I have received a number of questions from readers, and many of them are the same. Since these seem to be popular questions, I thought I would list them here, along with my usual answers. Of course, you will also find the PostScript faq to be useful. There are far more FAQs in that list than are here. By the way, if anyone knows of a better answer to any of these question, let me know.
Is there a utility to convert a PostScript file into my favorite wordprocessors format?
Short answer: no.
Long answer: Maybe. There is a utility to convert PostScript files into ASCII files (it tries to extract the text), but it can not work on every PostScript file. The problem here is that PostScript is a full programming language, and there are many ways to accomplish a given thing. It would be next to impossible for a program to look at some piece of PostScript and decide what the contents are. It would be possible to write a program which would accept some subset of PostScript files and convert them to some useful format, but it would be difficult to write (and it could not handle all possible PostScript files).
I have a Hawat-Pickford 520xz ink jet printer without PostScript, is there anyway I can print PostScript files on it?
Yep. There are a number of PostScript interpreters which run on your computer and can print out PostScript files. There are versions of these kinds of utilities for the Mac and for DOS/Windows machines. I have never used one of these utilities, so I can not recommend any particular one. Go to your friendly neighborhood dealer or your favorite catalog to see what they have. There is a section in the PostScript FAQ on this issue. You may also want to have a look at GhostScript. GhostScript can print PostScript files on certain printers.
Can you point me to a good previewer for my computer?
My first recommendation is GhostScript. Hey, it's free. GhostScript is not perfect, but it is a good place to start. There are also a number of commercial previewers. I have not used any of these commercial packages, so I can not recommend any of them in particular.
Can you tell me X about Acrobat and PDF files?
Nope. I don't know anything about Acrobat or PDF files. Check out the Adobe website. You may find the information you need there.
Is it true that you are one of the most stunningly attractive men on the net?
Why, yes. How did you know?
Okay, so maybe no one has ever asked me that. It was worth a shot. Maybe you wouldn't have noticed.