| POSTER(1) | General Commands Manual | POSTER(1) |
poster - Scale and tile a postscript image to print on multiple pages
poster <options> infile
Poster can be used to create a large poster by building it from multiple pages and/or printing it on large media. It expects as input a generic (encapsulated) postscript file, normally printing on a single page. The output is again a postscript file, maybe containing multiple pages together building the poster. The output pages bear cutmarks and have slightly overlapping images for easier assembling. The input picture will be scaled to obtain the desired size.
The program uses a brute-force method: it copies the entire input file for each output page, hence the output file can be very large. Since the program does not really bother about the input file contents, it clearly works for both black-and-white and color postscript.
To control its operation, you need to specify either the size of the desired poster or a scale factor for the image:
Its input file should best be a real `Encapsulated Postscript'
file (often denoted with the extension .eps or .epsf). Such files can be
generated from about all current drawing applications, and text processors
like Word, Interleaf and Framemaker.
However poster tries to behave properly also on more relaxed, general
postscript files containing a single page definition. Proper operation is
obtained for instance on pages generated by (La)TeX and (g)troff.
The media to print on can be selected independently from the input image size and/or the poster size. Poster will determine by itself whether it is beneficial to rotate the output image on the media.
To preview the output results of poster and/or to (re-)print individual output pages, you should use a postscript previewer like ghostview(1).
The <box> mentioned above is a specification of horizontal
and vertical size. Only in combination with the `-i' option, the program
also understands the offset specification in the <box>.
In general:
<box> = [<multiplier>][<offset>]<unit>
with multiplier and offset being specified optionally.
<multiplier> = <number>*<number>
<offset> = +<number>,<number>
<unit> = <medianame> or <distancename>
Many international media names are recognised by the program, in
upper and lower case, and can be shortened to their first few characters, as
long as unique. For instance `A0', `Let'.
Distance names are like `cm', `i', `ft'.
The following command prints an A4 input file on 8 A3 pages,
forming an A0 poster:
poster -v -iA4 -mA3 -pA0 infile >outfile
The next command prints an eps input image on a poster of 3x3
Letter pages:
poster -v -mLet -p3x3Let image.eps > outfile
The next command enlarges an eps input image to print on a
large-media A0 capable device, maintaining 2 inch margins:
poster -v -mA0 -w2x2i image.eps > outfile
Enlarge a postscript image exactly 4 times, print on the default
A4 media, and let poster determine the number of pages required:
poster -v -s4 image.eps > outfile
Scale a postscript image to a poster of about 1 square meter,
printing on `Legal' media, maintaining a 10% of `Legal' size as white margin
around the poster.
poster -v -mLegal -p1x1m -w10% infile.ps >outfile
If your input file contains -or consists of- pixel images (as opposed to just vector data which is essentially resolution independent), you might have this problem. Such pixel images are normally made to fit well to standard 300 (or 600) dpi devices. Scaling such a picture with an carelessly chosen factor, can easily lead to hazy edges and interference patterns on the output. The solution is to provide poster with an exact scaling factor (with the -s option), chosen as an integer. If integer scaling is impractical for your purpose, choose a fractional number made from a small integer denominator (2, 3, 4).
Yes, for this purpose you can define both the size (width and
height) and offset (from left and bottom) of a window on the input image.
Specify these numbers as argument to a `-i' command line option.
One way to obtain such numbers is previewing the original image with
ghostview, and observing the coordinate numbers which it continually
displays. These numbers are in postscript units (points), named by
poster as just `p'.
The major cause for poster not to work correctly, is giving it postscript files which don't conform to proper 'eps' behaviour. Try whether your application (or printer driver) cannot generate real 'encapsulated postscript'.
Yes, probably. When specifying a desired output size with the `-p' option, poster first determines an array of sheets to cover such an area. Then it determines a scale factor for the picture to fill these sheets upto their edge. As result your requested size is used as rough guess only. If you want an exact output size, specify the scaling factor yourself with the `-s' option (and omit the `-p').
Poster will as default use the input image bounding box, and scale/translate that to the edges of your poster. If the program which generated your input file specifies an exact and tight %%BoundingBox, you will indeed loose your white margin. To keep the original margin, specify a `-i' option with as argument the papersize on which the original document was formatted (such as `-iA4'). Alternatively specify a smaller scale factor (with -s) or an explicit new margin (with -w).
Our preferred method for the assembly of a poster from multiple sheets is as follows:
For postscript level-2 capable printers/plotters, which is about all modern postscript devices today, poster will send device settings in its output file. This consists of a `setpagedevice' call, setting:
These settings cause proper device behaviour, without the need to manually interact with the printer settings, and has been here locally tested to work on devices like the HP300XL and HP650C.
The settings thus passed in the postscript file, will affect the device for this job only.
Poster will generate its own DSC header and other DSC lines in the output file, according the `Document Structuring Conventions - version 3.0', as written down in the `Postscript Language Reference Manual, 2nd ed.' from Adobe Systems Inc, Addison Wesley Publ comp., 1990.
It will copy any `%%Document...' line from the input file DSC header to its own header output. This is used here in particular for required nonresident fonts.
However the copy(s) of the input file included in the output, are stripped from all lines starting with a `%%', since they tend to disturb our `ghostview' previewer and take useless space anyhow.
ghostview(1), papersize(5)
Jos van Eijndhoven (email: J.T.J.v.Eijndhoven@ele.tue.nl) Design Automation Section (http://www.es.ele.tue.nl) Dept. of Elec. Eng. Eindhoven Univ of Technology The Netherlands 24 August, 1995