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This page displays the COHERENT manpage for prps [Prepare files for PostScript-compatible printer].
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prps -- Command Prepare files for PostScript-compatible printer prps [options] [file ... ] prps reads each file, breaks it into pages, writes a header at the top of each page, then writes the paginated text onto the standard output. If no file is given, prps reads the standard input. Unike the related command pr, prps writes its output in the PostScript language, suitable for printing on a PostScript printer such as an Apple LaserWriter or a Hewlett-Packard LaserJet with a PostScript cartridge. The PostScript output program generates a sequence of standard 8.5×11-inch pages, each containing a header line (file name, current time and date, and page number) and a box that encloses the text of file. The default output typeface is ten-point Courier. prps recognizes the following options: -b Suppress the box around the page text. If the box is present, PostScript clips text that would extend beyond its right border. -h Suppress the header line. -in Indent the left margin by an additional n characters. -l Generate ``landscape''-format output. prps normally generates output pages in ``portrait'' format (upright 8.5×11 inches). The -l option generates output pages in landscape format (11 by 8.5) instead. This option is useful for files with long lines; by default, it prints 46 lines per page. -l2 Generate landscape-format output pages that each contain two side-by- side ``pages'' of text. This format is useful for saving paper, especially when used with a small size of type. As it prints in a small size of type, it prints 66 lines per page. -nname Use name in place of the file name in the header line. -tN Set tab stops at every N characters. The default tab setting is eight. -ptsize Change the size of type to ptsize points. By default, prps sets its output in ten-point type. This yields 64 lines per normal output page, 46 lines in landscape format, and 52 lines per half page in -l2 format. (Note that a ``point'' is one twelfth of a pica, which in turn is one sixth of an inch; thus, there are 72 points in an inch.) By specifying the ptsize on its command line, you can tell prps to use a different size of type. For example, -8 tells prps to use eight- point type. -pN Print N lines of text on each output page (or half page). Note that the point size determines how many lines fit on a page, and lines per page determine point size. If you specify both, prps will use the given values unless the lines do not fit at the given point size. +N Skip the first N output pages. Setting Fonts prps recognizes the standard nroff font specification sequences and translates them into PostScript font specifications. The default font is Courier. Because the naming conventions for PostScipt fonts are anything but uniform, prps appends a suffix to the fontname to designate a Roman, boldface and italic font variety. The default suffix is ` ' for Roman, ``- Bold'' for bold and ``-Oblique'' for italic. These give the standard PostScript names for the Courier family, ``Courier'', ``Courier-Bold'', and ``Courier-Oblique''. Option -ffontname specifies an alternative fontname. Option -FsXsuffix specifies an alternative font suffix, where X is one of the three characters RBI (for Roman, Bold or Italic) and suffix is the desired suffix. For example, the option -fTimes -FsR-Roman -FsI-Italic generates the usual PostScript font names for the Times family, namely ``Times-Roman'', ``Times-Bold'', and ``Times-Italic''. To spare you some of this grief, a few fonts have built-in abbreviations. Option -FX, where X is one of the characters ABHNPST, specifies a PostScript fontname as follows: -FA AvantGarde -FB Bookman -FH Helvetica -FN Helvetica-Narrow -FP Palatino -FS New Century Schoolbook -FT Times These options also set each suffix appropriately for the desired font. However, font naming conventions may differ on various PostScript devices; examine the prps output and your device documentation if problems occur. Examples prps is especially useful as a way of printing the output of nroff, including manual pages. For example, man prps | prps | hpr -B or man prps | prps -l2 | hpr -B prints this Lexicon article in, respectively, portrait mode or two-page landscape mode. It looks nicer if you center the output with an indent: man prps | prps -i8 | hpr -B or man prps | prps -l2 -i4 | hpr -B See Also commands, hp, hpr, lp, pr, nroff, printer Notes When you installed COHERENT onto your system, the installation program asked you whether your printer used the PostScript language. For information on how to install a PostScript printer onto your system, see the Lexicon entries for lp and printer.