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PS file format

Extension.ps
Categoryimages
Programs
Adobe Illustrator (Windows, Mac OS)
Adobe Acrobat (Windows, Mac OS)
Adobe Photoshop (Windows, Mac OS)
Adobe Photoshop Elements (Windows, Mac OS)
ACD Systems Canvas X (Windows)
ACD Systems ACDSee Photo Studio (Windows)
GSView (Windows, Linux)
GPL Ghostscript (Windows)
Apple Preview (Mac OS)
Evince (Linux)
Main programAdobe Photoshop
DescriptionFiles with the .ps extension were created between 1982 and 1984 by Doug Brotz, Bill Paxton, John Warnock, Ed Taft, Charles Geschke at Adobe Systems. Publishers commonly use PS files for their electronic and desktop publishing business. Before creating a PostScript format, it seemed impossible to print text and image on a single page, as we do today. PostScript files made it feasible for applications to communicate with printers, such that they could display both text and image simultaneously on a single page. The Apple LaserWriter, released in March 1985, was the first printer to sport the PostScript format, thus helping printing technologies scale the text-image hurdle and revolutionizing the publishing business.
Technical detailsPostscript was initially conceptualized as a computer programming language by John Gaffney; the file format was later developed. PostScript files are mostly created with applications like Adobe Acrobat or Quark Express. Though new file formats of similar and better functionalities have been made since PostScript, it is still supported by recent printer technologies, so the hardware's producer includes the device driver software structure. The average PS file functions more like a GPS, with instructions that supply the coordinates required by printheads to scribbling the right pixel of character at the right spot.
MIME type
application/postscript
application/ps
application/x-postscript
application/x-ps
text/postscript
application/x-postscript-not-eps