1GS(1) Ghostscript GS(1)
2
6 gs - Ghostscript (PostScript and PDF language interpreter and pre‐
7 viewer)
8
10 gs [ options ] [ files ] ... (Unix, VMS)
11 gswin32c [ options ] [ files ] ... (MS Windows)
12 gswin32 [ options ] [ files ] ... (MS Windows 3.1)
13 gsos2 [ options ] [ files ] ... (OS/2)
14
16 The gs (gswin32c, gswin32, gsos2) command invokes Ghostscript, an in‐
17 terpreter of Adobe Systems' PostScript(tm) and Portable Document Format
18 (PDF) languages. gs reads "files" in sequence and executes them as
19 Ghostscript programs. After doing this, it reads further input from the
20 standard input stream (normally the keyboard), interpreting each line
21 separately and output to an output device (may be a file or an X11 win‐
22 dow preview, see below). The interpreter exits gracefully when it en‐
23 counters the "quit" command (either in a file or from the keyboard), at
24 end-of-file, or at an interrupt signal (such as Control-C at the key‐
25 board).
26 The interpreter recognizes many option switches, some of which are de‐
28 scribed below. Please see the usage documentation for complete informa‐
29 tion. Switches may appear anywhere in the command line and apply to all
30 files thereafter. Invoking Ghostscript with the -h or -? switch pro‐
31 duces a message which shows several useful switches, all the devices
32 known to that executable, and the search path for fonts; on Unix it
33 also shows the location of detailed documentation.
34 Ghostscript may be built to use many different output devices. To see
36 which devices your executable includes, run "gs -h".
37 Unless you specify a particular device, Ghostscript normally opens the
39 first one of those and directs output to it.
40 If built with X11 support, often the default device is an X11 window
42 (previewer), else ghostscript will typically use the bbox device and
43 print on stdout the dimension of the postscript file.
44 So if the first one in the list is the one you want to use, just issue
46 the command
47 gs myfile.ps
49 You can also check the set of available devices from within Ghost‐
51 script: invoke Ghostscript and type
52 devicenames ==
54 but the first device on the resulting list may not be the default de‐
56 vice you determine with "gs -h". To specify "AbcXyz" as the initial
57 output device, include the switch
58 -sDEVICE=AbcXyz
60 For example, for output to an Epson printer you might use the command
62 gs -sDEVICE=epson myfile.ps
64 The "-sDEVICE=" switch must precede the first mention of a file to
66 print, and only the switch's first use has any effect.
67 Finally, you can specify a default device in the environment variable
69 GS_DEVICE. The order of precedence for these alternatives from highest
70 to lowest (Ghostscript uses the device defined highest in the list) is:
71 Some devices can support different resolutions (densities). To specify
73 the resolution on such a printer, use the "-r" switch:
74 gs -sDEVICE=<device> -r<xres>x<yres>
76 For example, on a 9-pin Epson-compatible printer, you get the lowest-
78 density (fastest) mode with
79 gs -sDEVICE=epson -r60x72
81 and the highest-density (best output quality) mode with
83 gs -sDEVICE=epson -r240x72.
85 If you select a printer as the output device, Ghostscript also allows
87 you to choose where Ghostscript sends the output -- on Unix systems,
88 usually to a temporary file. To send the output to a file "foo.xyz",
89 use the switch
90 -sOutputFile=foo.xyz
92 You might want to print each page separately. To do this, send the
94 output to a series of files "foo1.xyz, foo2.xyz, ..." using the "-sOut‐
95 putFile=" switch with "%d" in a filename template:
96 -sOutputFile=foo%d.xyz
98 Each resulting file receives one page of output, and the files are num‐
100 bered in sequence. "%d" is a printf format specification; you can also
101 use a variant like "%02d".
102 On Unix and MS Windows systems you can also send output to a pipe. For
104 example, to pipe output to the "lpr" command (which, on many Unix sys‐
105 tems, directs it to a printer), use the option
106 -sOutputFile=%pipe%lpr
108 Note that the '%' characters need to be doubled on MS Windows to avoid
110 mangling by the command interpreter.
111 You can also send output to standard output:
113 -sOutputFile=-
115 or
116 -sOutputFile=%stdout%
117 In this case you must also use the -q switch, to prevent Ghostscript
119 from writing messages to standard output.
