Ghostscript FAQ

The latest version of this FAQ should be available from the Ghostscript WWW page http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/

Table of Contents

What is Ghostscript?
What is the current version of Ghostscript?
What is the difference between AFPL Ghostscript and GPL Ghostscript?
Where can I get Ghostscript?
Where can I find a list of post-release problems?
Which USENET newsgroups are relevant to Ghostscript?
How do I display a particular page?

Ghostscript is the name of a set of software that provides:

• An interpreter for the PostScript (TM) language, with the ability to convert PostScript language files to many raster formats, view them on displays, and print them on printers that don't have PostScript language capability built in;
• An interpreter for Portable Document Format (PDF) files, with the same abilities;
• The ability to convert PostScript language files to PDF (with some limitations) and vice versa; and
• A set of C procedures (the Ghostscript library) that implement the graphics capabilities that appear as primitive operations in the PostScript language.

There are three versions of Ghostscript currently available.

The current AFPL Ghostscript version is 8.54.

The current GPL Ghostscript version is 8.56.

Artifex Ghostscript is an OEM version licensed commercially from Artifex Software.

AFPL Ghostscript is distributed with a license called the Aladdin Ghostscript Free Public License that allows free use, copying, and distribution by end users, but does not allow commercial distribution. AFPL Ghostscript was previously known as Aladdin Ghostscript.

GPL Ghostscript is distributed with the GNU General Public License, which allows free use, and free copying and redistribution under certain conditions (including, in some cases, commercial distribution). GPL Ghostscript versions are usually released shortly after the next AFPL Ghostscript version.

See the Ghostscript web page http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/ or go direct to one of these locations:

You can get GPL Ghostscript from mirror.cs.wisc.edu from the directory pub/mirrors/ghost/GPL. The URL is ftp://mirror.cs.wisc.edu/pub/mirrors/ghost/GPL/

You can get AFPL Ghostscript from ftp://mirror.cs.wisc.edu/pub/mirrors/ghost/AFPL/ or from any CTAN mirror in /support/ghostscript/AFPL/

For a list of problems and fixes, see the ghostscript site http://www.ghostscript.com/

Discussion about Ghostscript and GSview can be found in the USENET newsgroup comp.lang.postscript

You need a previewer based on Ghostscript. This might be ggv (gnome), kghostview (KDE), or GSview (MS-Windows)

PostScript (TM) Adobe