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Have you tried to install the latest Ghostscript/Ghostview/pstoedit lately?
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Arlen Holder
Oct 13, 2020, 6:42:47 PM10/13/20
to
Have you tried to install the latest Ghostscript/Ghostview/pstoedit lately?
o If so, what did you do differently than I did below on Windows 10?
I get this error when GhostView opens up any PDF file:
Failed to load C:\Program Files\Ghostgum\gsview\gsdll64.dll, error 126
The specified module could not be found.
Then, when I copy over the Ghostscript dll, I get this error next:
Wrong version of DLL found.
Found version 9533
Need version 704 - 999
Have you tried to install the latest Ghostscript/Ghostview/pstoedit lately?
o Here's how I just now tried to install it.
1. Install Artifex GPL Ghostscript for Windows:
Version 9.53.3
<http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/>
<https://www.ghostscript.com/>
<https://www.ghostscript.com/download/gsdnld.html>
Name: gs9533w32.exe
Size: 27508624 bytes (26 MiB)
SHA256: 2353BA1E21D82D6A87757FD1AD853582094E9842B7CFB6BCDA9D564150843BA8
Name: gs9533w64.exe
Size: 27786136 bytes (26 MiB)
SHA256: 6134AA41F559B138CAFA5AE90416CED36329D4285C27CE9AD1D76BF8F12B69C7
C:\Program Files\gs\gs9.53.3
[x]Generate cidfmap for Windows CJK TrueType fonts
[_]Show Readme
2. Install Ghostgum GSview for Windows:
Ghostgum GSview 5 (to be used with Ghostscript 9.04 or later)
<http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/>
<http://www.ghostgum.com.au/software/gsview.htm>
<http://www.ghostgum.com.au/download/gsv50w32.exe>
Name: gsv50w32.exe
Size: 2032640 bytes (1985 KiB)
SHA256: 35AFA580E02CCF0A08ECC3AEC3D7A4F1E85B8E1E862A84FDC7A3A281BAB06E3D
<http://www.ghostgum.com.au/download/gsv50w64.exe>
Name: gsv50w64.exe
Size: 2176512 bytes (2125 KiB)
SHA256: 80D0161ABBB3CFB0FF08F3787C4959B8A41585EF1470DAE4AEA20341820D49AF
C:\Program Files\Ghostgum
[x]Associate PostScript (.ps & .eps) files with GSview
[_]Associate PDF(.pdf) files with GSview
3. Install Ghostgum ps2edit (pstoeditsetup350.exe)
<http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/pstoedit/>
<https://sourceforge.net/projects/pstoedit/files/latest/download>
<http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/pstoedit/pstoeditsetup350.exe?download>
<https://netactuate.dl.sourceforge.net/project/pstoedit/pstoedit/3.71/pstoeditsetup_x64.exe>
Name: pstoeditsetup_x64.exe
Size: 1287223 bytes (1257 KiB)
SHA256: F61F904BBB733DB8C61A3B0C673C89E35D961E7CC5AED596DEF3A4F709A203F2
C:\Program Files\pstoedit
[x]basic pstoedit
[_].h & .lib files for using the pstoedit.dll in other programs
[_]Some PostScript examples
[_]plugins SVG, MIF, EMF, CGM format (shareware)
[_]GraphicsMagick - otherwise you get missing DLL messages
Note: I tried it both ways, with and without those checkboxes checked.
4. Bring up GSView by clicking on the shortcut the installer made:
If you get this error, then copy gsdll64.dll where it wants it to be:
Failed to load C:\Program Files\Ghostgum\gsview\gsdll64.dll, error 126
The specified module could not be found.
But then I get this error, even when that DLL is found by GSView:
Wrong version of DLL found.
Found version 9533
Need version 704 - 999
Have you tried to install the latest Ghostscript/Ghostview/pstoedit lately?
o If so, what did you do differently than I did below on Windows 10?
--
The reason I want this is to remove protections from a protected PDF.
o If so, what did you do differently than I did below on Windows 10?
I get this error when GhostView opens up any PDF file:
Failed to load C:\Program Files\Ghostgum\gsview\gsdll64.dll, error 126
The specified module could not be found.
Then, when I copy over the Ghostscript dll, I get this error next:
Wrong version of DLL found.
Found version 9533
Need version 704 - 999
Have you tried to install the latest Ghostscript/Ghostview/pstoedit lately?
o Here's how I just now tried to install it.
1. Install Artifex GPL Ghostscript for Windows:
Version 9.53.3
<http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/>
<https://www.ghostscript.com/>
<https://www.ghostscript.com/download/gsdnld.html>
Name: gs9533w32.exe
Size: 27508624 bytes (26 MiB)
SHA256: 2353BA1E21D82D6A87757FD1AD853582094E9842B7CFB6BCDA9D564150843BA8
Name: gs9533w64.exe
Size: 27786136 bytes (26 MiB)
SHA256: 6134AA41F559B138CAFA5AE90416CED36329D4285C27CE9AD1D76BF8F12B69C7
C:\Program Files\gs\gs9.53.3
[x]Generate cidfmap for Windows CJK TrueType fonts
[_]Show Readme
2. Install Ghostgum GSview for Windows:
Ghostgum GSview 5 (to be used with Ghostscript 9.04 or later)
<http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/>
<http://www.ghostgum.com.au/software/gsview.htm>
<http://www.ghostgum.com.au/download/gsv50w32.exe>
Name: gsv50w32.exe
Size: 2032640 bytes (1985 KiB)
SHA256: 35AFA580E02CCF0A08ECC3AEC3D7A4F1E85B8E1E862A84FDC7A3A281BAB06E3D
<http://www.ghostgum.com.au/download/gsv50w64.exe>
Name: gsv50w64.exe
Size: 2176512 bytes (2125 KiB)
SHA256: 80D0161ABBB3CFB0FF08F3787C4959B8A41585EF1470DAE4AEA20341820D49AF
C:\Program Files\Ghostgum
[x]Associate PostScript (.ps & .eps) files with GSview
[_]Associate PDF(.pdf) files with GSview
3. Install Ghostgum ps2edit (pstoeditsetup350.exe)
<http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/pstoedit/>
<https://sourceforge.net/projects/pstoedit/files/latest/download>
<http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/pstoedit/pstoeditsetup350.exe?download>
<https://netactuate.dl.sourceforge.net/project/pstoedit/pstoedit/3.71/pstoeditsetup_x64.exe>
Name: pstoeditsetup_x64.exe
Size: 1287223 bytes (1257 KiB)
SHA256: F61F904BBB733DB8C61A3B0C673C89E35D961E7CC5AED596DEF3A4F709A203F2
C:\Program Files\pstoedit
[x]basic pstoedit
[_].h & .lib files for using the pstoedit.dll in other programs
[_]Some PostScript examples
[_]plugins SVG, MIF, EMF, CGM format (shareware)
[_]GraphicsMagick - otherwise you get missing DLL messages
Note: I tried it both ways, with and without those checkboxes checked.
4. Bring up GSView by clicking on the shortcut the installer made:
If you get this error, then copy gsdll64.dll where it wants it to be:
Failed to load C:\Program Files\Ghostgum\gsview\gsdll64.dll, error 126
The specified module could not be found.
But then I get this error, even when that DLL is found by GSView:
Wrong version of DLL found.
Found version 9533
Need version 704 - 999
Have you tried to install the latest Ghostscript/Ghostview/pstoedit lately?
o If so, what did you do differently than I did below on Windows 10?
--
The reason I want this is to remove protections from a protected PDF.
Arlen Holder
Oct 13, 2020, 7:10:03 PM10/13/20
to
On Tue, 13 Oct 2020 22:42:46 -0000 (UTC), Arlen Holder wrote:
> Have you tried to install the latest Ghostscript/Ghostview/pstoedit lately?
> o If so, what did you do differently than I did below on Windows 10?
Everything I installed was 64-bit but I will also try 32-bit next.
> Have you tried to install the latest Ghostscript/Ghostview/pstoedit lately?
> o If so, what did you do differently than I did below on Windows 10?
This says there's something wrong with 64-bit but the date is long ago.
o So you'd think they'd have fixed it in the interim.
