[tex-k] header special extension proposal

[Hendri Adriaens]

> Anyone concerned with this issue is probably informed, or at
> least motivated.

Yes, but we can't expect anyone to know about perl or to be able/have time
to learn about it.

> surveys TeX-based presentation packages.  The vast majority are pdf-based,
> and none using PS are immediately apparent.  The two presentation packages
> that I regard to be the most popular, namely prosper and latex-beamer,
> use pdf.

prosper also advocates ps output for transparencies, see docs, page 7.
powerdot (first beta release here:
http://stuwww.uvt.nl/~hendri/powerdot.zip) allows you to use whatever output
you prefer: dvi, ps or pdf. Of others, I don't know by heart.

And there are plenty of commercial books around having some sort of logo on
every page. When created with LaTeX, the ps file could be reduced by a huge
lot, speeding up loading times and the overall production process.

And who knows, there might be more applications for this extension. It's
new, but when we learn about it, we will discover new uses. One could
imagine customized headers in the ps, where part is fixed and part depends
on the (LaTeX) settings by the user. For more ideas, one should consult a PS
expert, not me.

> This brings me to my last point.  If someone is concerned about file size,
> then why aren't they using pdf?  Pdf is a more compact format (40% smaller
> in one case that I checked).  There are times when you have to use
> PostScript (e.g., for printers), but the days of slow serial links to
> printers are long gone.

Nope. Here I'm on a very fast network but with a buggy and slow printer
server that they just don't want to replace. When printing a pdf created
with latex, it takes ages to print as acrobat converts to a huge ps (with
the pcl driver) and the server can't handle it. I can send a ps document
directly to the printer, avoiding drivers, queues and slow servers (well, as
far as I know... it's not my job to know...)

Best regards,
-Hendri.