PostScript
lastmod 2018-08-17created 2016-12-151 edits
PostScript (PS) is a page description language created by John Warnock and Charlse Geschke, the founders of Adobe Systems. As the word "script" suggests, PostScript files are human-readable; unlike the PCL language, they are not binary, so they can be read in the ISOLatin1 format in a text editor and the like, and they can also be device-independent. However, building printers or drivers that support PostScript is relatively difficult, and because the printer must interpret the file internally before converting it to binary, a lot of processing is required inside the printer.
In 1985, Apple released the LaserWriter, the first printer to include a PostScript engine, which started the desktop publishing revolution. It was once the de facto standard for graphics processing, but it has recently been gradually giving way to PDF. Also, because operating systems and applications often process PostScript files themselves, fewer printers include a PostScript engine.