<https://learnsharewithdp.wordpress.com/2019/04/22/error-solved-cant-load-cprogram-filesgsgs9-20bingsdll64-dll/>
Russell Lang 2011-02-16 11:37:11 UTC
32-bit version of GSview needs to use the 32-bit version of Ghostscript.
64-bit version of GSview needs to use the 64-bit version of Ghostscript.
Artifex did not upload a full installer for Ghostscript 9.0,
because the 64-bit executable runs slower than the 32-bit,
even on 64-bit Windows. I suggest you use the 32-bit versions.
You can install both, and Windows will put them in separate directories,
one in c:\program files, and the other in c:\program files (x86)
There was a bug in the older GSview 4.8, which would attempt to use
gsdll64.dll for previewing, and gsdll32.dll (and fail) when converting
or printing.
That bug might have been this bug from way back in 2011:
<https://bugs.ghostscript.com/show_bug.cgi?id=691994>
<https://sourceforge.net/p/ghostscript/discussion/5452/thread/5836abeb/>
But those bugs are a decade old.
Have you tried to install the latest Ghostscript/Ghostview/pstoedit lately?
ken
Oct 14, 2020, 4:48:24 AM10/14/20
to
In article <rm5ah5$h5e$1...@news.mixmin.net>, arlen_...@newmachines.com
says...
> I get this error when GhostView opens up any PDF file:
> Failed to load C:\Program Files\Ghostgum\gsview\gsdll64.dll, error 126
> The specified module could not be found.
GhostView is not Ghostscript, have you tried using Ghostscript itself ?
The error message says that GSView is looking in the folder:
C:\Program Files\Ghostgum\gsview
For the Ghostscript DLL, this is **not** the normal install location for
Ghostscript and is not the normal location where I would expect
Ghostview to look. Have you used advanced confgiure in GSView to look in
this folder ? If so then I'd suggest you either run the easy configure
step or reconfigure it to look in the correct Ghostscript install folder
(which changes on each release based on the version number).
> Then, when I copy over the Ghostscript dll, I get this error next:
> Wrong version of DLL found.
> Found version 9533
> Need version 704 - 999
Yes, that's because the version of Ghostscript has now changed to
include a patch number. This pushes the version number outside the range
which GSView considers acceptable.
So you cannot use any version of Ghostscript from 9.53.0 onwards with
the archaic GSView.
> Have you tried to install the latest Ghostscript/Ghostview/pstoedit lately?
You kow, you don't need to keep repeating the same question. Again you
are not using Ghostscript you are using some other tool which relies on
Ghostscript.
> Have you tried to install the latest Ghostscript/Ghostview/pstoedit
lately?
And again, the same question....
The answer is yes, I install all the released versions of Ghostscript
(64 and 32 bit) and these days I am using Windows 10.
> o If so, what did you do differently than I did below on Windows 10?
Nothing, and the current version of **Ghostscript** works well. Of
course the other tools you are using, GSView 5 and pstoedit, both of
which are around 11 years old, do not work with the new release. In fact
GSView 5 has not worked completely with Ghostscript for several versions
now (versions of Ghostscript that is)
I'm afraid the world moves on and unsupported software remains frozen in
time, eventually it ceases to work with newer code. Frankly I think its
a testament to Ghostscript's stability (and perhaps a criticicsm of its
slow evolution) that a program designed to work with a particular
version of Ghostscript could still work with the most recent version
more than 10 years later.
Regards,
Ken Sharp
says...
> Have you tried to install the latest Ghostscript/Ghostview/pstoedit
lately?
Yes.
lately?
> o If so, what did you do differently than I did below on Windows 10?
Nothing different.
> I get this error when GhostView opens up any PDF file:
> Failed to load C:\Program Files\Ghostgum\gsview\gsdll64.dll, error 126
> The specified module could not be found.
The error message says that GSView is looking in the folder:
C:\Program Files\Ghostgum\gsview
Ghostscript and is not the normal location where I would expect
Ghostview to look. Have you used advanced confgiure in GSView to look in
this folder ? If so then I'd suggest you either run the easy configure
step or reconfigure it to look in the correct Ghostscript install folder
(which changes on each release based on the version number).
> Then, when I copy over the Ghostscript dll, I get this error next:
> Wrong version of DLL found.
> Found version 9533
> Need version 704 - 999
include a patch number. This pushes the version number outside the range
which GSView considers acceptable.
So you cannot use any version of Ghostscript from 9.53.0 onwards with
the archaic GSView.
> Have you tried to install the latest Ghostscript/Ghostview/pstoedit lately?
are not using Ghostscript you are using some other tool which relies on
Ghostscript.
> Have you tried to install the latest Ghostscript/Ghostview/pstoedit
lately?
The answer is yes, I install all the released versions of Ghostscript
(64 and 32 bit) and these days I am using Windows 10.
> o If so, what did you do differently than I did below on Windows 10?
course the other tools you are using, GSView 5 and pstoedit, both of
which are around 11 years old, do not work with the new release. In fact
GSView 5 has not worked completely with Ghostscript for several versions
now (versions of Ghostscript that is)
I'm afraid the world moves on and unsupported software remains frozen in
time, eventually it ceases to work with newer code. Frankly I think its
a testament to Ghostscript's stability (and perhaps a criticicsm of its
slow evolution) that a program designed to work with a particular
version of Ghostscript could still work with the most recent version
more than 10 years later.
Regards,
Ken Sharp
Arlen Holder
Oct 14, 2020, 12:34:28 PM10/14/20
to
On Wed, 14 Oct 2020 09:48:21 +0100, ken wrote:
>> o If so, what did you do differently than I did below on Windows 10?
>
> Nothing different.
Hi Ken Sharp,
>> o If so, what did you do differently than I did below on Windows 10?
>
> Nothing different.
Thanks for trying to help me out, as I realize it's hard to help folks.
o I've installed the triad (ghostscript/ghostview/pstoedit) in the past...
o But with different (i.e., older) versions, of course.
And they worked just fine to remove permissions from PDF files
o
This time, I chose the "latest available" versions.
o But they didn't work together
> GhostView is not Ghostscript, have you tried using Ghostscript itself ?
o It's only when GhostView calls Ghostscript dll's that Ghostview fails.
> So you cannot use any version of Ghostscript from 9.53.0 onwards with
> the archaic GSView.
o If I want to remove permissions, I need to use the older versions.
Thanks.
o To give back to the team, I'll write up what _does_ work then.
This is the older procedure, from December 2014, that I will try:
o How to remove PDF permissions on Windows:
1. Install GPL Ghostscript 9.00 for 32-bit Windows (gs900w32.exe)
<http://mirror.cs.wisc.edu/pub/mirrors/ghost/GPL/gs900/gs900w32.exe>
2. Install GSview release v4.9 Win32 self extracting archive (gsv49w32.exe)
<http://mirror.cs.wisc.edu/pub/mirrors/ghost/ghostgum/gsv49w32.exe>
3. Install ps2edit (pstoeditsetup350.exe)
<http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/pstoedit/pstoeditsetup350.exe>
4. Bring up GSView by clicking on its shortcut
5. File > Open > protected_pdf_file.pdf
6. File > Convert (pdfwrite, 600dpi, all pages, ok)
As always, I'll be a good Usenet citizen by reporting back
o Even if I fail (but if I can find those older versions, it should work)
(As long as those older versions can read a newer PDF file.)
--
The expensive part of freeware is getting it all to work together.
Arlen Holder
Oct 14, 2020, 4:43:35 PM10/14/20
to
On Wed, 14 Oct 2020 16:34:26 -0000 (UTC), Arlen Holder wrote:
> As always, I'll be a good Usenet citizen by reporting back
Since some of the reports on the net of the same error claimed
> As always, I'll be a good Usenet citizen by reporting back
the 32-bit versions work better, I tried them, but to no avail
(even after manually copying the files over where it was looking).
GSview 5.0 2012-01-17
Failed to load C:\Program Files (x86)\Ghostgum\gs7.04\bin\gsdll32.dll, error 126
The specified module could not be found.
Failed to load C:\Program Files (x86)\Ghostgum\gsview\gsdll32.dll, error 126
The specified module could not be found.
