In addition, when you have finished setting up the options, you may also choose to create a Shortcut icon that uses all the options you have set by clicking Shortcut... (see Shortcuts - the easy way to construct a command line) or click the Save button to retain these settings after you close the program.

Compressed files generated for old PostScript printers ("level 2") will work on the new PostScript printers ("level 3"). PS level 3 printers accept more efficient methods of compression (e.g. Flate) than PS2 and so even smaller files may be generated, but these files may not be usable by PS2 printers.

A PS file may be rendered as a graphic only or as a graphic with text. The 'graphic only' option will produce an accurate image from the file, including an image of the text, but cannot be used for extracting text for further processing. Exporting the file as 'graphic with text' retains the text features (e.g. search) and consumes less memory, but note that EscapeE will always place text and drawn lines on top of any opaque elements, e.g. shading. You may override this feature by selecting the 'Keep original element order' option.

Text phrases can be stored as longer phrases to improve searching. As this entails deciding whether individually positioned words form part of a continuous string the results may sometimes be unsatisfactory.

PostScript files include a DSC (Document Structuring Convention) header which specifies the input trays and output bins to be used when the document is printed. The trays may be identified by index number or by attributes (media size, colour, type, weight). When EscapeE reads a PS file, it uses the information in the DSC header to assign existing PCL tray names to the specified trays (see step 7 above). If no match can be found for a specified tray, EscapeE creates a new one automatically. For example, a tray identified by attributes might be named PSTRAY12, whereas a tray identified by index number might be named 12. The numbers may not correspond to the physical layout of trays so check the printer's .PPD file (or use 'TRAYS.PS', obtainable from RedTitan) to ensure that the correct tray is selected in the 'Configuration' dialog.

The output is sent to a bin that has a number and a name. Note that the names may be longer than eight characters, may contain spaces and are case-sensitive. For production printers the output document must be created with a PostScript DSC header. This must specify the attributes of the paper stock - the size, weight, colour and type of the paper associated with each named tray. A document will not normally be printed until all its specified media requirements are met - be careful not to set up a long list of trays that result in a media list that cannot be actually configured on the printer. If different documents require different tray configurations then you should save each separately and only apply them to the appropriate one.

The tray/bin selection specified in the PCL data can be overridden using /TRAY and /BIN. Note that this is still the PCL tray/bin number so it may be necessary to define the equivalent Postscript tray/bin using the 'Configuration' dialog. Select the 'Printer' tab to set up the default tray and bin - see Setting the configuration | printer defaults.

Xerox-made PostScript printer files begin with several lines of "XRX" commands, in addition to the DSC header. When EscapeE reads such files, any lines which start with %XRX commands are stored in a field named RT_XRX. (These commands are used to define job characteristics such as accounting, stapling, trays, duplexing etc.)

The Preamble... button opens an edit box which allows a few lines of code - the preamble - to be set up. This will be sent to the output at the start of the file. The total number of characters in these lines must not exceed 255, but the composite field syntax can be used to build up longer strings or to copy information from the input. The corresponding command-line option is /PSPREAMBLE. E.g.

ESCAPEE filename /PS /PSPREAMBLE {RT_XRX}