pstpdf

pstpdf is a command-line utility designed to convert PostScript (PS) files to PDF (Portable Document Format). It is part of the Ghostscript suite of software, which provides a PostScript and PDF interpreter. The primary function of pstpdf is to take a file formatted in PostScript, a page description language often used for printing and graphics, and transform it into the more widely compatible PDF format. This conversion process involves Ghostscript interpreting the PostScript code and rendering it as a PDF document.

The tool is particularly useful for users who have PostScript files generated by various applications or printing systems and need them in a format that can be easily shared, viewed on different operating systems, or embedded within other documents without requiring specialized PostScript viewers. pstpdf typically operates by calling Ghostscript with specific parameters to handle the conversion. Users can often specify output filenames and other options related to the PDF generation, such as compression levels or metadata.

Its availability is widespread as it is bundled with Ghostscript, which is available on most major operating systems including Linux, macOS, and Windows. For developers or system administrators, pstpdf provides an automated way to manage PostScript to PDF conversions within scripts or workflows. The underlying Ghostscript engine ensures a high fidelity conversion, preserving the layout and appearance of the original PostScript document in the resulting PDF.