Failed to load gsdll32.dll, error 126
The specified module could not be found.
Can't load Ghostscript DLL
Wrong version of DLL found.
Found version 9533
Need version 704 - 999
What I need is to install an older version of GhostView that
Found version 9533
Need version 704 - 999
looks for the latest available version of GhostScript that
I can find, which is version gs9.53.3 of Ghostscript.
--
The high expense of freeware is figuring out which versions work.
Arlen Holder
Oct 14, 2020, 5:32:22 PM10/14/20
to
On Wed, 14 Oct 2020 20:43:33 -0000 (UTC), Arlen Holder wrote:
> What I need is to install an older version of GhostView that
> looks for the latest available version of GhostScript that
> I can find, which is version gs9.53.3 of Ghostscript.
It's not easy to find that older version of Ghostview which will work with
> What I need is to install an older version of GhostView that
> looks for the latest available version of GhostScript that
> I can find, which is version gs9.53.3 of Ghostscript.
the current version of Ghostscript, as the pages I referenced prior have
only _one_ version (i.e., the latest) of each executable.
1. This link _only_ has Artifex GPL Ghostscript version 9.53.3
<https://www.ghostscript.com/download/gsdnld.html>
2. This link only has Ghostgum GSview version 5.0
<http://www.ghostgum.com.au/software/gsview.htm>
3. This link apparently has a few pstoedit versions (see below)
<http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/pstoedit/>
Worse, when I tried this old tutorial from December 2014, only one of the
three links worked, so again, it's not easy to get the "right" versions.
This is the older procedure, from December 2014, that I will try:
1. Install GPL Ghostscript 9.00 for 32-bit Windows (gs900w32.exe)
<http://mirror.cs.wisc.edu/pub/mirrors/ghost/GPL/gs900/gs900w32.exe>
FAILED
<http://mirror.cs.wisc.edu/pub/mirrors/ghost/GPL/gs900/gs900w32.exe>
2. Install GSview release v4.9 Win32 self extracting archive (gsv49w32.exe)
<http://mirror.cs.wisc.edu/pub/mirrors/ghost/ghostgum/gsv49w32.exe>
FAILED
<http://mirror.cs.wisc.edu/pub/mirrors/ghost/ghostgum/gsv49w32.exe>
3. Install ps2edit (pstoeditsetup350.exe)
<http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/pstoedit/pstoeditsetup350.exe>
WORKED!
<http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/pstoedit/pstoeditsetup350.exe>
So my dilemma is figuring out exactly which are the latest two versions of
Ghostview and Ghostscript that work together to read PDF files (so that I
can strip out the permissions).
a. A search shows this is apparently where to get Ghostscript version 9.23:
<https://ghostscript.com/Ghostscript_9.23.html>
b. Which itself refers to this link:
<https://www.ghostscript.com/download.html>
c. Which loops back, unfortunately, to the Ghostscript version 9.53.3:
<https://www.ghostscript.com/download/gsdnld.html>
Giving up on that approach, another search finds "GPL Ghostscript"
<https://www.advanceduninstaller.com/GPL-Ghostscript-88763ef7dd9bee1fd7cb523604c2058d-application.htm>
But getting software from some unknown site is problematic, but at least
they list what appear to be all the known recent versions of Ghostscript:
o 9.14, 9.53.2, 9.52, 9.51, 9.21, 9.09, 9.15, 9.18, 9.53.0,
o 9.20, 9.27, 9.05, 9.50, 9.16, 9.04, 9.53.1, 9.25, 9.26, 9.24,
o 9.12, 9.22, 9.10, 9.19, 9.53.3, 9.08, 9.02, 9.28, 9.06, 9.07
Googling, I can find an older version of Ghostscript version 9.09 here:
o <https://sourceforge.net/projects/ghostscript/>
But then the trick is finding an older version of GSview online that works
with that older version of Ghostscript!
Arlen Holder
Oct 14, 2020, 9:33:39 PM10/14/20
to
SOLVED!
o <https://i.postimg.cc/XJ7785gf/convertpdf01.jpg>
o <https://i.postimg.cc/3RSrbwLP/convertpdf02.jpg>
o <https://i.postimg.cc/2y1jpfM3/convertpdf03.jpg>
I needed to know which version triad was known to work well together.
o So I looked on my old 32-bit WinXP laptop which has these versions:
1. Ghostscript 9.07 (02/04/2013)
2. GhostView 5.0 (01/17/2012)
3. pstoedit 3.62 (04/28/2013)
The rest was easy once that removed the myriad version variables!
A. First, I picked up the Artifex GPL Ghostscript version 9.07 here:
<https://master.dl.sourceforge.net/project/ghostscript/GPL%20Ghostscript/9.07/gs907w64.exe>
B. Then, I picked up the Ghostgum GhostView version 5.0 here:
<http://www.ghostgum.com.au/download/gsv50w64.exe>
C. Lastly, I picked up the Ghostgum pstoedit version 3.62 here:
<https://master.dl.sourceforge.net/project/pstoedit/pstoedit/3.62/pstoeditsetup_x64.exe>
a. I installed the 64-bit version of Ghostscript 9.07 obtained above:
<https://sourceforge.net/projects/ghostscript/>
<https://sourceforge.net/projects/ghostscript/files/>
<https://sourceforge.net/projects/ghostscript/files/GPL%20Ghostscript/>
<https://sourceforge.net/projects/ghostscript/files/GPL%20Ghostscript/9.07/>
<https://sourceforge.net/projects/ghostscript/files/GPL%20Ghostscript/9.07/gs907w64.exe/download>
<https://master.dl.sourceforge.net/project/ghostscript/GPL%20Ghostscript/9.07/gs907w64.exe>
Name: gs907w64.exe
Size: 12975660 bytes (12 MiB)
SHA256: B2C0BE0A963A215EC0343D73B2F3FFD4D4CD87AE21C78CB17F72F248689BE316
Normally I would never put anything in program files, but I don't want
installation issues until I prove it works so I took all defaults:
C:\Program Files\gs\gs9.07
The installer created the following shortcut:
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Ghostscript\Ghostscript 9.07.lnk
TARGET: "C:\Program Files\gs\gs9.07\bin\gswin64.exe" "-IC:\Program Files\gs\gs9.07\lib;C:\Program Files\gs\gs9.07\..\fonts"
STARTIN: "C:\Program Files\gs\gs9.07"
b. I installed the 64-bit version of Ghostview 5.0 obtained above:
<http://www.ghostgum.com.au/software/gsview.htm>
C:\Program Files\Ghostgum
The installer said "successful" & it created the following shortcut:
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Ghostgum\GSview 5.0.lnk
TARGET: "C:\Program Files\Ghostgum\gsview\gsview64.exe"
STARTIN: <blank>
c. I installed the 64-bit version of pstoedit 3.62 obtained above:
<https://sourceforge.net/projects/pstoedit/>
<https://sourceforge.net/projects/pstoedit/files/pstoedit/>
<https://sourceforge.net/projects/pstoedit/files/pstoedit/3.62/>
<https://sourceforge.net/projects/pstoedit/files/pstoedit/3.62/pstoeditsetup_x64.exe/download>
<https://master.dl.sourceforge.net/project/pstoedit/pstoedit/3.62/pstoeditsetup_x64.exe>
Name: pstoeditsetup_x64.exe
Size: 1410584 bytes (1377 KiB)
SHA256: 5ED63D29ECA150A26FE689664A9422DCAB11E467544B39241690FF25AB790AE1
Likewise, I'd never use program files, but I took all defaults:
C:\Program Files\pstoedit
This doesn't seem to have created a shortcut but the key file is:
C:\Program Files\pstoedit\pstoedit.exe
D. I copied the Ghostview shortcut from the Start Menu to my custom menu:
Taskbar > menu > editor > pspdf > GSview 5.0.lnk
E. And I clicked on that shortcut to open the Ghostview 5.0 GUI.
F. In Ghostview 5.0 (01/19/2012) I clicked on "File > Open > fname.pdf"
which was a multi-page PDF file of PDF Version 1.5 (Acrobat 6.x)
with all permissions locked up (and which the Adobe Acrobat
(writer), version 6.0 had refused to open, barfing upon opening).
