Dictionary of Computers - PostScript

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Page-description language developed by Adobe that has become a standard. PostScript is primarily a language for printing documents on laser printers, but it can be adapted to produce images on other types of devices.

PostScript is an object-oriented language, meaning that it treats images, including fonts, as collections of geometrical objects rather than as bit maps. PostScript fonts are outline fonts stored in the computer memory as a set of instructions for drawing the circles, straight lines, and curves that make up the outline of each character. This means they are also scalable. Given a single typeface definition, a PostScript printer can thus produce a multitude of fonts.

The principal advantage of vector graphics over bit-mapped graphics is that object-oriented images take advantage of high-resolution output devices whereas bit-mapped images do not. A PostScript drawing looks much better when printed on a 600 dpi printer than on a 300 dpi printer. Object-oriented images also generally require less memory than bit-mapped images.

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