having a printer that
>> understands Postscript directly should not be underestimated.
> 
> I'll bear that in mind. I've never had one and suspect that my current 
> printer will not be around for too long.
> 
> Thanks again.
> 
> Barrie.