Question 1

What does this tool do?

Accepted Answer

It extracts text from your PDF using a pure-JS PDF parser, then generates a valid PostScript (.ps) file. Each PDF page becomes one PostScript page with the proper header (%!PS-Adobe-3.0), page setup (findfont / scalefont / setfont), text rendering (moveto + show), and showpage. The result can be sent to a PostScript printer, viewed with Ghostscript/GhostView, or converted back to PDF with ps2pdf.

Question 2

How is text rendered in PostScript?

Accepted Answer

Each text line is rendered using the PostScript 'show' operator. We pick a font (Helvetica by default, or Times-Roman / Courier), scale it to your chosen size, position the cursor with 'moveto', and call 'show'. Long lines are wrapped using a simple word-wrap algorithm based on character count. Pages end with 'showpage' to advance to the next page.

Question 3

What extra features does this tool have compared to others?

Accepted Answer

10 extras: (1) Drag-drop input. (2) Page range selector. (3) Three page sizes (A4, Letter, Legal). (4) Configurable margins (0.5–2 inches). (5) Three font families (Helvetica, Times-Roman, Courier). (6) Configurable font size (8–24pt). (7) Word wrap for long lines (40–120 chars). (8) Stats — page count, word count, character count. (9) Live preview of the generated PS source. (10) Conversion history in localStorage (last 10).

Question 4

What PDF features are supported?

Accepted Answer

We extract text from PDF content streams. We don't extract images, vector graphics, fonts, colors, or layout positioning — just the text. The PostScript output is plain text rendered in a single font on each page. For PDFs that are scanned images, no text can be extracted — you'd need OCR first.

Question 5

Is my PDF uploaded anywhere?

Accepted Answer

No. All PDF parsing and PostScript generation happens in your browser. File contents never leave your device.

Question 6

Why use PostScript?

Accepted Answer

PostScript is a Turing-complete page description language — the predecessor to PDF. It's still used in professional printing workflows (PS printers, RIPs, prepress). It's also useful for archival (PS files are human-readable) and for converting to other formats via Ghostscript. If you don't have a specific reason to use PS, you probably want PDF or SVG.

PDF to PostScript Converter

How to use