From c876777dcadbb0acbc8cc887e94360c6f5adbc0d Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Chris Liddell Date: Thu, 24 Sep 2020 08:19:27 +0100 Subject: WhatIsGS.htm updates from Lisa F --- doc/WhatIsGS.htm | 118 +++++++++++++++++++++++++------------------------------ 1 file changed, 54 insertions(+), 64 deletions(-) diff --git a/doc/WhatIsGS.htm b/doc/WhatIsGS.htm index ed79526e2..023bbbd61 100644 --- a/doc/WhatIsGS.htm +++ b/doc/WhatIsGS.htm @@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ @@ -50,25 +50,23 @@
- -

-There are various different products in the Ghostscript family; this document -attempts to explain what they are, and how they are related. +

+There are various products in the Ghostscript family; this document describes what they are, and how they are related.

-

Table of contents

@@ -79,91 +77,83 @@ attempts to explain what they are, and how they are related. -

What is Ghostscript?

+

Ghostscript/GhostPDF

-

Ghostscript is an interpreter for PostScript™ and Portable Document Format -(PDF) files. It is available both under the GNU GPL Affero license -and for commercial licensing -from Artifex. It has been under active -development for over 20 years and has been ported to many different systems -during this time. +

Ghostscript is an interpreter for PostScript® and Portable Document Format (PDF) files.

-

Ghostscript consists of a PostScript interpreter layer, and a graphics -library. Sometimes the Ghostscript graphics library is confusingly also referred -to simply as Ghostscript. Even more confusingly, sometimes people say Ghostscript -when they really mean GhostPDL. - -

Binaries for Ghostscript for various systems can be downloaded from -www.ghostscript.com/download. The -source code is included in both the Ghostscript and GhostPDL downloads from -the same site. -

-

What is GhostPDF?

+

Ghostscript consists of a PostScript interpreter layer, and a graphics library. The graphics library is shared with all the other products in the Ghostscript family, so all of these technologies are sometimes referred to as Ghostscript, rather than the more correct GhostPDL.

-

GhostPDF is an interpreter built on top of Ghostscript that handles PDF files. +

GhostPDF is an interpreter built on top of Ghostscript to handle PDF files. Currently GhostPDF relies on extensions to the PostScript language/imaging model, and so cannot be used independently of the Ghostscript PostScript interpreter component. As such GhostPDF is an umbrella term used to refer to both these -extensions and the interpreter code. +extensions and the interpreter code.

Many people (including the authors) frequently just refer to Ghostscript as supporting PDF and only specifically mention GhostPDF when wanting to make -the distinction between the PostScript and PDF support. +the distinction between the PostScript and PDF support.

-

GhostPDF is included in the Ghostscript binaries for various systems available -from www.ghostscript.com/download. +

Binaries for Ghostscript and GhostPDF (included in the Ghostscript binaries) for various systems can be downloaded from here. The source can be found in both the Ghostscript and GhostPDL downloads from -the same site. +the same site.

-

What is GhostPCL?

-

GhostPCL is an interpreter for PCL™ and PXL files. This consists of an -PCL/PXL interpreter hooked up to the Ghostscript graphics library. +

GhostPDL

+ +

Historically, we’ve used GhostPDL as an umbrella term to encompass our entire line of products. We've now brought all these disparate products together into a single package, called, appropriately enough, GhostPDL.

+ +

When running on a printer (or server) GhostPDL now automatically detects the type of data being fed to it and processes it accordingly. The individual interpreters all plug into a top-level module that handles both automatic language detection and Printer Job Language (PJL) based configuration.

-

GhostPCL is available both under the GNU Affero GPL license +

The exact set of interpreters present in an installation can be tuned by the integrator for their specific product/use cases.

+ +

In addition to our existing PDL modules (PS, PDF, PCL, PXL, and XPS) we have now added new modules to handle a range of common image formats. With these installed, GhostPDL will handle JPEGs (both JFIF and EXIF), PWGs, TIFFs, PNGs, JBIG2s, and JPEG2000s.

+ +

GhostPDL is available both under the GNU Affero GPL license and for commercial licensing from Artifex. -

Binaries for GhostPCL for various systems can be downloaded from -www.ghostscript.com/download. The -source can be found in the GhostPCL/GhostPDL downloads from the same site. +

The source code for GhostPDL can be found on +here. +

+ +

GhostPCL

+ +

GhostPCL is an interpreter for PCL™ and PXL files. This consists of an +PCL/PXL interpreter hooked up to the Ghostscript graphics library.

+ +

GhostPCL is available both under the GNU Affero GPL license and for commercial licensing from Artifex.

+ + +

Binaries for GhostPCL for various systems can be downloaded from here. The source can be found in the GhostPCL/GhostPDL downloads from the same site.

+
-

What is GhostXPS?

+

GhostXPS

GhostXPS is an interpreter for XPS (XML Paper Specfication) files. This -consists of an XPS interpreter hooked up to the Ghostscript graphics library. +consists of an XPS interpreter hooked up to the Ghostscript graphics library.

GhostXPS is available both under the GNU Affero GPL license and for commercial licensing -from Artifex. +from Artifex.

Binaries for GhostXPS for various systems can be downloaded from -www.ghostscript.com/download. The -source can be found in the GhostXPS/GhostPDL downloads from the same site. +here. The +source can be found in the GhostXPS/GhostPDL downloads from the same site.

-

What is GhostPDL?

-

GhostPDL (Ghost Page Description Languages) is an umbrella term for all -the above technologies. As all the above interpreters are built upon a -single graphics library, there are size and portability benefits to using -two of more of the languages in a given project. A product that -includes more than one such language in a single binary and automatically -chooses between them is sometimes referred to as a "Language Switch" build. +

URW Font Information

-

GhostPDL is available both under the GNU Affero GPL license -and for commercial licensing -from Artifex. +

The set of truetype fonts in the urwfonts directory are necessary for the PCL/XL interpreter to function properly but they ARE NOT FREE SOFTWARE and are NOT distributed under the GNU GPL/AGPL. They can instead be redistributed under the AFPL license which bars commercial use.

-

The source code for GhostPDL can be found on -www.ghostscript.com/download. +

If your copy of GhostPDL includes these fonts, you should have received a copy of the the Aladdin Free Pubilc License, usually in a file called COPYING.AFPL. If not, please contact Artifex Software, Inc. 1305 Grant Avenue - Suite 200, Novato, CA 94945 USA, or visit http://www.artifex.com/

+
-
-

PostScript is a registered trademark of Adobe Systems Inc. -

PCL is a registered trademark of Hewlett-Packard Company. -

+

PostScript is a registered trademark of Adobe Systems Inc.

+

PCL is a registered trademark of Hewlett-Packard Company.

+

Copyright © 2000-2020 Artifex Software, Inc. All rights reserved. @@ -179,7 +169,7 @@ or contact Artifex Software, Inc., 1305 Grant Avenue - Suite 200, Novato, CA 94945, U.S.A., +1(415)492-9861, for further information.

-Ghostscript version 9.53.2, 25 September 2020 +Ghostscript version 9.53.0, 10 September 2020 -- cgit v1.2.1