What Is PostScript? The PS Format Explained

PS — PostScript — is one of the 27-odd formats webp.now converts to and from. Here is what it is, what it is good at, and when to choose it over WebP.

Where PS came from

PostScript is the page-description language Adobe shipped in 1984 with the Apple LaserWriter, and it effectively created desktop publishing. It is a full programming language that describes a printed page, executed by the printer's own interpreter. PDF is its modern descendant, but PostScript remains alive in commercial print queues, CUPS pipelines and Ghostscript workflows.

The technical picture

Compression: PostScript program text. Transparency: Not supported. Animation: Not supported. Colour: CMYK and spot colours. Typical file size relative to WebP: considerably larger than WebP.

Where it opens

PostScript printers and RIP systems. This is usually the deciding factor when choosing between PS and WebP — WebP renders in every browser but is uneven in desktop software, while PS has a very different support profile.

Converting PS to WebP

PostScript files need an interpreter to view. Rendering to WebP gives you an image anything can display. The output is a raster image in a PostScript wrapper, not vector artwork.

Converting WebP to PS

Commercial print services, prepress systems and Unix CUPS queues sometimes require PostScript input specifically. This wraps the image in a PS envelope those pipelines can rasterise. Expect the PS output to be considerably larger than WebP — that difference is the price of getting a format the destination will actually accept.
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