ps.map, Ghostscript and Designjet650c

[Jim Schmidt]

Thank for the responses to my question about getting large format plots on a
Designjet 650c without a postscript cartridge by using a combination or
ps.map and Ghostscript 3.33 running under Linux on a PC. 

I remain unconvinced that the problem is in Ghostscript for the following
reason: Whenever I run ps.map and specify a scale that would require more
than an 8.5x11" sheet of paper, the program responds that it is re-defining
the scale to a value that allows the raster map to print out on an 8.5x11 sheet.

For example, if I try printing a 7.5' quad sheet at 1:24000 scale, when
ps.map runs it resets the scale to 1:64000 (approximately). This occurs
whether I define a device with ps.select or not and no matter what values I
put in the device file in ps.devices for page width, page height, margins or
resolution.

I can only conclude that the problem lies in the version of ps.map that was
compiled for Linux or some subtle interaction between Linux and ps.map that
does not occur on other operating systems. (Note: I have a friend running
GRASS under SCO Unix on a PC who has encountered the same problem with
ps.map - so maybe it's a problem with unix on PC's???)

If someone has been able to run ps.map under Linux and to create larger
format postscript files, I'd like to hear about it.  If I can solve the
ps.map problem, I think that Ghostscript will do the job of creating the RTL
file to send to the Designjet 650c and eliminate the need both for a
postscript cartridge and additional memory. 

Jim Schmidt
Columbia College
Sonora, California
avenues at sonnet.com