120 To select a specific paper size, use the command line switch
122 -sPAPERSIZE=<paper_size>
124 for instance
126 -sPAPERSIZE=a4
128 or
129 -sPAPERSIZE=legal
130 Most ISO and US paper sizes are recognized. See the usage documentation
132 for a full list, or the definitions in the initialization file
133 "gs_statd.ps".
134 Ghostscript can do many things other than print or view PostScript and
136 PDF files. For example, if you want to know the bounding box of a
137 PostScript (or EPS) file, Ghostscript provides a special "device" that
138 just prints out this information.
139 For example, using one of the example files distributed with Ghost‐
141 script,
142 gs -sDEVICE=bbox golfer.ps
144 prints out
146 %%BoundingBox: 0 25 583 732
148 %%HiResBoundingBox: 0.808497 25.009496 582.994503 731.809445
149
151 -- filename arg1 ...
152 Takes the next argument as a file name as usual, but takes all
153 remaining arguments (even if they have the syntactic form of
154 switches) and defines the name "ARGUMENTS" in "userdict" (not
155 "systemdict") as an array of those strings, before running the
156 file. When Ghostscript finishes executing the file, it exits
157 back to the shell.
158 -Dname=token
160 -dname=token
161 Define a name in "systemdict" with the given definition. The
162 token must be exactly one token (as defined by the "token" oper‐
163 ator) and may contain no whitespace.
164 -Dname
166 -dname Define a name in "systemdict" with value=null.
167 -Sname=string
169 -sname=string
170 Define a name in "systemdict" with a given string as value.
171 This is different from -d. For example, -dname=35 is equivalent
172 to the program fragment
173 /name 35 def
174 whereas -sname=35 is equivalent to
175 /name (35) def
176 -P Makes Ghostscript to look first in the current directory for li‐
178 brary files. By default, Ghostscript no longer looks in the
179 current directory, unless, of course, the first explicitly sup‐
180 plied directory is "." in -I. See also the INITIALIZATION FILES
181 section below, and bundled Use.htm for detailed discussion on
182 search paths and how Ghostcript finds files.
183 -q Quiet startup: suppress normal startup messages, and also do the
185 equivalent of -dQUIET.
186 -gnumber1xnumber2
188 Equivalent to -dDEVICEWIDTH=number1 and -dDEVICEHEIGHT=number2.
189 This is for the benefit of devices (such as X11 windows) that
190 require (or allow) width and height to be specified.
191 -rnumber
193 -rnumber1xnumber2
194 Equivalent to -dDEVICEXRESOLUTION=number1 and -dDEVICEYRESOLU‐
195 TION=number2. This is for the benefit of devices such as print‐
196 ers that support multiple X and Y resolutions. If only one num‐
197 ber is given, it is used for both X and Y resolutions.
198 -Idirectories
200 Adds the designated list of directories at the head of the
201 search path for library files.
202 - This is not really a switch, but indicates to Ghostscript that
204 standard input is coming from a file or a pipe and not interac‐
205 tively from the command line. Ghostscript reads from standard
206 input until it reaches end-of-file, executing it like any other
207 file, and then continues with processing the command line. When
208 the command line has been entirely processed, Ghostscript exits
209 rather than going into its interactive mode.
210 Note that the normal initialization file "gs_init.ps" makes "system‐
212 dict" read-only, so the values of names defined with -D, -d, -S, or -s
213 cannot be changed (although, of course, they can be superseded by defi‐
214 nitions in "userdict" or other dictionaries.)
215
217 -dNOCACHE
218 Disables character caching. Useful only for debugging.
219 -dNOBIND
221 Disables the "bind" operator. Useful only for debugging.
222 -dNODISPLAY
224 Suppresses the normal initialization of the output device. This
225 may be useful when debugging.
226 -dNOPAUSE
228 Disables the prompt and pause at the end of each page. This may
229 be desirable for applications where another program is driving
230 Ghostscript.
231 -dNOPLATFONTS
233 Disables the use of fonts supplied by the underlying platform
234 (for instance X Windows). This may be needed if the platform
235 fonts look undesirably different from the scalable fonts.
236 -dSAFER
238 Restricts file operations the job can perform. Now the default
239 mode of operation.
240 -dWRITESYSTEMDICT
242 Leaves "systemdict" writable. This is necessary when running
243 special utility programs, but is strongly discouraged as it by‐
244 passes normal Postscript security measures.
245 -sDEVICE=device
247 Selects an alternate initial output device, as described above.
248 -sOutputFile=filename
250 Selects an alternate output file (or pipe) for the initial out‐
251 put device, as described above.