"There was an error opening this document.
The file is damaged and could not be repaired."
<https://i.postimg.cc/XJ7785gf/convertpdf01.jpg>
G. I clicked "File > Convert (pdfwrite, 600dpi, all pages, ok)"
and saved to a new file name "converted_fname.pdf".
Note: You must wait for the conversion to finish, which is not
obvious unless you happen to notice a background windows showing
the hundreds of pages fly by as they're converted page by page
(that window disappears when the conversion is completed).
H. I compared the old & new file where the differences I saw were:
The old file "File > Properties > Description" was the file name.
The converted file said "Ghostscript wrapper for C:\converted_fname.pdf"
[Note: I easily changed that back with the Adobe Acrobat writer.]
In Adobe Acrobat 6.0 (the writer), the original file
"File > Document Properties > Security" permissions were all
"Not Allowed", while the converted file were all "Allowed".
<https://i.postimg.cc/3RSrbwLP/convertpdf02.jpg>
It's important to note that the Adobe Acrobat DC (reader) does _not_
provide an "accurate" assessment of the security properties
"File > Properties > Security" where some are showed as "not allowed"
<https://i.postimg.cc/2y1jpfM3/convertpdf03.jpg>
But it's close enough if you know what they're trying to tell you.
--
There is almost always a solution for all issues using existing freeware.
o <https://i.postimg.cc/XJ7785gf/convertpdf01.jpg>
o <https://i.postimg.cc/3RSrbwLP/convertpdf02.jpg>
o <https://i.postimg.cc/2y1jpfM3/convertpdf03.jpg>
I needed to know which version triad was known to work well together.
o So I looked on my old 32-bit WinXP laptop which has these versions:
1. Ghostscript 9.07 (02/04/2013)
2. GhostView 5.0 (01/17/2012)
3. pstoedit 3.62 (04/28/2013)
The rest was easy once that removed the myriad version variables!
A. First, I picked up the Artifex GPL Ghostscript version 9.07 here:
<https://master.dl.sourceforge.net/project/ghostscript/GPL%20Ghostscript/9.07/gs907w64.exe>
B. Then, I picked up the Ghostgum GhostView version 5.0 here:
<http://www.ghostgum.com.au/download/gsv50w64.exe>
C. Lastly, I picked up the Ghostgum pstoedit version 3.62 here:
<https://master.dl.sourceforge.net/project/pstoedit/pstoedit/3.62/pstoeditsetup_x64.exe>
a. I installed the 64-bit version of Ghostscript 9.07 obtained above:
<https://sourceforge.net/projects/ghostscript/>
<https://sourceforge.net/projects/ghostscript/files/>
<https://sourceforge.net/projects/ghostscript/files/GPL%20Ghostscript/>
<https://sourceforge.net/projects/ghostscript/files/GPL%20Ghostscript/9.07/>
<https://sourceforge.net/projects/ghostscript/files/GPL%20Ghostscript/9.07/gs907w64.exe/download>
<https://master.dl.sourceforge.net/project/ghostscript/GPL%20Ghostscript/9.07/gs907w64.exe>
Name: gs907w64.exe
Size: 12975660 bytes (12 MiB)
SHA256: B2C0BE0A963A215EC0343D73B2F3FFD4D4CD87AE21C78CB17F72F248689BE316
Normally I would never put anything in program files, but I don't want
installation issues until I prove it works so I took all defaults:
C:\Program Files\gs\gs9.07
The installer created the following shortcut:
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Ghostscript\Ghostscript 9.07.lnk
TARGET: "C:\Program Files\gs\gs9.07\bin\gswin64.exe" "-IC:\Program Files\gs\gs9.07\lib;C:\Program Files\gs\gs9.07\..\fonts"
STARTIN: "C:\Program Files\gs\gs9.07"
b. I installed the 64-bit version of Ghostview 5.0 obtained above:
<http://www.ghostgum.com.au/software/gsview.htm>
<http://www.ghostgum.com.au/download/gsv50w64.exe>
Name: gsv50w64.exe
Size: 2176512 bytes (2125 KiB)
SHA256: 80D0161ABBB3CFB0FF08F3787C4959B8A41585EF1470DAE4AEA20341820D49AF
I'd never put a program in program files, but again, I took the defaults:
Name: gsv50w64.exe
Size: 2176512 bytes (2125 KiB)
SHA256: 80D0161ABBB3CFB0FF08F3787C4959B8A41585EF1470DAE4AEA20341820D49AF
C:\Program Files\Ghostgum
The installer said "successful" & it created the following shortcut:
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Ghostgum\GSview 5.0.lnk
TARGET: "C:\Program Files\Ghostgum\gsview\gsview64.exe"
STARTIN: <blank>
c. I installed the 64-bit version of pstoedit 3.62 obtained above:
<https://sourceforge.net/projects/pstoedit/>
<https://sourceforge.net/projects/pstoedit/files/pstoedit/>
<https://sourceforge.net/projects/pstoedit/files/pstoedit/3.62/>
<https://sourceforge.net/projects/pstoedit/files/pstoedit/3.62/pstoeditsetup_x64.exe/download>
<https://master.dl.sourceforge.net/project/pstoedit/pstoedit/3.62/pstoeditsetup_x64.exe>
Name: pstoeditsetup_x64.exe
Size: 1410584 bytes (1377 KiB)
SHA256: 5ED63D29ECA150A26FE689664A9422DCAB11E467544B39241690FF25AB790AE1
Likewise, I'd never use program files, but I took all defaults:
C:\Program Files\pstoedit
This doesn't seem to have created a shortcut but the key file is:
C:\Program Files\pstoedit\pstoedit.exe
D. I copied the Ghostview shortcut from the Start Menu to my custom menu:
Taskbar > menu > editor > pspdf > GSview 5.0.lnk
E. And I clicked on that shortcut to open the Ghostview 5.0 GUI.
F. In Ghostview 5.0 (01/19/2012) I clicked on "File > Open > fname.pdf"
which was a multi-page PDF file of PDF Version 1.5 (Acrobat 6.x)
with all permissions locked up (and which the Adobe Acrobat
(writer), version 6.0 had refused to open, barfing upon opening).
"There was an error opening this document.
The file is damaged and could not be repaired."
<https://i.postimg.cc/XJ7785gf/convertpdf01.jpg>
G. I clicked "File > Convert (pdfwrite, 600dpi, all pages, ok)"
and saved to a new file name "converted_fname.pdf".
Note: You must wait for the conversion to finish, which is not
obvious unless you happen to notice a background windows showing
the hundreds of pages fly by as they're converted page by page
(that window disappears when the conversion is completed).
H. I compared the old & new file where the differences I saw were:
The old file "File > Properties > Description" was the file name.
The converted file said "Ghostscript wrapper for C:\converted_fname.pdf"
[Note: I easily changed that back with the Adobe Acrobat writer.]
In Adobe Acrobat 6.0 (the writer), the original file
"File > Document Properties > Security" permissions were all
"Not Allowed", while the converted file were all "Allowed".
<https://i.postimg.cc/3RSrbwLP/convertpdf02.jpg>
It's important to note that the Adobe Acrobat DC (reader) does _not_
provide an "accurate" assessment of the security properties
"File > Properties > Security" where some are showed as "not allowed"
<https://i.postimg.cc/2y1jpfM3/convertpdf03.jpg>
But it's close enough if you know what they're trying to tell you.
--
There is almost always a solution for all issues using existing freeware.
Arlen Holder
Oct 14, 2020, 10:14:25 PM10/14/20
to
Note this step-by-step tutorial solution solves _multiple_ problems:
a. This method appears to remove all restrictive permissions
b. I think it also removes password protection
c. It downconverts newer PDF documents to version 1.4 (Acrobat 3.0)
d. It "fixes" documents that Adobe Acrobat says are "corrupted"
e. It rotates PDF orientation (e.g., landscape, seascape, portrait)
f. It extracts all the text inside of the PDF to a text file
g. It extracts selected pages to another file, if desired
h. It adjusts the page size (e.g., 8.5x11, A4, Legal, letter, etc.)
etc.
