| | | How to view PDF and PostScript files |
If your system has the appropriate software installed, you can
probably view PDF and PostScript files simply by clicking or
doubling clicking a file name or file icon (with extension
.pdf or .ps) in a graphical file manager. If all
goes well, the appropriate viewer will start up. PDF files
may display either in a stand-alone viewer or inside your web
browser, depending on your computer platform and configuration.
PostScript files display in a stand-alone viewer. Read on if
you need to learn more or if you need to install some software.
Adobe distributes for most computer platforms a free Acrobat Reader that can display PDF files. Follow the instructions at the Adobe web site to download the latest version of the reader.
There are other viewers available for some platforms. For example, xpdf is a viewer "designed to be small and efficient" for Unix systems running X-Windows.
(You should be aware that sometimes PDF files do not display properly because they were not created properly. Moreover, there are known bugs--mainly related to font handling--that cause problems in displaying some files that were created from LaTeX source files. MicroPress compiled some notes on bugs in version 4 and bugs in version 5 of Adobe's PDF software.)
A popular freely available tool to display PostScript files is Ghostscript. There are front ends to Ghostscript with names like "ghostview", "gsview", and "gv". Current versions display both PostScript and PDF files. See the Home Page for Ghostscript for instructions on how to download and install the software. On a Unix system, you can view PostScript and PDF files by issuing the command "ghostview filename.extension &" at the command prompt in a terminal window.
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pages were last modified April 5, 2005. | | | How to view PDF and PostScript files |