252
254 The -dSAFER option restricts file system accesses to those files and
255 directories allowed by the relevant environment variables (such as
256 GS_LIB) or by the command line parameters (see https://ghost‐
257 script.com/doc/current/Use.htm for details).
258 SAFER mode is now the default mode of operation. Thus when running pro‐
260 grams that need to open files or set restricted parameters you should
261 pass the -dNOSAFER command line option or its synonym -dDELAYSAFER.
262 Running with NOSAFER/DELAYSAFER (as the same suggests) loosens the se‐
264 curity and is thus recommended ONLY for debugging or in VERY controlled
265 workflows, and strongly NOT recommended in any other circumstances.
266
268 The locations of many Ghostscript run-time files are compiled into the
269 executable when it is built. On Unix these are typically based in
270 /usr/local, but this may be different on your system. Under DOS they
271 are typically based in C:\GS, but may be elsewhere, especially if you
272 install Ghostscript with GSview. Run "gs -h" to find the location of
273 Ghostscript documentation on your system, from which you can get more
274 details.
275 /usr/local/share/ghostscript/#.##/*
277 Startup files, utilities, and basic font definitions
278 /usr/local/share/ghostscript/fonts/*
280 More font definitions
281 /usr/local/share/ghostscript/#.##/examples/*
283 Ghostscript demonstration files
284 /usr/local/share/ghostscript/#.##/doc/*
286 Diverse document files
287
289 When looking for the initialization files "gs_*.ps", the files related
290 to fonts, or the file for the "run" operator, Ghostscript first tries
291 to open the file with the name as given, using the current working di‐
292 rectory if no directory is specified. If this fails, and the file name
293 doesn't specify an explicit directory or drive (for instance, doesn't
294 contain "/" on Unix systems or "\" on MS Windows systems), Ghostscript
295 tries directories in this order:
296 1. the directories specified by the -I switches in the command line
298 (see below), if any;
299 2. the directories specified by the GS_LIB environment variable, if
301 any;
302 3. the directories specified by the GS_LIB_DEFAULT macro in the Ghost‐
304 script makefile when the executable was built. When gs is built on
305 Unix, GS_LIB_DEFAULT is usually "/usr/local/share/ghost‐
306 script/#.##:/usr/local/share/ghostscript/fonts" where "#.##" repre‐
307 sents the Ghostscript version number.
308 Each of these (GS_LIB_DEFAULT, GS_LIB, and -I parameter) may be either
310 a single directory or a list of directories separated by ":".
311
313 GS_OPTIONS
314 String of options to be processed before the command line op‐
315 tions
316 GS_DEVICE
318 Used to specify an output device
319 GS_FONTPATH
321 Path names used to search for fonts
322 GS_LIB Path names for initialization files and fonts
324 TEMP Where temporary files are made
326
328 Ghostscript, or more properly the X11 display device, looks for the
329 following resources under the program name "Ghostscript":
330 borderWidth
332 The border width in pixels (default = 1).
333 borderColor
335 The name of the border color (default = black).
336 geometry
338 The window size and placement, WxH+X+Y (default is NULL).
339 xResolution
341 The number of x pixels per inch (default is computed from
342 WidthOfScreen and WidthMMOfScreen).
343 yResolution
345 The number of y pixels per inch (default is computed from
346 HeightOfScreen and HeightMMOfScreen).
347 useBackingPixmap
349 Determines whether backing store is to be used for saving dis‐
350 play window (default = true).
351 See the usage document for a more complete list of resources. To set
353 these resources on Unix, put them in a file such as "~/.Xresources" in
354 the following form:
355 Ghostscript*geometry: 612x792-0+0
357 Ghostscript*xResolution: 72
358 Ghostscript*yResolution: 72
359 Then merge these resources into the X server's resource database:
361 % xrdb -merge ~/.Xresources
363
365 The various Ghostscript document files (above), especially Use.htm.
366
368 See http://bugs.ghostscript.com/ and the Usenet news group
369 comp.lang.postscript.
370
372 This document was last revised for Ghostscript version 10.02.1.
373
375 Artifex Software, Inc. are the primary maintainers of Ghostscript.
376 Russell J. Lang, gsview at ghostgum.com.au, is the author of most of
377 the MS Windows code in Ghostscript.
37810.02.1 01 November 2023 GS(1)