PostScript® Language Reference (3rd Edition) [Paperback]

Adobe Systems Inc. (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0201379228 | ISBN-13: 978-0201379228 | Publication Date: March 18, 1999 | Edition: 3rd

The PostScript language is widely recognized as the industry standard for page description. Incorporated into a broad range of printers, imagesetters, and computer displays, PostScript describes exactly how text, sampled images, and graphics will appear on a printed page or on a computer screen. The PostScript Language Reference, known as the Red Book, is the complete and authoritative reference manual for the PostScript language. Prepared by Adobe Systems Incorporated, the creators and stewards of the PostScript standard, it documents the syntax and semantics of the language, the Adobe imaging model, and the effects of the graphics operators. This Third Edition has been updated to include LanguageLevel 3 extensions, which unify a number of previous extensions and introduce many new features, such as high-fidelity color, support for masked images, and smooth shading capabilities.Book Highlights: *Explains fundamentals of the PostScript language, graphics, fonts, device control, and rendering *Organizes all PostScript operators through LanguageLevel 3, both by function and alphabetically *Describes operands, results, side effects, and possible errors for each operator *Appendices include numerous useful tables and other valuable information The Red Book is the definitive resource for all PostScript programmers. 0201379228B04062001

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Programmers who specialize in PostScript, the page-description language, now have a newly updated reference guide for LanguageLevel 3. PostScript® Language Reference starts off with a bit of history on the language and an overview of the new version. It goes on to cover basic topics such as raster output devices, scan conversion, and page-description languages in general.

PostScript® Language Reference provides an overview of how to use the PostScript interpreter and understand the ideal structure of PostScript page descriptions. The book covers the heart of the language, including syntax, data types and objects, stacks, execution, basic operators, memory management, file input/output (I/O), functions, errors, and filtered-files and binary-encoding details. Subsequent chapters cover graphics, fonts, device control, rendering, and operators.

The appendices include a LanguageLevel feature summary, implementation limits, interpreter parameters, compatibility issues, character sets, encoding vectors, system-name encodings, and operator-usage guidelines. There's also a bibliography with additional reading recommendations. --Kathleen Caster

From the Back Cover

The PostScript language is widely recognized as the industry standard for page description. Incorporated into a broad range of printers, imagesetters, and computer displays, PostScript describes exactly how text, sampled images, and graphics will appear on a printed page or on a computer screen.

The PostScript Language Reference, known as the Red Book, is the complete and authoritative reference manual for the PostScript language. Prepared by Adobe Systems Incorporated, the creators and stewards of the PostScript standard, it documents the syntax and semantics of the language, the Adobe imaging model, and the effects of the graphics operators. This Third Edition has been updated to include LanguageLevel 3 extensions, which unify a number of previous extensions and introduce many new features, such as high-fidelity color, support for masked images, and smooth shading capabilities.

Book Highlights:

• Explains fundamentals of the PostScript language, graphics, fonts, device control, and rendering
• Organizes all PostScript operators through LanguageLevel 3, both by function and alphabetically
• Describes operands, results, side effects, and possible errors for each operator
• Appendices include numerous useful tables and other valuable information

The Red Book is the definitive resource for all PostScript programmers.

0201379228B04062001

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 912 pages
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional; 3rd edition (March 18, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201379228
• ISBN-13: 978-0201379228
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #862,739 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars new version is out., August 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: PostScript(R) Language Reference Manual (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

Be carefull. This book describes LanguageLevel 2. There is a new version out that describes LanguageLevel 3.(1999 version)

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential reference, August 8, 2000

By 

James A. Johnson (Dallas, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: PostScript® Language Reference (3rd Edition) (Paperback)

This manual - the 'Red Book' - is absolutely necessary for programming in PostScript. It is the only complete reference guide to the language, and is so well-organized and thorough that no one else even bothers to publish a complete third-party guide. Many other books have been published on PostScript - and many are excellent - but they are books you will buy in addition to, rather than instead of, this manual. We can only wish that other software manuals were as well-written.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Great book but outdated!, August 8, 2000

By 

James A. Johnson (Dallas, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: PostScript(R) Language Reference Manual (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

If you want to program in PostScript, you must have this manual. However, you need the newer version, since this second edition only covers version 2 of the PostScript language. The third edition covers version 3, and you can find it for sale here on Amazon using ISBN 0-201-37922-8.