🚀 go-pugleaf

I recently wrote a simple postscript conversion program 
(without really knowing PostScript) 
to print 512 x 512 x 8 bit images captured with a frame buffer.  I 
appended the image (converted to 2-digit hex) to an appropriately
built postscript header file.  The header consists a simple image
command which uses a 256 character string as a read buffer.

I was pleased to discover that my file did indeed print the image.
However, it took the printer (a LaserWriter) on the order of 30 minutes 
to process it!  How can I speed this up?  

1. Will merely reducing the number of gray scales have a 
   *significant* effect on printing time? (this shouldn't result in
    significant image degradation
    because of the size of the LaserWriter's default halftone "grid").

2.  Or increasing the size of the string? (This does not seem to 
     be solution since I've seen output from other postscript 
    conversion programs and
     they all use either a 256 or a 512 byte buffer).

Any and all responses appreciated. 

Thanks ahead of time,
Drew

Andrew Kompanek
Carnegie Mellon University - Class of '92
Research Assistant - The Robotics Institute