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This recipe provides a mini-framework for creating custom Postscript PS and PDF files from scratch. It includes sample code for a personalized business index card.

Recipe does not use any Python PDF libraries. However, Ghostscript and a PDF viewer are useful for displaying/debugging output.

It's easier than you might think to roll your own Postscript code!

Python, 362 lines
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"""
recipe_custom_ps.py

Template with sample code creating for custom Postscript PS files.
Sample code is a business card based on Levenger's personalized
3x5 card.

Ghostscript provides easiest way to view PS output, but not essential.
Utilities included.

Download Ghostscript:
http://www.ghostscript.com/download/gsdnld.html
"""
__author__ = "Jack Trainor"
__date__ = "2015-12-09"

import sys
import os.path
import subprocess

######################################################################
""" 
String constants for business index card. 
"""
NAME = "John Doe"
ADDRESS = "123 Main Street"
CITY = "Anytown, USA  01234"
EMAIL = "johndoe123@gmail.com"
PHONE = "1.555.123.4567"
FAX = "1.555.123.4568"
CELL = "1.555.123.4569"

PHONE_FIELD = "Phone"
FAX_FIELD = "Fax"
CELL_FIELD = "Cell"

######################################################################
"""
Auxiliary utilities.

*** REPLACE WITH VALID PATHS ON YOUR MACHINE. ***
"""
PDF_VIEWER = r"C:\Program Files\Foxit Software\Foxit Reader\FoxitReader.exe"
GSC = r"C:\Program Files\gs\gs9.16\bin\gswin32c.exe"

def pdfview(path):
    """ Use PDF viewer to display pdf file. """
    if os.path.exists(PDF_VIEWER):
        subprocess.call([PDF_VIEWER, path])
    else:
        println("%s not installed." % PDF_VIEWER)
    
def gs_ps2pdf(input_ps, output_pdf):
    """ Use Ghostscript to convert PS file to PDF file """
    if os.path.exists(GSC):
        println("gs_ps2pdf: %s -> %s" % (input_ps, output_pdf))
        args =[GSC, 
            "-o", output_pdf, 
            "-sDEVICE=pdfwrite", 
            "-dPDFSETTINGS=/prepress", 
            "-dEmbedAllFonts=true", 
            "-dSubsetFonts=false", 
#            "-sFONTPATH=%s" % CUSTOM_FONTS  # for custom fonts if any
            "-dBATCH",
            "-dQUIET",
            "-c", ".setpdfwrite <</NeverEmbed [ ]>> setdistillerparams", 
            "-f"]
        args.append(input_ps)
        subprocess.call(args)
    else:
        println("%s not installed." % GSC)
        
def println(line):
    sys.stdout.write(line + "\n")

######################################################################
""" 
Postscript boilerplate for prolog and epilog of PS file.

Add your own Postscript procedures in prolog.
"""
PS_PROLOG = """%!PS-Adobe-2.0

%--------- Procedures ----------------
% Optimize without dict variables later, if at all
/rectPath               % stk: width height left top => -- 
{ /t exch def
  /l exch def
  /h exch def
  /w exch def
  
  newpath
  l t moveto
  w 0 rlineto
  0 h neg rlineto
  w neg 0 rlineto
  0 h rlineto
 } def

/centershow               % stk: y leftmargin rightmargin string => --
{ /s exch def
  /rm exch def
  /lm exch def
  /y exch def
  rm lm sub
  s stringwidth pop sub
  2 div
  lm add y moveto
  s show } def 

/rightshow               % stk: y rightmargin string => --
{ /s exch def
  /rm exch def
  /y exch def
  s stringwidth pop
  rm exch sub
  y moveto
  s show } def 

/gridPath               % stk: rows cols cellside left top => --
{ /top exch def
  /left exch def
  /cellside exch def
  /cols exch def
  /rows exch def

  /width cellside cols mul def
  /height cellside rows mul def
  
  newpath
  
  top /y exch def
  left /x exch def
  
  0 1 rows {
  x y moveto
  width 0 rlineto
  y cellside sub /y exch def
  } for
  
  top /y exch def
  left /x exch def
  
  0 1 cols {
  x y moveto
  0 height neg rlineto
  x cellside add /x exch def
  } for
} def

%---------- PS Card --------------------
"""

PS_EPILOG = """
%---------- Epilog ---------------------
% done with this page
showpage
"""

######################################################################
""" 
Constants for PS page and PS card 
"""
DPI = 72.0
def inches_to_dots(inches):
    return inches * DPI

