PS vs RST
A detailed comparison of PostScript and reStructuredText — file size, quality, compatibility, and which format to choose for your workflow.
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Technical Specifications
| Specification | .PS | .RST |
|---|---|---|
| MIME type | application/postscript | text/x-rst |
| Extensions | .ps, .eps (encapsulated), .prn (print-ready) | — |
| Standard | Adobe PostScript Language Reference Manual (Red Book) | — |
| Language | PostScript Level 2 / 3 (Turing-complete, stack-based) | — |
| Successor | PDF (declarative subset, 1993) | — |
| Extension | — | .rst |
| Toolchain | — | Docutils, Sphinx, Read the Docs |
| Encoding | — | UTF-8 |
| Related formats | — | MyST (Markdown + RST directives) |
Strengths Comparison
.PS Strengths
- Device-independent — same file prints identically on any PostScript printer.
- Vector-based at heart; rasterization happens at the printer's DPI.
- Programmable — dynamic pages, variable data, and procedural art all possible.
- Legacy standard in academic and print pipelines.
.RST Strengths
- Rich directives for admonitions, code, math, and custom elements.
- Cross-references work within and across documents.
- Sphinx ecosystem offers best-in-class Python docs output.
- Standardized as part of Python PEP infrastructure.
- Plain text, version-controllable.
Limitations
.PS — Limitations
- Turing-complete = security hole; malicious PS files can hang printers or exploit vulnerabilities.
- Not a display format; browsers cannot render PostScript without conversion.
- Mostly superseded by PDF (which is PostScript's sandboxed, declarative descendant).
- File sizes can be enormous when embedding high-res images or fonts.
- Modern Illustrator (2020+) deprecated PostScript import for security.
.RST — Limitations
- Syntax denser than Markdown — higher learning curve.
- Less widely adopted than Markdown outside Python world.
- Multiple directive dialects (Sphinx, Docutils, custom) create fragmentation.
- MyST (Markdown + Sphinx) has pulled many Python projects toward Markdown.
Frequently Asked Questions
PS (PostScript) is a document format used to store paginated text, with optional formatting, tables, images, hyperlinks, headers and footers. It sits in the documents & text family and is typically associated with a specific office suite or publishing pipeline that defined the format and ships the canonical reader.
RST (reStructuredText) is a document format used to store paginated text, with optional formatting, tables, images, hyperlinks, headers and footers. It sits in the documents & text family and is typically associated with a specific office suite or publishing pipeline that defined the format and ships the canonical reader.
Modern office suites — Microsoft Word, Google Docs, LibreOffice Writer, Apple Pages — open most PS files with reasonable fidelity. If your installed software does not support PS, convert to DOCX or PDF first using KaijuConverter; both open in virtually every reader, including free online viewers.
Modern office suites — Microsoft Word, Google Docs, LibreOffice Writer, Apple Pages — open most RST files with reasonable fidelity. If your installed software does not support RST, convert to DOCX or PDF first using KaijuConverter; both open in virtually every reader, including free online viewers.
Upload the PS to KaijuConverter and pick DOCX, PDF, ODT, RTF, HTML, Markdown, or plain text. Our pipeline runs LibreOffice headlessly plus pandoc for text formats — the same engines behind professional document pipelines. Styles, tables, images, and hyperlinks survive the conversion intact.
Yes, to a high degree. Standard fonts, headings, lists, tables, images, hyperlinks and page structure transfer cleanly. Custom fonts substitute to the closest match if not embedded; obscure layout features unique to PS (frames, legacy macros) may flatten to static content in the target format.
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