Problems with Postscript and Acrobat Files

How do I generate a postscript file?

Word for Windows:
To save a Word document as a postscript file, first install and select a postscript printer, and then from Word choose print to a file. When you print to a file, Word saves the file in the appropriate printer language.

To print to a file:
1. On the File menu, click Print.
2. In the Name box, click the printer with which you'll print the file.
3. Select the Print to file check box, and then click OK.
4. In the File name box, type a file name.*
    *If this saves your file with a .prn extension, you’ll have to rename the file to have a .ps extension.

What is a postscript file?
Postscript is a language invented by Adobe Inc. to communicate with printers. It is a text file that you can view with any text editor and contains at the beginning lines such as

I cannot print a postscript file.
Your printer is probably not a postscript printer. You can only print a postscript file to postscript printers. Desk-Jet printers typically do not understand postscript. Also you need a level 2 postscript printer: most printers are level 2 compatible but not all.

Ghostview cannot view a postscript file.
You might be trying to use Ghostview or other programs to view a postscript file. You have to remember that the postscript language was invented to communicate with printers, not to be displayed on a screen. You should try to print it instead of viewing it in the screen because what you see in the screen might not look exactly like if you were to print it. Also, programs such as Ghostview cannot open many legitimate postscript files that will print just fine. If you insist on using Ghostview, you should at least see that you have the latest version (http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/), because older versions such as the popular 1.5 have a number of incompatibilities. Ghostview works quite well with postscript generated by LaTeX, but sometimes has problems with some postscript files generated with Adobe software (Adobe is the company that invented postscript).

What is a PDF Adobe Acrobat file?
Adobe Inc, the inventor of postscript, created the PDF format to overcome the portability problems of postscript, reduce the size of files and provide a better screen viewing experience. Because of these reasons this has been the format used by previous ICASSPs to store the papers in the CD-ROM.

I cannot open/view an Adobe Acrobat File.
Perhaps you are not using the latest version, which is 3.0 (actually 3.01). You can download this version for free from the Adobe web site at http://www.adobe.com/prodindex/acrobat/readstep.html. Also, if you have the ICASSP-97 CD-ROM you can install it from there. Althouth rare, sometimes Acrobat Reader has trouble reading a legitimate PDF file, in this case you can try to open it with Ghostview (http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/).

Database Error on "Yes" answer to CD-Rom question.
If you are getting database errors from the "CheckPS" page, and cannot register a "Yes" response to the question about the CD-Rom, start over, entering your paper number and password again on this page: Check Submission Page. If this still does not resolve it, please send e-mail to ICASSP98@courtesyassoc.com who will forward it to the webmaster, and your response will be recorded.