postprint(1)

postprint -- PostScript translator for text files

Synopsis

/usr/lib/lp/postscript/postprint [options] [files]

Description

The postprint filter translates text files into PostScript and writes the results on the standard output. If no files are specified, or if ``-'' is one of the input files, the standard input is read. The following options are understood:

-c num: Print num copies of each page. By default, only one copy is printed.
-e code: Specifies the code set the text file is in.
-E file: Specifies an alternate file which maps the code set to the postscript encodings.
The file /usr/share/lib/hostfontdir/encodemap is used by default.
-f name: Print files using font name. Any PostScript font can be used, although the best results will be obtained only with constant width fonts. The default font is Courier.
-l num: Set the length of a page to num lines. By default, num is 66. Setting num to 0 is allowed, and will cause postprint to guess a value, based on the point size that's being used.
-m num: Magnify each logical page by the factor num. Pages are scaled uniformly about the origin, which is located near the upper left corner of each page. The default magnification is 1.0.
-n num: Print num logical pages on each piece of paper, where num can be any positive integer. By default, num is set to 1.
-N: Do not request the download of the font file. If this option is specified, the %%DocumentFont ... lines are not put into the output. This causes the ``download'' filter not to download the font file.
-o list: Print pages whose numbers are given in the comma-separated list. The list contains single numbers N and ranges N1 - N2. A missing N1 means the lowest numbered page, a missing N2 means the highest.
-p mode: Print files in either portrait or landscape mode. Only the first character of mode is significant. The default mode is portrait.
-r num: Selects carriage return behavior. Carriage returns are ignored if num is 0, cause a return to column 1 if num is 1, and generate a newline if num is 2. The default num is 0.
-s num: Print files using point size num. When printing in landscape mode num is scaled by a factor that depends on the imaging area of the device. The default size for portrait mode is 10.
-t num: Assume tabs are set every num columns, starting with the first column. By default, tabs are set every 8 columns.
-U codeX: Convert codeX to Unicode in the PostScript, for example, utf8. This code must match the list of Unicode conversions supported in /usr/lib/iconv/iconv_data. See also the iconv(1) manual page and ``Notices'', below.
PostScript Level 1 does not support composite fonts, so Unicode cannot be printed on PostScript Level 1 printers.
-x num: Translate the origin num inches along the positive x axis. The default coordinate system has the origin fixed near the upper left corner of the page, with positive x to the right and positive y down the page. Positive num moves everything right. The default offset is 0.25 inches.
-y num: Translate the origin num inches along the positive y axis. Positive num moves text up the page. The default offset is -0.25 inches.

A new logical page is started after 66 lines have been printed on the current page, or whenever an ASCII form feed character is read. The number of lines per page can be changed using the -l option. Unprintable ASCII characters are ignored, and lines that are too long are silently truncated by the printer.

Files

/usr/lib/lp/postscript/postprint.ps
/usr/lib/lp/postscript/forms.ps
/usr/lib/lp/postscript/ps.requests
/usr/share/lib/hostfontdir/encodemap

Diagnostics

An exit status of 0 is returned if files were successfully processed.

References

download(1), dpost(1), postdaisy(1), postdmd(1), postio(1), postmd(1), postreverse(1), posttek(1)

Notices

When the -U option is used to convert the input data to Unicode, the encoding map (see -e) must map onto a Unicode encoding. The following is a typical invocation:

/usr/lib/lp/postscript/postprint -eEURO -U utf8 -f CaslonRomanBase

The -e EURO option maps onto the entry in the encodemap file (/usr/share/lib/hostfontdir/encodemap) of:

   EURO CaslonRomon-Unicode /usr/lib/lp/postscript/CaslonRoman.encoding

The font should be appended by the ``download'' filter, which requires the following entry in the font map file (/usr/share/lib/hostfontdir/map):

   CaslonRomanBase /usr/lib/lp/postscript/CaslonRoman.font

Examples

To print file1 and file2 in landscape mode, issue the following command:

postprint -pland file1 file2

To print three logical pages on each physical page in portrait mode:

postprint -n3 file