POSTSCRIPT(oh)			     LOCAL			POSTSCRIPT(oh)

postscript - usage, macros, tips and examples. PostScript is a stack-based
documentation language.

BASICS
     Document processor : %!PS or %!PS-Adobe
			      Using %!Ps-Adobe allows PDF viewers to show
			      document properties.
			      Tested properties: %%Title , %%Creator

     Device parameters	: setpagedevice
			      Example:
			/PageSize
			<< /PageSize [ width height ] >> setpagedevice

     Set position	: x y moveto
			      position 0 0 moveto is bottom left.

     Set font		: /fontName fontSize selectfont
			      Fonts tested: Helvetica, Courier, Times,
			      Palatino.
			      All tested fonts have variants: -Bold, -Oblique,
			      -BoldOblique. Eg.: /Helvetica-Bold

     Display text	: (Text) show
     Show content	: showpage

   Example
     %!PS-Adobe
     %%Title: The practice document
     %%Creator: the ps creator
     << /PageSize [792 612] >> setpagedevice
     10 580 moveto
     /Helvetica-Bold 12 selectfont
     (Text in Helvetica-Bold) show
     10 560 moveto
     /Helvetica 12 selectfont
     (Text in Helvetica) show
     10 545 moveto
     /Courier 12 selectfont
     (Text in Courier) show
     showpage
     Result:

     Text in Helvetica-Bold
     Text in Helvetica
     Text in Courier
     The example can be saved and exported to PDF:
	   ps2pdf PS_FILE PDF_FILE

BASIC MACROS
     Macros are defined as /MacroName MacroContent def or /MacroName {
     MacroContent } def .

     Store page size:
     /pageWidth 792 def
     /pageHeight 612 def
     << /PageSize [pageWidth PageHeight] >> setpagedevice
	   Letter is 612x792, A4 is 595x843, can be inverted to use in
	   portrait or landscape.

     selectfont function:
     /fontSize 12 def
     /selFont { fontSize selectfont } def
     /font /Helvetica selFont def
     selFont


STACK
     PostScript is a stack-based language, eg.: 2 3 add returns 5, 5 2 sub
     returns 3.

COMMANDS
     Return current x and y			: currentpoint
     Exchange the top two values from the stack : exch
     Return the top value from the stack	: pop
     Sum top two values				: add
     Sub top value from previous value		: sub
     Multiply top two values			: mul
     Divide the previous to last value by the top value
						: div

   Usage
     Set new y position
     /margin_left 10 def
     /line_height 15 def
     /cur_y { currentpoint exch pop line_height sub } def
     /new_line { margin_left cur_y moveto } def
     1.	  Define margin_left as 10
     2.	  Define line_height as 15
     3.	  Get current x and y
     4.	  Exchange x and y to have x as the top value in the stack.
     5.	  Pop x out of the stack.
     6.	  Remove line_height from current y position to get the new y
	  position.
     7.	  new_line: Move to x at margin_left and cur_y

   New text line
     /text_line { new_line /Helvetica sel_font show } def
     (line added with text_line) text_line

TODO
     -	 Add sample file.

SEE ALSO
     dc(oh) , latex(oh) , pdf(oh) , documentation(oh)

     - Archlinux manpages: ps2pdf(1)

   links
     - PLRM - PostScript Language Reference Manual:
     https://www.adobe.com/jp/print/postscript/pdfs/PLRM.pdf
     - PostScript Language Tutorial and Cookbook:
     https://archive.org/details/postscriptlangua00adobrich
     - Thinking in PostScript:
     https://hint.userweb.mwn.de/compiler/ThinkingInPostScript.pdf
     - A First Guide to PostScript:
     http://www.tailrecursive.org/postscript/postscript.html

AUTHORS
     ohazot(oh) | about(oh) | ohazot.com: https://ohazot.com
     <admin@ohazot.com>

linux , OpenBSD 7.8 |
		    Created:2026-03-30|Updated:2026-03-30|	POSTSCRIPT(oh)