Overview

The PDF imaging model is, for the most part, a superset of the PostScript imaging model. As a result, a conversion from PostScript data to a PDF document is graphically lossless with very few exceptions and does not require rasterization of the data. The Quartz process for converting PostScript and EPS data into PDF data is similar to that performed by Adobe Distiller and other third-party tools: a PostScript interpreter interprets the PostScript data and converts it to an equivalent PDF representation. This interpreter supports PostScript language level 3 and has many capabilities similar to the basic capabilities present in Adobe Distiller, version 5.0.

The PDF data that results from the Quartz conversion process is just like any other PDF data. You can use it just as you would any PDF document. Any of the functions that Quartz supplies for working with PDF data work on the converted data, too. PostScript conversion is not only useful for creating PDF documents, you can also use it as a way to draw Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) or PostScript data with Quartz.

The ability for Quartz to convert PostScript or EPS data into a PDF document was introduced in Panther. Prior to Panther, applications can perform high-quality printing of EPS data to PostScript printers by leveraging the printing framework function PMCGImageCreateWithEPSDataProvider.

This chapter provides an overview of the PostScript conversion process, describes the functions you use to perform the conversion, shows how to use these functions to convert PostScript to PDF and...