pstogif
                                   =======

Description
-----------

  pstogif is a bash script to convert PostScript images into GIF, JPG, PNG,
  TIF or PNM images, using Ghostscript ("gs") and several programs from the
  Netbpm package.

  The main advantage of pstogif over conversion packages such as the widely
  used convert, is that pstogif performs any scaling of the image before
  conversion - convert performs the scaling after the conversion, leading to
  strange artifacts in the image, notably with straight lines, and
  interpolation of colours.

  To download the full package, which includes some examples, visit:
      http://josvg.home.xs4all.nl/BIRA/tools/pstogif.html
  or: http://uv-vis.aeronomie.be/software/tools/pstogif.php
  where the latter may not have the very latest version.

  For more information, see the manual page, which is available in the
  package in different formats.


Files in the package
--------------------

  README.txt   -- this file
  VERSION.txt  -- version history overview
  GPL.txt      -- copy of the GNU General Public License
                  under which the package is released

  pstogif*     -- the conversion script

  pstogif.1    -- the manual or 'man page'
  pstogif.html -- HTML version of the man page
  pstogif.pdf  -- PDF version of the man page
  pstogif.ps   -- PostScript version of the man page

  sample/      -- directory with examples of conversion;
                  see the sample/README.txt file for details

  pssplit*     -- script that calls 'psselect' to split a multiple-
                  page PostScript file in individual files


System and program requirements
-------------------------------

  For pstogif to work, Ghostscript ('gs') and the Netbpm package must be
  installed. The first one is usually integral part of UNIX/LINUX
  distributions, the Netbpm package often too. If not available, the
  packages can be found here:
     http://www.ghostscript.com/ and
     http://source-forge.net/projects/netpbmn.
  Ghostscript should support the pnmraw format, which most versions will -
  to check, type "gs -help" and have a look at the list of available
  devices.

  In addition, the script uses standard UNIX/LINUX commands (such as 'test',
  'awk', 'grep', 'cat', etc.), as well as the 'rgb.txt' colour table
  definition file of the X11 system. The programs should be available in the
  path accessed by the script. To check for this, have a look at the first
  25 or so lines of the script.

  The pssplit script uses the 'psselect' program, part of the PSUtils
  package, which is usually part of UNIX/LINUX distributions. If it is not
  available, the package can be found easily on the web, for example at
     http://www.tardis.ed.ac.uk/~ajcd/psutils/.
  The script also uses the 'eps2eps' script of the Ghostscript package.


Installation
------------

  1) Make any necessary adaption in the first 25 or so lines of the
     script, as mentioned above.

  2) Copy the script to a location in your PATH environment variable,
     e.g. /usr/local/bin

  3) Copy the man page 'pstogif.1' to an appropriate location, e.g.
     /user/local/man/man1

  4) To access the script under other names to convert PostScript directly
     to other formats, as suggestes in the man page, make the appropriate
     links of the scripts and the man page.

  5) If you wish to also use the 'pssplit' script, copy that script to an
     appropriate location as well. There is no man page for 'pssplit'; its
     usage is described on the man page of 'pstogif'.


Usage
-----

  See the man page.


Examples of image conversion
----------------------------

  The subdirectory 'sample/' contains examples of the conversion of a
  PostScript file to other formats using 'pstogif'.

  See the sample/README.txt file for details.


Author
------

  Copyright (c) 2004-2015 -- Jos van Geffen; cf. pstogif -v

  With thanks to: Ian van der Neut, Jeroen van Gent, Ronald van de A