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PS vs. PDF

dukepro

Jorge,

 

One thing I don't understand is the strategic decision to print via PDF

format as opposed to print via PostScript.  I understand that the

languages were defined by the same company, but PS is a far more

portable format (supported on linux, mac, windows, BSD, and just about

any unix derivative you can name).  Additionally, many printers support

PS natively.  In the rare cases where you needed a PDF (as in print to a

PDF file), ghostscript, or ps2pdf are good candidates.  In contrast, I

don't know of any printers that support PDF format natively, so you'll

always have a backed process that converts PDF to the printer language.

 

By emitting a PDF format, you leave it to the print subsystem to convert

it to PS, and then to the printer's native language.  This happens every

time one prints as opposed to the rare times when one prints to a PDF.

 

I guess my point is that every time the data goes through a format

conversion, there is a risk of conversion errors causing problems.  So

the fewer conversions, the less likely of a conversion problem, and the

more efficient the overall process.  After all, isn't that what

engineering is all about - avoiding potential problems and efficiency?

 

I welcome your thoughts on why PDF was chosen rather than PS.

 

Thanks,

    - Chuck

 

Parents

  • Chuck Huber wrote:

     

    Jorge,

     

    One thing I don't understand is the strategic decision to print via PDF

    format as opposed to print via PostScript.  I understand that the

    languages were defined by the same company, but PS is a far more

    portable format (supported on linux, mac, windows, BSD, and just about

    any unix derivative you can name).  Additionally, many printers support

    PS natively.  In the rare cases where you needed a PDF (as in print to a

    PDF file), ghostscript, or ps2pdf are good candidates.  In contrast, I

    don't know of any printers that support PDF format natively, so you'll

    always have a backed process that converts PDF to the printer language.

     

    By emitting a PDF format, you leave it to the print subsystem to convert

    it to PS, and then to the printer's native language.  This happens every

    time one prints as opposed to the rare times when one prints to a PDF.

     

    I guess my point is that every time the data goes through a format

    conversion, there is a risk of conversion errors causing problems.  So

    the fewer conversions, the less likely of a conversion problem, and the

    more efficient the overall process.  After all, isn't that what

    engineering is all about - avoiding potential problems and efficiency?

     

    I welcome your thoughts on why PDF was chosen rather than PS.

     

    Thanks,

        - Chuck

     

    I suspect it has little to do with Eagle and a lot to do with Qt and the

    general move to PDF as a print job format. This page discusses some of the

    reasons:

     

    http://www.linuxfoundation.org/collaborate/workgroups/openprinting/pdfasstandardprintjobformat

     

    And here:

     

    http://lwn.net/Articles/485617/

     

    For general printing, the page-oriented font-embedding nature of PDF makes a

    lot of sense. For 1:1 printing, I don't know, but then again, 1:1 printing

    has always been a can of worms.

     

     

     

  • in reply to Former Member

    On 03/01/2013 01:45 AM, Bob Johnson wrote:

    Chuck Huber wrote:

     

    I welcome your thoughts on why PDF was chosen rather than PS.

     

    Thanks,

        - Chuck

    I suspect it has little to do with Eagle and a lot to do with Qt and the

    general move to PDF as a print job format. This page discusses some of the

    reasons:

     

    http://www.linuxfoundation.org/collaborate/workgroups/openprinting/pdfasstandardprintjobformat

     

    Interesting reads.  I was not aware that PDF provided significantly more

    functionality than PS.

     

    Thanks for the research.

        - Chuck

     

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