Ghostscript

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Ghostscript is a suite of software based on an interpreter of the Adobe PostScript and Portable Document Format (PDF) page description languages. It is highly configurable and can be used as a:

Raster image processor (RIP) for raster printers, for instance, as an input filter of line printer daemon (lpd).
RIP engine behind PostScript and PDF viewers.
File format converter, such as PostScript to PDF converter.
General purpose programming environment.

Ghostscript has been ported to many operating systems, including most Unix and Unix-like systems, Mac OS X, VMS, Windows, OS/2, and Mac OS classic.

Several graphical user interfaces (GUIs) have been written for use with Ghostscript which permit a user to view a PostScript or PDF file on screen, scroll, page forward and backward, and zoom the text as well as print single or multiple pages.

Ghostview runs under Unix/X11. Ghostview (also known as gv) has a very interesting and unusual user interface: clicking and dragging the mouse on the image moves the image in the opposite direction to the mouse. The effect is similar to having invisible scroll bars all over the image and is approximately the opposite of the well-known Google Maps interface.
GSView runs under Windows and OS/2

Ghostscript was originally written by L. Peter Deutsch for the GNU project, and released under the GNU General Public License; later, Deutsch formed Aladdin Enterprises to commercially license Ghostscript. It is currently owned by artofcode LLC, led by Raph Levien, and maintained by the user's community and Artifex Software, the exclusive licensing agent for Ghostscript technology.

There are several variants of Ghostscript:

AFPL Ghostscript (formerly Aladdin Ghostscript) is the current version distributed by Artifex Software and artofcode LLC, available under the Aladdin Free Public License or the GNU General Public License (GPL), which allows modification and redistribution. Special licensing arrangements, such as for inclusion in closed-source software, are also available. In the help pages AFPL is recommended over other Ghostscript installs.
GPL Ghostscript (formerly GNU Ghostscript; it is no longer part of the GNU project) is available under the GNU GPL. As of version 8.54 GPL Ghostscript is now based on leading edge code.[link] Previously, each version of AFPL Ghostscript was rereleased as GPL Ghostscript one year after its initial release.
GNU Ghostscript is part of the GNU project and is based on GPL Ghostscript.
ESP Ghostscript is distributed by Easy Software Products under the GPL. It is based on GPL Ghostscript and contains several modifications to improve compatibility with ESP's Common Unix Printing System.

The GPL version is also used as the basis for a Display Ghostscript, which adds the functionality needed to fully support Display PostScript.

Software based on Ghostscript

External links

[Interview with L. Peter Deutsch on history of Ghostscript project]

Ghostscript software (viewers)

[Ghostscript, Ghostview and GSview download]

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