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re: "PDF displaced Postscript." Not exactly. A PDF is generated from PostScript, as noted in the article: "A PDF file is a static representation of the result
by gallerytungsten 15y ago
re: "PDF displaced Postscript."
Not exactly. A PDF is generated from PostScript, as noted in the article:
"A PDF file is a static representation of the result of executing the PostScript file on a single occasion."
A PDF is a more compact version of a PostScript file - we could call it compiled PostScript, to use a term many on this site are familiar with. Just as a compiler has many output options, distilling PostScript can result in many different file sizes and levels of quality. (Check out the Distiller output settings.)
- plt 15y agoPDF is typically directly generated these days. There's no need to generate it from PostScript first. The main difference between the two is that PDF is a declarative definition of the page whereas PostScript is a turing complete language. You can write a PostScript ray-tracer which will execute on the printer itself something which would never be possible in PDF. On the flip side, PDF is far more efficient as an electronic document format.
- mattlong 15y agoNo, PDFs don't have to be generated from PS at all. PDF has it's own well-defined spec. Valid PDF files can be generated in many ways besides from PS files. It's even possible to write a valid PDF file by hand if you're feeling masochistic.