🚀 go-pugleaf

Naiming Shen writes:

> I have some postscript files(generated by a software on the Sun)
> I want to inport into a paint program on the MAC. But the Mac paint
> software only takes EPS(Encapsulated postscript format) files. I'm
> wondering how similar is the ps format and the EPS format. Why we
> even need EPS format since the ps is the standard already. Is there
> a conversion program to convert ps into EPS format? Also the Mac
> paint software can't even input a EPS file produced by Wordperfect
> on an IBM type machine. Somehow the paint software only look at
> the Macbinary codes associated with the EPS file.  Thanks in advance.

EPS is a restricted subset of PostScript, such that none of the
operators which would modify graphics state beyond the included
EPS are allowed.  It also includes several comments inteded to make
it easier for inclusion by other programs (such as the %%BoundingBox
comment).  The specification can be found in the appedices of the
sencond edition of the Red Book.

Note, however, that many programs which claim to import EPS
(especially on the Mac and on the PC) can't really interpret the
PostScript - they simply try and find a "preview bitmap" that can
be included at the front of the EPS file.  The format for the
bitmaps for the PC and the Mac are slightly different (they are
intended to be easy for native programs to use).

Since the paint program sounds like it only wants to deal with the
preview bitmap, and refuses to do the "gray box thing" you may just
be out of luck.  Many programs, when importing EPS without a preview
bitmap, will put up a box the size of the EPS's bounding box as a
manipulable representation - the EPS file gets included when printing
and will print correctly.  This is the preferred way of dealing
with EPS on a machine that lacks Display PostScript.

--
Scott Byer                             NeXTMail: byer@mv.us.adobe.com
Adobe Systems Incorporated               These are *my* opinions, and  
1585 Charleston Road, P.O. Box 7900        do not necessarily reflect
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