Re. Postscript across platforms

[Geoff Hart <geoff-h -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA>]

     Jean Deraps asked about transferring Postscript (PS) files between Mac
     and PC platforms. Here are a few tips:

     1. Fonts are the most likely glitch. Use PS (not TrueType) fonts, and
     make sure both systems have the same fonts. (Beware "almost the same"
     fonts such as Adobe Times and ITC Times.) Adobe doesn't let you embed
     PS fonts in PS files, nor does it let you transfer the font files from
     one computer to another. Last I checked, their rule was "one printer
     per font", but they were changing their guidelines at the time, so
     double-check this.

     2. The "encapsulated postscript" (EPS) format is another of these
     non-standard standards, and EPS files won't always transfer between
     applications. (For example, Corel had an "Illustrator EPS" format as
     well as a generic EPS format.) If you can use the same software on
     both systems, this is your best bet, because file compatibility is
     generally good. A better option, if your software supports it, is
     "PRN" ("printer") files; these are EPS files created by _printing_
     your file to disk instead of _saving_ it as EPS. PRN files work better
     because they are a form of PS that the printer's PS interpreter can
     work with; as a result, they are "more standard" than EPS!

     3. Try creating the files on the PC and importing them to the Mac
     using a utility called Debabelizer (the "lite" version is available
     from most mail-order services). There must be a PC-based equivalent,
     but I'm not aware of any offhand. (Perhaps HiJaak?)

     --Geoff Hart    #8^{)}
     geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca

     Disclaimer: If I didn't commit it in print in one of
     our reports, it don't represent FERIC's opinion.