For cross reference, see also:
o Do you know of offline freeware that WYSIWYG downconverts PDF versions?
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/comp.text.pdf/KuAn8tNpGk0>
o Have you tried to install the latest Ghostscript/Ghostview/pstoedit lately?
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/comp.text.pdf/UI-xhABnyFY>
o What freeware PDF converter will take a newer PDF & save in older format?
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/alt.comp.freeware/gXXRe7LfI2Y>
o Do some PDFs have copy text restrictions? (by Ant)
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/comp.text.pdf/SKPLEIlt9Ug>
o How to remove restrictive permissions from a PDF file
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/comp.text.pdf/rt6A1oSGo1E>
And, for merging and managing PDF documents, these cross reference:
o How to download USGS topo maps for free & print them using a freeware digital tiler
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/rec.photo.digital/X00EPzrBuWo>
o Make 12x18" signs at home on 8.5x11" B&W laser printer
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/rec.photo.digital/dQHCi2uRTzA%5B1-25%5D>
o How to print & frame a roughly 5'x10' google satellite view on a wall
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/rec.photo.digital/MAGv2V2J-kk>
o Making poster from digital pic
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/rec.photo.digital/1i_xtl8n85w>
o merging 2 landscape pages into a portrait page.
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/comp.text.pdf/4W63oNBROYY>
etc.
--
Almost never do we fail to solve our problem set using the best freeware.
a. This method appears to remove all restrictive permissions
b. I think it also removes password protection
c. It downconverts newer PDF documents to version 1.4 (Acrobat 3.0)
d. It "fixes" documents that Adobe Acrobat says are "corrupted"
e. It rotates PDF orientation (e.g., landscape, seascape, portrait)
f. It extracts all the text inside of the PDF to a text file
g. It extracts selected pages to another file, if desired
h. It adjusts the page size (e.g., 8.5x11, A4, Legal, letter, etc.)
etc.
For cross reference, see also:
o Do you know of offline freeware that WYSIWYG downconverts PDF versions?
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/comp.text.pdf/KuAn8tNpGk0>
o Have you tried to install the latest Ghostscript/Ghostview/pstoedit lately?
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/comp.text.pdf/UI-xhABnyFY>
o What freeware PDF converter will take a newer PDF & save in older format?
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/alt.comp.freeware/gXXRe7LfI2Y>
o Do some PDFs have copy text restrictions? (by Ant)
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/comp.text.pdf/SKPLEIlt9Ug>
o How to remove restrictive permissions from a PDF file
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/comp.text.pdf/rt6A1oSGo1E>
And, for merging and managing PDF documents, these cross reference:
o How to download USGS topo maps for free & print them using a freeware digital tiler
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/rec.photo.digital/X00EPzrBuWo>
o Make 12x18" signs at home on 8.5x11" B&W laser printer
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/rec.photo.digital/dQHCi2uRTzA%5B1-25%5D>
o How to print & frame a roughly 5'x10' google satellite view on a wall
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/rec.photo.digital/MAGv2V2J-kk>
o Making poster from digital pic
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/rec.photo.digital/1i_xtl8n85w>
o merging 2 landscape pages into a portrait page.
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/comp.text.pdf/4W63oNBROYY>
etc.
--
Almost never do we fail to solve our problem set using the best freeware.
ken
Oct 15, 2020, 2:55:42 AM10/15/20
to
In article <rm7qp4$k4q$1...@news.mixmin.net>, arlen_...@newmachines.com
says...
> It's not easy to find that older version of Ghostview which will work
with
> the current version of Ghostscript, as the pages I referenced prior have
> only _one_ version (i.e., the latest) of each executable.
You don't want an older version of Ghostview, you want an older version
of Ghostscript.
> 1. This link _only_ has Artifex GPL Ghostscript version 9.53.3
> <https://www.ghostscript.com/download/gsdnld.html>
Its true that that page only has the current release, However if you
look at the bottom of the page, just aboe the gray bar with the Artifex
boilerplate, there is the text "Old releases available here" and a URL
to click.
That takes you to the Github repository which has releases back to 9.18
(4 years ago).
> 2. This link only has Ghostgum GSview version 5.0
> <http://www.ghostgum.com.au/software/gsview.htm>
> 3. This link apparently has a few pstoedit versions (see below)
> <http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/pstoedit/>
I don't believe you want anything less than the most recent versions of
these, so I don't really see that as a problem.
> But then the trick is finding an older version of GSview online that
works
> with that older version of Ghostscript!
GSView can use any version of Ghostscript, though generally it was
intended for use with the version current at the time it was released.
However I can say with some confidence that its only in the last 2 years
or so that Ghostscript evolved sufficiently to break the last release of
GSView.
So any version of Ghostscript more than about 2 or 3 years old will
probably work with it.
Ken
says...
> It's not easy to find that older version of Ghostview which will work
with
> the current version of Ghostscript, as the pages I referenced prior have
> only _one_ version (i.e., the latest) of each executable.
of Ghostscript.
> 1. This link _only_ has Artifex GPL Ghostscript version 9.53.3
> <https://www.ghostscript.com/download/gsdnld.html>
look at the bottom of the page, just aboe the gray bar with the Artifex
boilerplate, there is the text "Old releases available here" and a URL
to click.
That takes you to the Github repository which has releases back to 9.18
(4 years ago).
> 2. This link only has Ghostgum GSview version 5.0
> <http://www.ghostgum.com.au/software/gsview.htm>
> 3. This link apparently has a few pstoedit versions (see below)
> <http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/pstoedit/>
these, so I don't really see that as a problem.
> But then the trick is finding an older version of GSview online that
works
> with that older version of Ghostscript!
intended for use with the version current at the time it was released.
However I can say with some confidence that its only in the last 2 years
or so that Ghostscript evolved sufficiently to break the last release of
GSView.
So any version of Ghostscript more than about 2 or 3 years old will
probably work with it.
Ken
Arlen Holder
Oct 15, 2020, 5:41:49 PM10/15/20
to
On Thu, 15 Oct 2020 07:55:38 +0100, ken wrote:
> You don't want an older version of Ghostview, you want an older version
> of Ghostscript.
Hi Ken,
> You don't want an older version of Ghostview, you want an older version
> of Ghostscript.
Thanks for that advice because I only figured that out by trial & error.
o The key problem is _which_ is the latest "working" Ghostscript version.
> Its true that that page only has the current release, However if you
> look at the bottom of the page, just aboe the gray bar with the Artifex
> boilerplate, there is the text "Old releases available here" and a URL
> to click.
>
> That takes you to the Github repository which has releases back to 9.18
> (4 years ago).
o To find out which Ghostscript version works with that latest Ghostview.
> I don't believe you want anything less than the most recent versions of
> these, so I don't really see that as a problem.
version experimentation for the Ghostview and pstoedit.
Your help is useful as otherwise I only know what works and what fails.
This fails:
o Artifex GPL Ghostscript Version 9.53.3 (latest)
o Ghostgum GSview 5 (latest, unsupported)
o Ghostgum ps2edit 3.50 (latest)
This works:
o Artifex GPL Ghostscript version 9.07 (older)
o Ghostgum GhostView version 5.0 (latest, unsupported)
o Ghostgum pstoedit version 3.62 (older)
> GSView can use any version of Ghostscript, though generally it was
> intended for use with the version current at the time it was released.
> However I can say with some confidence that its only in the last 2 years
> or so that Ghostscript evolved sufficiently to break the last release of
> GSView.
a. We can use a newer version of Ghostscript than 9.07 (but not too new!)
b. We can likely use the latest version of pstoedit (version 3.50)
I'm not sure what a newer version of Ghostscript & pstoedit buys us though.
> So any version of Ghostscript more than about 2 or 3 years old will
> probably work with it.
o Tutorial for installing ghostscript/ghostview/pstoedit
to remove PDF copy & password protection , downconvert, rotate pages,
change paper sizes, fix corruption, extract text, etc.=
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/comp.text.pdf/SA8kDtc_aRg>
If you can take a look at that tutorial to make suggestions for
improvements, I'd appreciate your advice (where I already accept we can
likely upgrade pstoedit to the latest version, and Ghostscript to some
version that is newer than version 9.07 but older than the current version
9.53.3).
