DESCRIPTION

ps.output is a cartographic mapping program for producing high quality hardcopy maps in PostScript-3 format. Output can include a combination of two raster maps, any number of vector overlays, notes, decorations, and other spatial data.

A file of mapping instructions that describes the various spatial and textual information to be printed must be prepared prior to running ps.out. Then, the better use is writing a script file as: 

ps.out [flags] output=FILE << EOF
(ps.out commands)
EOF

The hash character ('#') may be used at the beginning of a line to indicate that the line is a comment. Blank lines will also be ignored.

NOTES

The order of commands is generally unimportant but may affect how some layers are drawn. ps.out first draw the masked areas, lines, points, and labels, second the unmasked areas and lines, and finally the grids, unmasked points and unmasked labels. Raster maps are always drawn first, and only a raster map command may be used.

Be aware that some mapping instructions require the end command and some do not. Any instruction that allows subcommands will require it.

The resolution and extent of raster maps plotted with ps.out are controlled by the current region settings via the g.region module. The output filesize is largely a function of the region resolution, so special care should be taken if working with large raster datasets. For example if the desired output is Letter sized paper at 300dpi, with 1" margins and the raster filling the entire page, the usable area on the page will be 6.5" x 9", which at 300 dots/inch is equivalent to a region of 1950 columns x 2700 rows (see "g.region -p"). Any higher resolution settings will make the output file larger, but with a consumer printer you probably won't be able to resolve any better detail in the hardcopy.

The user can specify negative or greater than 100 percentage values for positioning several map decorations and embedded EPS-files, to move them outside the current map box region (for example to position a caption, barscale, or legend above or below the map box).

One "pixel" is 1/72 of an inch or 127/360 (aprox. 0.35) of a millimetre.

For users wanting to use special characters (such as accented characters) it is important to note that ps.out uses ISO-8859-1 encoding. This means that your instructions file will have to be encoded in this encoding. If you normally work in a different encoding environment (such as UTF-8), you have to transform your file to the ISO-8859-1 encoding, for example by using the iconv utility: 

iconv -f UTF-8 -t ISO_8859-1 utf_file > iso_file

MAPPING INSTRUCTIONS

The mapping instructions allow the user to specify various spatial data to be plotted. These instructions are normally prepared in a regular text file using a system editor. Except scale, all instructions are multiple line followed by a subsection of one or more additional instructions and are terminated with an end instruction.

Instruction keywords:

draw 
geogrid  ERROR IN SOUTH HEMISPHERE?
grid 
maparea 
note 
palette 
paper 
raster 
rlegend 
scale 
scalebar 
vareas 
vlabel 
vlines 
vpoints 
vlegend 

Convention in description of some instructions:

# number without dimension
The number is considered in points.

#- number with dimension
Acceptable units are mm (millimeters), cm (centimeters), inch (inches), and % (percent of map dimensions).

CAT List of categories e.g. 1,3,5-7

SQL SQL where statement like: vlastnik = 'Cimrman'

T Text

R Raster file or group name if the first character is ':'

V Vector file name if equal to '(none)' then don't draw but there is present in vlegend.

color Color name
The color may be either a standard GRASS color, a R:G:B triplet (e.g '255:0:0'), or none. In all cases could be follow by $alpha to set the opacity (if use -g flag). The following colors names are accepted by ps.out: aqua, black, blue, brown, cyan, gray, grey, green, indigo, magenta, orange, purple, red, violet, white, yellow.

COOR Coordinates as pair of east north

font command: 
font
    name   [T]
    size   [#-]
    color  (color)
    extend [#]
end
The name of the PostScript font. Fonts present in all PostScript implementations are: Times-Roman, Times-Italic, Times-Bold, Times-BoldItalic, Helvetica, Helvetica-Oblique, Helvetica-Bold, Helvetica-BoldOblique, Courier, Courier-Oblique, Courier-Bold, and Courier-BoldOblique .

frame command: 
frame
    where  [#- #-]
    ref    [left|right|center upper|lower|center]
    offset [# #]
    border [#-]
    color  (color)
    fcolor (color)
    margin [#-]
end
line command: 
line
    width [#-]
    color (color)
    style [solid|dashed|dotted|dashdotted|#...]
    cap   [butt|round|extended_butt]
end

COMPOSE THE MAP

paper

Specifies paper size, margins and orientation. 

USAGE
paper [paper type]: default A4
    height [#-]
    width  [#-]
    left   [#-]: default 0.5inch
    right  [#-]: default 0.5inch
    bottom [#-]: default 1.0inch
    top    [#-]: default 1.0inch
    landscape [y|N]: default N
    draw   (draw)
    font   (font): set the default font
end


EXAMPLE
paper A4
    left 2cm
    top 4cm
    landscape y
    font
        name Univers
        size 8
    end
end
This example set the size of paper to landscape A4 and Univers 8 point as defualt font.

scale

Selects a scale for the output map. 
USAGE
scale 1:[#]
The scale is selected as a relative ratio, e.g. 1:25000. Use maparea to select a specific width of map. 
EXAMPLE
    scale 1:25000

This example would set the scale of the map to 1 unit = 25000 units.

maparea

Position of the map area on the page.
The upper left corner of the map will be positioned left units from the left edge of the page and top units from the top of the page. If width and height are present, the map will be rescaled, if necessary, to fit. 

USAGE
maparea
    left   [#-]
    top    [#-]
    width  [#-]
    height [#-]
    border [#-]
    color  [color]
    fcolor [color]
 end