PAGE_WIDTH = inches_to_dots(8.5)
PAGE_HEIGHT = inches_to_dots(11.0)

CARD_WIDTH = inches_to_dots(3.0)
CARD_HEIGHT = inches_to_dots(5.0)
CARD_LEFT = inches_to_dots(0.0)
CARD_TOP = CARD_HEIGHT 
CARD_MARGIN_X = inches_to_dots(.25)
CARD_MARGIN_Y = inches_to_dots(.25)

GRID_CELLSIZE = inches_to_dots(.25)
GRID_ROWS = 15
GRID_COLS = 10
GRID_LEFT = CARD_MARGIN_X
GRID_TOP = CARD_MARGIN_Y + GRID_ROWS * GRID_CELLSIZE

NAME_FONT = "Palatino-bold"
NAME_FONTSIZE = 13.0

FIELDS_FONT = "Palatino-medium"
FIELDS_FONTSIZE = 8.0

TITLE_HEIGHT = inches_to_dots(.25)
FIELDS_HEIGHT = inches_to_dots(.145)

TITLE_Y = CARD_TOP - CARD_MARGIN_Y + inches_to_dots(.07)
NAME_Y = TITLE_Y - TITLE_HEIGHT
ADDRESS_Y = NAME_Y - FIELDS_HEIGHT
CITY_Y = ADDRESS_Y - FIELDS_HEIGHT
EMAIL_Y = CITY_Y - FIELDS_HEIGHT

FIELD_NAME_X = inches_to_dots(2.0)
FIELD_VAL_X = inches_to_dots(2.05)

LINEWIDTH = 0.5

TEMPLATE_ROWS = 1
TEMPLATE_COLS = 1

TEMPLATE_MARGIN_BOTTOM = inches_to_dots(0.5)
TEMPLATE_MARGIN_LEFT = inches_to_dots(0.75)

######################################################################
""" 
Python wrappers for PS calls. Extend as necessary. Avoid using
raw Postscript in PsCard and PsPage calls.
"""
def setFont(font, fontsize):
    return "/%s findfont %f scalefont setfont" % (font, fontsize)

def rectPath( width, height, left, top):
    return "%.3f %.3f %.3f %.3f rectPath" % (width, height, left, top)

def gridPath(rows, cols, cellside, left, top):
    return "%d %d %.3f %.3f %.3f gridPath" % (rows, cols, cellside, left, top)

def leftShow(x, y, s):
    return "%.3f %.3f moveto (%s) show" % (x, y, s)

def rightShow(x, y, s):
    return "%.3f %.3f (%s) rightshow" % (y, x, s)

def linewidth(lw):
    return "%.3f setlinewidth" % lw

def setgray(percent):
    return " %.3f setgray" % percent

def translate(x, y):
    return "%.3f %.3f translate" % (x, y)

def gsave():
    return "gsave"

def grestore():
    return "grestore"

def draw_grid(lines, rows, cols, cellside, left, top):
    lines.append(gridPath(rows, cols, cellside, left, top))
    lines.append("stroke")

def draw_rect(lines, width, height, left, top):
    lines.append(rectPath(width, height, left, top))
    lines.append("stroke")

######################################################################
class PsRect(object):
    """ Uitility class for Poscript rect """
    def __init__(self, left, top, width, height):
        self.top = top
        self.left = left
        self.width = width
        self.height = height
        self.calc_fields()
        
    def calc_fields(self):
        self.bottom = self.top-self.height
        self.right = self.left+self.width
        self.center_x = self.left+self.width/2.0
        self.center_y = self.top-self.height/2.0
        
    def copy(self):
        return PsRect(self.left, self.top, self.width, self.height)
         
    def inset(self, inset_x, inset_y):
        self.left += inset_x
        self.top -= inset_y
        self.width -= 2*inset_y
        self.height -= 2*inset_y
        return self
        
    def to_ps(self, lw):  
        lines = []
        lines.append(linewidth(lw))
        draw_rect(lines, self.width, self.height, self.left, self.top)
        return "\n".join(lines)
 