--
The high cost of freeware is figuring out which apps play nicely together.
ken
Oct 16, 2020, 3:07:57 AM10/16/20
to
In article <rmafmr$p8q$1...@news.mixmin.net>, arlen_...@newmachines.com
says...
> > GSView can use any version of Ghostscript, though generally it was
> > intended for use with the version current at the time it was released.
> > However I can say with some confidence that its only in the last 2 years
> > or so that Ghostscript evolved sufficiently to break the last release of
> > GSView.
>
> I appreciate that you advise two changes are possible for it to still work:
> a. We can use a newer version of Ghostscript than 9.07 (but not too new!)
> b. We can likely use the latest version of pstoedit (version 3.50)
>
> I'm not sure what a newer version of Ghostscript & pstoedit buys us though.
Newer versions of Ghostscript are not subject to the security
vulnerabilities publicly disclosed a couple of years ago. Fixing those
is what breaks compatibility with GSView 5.
In addition there are new features and of course bug fixes. Highlights
of each release are documented in the release notes accompanying each
release.
But as an example, JPEG images are passed through unchanged with
versions later than about 9.18, whereas in older versions (eg 9.07) JPEG
images are decompressed and recompressed leading to a significant loss
of quality.
I can't comment on pstoedit.
> If you can take a look at that tutorial to make suggestions for
> improvements, I'd appreciate your advice (where I already accept we can
> likely upgrade pstoedit to the latest version, and Ghostscript to some
> version that is newer than version 9.07 but older than the current version
> 9.53.3).
As far as I can see you aren't using pstoedit, and you are only using
GSView in order to get a GUI. You could probably achieve the same result
using Ghostscript alone. For example this:
gswin64c -sDEVICE=pdfwrite -o out.pdf <in.pdf>
Would do much the same as your step 12. It doesn't set the resolution
but that's largely irrelevant anyway.
If you insist you could add -r600 to set the resolution to 600 dpi, but
that's only consulted if an input feature cannot be represented in the
output and needs to be rendered. The most common case for that is when
the input has transparency and the output is a very elderly version such
as PDF 1.3.
In general what's in the input ends up in the output so the resolution
doesn't do anything. The default resolution is 720 dpi.
Ken
says...
> > GSView can use any version of Ghostscript, though generally it was
> > intended for use with the version current at the time it was released.
> > However I can say with some confidence that its only in the last 2 years
> > or so that Ghostscript evolved sufficiently to break the last release of
> > GSView.
>
> I appreciate that you advise two changes are possible for it to still work:
> a. We can use a newer version of Ghostscript than 9.07 (but not too new!)
> b. We can likely use the latest version of pstoedit (version 3.50)
>
> I'm not sure what a newer version of Ghostscript & pstoedit buys us though.
vulnerabilities publicly disclosed a couple of years ago. Fixing those
is what breaks compatibility with GSView 5.
In addition there are new features and of course bug fixes. Highlights
of each release are documented in the release notes accompanying each
release.
But as an example, JPEG images are passed through unchanged with
versions later than about 9.18, whereas in older versions (eg 9.07) JPEG
images are decompressed and recompressed leading to a significant loss
of quality.
I can't comment on pstoedit.
> If you can take a look at that tutorial to make suggestions for
> improvements, I'd appreciate your advice (where I already accept we can
> likely upgrade pstoedit to the latest version, and Ghostscript to some
> version that is newer than version 9.07 but older than the current version
> 9.53.3).
GSView in order to get a GUI. You could probably achieve the same result
using Ghostscript alone. For example this:
gswin64c -sDEVICE=pdfwrite -o out.pdf <in.pdf>
Would do much the same as your step 12. It doesn't set the resolution
but that's largely irrelevant anyway.
If you insist you could add -r600 to set the resolution to 600 dpi, but
that's only consulted if an input feature cannot be represented in the
output and needs to be rendered. The most common case for that is when
the input has transparency and the output is a very elderly version such
as PDF 1.3.
In general what's in the input ends up in the output so the resolution
doesn't do anything. The default resolution is 720 dpi.
Ken
Arlen Holder
Oct 16, 2020, 2:54:28 PM10/16/20
to
On Fri, 16 Oct 2020 08:07:53 +0100, ken wrote:
> Newer versions of Ghostscript are not subject to the security
> vulnerabilities publicly disclosed a couple of years ago. Fixing those
> is what breaks compatibility with GSView 5.
Hi Ken,
> Newer versions of Ghostscript are not subject to the security
> vulnerabilities publicly disclosed a couple of years ago. Fixing those
> is what breaks compatibility with GSView 5.
Thank you for edifying me on why they made Ghostscript incompatible with
the Ghostview version out there (version 5.0, unsupported).
When you inform me, you also not only inform all the lurkers, but it goes
into the permanent Usenet record for anyone to benefit from in the future.
> But as an example, JPEG images are passed through unchanged with
> versions later than about 9.18, whereas in older versions (eg 9.07) JPEG
> images are decompressed and recompressed leading to a significant loss
> of quality.
that I can post for everyone to benefit what's the "last known good
version" of Ghostscript that works with the "last supported version" of
Ghostview.
> I can't comment on pstoedit.
original tutorial I wrote, oh, maybe a decade or two ago, where I'm
positive I put it there for a reason - but I don't remember _that_ reason.
> As far as I can see you aren't using pstoedit, and you are only using
> GSView in order to get a GUI. You could probably achieve the same result
> using Ghostscript alone. For example this:
> gswin64c -sDEVICE=pdfwrite -o out.pdf <in.pdf>
example. I much appreciate that you took the time to read it, as it takes
hours to write them.
Thank you also for your comment which I will incorporate into the next
version. Since I only use these conversion tools when I have an actual
document which requires conversion, having ready-made examples is helpful.
The audience for this tutorial is someone like I am, who only uses the
conversion tools, oh, say, about once every couple of years, where the
command line options are bubbled up into the Ghostview GUI for simplicity.
BTW, sometimes Ghostview is referred to as "GSView"; is that the same thing
but just with an abbreviated name?
> Would do much the same as your step 12. It doesn't set the resolution
> but that's largely irrelevant anyway.
Resolution is a perennial discussion, in fact, on rec.photo.digital.
Most of the time, the DPI makes no difference, I think.
(I never really understood it as it never seemed to matter to me as I'm not
a theorist but a pragmatist - I use software to get a job done - that's
all.)
> If you insist you could add -r600 to set the resolution to 600 dpi, but
> that's only consulted if an input feature cannot be represented in the
> output and needs to be rendered. The most common case for that is when
> the input has transparency and the output is a very elderly version such
> as PDF 1.3.
remember _why_ the tutorial now has a setting for 600DPI. I suspect that's
simply the default though, as it was already set up when I installed it
this week on a fresh Windows 10 machine which had been BSOD'ing on me.
o Windows 10 BSOD indicates a hardware problem - but what hardware is the problem?
<https://alt.comp.os.windows-10.narkive.com/oL7PTNKu/windows-10-bsod-indicates-a-hardware-problem-but-what-hardware-is-the-problem>
<http://www.pcbanter.net/showthread.php?t=1110105>
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/alt.comp.microsoft.windows/u0ay9h777Wg>
The point is my _entire_ system had to be rebuilt from scratch, where I
didn't even have a decent PDF editor (not reader, but editor) until I found
my old version of Adobe Acrobat 6 lying around (my acrobat 7 is on a disc
somewhere and I stopped buying it after around then because it was the same
thing sold multiple times reheated it always seemed).
> In general what's in the input ends up in the output so the resolution
> doesn't do anything. The default resolution is 720 dpi.
in a general purpose tutorial, I should keep things at the default unless
then need to be changed, where I agree with you that in general, the
resolution doesn't matter for our purposes of 'converting' a document.
I tried to find a good list of all that Ghostscript can do, but I didn't
find it, surprisingly, but I didn't look all that hard as I think when it's
needed, people will find it.
