psdriver(1)

PostScript DISPLAY DRIVER
PS display driver to create PostScript files.

DESCRIPTION
The PS driver generates a PostScript file from GRASS display commands.

USAGE

  Environment variables
The PS driver can be enabled by setting GRASS_RENDER_IMMEDIATE variable, eg.

export GRASS_RENDER_IMMEDIATE=ps

Several environment variables affect the operation of the PS driver:

    •   GRASS_RENDER_WIDTH=xxx
        the width of the image map (default is 640).

    •   GRASS_RENDER_HEIGHT=yyy
        the height of the image map (default is 480).

    •   GRASS_RENDER_TRUECOLOR=[TRUE|FALSE]
        sets true-color support. Default is FALSE.

    •   GRASS_RENDER_FILE
        name of output file. If it ends with ".eps" an EPS file will be created.

    •   GRASS_RENDER_PS_PAPER
        sets the screen dimensions and margins to fit a standard paper size, see also GRASS_RENDER_WIDTH, GRASS_RENDER_HEIGHT.

    •   GRASS_RENDER_PS_LANDSCAPE
        if TRUE, the screen is rotated 90 degrees counter-clockwise so that a "landscape" screen fits better on "portrait" paper.

    •   GRASS_RENDER_PS_HEADER
        if FALSE, the output is appended to any existing file, and no prolog or setup sections are generated.

    •   GRASS_RENDER_PS_TRAILER
        if FALSE, no trailer section is generated.

  Example

export GRASS_RENDER_IMMEDIATE=ps
export GRASS_RENDER_TRUECOLOR=TRUE
g.region raster=elevation
d.rast elevation
d.vect roadsmajor color=red

This writes a file named map.ps in your current directory.

NOTES
The resolution of the output files is defined by current region extents. Use g.region -p to get the number of rows and cols and use the environment variables to set the image size. If you would like a larger image, multiply both rows and cols by the same whole number to preserve the aspect ratio.

GRASS_RENDER_TRUECOLOR requires either PostScript level 2 or level 1 plus the colorimage and setrgbcolor operators (this is the case for colour printers which pre-date level 2 PostScript).

Masked images (d.rast, d.rgb, d.his -n) require PostScript level 3.

SEE ALSO
Cairo driver, PNG driver, HTML driver, variables
d.rast, d.vect, d.mon, d.erase, d.redraw

AUTHOR
Glynn Clements, 2007

SOURCE CODE

Available at: PostScript DISPLAY DRIVER source code (history)

Accessed: Thursday May 14 20:44:42 2026

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