NAME

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. 

-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. 

-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. 

-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 down the page.  The default offset is 0.25 inches. 

-A file Append a simple accounting record to file after all the input files have been successfully translated.  By default, no accounting data is produced. 

-L file Use file as the PostScript prologue, which, by default, is /usr/lib/lp/postscript/postprint.ps. 

In addition, three options allow the insertion of arbitrary PostScript at controlled points in the translation process:

-C file Copy file to the output file.  File follows the prologue but precedes any job initialization commands.  File becomes part of the job’s global environment and must contain legitimate PostScript commands. 

-P string Add string to the output file.  String follows the prologue but precedes any job initialization commands.  String becomes part of the job’s global environment and must be legitimate PostScript. 

-R action Requests special action (e.g. manualfeed) on a per page or global basis.  The action string can be given as request, request:page, or request:page:file.  If page is omitted or given as 0 the request applies to all pages.  If file is omitted the request lookup is done in /usr/lib/lp/postscript/ps.requests.  The collection of recognized requests can be modified or extended by changing /usr/lib/lp/postscript/ps.requests.  Multiple occurrences of the -R option behave as expected. 

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. 

INTERNATIONAL FUNCTIONS

In order to support non-ASCII characters, two additional options are available when the European Language Supplement package is installed.  These allow postprint to use the font files, normally used by troff(1) and dpost(1) , to obtain codeset mappings and PostScript descriptions of unsupported characters. By selecting the font files appropriate to a particular codeset, a text file composed of characters from that codeset can be correctly translated. 

-F dir Use dir as the font directory. The default dir is /usr/lib/font and postprint reads binary font files from directory /usr/lib/font/devpost. 

-T name Use font files for device name as the best description of available Postscript fonts. By default, name is set to post and postprint reads binary files from /usr/lib/font/devpost. 
 

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

To print file which is composed of characters from the ISO 8859/1 codeset,

postprint -Tps88591 file

DIAGNOSTICS

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

FILES

/usr/lib/lp/postscript/postprint.ps
/usr/lib/lp/postscript/forms.ps
/usr/lib/lp/postscript/ps.requests
/usr/lib/font/dev∗/∗.out
/usr/lib/font/dev∗/charlib/∗

SEE ALSO

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

  —  LP Print Service