Let me try again...
o How to use Ghostscript
<https://web.mit.edu/ghostscript/www/Use.htm>
<https://www.ghostscript.com/doc/current/Use.htm>
o Details on using Ghostscript
<https://www.ghostscript.com/doc/current/Devices.htm>
o Ghostscript (gs) command (man) page:
<https://www.mankier.com/1/gs>
o Specific Ghostscript conversion problems on Stackexchange:
<https://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/ghostscript>
--
Usenet allows people from around the world to help each other learn.
ken
Oct 17, 2020, 4:32:23 AM10/17/20
to
In article <rmcq92$dr7$1...@news.mixmin.net>, arlen_...@newmachines.com
says...
> Thank you for edifying me on why they made Ghostscript incompatible
with
> the Ghostview version out there (version 5.0, unsupported).
If I can just correct you slightly, or at least the way I read what
you've written there, the changes weren't intended to make Ghostscript
and GSView incompatible, its just that the changes required to improve
the security meant that the way GSView uses Ghostscript to handle PDF
had to be removed.
Part of the change is the fact that the default behaviour changed from
NOSAFER to SAFER, which you can override inside GSView, the other part
is that GSView was directly using exposed, undocumented, parts of the
PDF interpreter. As soon as exploits started targeting those same areas
the only solution was to remove access to them, they couldn't be made
safe.
I don't recall off the top of my head but I'm reasonably sure the
removal of the portions of the PDF interpreter exposed to PostScript was
documented, the change to SAFER certainly was.
> BTW, sometimes Ghostview is referred to as "GSView"; is that the same
thing
> but just with an abbreviated name?
No, not in any way. Ghostscript is a PostScript and PDF interpreter,
originally written by L Peter Deutsch and nowadays commercially licensed
by Artifex Software Inc (as well as being Open Source under the AGPL
v3).
GSView is a GUI front-end and a 'utility' application written to explout
the capabilities of Ghostscript. It was written by Russell Lang
operating as Ghostgum Pty of Australia, is also Open Source and was
commercially licensed (possibly shareware ?) by him. GSView is released
under the Aladdin License (the one used by Ghostscript at the time) so
I'm not certain whether it can legally be forked.
Anyway, dirfferent applications, different companies, diffeerent
authors.
> > Would do much the same as your step 12. It doesn't set the
resolution
> > but that's largely irrelevant anyway.
>
> Agreed on the resolution being "largely irrelevant" for most purposes.
> Resolution is a perennial discussion, in fact, on rec.photo.digital.
> Most of the time, the DPI makes no difference, I think.
> (I never really understood it as it never seemed to matter to me as I'm not
> a theorist but a pragmatist - I use software to get a job done - that's
> all.)
Well my point here wass that PDF files are vector descriptions (which
may contain bitmap images as well), and the pdfwrite device is at pains
to maintain that. So an operation like:
0 1 0 rg
0 100 m
100 100 m
100 0 m
0 0 m
f
(Which fills a rectangle 100x100 points in green)
Would be preserved as such, the resolution has no effect on the PDF
output. There are circumstances where that is not the case, but those
tend to be somewhat special cases (such as reducing a transparent PDF
file to PDF 1.3 which does not support transparency) and probably beyond
the scope of this discussion.
> Ah. I should change the tutorial then to use the default of 720dpi
since,
> in a general purpose tutorial, I should keep things at the default unless
> then need to be changed, where I agree with you that in general, the
> resolution doesn't matter for our purposes of 'converting' a document.
>
> I tried to find a good list of all that Ghostscript can do, but I didn't
> find it, surprisingly, but I didn't look all that hard as I think when it's
> needed, people will find it.
PostScript is a programming language, so you can write programs in it.
That means its possible to use Ghostscript to achieve a very wide range
of things indeed. For example its possible to take an input file
(PostScript or PDF) and turn it into a n-up output file. *Ghostscript*
doesn't offer you that directly, but you can write a program to do it. I
believe one of my answers on Stack Overflow does the reverse, Given an
n-up PDF file it dissects it back into multiple pages.
That's partly how GSView achieves its functionality. Its also how things
like psutils and pstricks work.
So its not really possible to list all the things Ghostscript can do.
You could list all the devices supported, and all the features (Use.htm
lists the majorty and VectorDevices.htm the majority of the remainder)
but such a list probably isn't hugely useful because it doesn't really
tell you what you can use them for.
In a lot of ways Ghostscript is like Lego; you can build what you want.
Ken
says...
> Thank you for edifying me on why they made Ghostscript incompatible
with
> the Ghostview version out there (version 5.0, unsupported).
you've written there, the changes weren't intended to make Ghostscript
and GSView incompatible, its just that the changes required to improve
the security meant that the way GSView uses Ghostscript to handle PDF
had to be removed.
Part of the change is the fact that the default behaviour changed from
NOSAFER to SAFER, which you can override inside GSView, the other part
is that GSView was directly using exposed, undocumented, parts of the
PDF interpreter. As soon as exploits started targeting those same areas
the only solution was to remove access to them, they couldn't be made
safe.
I don't recall off the top of my head but I'm reasonably sure the
removal of the portions of the PDF interpreter exposed to PostScript was
documented, the change to SAFER certainly was.
> BTW, sometimes Ghostview is referred to as "GSView"; is that the same
thing
> but just with an abbreviated name?
originally written by L Peter Deutsch and nowadays commercially licensed
by Artifex Software Inc (as well as being Open Source under the AGPL
v3).
GSView is a GUI front-end and a 'utility' application written to explout
the capabilities of Ghostscript. It was written by Russell Lang
operating as Ghostgum Pty of Australia, is also Open Source and was
commercially licensed (possibly shareware ?) by him. GSView is released
under the Aladdin License (the one used by Ghostscript at the time) so
I'm not certain whether it can legally be forked.
Anyway, dirfferent applications, different companies, diffeerent
authors.
> > Would do much the same as your step 12. It doesn't set the
resolution
> > but that's largely irrelevant anyway.
>
> Agreed on the resolution being "largely irrelevant" for most purposes.
> Resolution is a perennial discussion, in fact, on rec.photo.digital.
> Most of the time, the DPI makes no difference, I think.
> (I never really understood it as it never seemed to matter to me as I'm not
> a theorist but a pragmatist - I use software to get a job done - that's
> all.)
may contain bitmap images as well), and the pdfwrite device is at pains
to maintain that. So an operation like:
0 1 0 rg
0 100 m
100 100 m
100 0 m
0 0 m
f
(Which fills a rectangle 100x100 points in green)
Would be preserved as such, the resolution has no effect on the PDF
output. There are circumstances where that is not the case, but those
tend to be somewhat special cases (such as reducing a transparent PDF
file to PDF 1.3 which does not support transparency) and probably beyond
the scope of this discussion.
> Ah. I should change the tutorial then to use the default of 720dpi
since,
> in a general purpose tutorial, I should keep things at the default unless
> then need to be changed, where I agree with you that in general, the
> resolution doesn't matter for our purposes of 'converting' a document.
>
> I tried to find a good list of all that Ghostscript can do, but I didn't
> find it, surprisingly, but I didn't look all that hard as I think when it's
> needed, people will find it.
That means its possible to use Ghostscript to achieve a very wide range
of things indeed. For example its possible to take an input file
(PostScript or PDF) and turn it into a n-up output file. *Ghostscript*
doesn't offer you that directly, but you can write a program to do it. I
believe one of my answers on Stack Overflow does the reverse, Given an
n-up PDF file it dissects it back into multiple pages.
That's partly how GSView achieves its functionality. Its also how things
like psutils and pstricks work.
So its not really possible to list all the things Ghostscript can do.
You could list all the devices supported, and all the features (Use.htm
lists the majorty and VectorDevices.htm the majority of the remainder)
but such a list probably isn't hugely useful because it doesn't really
tell you what you can use them for.
In a lot of ways Ghostscript is like Lego; you can build what you want.
Ken
Jinsong Zhao
Oct 17, 2020, 10:49:00 AM10/17/20
to
On 2020/10/14 6:42, Arlen Holder wrote:
> Have you tried to install the latest Ghostscript/Ghostview/pstoedit lately?
> o If so, what did you do differently than I did below on Windows 10?
>
> I get this error when GhostView opens up any PDF file:
> Failed to load C:\Program Files\Ghostgum\gsview\gsdll64.dll, error 126
> The specified module could not be found.
