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<div class="col-12"> What is Ghostscript?</div>
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<p>
There are various different products in the Ghostscript family; this document
attempts to explain what they are, and how they are related.
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<h2>Table of contents</h2>
<blockquote><ul>
<li><a href="#Ghostscript">What is Ghostscript?</a>
<li><a href="#GhostPDF">What is GhostPDF?</a>
<li><a href="#GhostPCL">What is GhostPCL?</a>
<li><a href="#GhostXPS">What is GhostXPS?</a>
<li><a href="#GhostPDL">What is GhostPDL?</a>
</ul></blockquote>
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<h2><a name="Ghostscript"></a>What is Ghostscript?</h2>
<p>Ghostscript is an interpreter for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PostScript">PostScript</a><a href="#foot1">™</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portable_Document_Format">Portable Document Format</a>
(PDF) files. It is available both under the <a href="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/agpl-3.0.html">GNU GPL Affero license</a>
and for <a href="http://www.artifex.com/page/licensing-information.html">commercial licensing</a>
from <a href="http://www.artifex.com.">Artifex</a>. It has been under active
development for over 20 years and has been ported to many different systems
during this time.
<p>Ghostscript consists of a PostScript interpreter layer, and a graphics
library. Sometimes the Ghostscript graphics library is confusingly also referred
to simply as Ghostscript. Even more confusingly, sometimes people say Ghostscript
when they really mean GhostPDL.
<p>Binaries for Ghostscript for various systems can be downloaded from
<a href="http://www.ghostscript.com/download">www.ghostscript.com/download</a>. The
source code is included in both the Ghostscript and GhostPDL downloads from
the same site.
<hr>
<h2><a name="GhostPDF"></a>What is GhostPDF?</h2>
<p>GhostPDF is an interpreter built on top of Ghostscript that handles PDF files.
Currently GhostPDF relies on extensions to the PostScript language/imaging model,
and so cannot be used independently of the Ghostscript PostScript interpreter
component. As such GhostPDF is an umbrella term used to refer to both these
extensions and the interpreter code.
<p>Many people (including the authors) frequently just refer to Ghostscript
as supporting PDF and only specifically mention GhostPDF when wanting to make
the distinction between the PostScript and PDF support.
<p>GhostPDF is included in the Ghostscript binaries for various systems available
from <a href="http://www.ghostscript.com/download">www.ghostscript.com/download</a>.
The source can be found in both the Ghostscript and GhostPDL downloads from
the same site.
<hr>
<h2><a name="GhostPCL"></a>What is GhostPCL?</h2>
<p>GhostPCL is an interpreter for PCL<a href="#foot2">™</a> and PXL files. This consists of an
PCL/PXL interpreter hooked up to the Ghostscript graphics library.
<p>GhostPCL is available both under the <a href="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/agpl-3.0.html">GNU Affero GPL license</a>
and for <a href="http://www.artifex.com/page/licesnsing-information.html">commercial licensing</a>
from <a href="http://www.artifex.com">Artifex</a>.
<p>Binaries for GhostPCL for various systems can be downloaded from
<a href="http://www.ghostscript.com/download">www.ghostscript.com/download</a>. The
source can be found in the GhostPCL/GhostPDL downloads from the same site.
<hr>
<h2><a name="GhostXPS"></a>What is GhostXPS?</h2>
<p>GhostXPS is an interpreter for XPS (XML Paper Specfication) files. This
consists of an XPS interpreter hooked up to the Ghostscript graphics library.
<p>GhostXPS is available both under the <a href="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/agpl-3.0.html">GNU Affero GPL license</a>
and for <a href="http://www.artifex.com/page/licesnsing-information.html">commercial licensing</a>
from <a href="http://www.artifex.com">Artifex</a>.
<p>Binaries for GhostXPS for various systems can be downloaded from
<a href="http://www.ghostscript.com/download">www.ghostscript.com/download</a>. The
source can be found in the GhostXPS/GhostPDL downloads from the same site.
<hr>
<h2><a name="GhostPDL"></a>What is GhostPDL?</h2>
<p>GhostPDL (Ghost Page Description Languages) is an umbrella term for all
the above technologies. As all the above interpreters are built upon a
single graphics library, there are size and portability benefits to using
two of more of the languages in a given project. A product that
includes more than one such language in a single binary and automatically
chooses between them is sometimes referred to as a "Language Switch" build.
<p>GhostPDL is available both under the <a href="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/agpl-3.0.html">GNU Affero GPL license</a>
and for <a href="http://www.artifex.com/page/licesnsing-information.html">commercial licensing</a>
from <a href="http://www.artifex.com">Artifex</a>.
<p>The source code for GhostPDL can be found on
<a href="http://www.ghostscript.com/download">www.ghostscript.com/download</a>.
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<p><a name="foot1">PostScript</a> is a registered trademark of Adobe Systems Inc.
<p><a name="foot2">PCL</a> is a registered trademark of Hewlett-Packard Company.
<hr>
<p>
<small>Copyright © 2000-2019 Artifex Software, Inc. All rights reserved.</small>
<p>
This software is provided AS-IS with no warranty, either express or
implied.
This software is distributed under license and may not be copied, modified
or distributed except as expressly authorized under the terms of that
license. Refer to licensing information at http://www.artifex.com/
or contact Artifex Software, Inc., 1305 Grant Avenue - Suite 200,
Novato, CA 94945, U.S.A., +1(415)492-9861, for further information.
<p>
<small>Ghostscript version 9.27, 4 April 2019
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