How to create a postscript or pdf file?

Most of you won't have an option and will have to turn in a postscript file. If you happen to have Adobe Acrobat (not Acrobat Reader...you need the full version) or a Macintosh, you can easily turn in a pdf file. For Linux users, there is a ps2pdf application but I have had minimul luck with it. Ghostscript may be used as well. So, the majority of you need to turn in a postscript file (and besides, with Ghostscript or ps2pdf, you need the postscript file first before you can make a pdf).

First off, what is a postscript file?

Here

That's nice, but just tell me how to make one

Making a postscript file is very simple because you technically make one each time you print to a postscript printer (you just don't know it). To actually save the postscript file, in whatever application you are using, go to print. Somewhere there will be an option to "print to file" (in Word it is a check box). Click print and a dialog box will ask you where you want to save it. Word by default calls this file a *.prn file. You can overwrite this and force it to be a *.ps file (*.prn...*.ps...same difference but we would like you to use the file extension *.ps). There you go. You have your postscript file. (I think you can only do this when you have a postscript printer added to your computer. If you don't have a postscript printer at home, you can do this process on a computer in the CS department. The printers in the labs are postscript printers.) View/print it before turning it it

Make sure that it looks okay before turning it in. You can do this in Linux using Ghostview or the lpr command to print it (do a man on lpr if you do not know that command). There is also a Ghostview for Windows.