######################################################################
class PsCard(object):
    """ PsCard supports Postscript description of a single card. """
    def __init__(self):
        pass
        
    def to_ps(self, lines):
        rect = PsRect(CARD_LEFT, CARD_TOP, CARD_WIDTH, CARD_HEIGHT)
        lines.append(rect.to_ps(LINEWIDTH))

        lines.append(setFont(NAME_FONT, NAME_FONTSIZE))
        lines.append(leftShow(CARD_MARGIN_X, NAME_Y, NAME))
          
        lines.append(setFont(FIELDS_FONT, FIELDS_FONTSIZE))
        lines.append(leftShow(CARD_MARGIN_X, ADDRESS_Y, ADDRESS))
        lines.append(leftShow(CARD_MARGIN_X, CITY_Y, CITY))
        lines.append(leftShow(CARD_MARGIN_X, EMAIL_Y, EMAIL))
         
        lines.append(rightShow(FIELD_NAME_X, ADDRESS_Y, PHONE_FIELD))
        lines.append(rightShow(FIELD_NAME_X, CITY_Y, FAX_FIELD))
        lines.append(rightShow(FIELD_NAME_X, EMAIL_Y, CELL_FIELD))
 
        lines.append(leftShow(FIELD_VAL_X, ADDRESS_Y, PHONE))
        lines.append(leftShow(FIELD_VAL_X, CITY_Y, FAX))
        lines.append(leftShow(FIELD_VAL_X, EMAIL_Y, CELL))
         
        lines.append(setgray(0.8))
        lines.append(linewidth(0.5))
        draw_grid(lines, GRID_ROWS, GRID_COLS, GRID_CELLSIZE, GRID_LEFT, GRID_TOP)

######################################################################
class PsPage(object):
    """ Supports Postscript description of a single page. """
    def __init__(self):
        self.page_ps = ""
        self.page_path = ""
        self.card = PsCard()        
        
    def cards_to_ps(self, lines):  
        """ Can tile cards to page if TEMPLATE_ROWS and TEMPLATE_COLS > 1 """
        for row in range(0, TEMPLATE_ROWS):
            for col in range(0, TEMPLATE_COLS):
                x = TEMPLATE_MARGIN_LEFT + col * CARD_WIDTH
                y = TEMPLATE_MARGIN_BOTTOM + row * CARD_HEIGHT
                self.card_to_ps(lines, x, y)
    
    def card_to_ps(self, lines, x, y):  
        lines.append(gsave())
        lines.append(translate(x, y))
        self.card.to_ps(lines)
        lines.append(grestore())
        lines.append("\n")
        
    def to_ps(self):
        lines = []
        lines.append(PS_PROLOG)
        self.cards_to_ps(lines)
        lines.append(PS_EPILOG)
        return "\n".join(lines)
    
######################################################################
OUTPUT_DIR = "C:\\"
PSCARD_PS = "ps_indexcard.ps"
PSCARD_PDF = "ps_indexcard.pdf"

def test_page():
    page = PsPage()
    ps = page.to_ps()
    ps_path = os.path.join(OUTPUT_DIR, PSCARD_PS)
    with open(ps_path, "w") as out:
        out.write(ps)
    pdf_path = os.path.join(OUTPUT_DIR, PSCARD_PDF)   
    gs_ps2pdf(ps_path, pdf_path)
    pdfview(pdf_path)
    
######################################################################
if __name__ == "__main__":
    test_page()

Sometime ago I admired a friend's personalized index cards which he used for business. They were custom-made for about a dime apiece by Levenger:

http://www.levenger.com/Note-Cards-16/Custom-Note-Cards-915/3-x-5-Cards-937/500-Personalized-3-x-5-Cards---Vertical-5867.aspx

I decided it would be simple enough to create an equivalent document file and print cards out on my own printer, but that turned out more difficult to get the precise same results.

So I shifted my approach to writing Postscript directly and it wasn't as hard as I expected. Since Postscript is a stack-based language like Forth, it's tedious to get Postscript code right. But other than that, it's just a matter of following the Adobe guidelines for a Postscript file.

By all means, download the free Adobe books on Postscript:

https://www.adobe.com/products/postscript/pdfs/PLRM.pdf http://www-cdf.fnal.gov/offline/PostScript/BLUEBOOK.PDF

When writing Postscript, I recommend binding function arguments to variables in the procedure rather than manipulating everything on the stack as some recommend because the latter is more memory efficient.

There are various ways to view the results of your Postscript file. The most productive method I found was to convert the PS file to a PDF file using Ghostscript and use Foxit to view that file. I have included utilities in the recipe for doing so.

Download Ghostscript at http://www.ghostscript.com/download/gsdnld.html .

Thanks to Peter Deutsch for Ghostscript. Read about him in Peter Seibel's "Coders at Work."