Radiance ra_ps program
RA_PS(1) RA_PS(1)
NAME
ra_ps - convert RADIANCE picture to a PostScript file
SYNOPSIS
ra_ps [ -b|c ][ -A|B|C ][ -n ncopies ][ -e +/-stops ][ -g gamma ][ -p
paper ][ -m[h|v] margin ][ -d dpi ] [ input [ output ] ]
DESCRIPTION
Ra_ps translates a RADIANCE picture to a color or greyscale Adobe Post-
Script file for printing on a laser printer or importing to a page lay-
out program. The -b option tells ra_ps to produce greyscale output.
(The default is color, which may be specified explicitly with the -c
option.)
The -A option specifies that the output should be in uncompressed ASCII
hexstring format (the default). The -B option specifies that the out-
put should be in uncompressed binary string format. The file size will
be roughly half that of the ASCII equivalent, but some printers and
especially some printer connections do not support binary transfer, so
this option should be used with caution. The -C option specifies that
the output should be in run-length compressed ASCII format. The file
size will be one half to one tenth as large as the hexstring equivalent
and can be sent over any network or by e-mail. The only disadvantage
is that it will actually take longer to print on some printers, since
the "readhexstring" procedure is generally faster than a custom
replacement.
The -n option specifies the number of copies to print of this image.
It is often preferable to use this option instead of the multiple copy
option of the print spooler program, since the latter often results in
duplication of the input file with a large associated cost.
The -e option specifies an exposure compensation in f-stops (powers of
two). Only integer stops are allowed, for efficiency. The -g option
specifies a power law for the printer transfer function. The default
gamma setting for greyscale printers is 1.0 (linear), and the default
gamma for color printers is 1.8 (commonly used in prepress). If your
output seems to have too much contrast relative to its screen equiva-
lent, print out the file "ray/lib/lib/gamma.pic" to your printer with-
out any gamma correction and using the -d option to set the dots-per-
inch (see below). The best match between the small lines and the grey
patch next to it indicate the approximate gamma of your printer, which
you should use with the -g option for best contrast reproduction in
subsequent conversions.
The standard print area assumes 8.5 by 11 inch (U.S. letter) paper,
with 0.5 inch margins on all sides. The image will be rotated 90
degrees if it fits better that way in the available print area, and it
will always be centered on the page. The -p and -m options to control
the paper size and margins, respectively. The argument to the -p
option is the common name for a given paper size, or WWxHH, where WW is
the width (in inches) and HH is the height. If millimeters or centime-
ters are the preferred measurement unit, the 'x' may be replaced by 'm'
or 'c', respectively. The WW and HH values are decimal quantities, of
course. The current paper identifiers understood by the program may be
discovered by giving a 0 argument to the -p option. They are cur-
rently:
_Name________Width_Height_(inches)
envelope 4.12 9.50
executive 7.25 10.50
letter 8.50 11.00
lettersmall 7.68 10.16
legal 8.50 14.00
monarch 3.87 7.50
statement 5.50 8.50
tabloid 11.00 17.00
A3 11.69 16.54
A4 8.27 11.69
A4small 7.47 10.85
A5 6.00 8.27
A6 4.13 6.00
B4 10.12 14.33
B5 7.17 10.12
C5 6.38 9.01
C6 4.49 6.38
DL 4.33 8.66
hagaki 3.94 5.83
The paper size name may be abbreviated with three or more letters, and
character case is ignored. The argument to the -m option is the margin
width, which is 0.5 inches by default. A millimeter or centimeter
quantity may be given instead of inches by immediately following the
value with a 'm' or 'c' character, respectively. (Leave no space
between the quantity and its unit letter.) If you wish to specify the
horizontal and vertical margins separately, use the -mh and -mv
options, instead.
The -d option may be used to explicitly set the print density (in dots
per inch). If the input picture is lower resolution than the printer
and has square pixels, then ra_ps will adjust the image size so that
pixels map to dot regions exactly. This may improve the appearance of
fine detail, and may speed up the printing process as well, at the
expense of a slightly smaller image area. If you wish to maximize
print area and the input image contains no fine detail, then do not
specify this option.
The output from ra_ps is designed to be compatible with the Encapsu-
lated PostScript standard, which means that the resulting file may be
incorporated into documents by page layout programs that can read in
EPS files. Unfortunately, there is currently no option for generating
a preview bitmap, so the image will show up on the screen as a rectan-
gular area only. To control the EPS image size directly, use the -p
option as explained above with the WWxHH specification, and set -m 0 to
turn off the margins.
AUTHOR
Greg Ward
SEE ALSO
pfilt(1), ra_bmp(1), ra_bn(1), ra_pr(1), ra_pr24(1), ra_t8(1),
ra_t16(1), ra_ppm(1), ra_tiff(1), ximage(1)
RADIANCE 8/28/98 RA_PS(1)
Man(1) output converted with
man2html