>
> Then, when I copy over the Ghostscript dll, I get this error next:
> Wrong version of DLL found.
> Found version 9533
> Need version 704 - 999
>
[...]
> Have you tried to install the latest Ghostscript/Ghostview/pstoedit lately?
> o If so, what did you do differently than I did below on Windows 10?
>
> I get this error when GhostView opens up any PDF file:
> Failed to load C:\Program Files\Ghostgum\gsview\gsdll64.dll, error 126
> The specified module could not be found.
>
> Then, when I copy over the Ghostscript dll, I get this error next:
> Wrong version of DLL found.
> Found version 9533
> Need version 704 - 999
>
The problem may stem from the version number of ghostscript from 9.53.0
and later. It seems that gsview expects 9.53, and then interprets it to
953. However, 9.53.0 is interpreted to 9530, which is larger than its
GS_REVISION_MAX, which set to 999 in the source code.
Don't know how to fix it. Set GS_REVISION_MAX to 9999? And also don't
know how to compile it with only gcc...
Bets,
Jinsong
Arlen Holder
Oct 17, 2020, 1:23:40 PM10/17/20
to
On Sat, 17 Oct 2020 22:48:57 +0800, Jinsong Zhao wrote:
> The problem may stem from the version number of ghostscript from 9.53.0
> and later. It seems that gsview expects 9.53, and then interprets it to
> 953. However, 9.53.0 is interpreted to 9530, which is larger than its
> GS_REVISION_MAX, which set to 999 in the source code.
>
> Don't know how to fix it. Set GS_REVISION_MAX to 9999? And also don't
> know how to compile it with only gcc...
Hi Jinsong,
> The problem may stem from the version number of ghostscript from 9.53.0
> and later. It seems that gsview expects 9.53, and then interprets it to
> 953. However, 9.53.0 is interpreted to 9530, which is larger than its
> GS_REVISION_MAX, which set to 999 in the source code.
>
> Don't know how to fix it. Set GS_REVISION_MAX to 9999? And also don't
> know how to compile it with only gcc...
Thanks for helping out as helping people is what Usenet is all about.
o With help from others like you & Ken Sharp, we worked around the problem.
I should note that I'm the wrong one to fix this problem, since I only use
these tools once in a blue moon when I have a specific problem to resolve.
In this case I downconverted a PDF that Acrobat 6 (writer) wouldn't read:
o Do you know of offline freeware that WYSIWYG downconverts PDF versions?
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/comp.text.pdf/KuAn8tNpGk0>
The _older_ versions which worked fine together for me were specifically:
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/comp.text.pdf/KuAn8tNpGk0>
o Artifex GPL Ghostscript version 9.07 (64-bit):
<https://master.dl.sourceforge.net/project/ghostscript/GPL%20Ghostscript/9.07/gs907w64.exe>
o Ghostgum GhostView version 5.0 (64-bit):
<http://www.ghostgum.com.au/download/gsv50w64.exe>
o Ghostgum pstoedit version 3.62 (64-bit):
<https://master.dl.sourceforge.net/project/pstoedit/pstoedit/3.62/pstoeditsetup_x64.exe>
The _current_ versions that failed to work together were:
o Artifex GPL Ghostscript version 9.53.3
<https://www.ghostscript.com/download/gsdnld.html>
o Ghostgum Ghostview version 5.0
<http://www.ghostgum.com.au/software/gsview.htm>
o Wolfgang Glunz pstoedit version 3.75 <http://www.pstoedit.net>
<https://sourceforge.net/projects/pstoedit/files/pstoedit/3.75/pstoeditsetup_x64.exe>
The main problem, as I understand it anyway, is that the Ghostgum Ghostview
is stuck, unsupported, at version 5.0, while the Artifex Ghostscript is
being updated, as is the pstoedit (apparently).
What we don't know is what is the latest known good version of Artifex GPL
Ghostscript that works with that version 5.0 of Ghostgum Ghostview.
It's likely by trial and error that we can use the latest version of
pstoedit and a "later" version of Ghostscript - but nobody knows what that
later version would be.
If anyone wishes to test it out, I wrote up a tutorial to make it easier:
o Tutorial for installing ghostscript/ghostview/pstoedit
to remove PDF copy & password protection , downconvert, rotate pages,
change paper sizes, fix corruption, extract text, etc.
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/comp.text.pdf/SA8kDtc_aRg>
to remove PDF copy & password protection , downconvert, rotate pages,
change paper sizes, fix corruption, extract text, etc.
The next person who needs to remove protections or fix a corrupted PDF
can use those instructions and maybe tweak the versions to let us know!
--
Usenet, when it works well, is a Q&A format with a summary tutorial.
Gary R. Schmidt
Oct 18, 2020, 7:34:07 AM10/18/20
to
On 18/10/2020 01:48, Jinsong Zhao wrote:
> On 2020/10/14 6:42, Arlen Holder wrote:
>> Have you tried to install the latest Ghostscript/Ghostview/pstoedit
>> lately?
Have you reported any of this to Russell Lang?
> On 2020/10/14 6:42, Arlen Holder wrote:
>> Have you tried to install the latest Ghostscript/Ghostview/pstoedit
>> lately?
As the developer of GhostView, he'd probably be the best to fix it.
(And as fat as I know, he has never hung out in a.c.f.)
Cheers,
Gary B-)
--
Waiting for a new signature to suggest itself...
Arlen Holder
Oct 18, 2020, 12:57:21 PM10/18/20
to
On Sun, 18 Oct 2020 22:33:54 +1100, Gary R. Schmidt wrote:
> Have you reported any of this to Russell Lang?
>
> As the developer of GhostView, he'd probably be the best to fix it.
> (And as fat as I know, he has never hung out in a.c.f.)
Hi Gary,
> Have you reported any of this to Russell Lang?
>
> As the developer of GhostView, he'd probably be the best to fix it.
> (And as fat as I know, he has never hung out in a.c.f.)
Thanks for the input as I'm out of my league at this point...
o And, to be clear, normally that's good advice to inform the developer...
But...
I doubt Russell Lang isn't _already_ aware of it, particularly because the
links for Ghostview very clearly state two very important observations:
1. Ghostview version 5.0 is the last version & is itself unsupported
<http://www.ghostgum.com.au/software/gsview.htm>
2. Ghostview version 6 is no longer available
<https://gsview.com/>
Given Ghostview version 5.0 is the limiting factor, the key is to figure
out which is the latest known good version of Ghostview that works with it.
o <https://ghostscript.com/doc/9.25/History9.htm>
What we know is that Ghostscript 9.25 won't work with Ghostview 5.0
o And we know Ghostscript 9.07 will work with Ghostview 5.0
So the quest is to find the latest known good Ghostcript in between:
o Version 9.25 (2018-09-13) <== this fails with Ghostview 5.0
o Version 9.24 (2018-09-03)
o Version 9.23 (2018-03-21)
o Version 9.22 (2017-10-04)
o Version 9.21 (2017-03-16)
o Version 9.20 (2016-09-26)
o Version 9.19 (2016-03-23)
o Version 9.18 (2015-09-23)
o Version 9.16 (2015-03-30)
o Version 9.15 (2014-09-22)
o Version 9.14 (2014-03-26)
o Version 9.10 (2013-08-27)
o Version 9.09 (2013-08-21)
o Version 9.07 (2013-02-14) <== this works with Ghostview 5.0
When I look for incompatibilities in the HISTORY page above
o I find a note by Ken Sharp dated 2018-09-11 of a GSView incompatibility
<https://ghostscript.com/doc/9.25/History9.htm#Version9.25>
As Ken already mentioned, if we have a specific need for a later version of
Ghostscript, then we can always use the command line... but...
The reason I don't generally use the command line on Windows is...
a. I only use Ghostscript/Ghostview/pstoedit once every few years
b. And then it's usually to downconvert, shrink, or remove permissions
c. Where conversions are nicely & easily done within the Ghostview GUI
The good news is that others can easily follow in our footsteps:
o Tutorial for installing ghostscript/ghostview/pstoedit [on Windows]
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/comp.text.pdf/SA8kDtc_aRg>
--
Usenet is a wonderful way for interested people to help each other out!
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