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The rainbow of PostScript related books by Adobe.
Raw
PostScriptBooks.html
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
<title>The rainbow of PostScript related books by Adobe.</title>
</head>
<!-- Typographical devices such as the asterisk (*) or dagger (†) may also be used to point to notes;
the traditional order of these symbols in English is *, †, ‡, §, ‖, ¶.[1]
Other symbols, including the #, Δ, ◊, ↓, and ☞, have also been used.[2][3]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Note_(typography) -->
<body>
<p>In my preferred order of reading.</p>
<p>Note:</p>
<ul>
<li>[W] or W: = WayBack link</li>
<li>[A] or A: = Acrhive link</li>
</ul>
<table id="PostScriptBooks" style="border-collapse: collapse;">
<thead align="left">
<tr style="border-top: thin solid black;">
<th rowspan="3" style="vertical-align:top">Color</th>
<th>ISBN</th>
<th>PDF and 2nd</th>
<th>Title</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Nickname</th>
<th>hand links</th>
<th>Publisher, Year</th>
</tr>
<tr style="border-bottom: thin solid black;">
<th></th>
<th></th>
<th>Notes</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td rowspan="2" style="background-color: blue; color: blue;">█</td>
<td>ISBN 0-201-10179-3</td>
<td></td>
<td><b>PostScript Language Tutorial and Cookbook</b></td>
</tr>
<tr style="border-bottom: thin solid black; vertical-align:top;">
<td><a href="https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Blue+Book">Blue book</a>
[<a
href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200925020249/https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/blue+book">W</a>]
[<a href="https://archive.is/bcutM">A</a>]</td>
<td><a
href="https://web.archive.org/web/20000830115340if_/http://www-cdf.fnal.gov:80/offline/PostScript/BLUEBOOK.PDF">W:
PDF</a></td>
<td>Adobe Systems Incorporated, Addison-Wesley, 1985.
<br>Second printing (the PDF) is from August 1985, first printing is unclear.
<br>You can download the accompanying Blue book code at [<a
href="https://web.archive.org/web/20211016140635/http://www.inf.ufes.br/~thomas/graphics/Postscript/BlueBook/CODE/">W</a>]
<br><a
href="http://www.inf.ufes.br/~thomas/graphics/Postscript/BlueBook/CODE/">www.inf.ufes.br/~thomas/graphics/Postscript/BlueBook/CODE/</a>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="vertical-align:top;">
<td rowspan="2" style="background-color: green; color: green;">█</td>
<td>ISBN 0-201-14396-8</td>
<td>[<a
href="https://web.archive.org/web/20211013090527/https://www.abebooks.com/products/isbn/9780201143966">W</a>]
[<a href="https://archive.is/wjgnF">A</a>] <a
href="https://www.abebooks.com/products/isbn/9780201143966">book</a></td>
<td><b>PostScript Language Program Design</b></td>
</tr>
<tr style="border-bottom: thin solid black; vertical-align:top;">
<td><a href="https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Green+Book">Green book</a>
[<a
href="https://web.archive.org/web/20211013092743/https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Green+Book">W</a>]
[<a href="https://archive.is/h3UGE">A</a>]</td>
<td><a
href="https://web.archive.org/web/20000901080509if_/http://www-cdf.fnal.gov:80/offline/PostScript/GREENBK.PDF">W:
PDF</a></td>
<td>Adobe Systems Incorporated, Addison-Wesley, February 1990.
<br>You can download the accompanying Green book code at [<a
href="https://web.archive.org/web/20211015152839/http://www.inf.ufes.br/~thomas/graphics/Postscript/GreenBook/CODE/">W</a>]
<br><a
href="http://www.inf.ufes.br/~thomas/graphics/Postscript/GreenBook/CODE/">www.inf.ufes.br/~thomas/graphics/Postscript/GreenBook/CODE/</a>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td rowspan="6" style="background-color: red; color: red;">█</td>
<td>ISBN 0-201-10174-2</td>
<td>[<a
href="https://web.archive.org/web/20211013090302/https://www.abebooks.com/products/isbn/9780201101744">W</a>]
[<a href="https://archive.is/9mH8p">A</a>] <a
href="https://www.abebooks.com/products/isbn/9780201101744">book</a></td>
<td><b>PostScript Language Reference Manual, 1st Edition</b></td>
</tr>
<tr style="border-bottom: thin solid black; vertical-align:top;">
<td><a href="https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Red+Book">Red book</a>
[<a
href="https://web.archive.org/web/20211013092620/https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Red+Book">W</a>]
[<a href="https://archive.is/4vjxD">A</a>]</td>
<td>???</td>
<td>Adobe Systems Incorporated, Addison-Wesley, 1985.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>ISBN 0-201-18127-4</td>
<td>[<a
href="https://web.archive.org/web/20211013090047/https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30919979778">W</a>]
[<a href="https://archive.is/6Qbe2">A</a>] <a
href="https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30919979778">book</a></td>
<td><b>PostScript Language Reference Manual, 2nd Edition</b></td>
</tr>
<tr style="border-bottom: thin solid black;">
<td>Red book</td>
<td>[<a
href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210428215455if_/https://www.adobe.com/content/dam/acom/en/devnet/actionscript/articles/psrefman.pdf">W</a>]
<a
href="https://www.adobe.com/content/dam/acom/en/devnet/actionscript/articles/psrefman.pdf">PDF</a>
[<a
href="https://web.archive.org/web/20011117075728if_/http://www-cdf.fnal.gov:80/offline/PostScript/PLRM2.pdf">W2</a>
*]
</td>
<td>Adobe Systems Incorporated, Addison-Wesley, December 1990.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>ISBN 0-201-37922-8</td>
<td>[<a
href="https://web.archive.org/web/20211015104606/https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30807319283">W</a>]
[<a href="https://archive.is/Wx5Jo">A</a>] <a
href="https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30807319283">book</a></td>
<td><b>PostScript Language Reference, 3rd Edition</b></td>
</tr>
<tr style="border-bottom: thin solid black; vertical-align:top;">
<td>Red book</td>
<td>[<a
href="https://web.archive.org/web/20211008212616if_/https://www.adobe.com/content/dam/acom/en/devnet/actionscript/articles/PLRM.pdf">W</a>]
<a href="https://www.adobe.com/content/dam/acom/en/devnet/actionscript/articles/PLRM.pdf">PDF</a>
</td>
<td>Adobe Systems Incorporated, Addison-Wesley, February 1999.
<br>This is the definitive description of the PostScript language.
<br>Be sure to also download the [<a
href="https://web.archive.org/web/20211015145825/https://www.adobe.com/content/dam/acom/en/devnet/actionscript/articles/PS3010and3011.Supplement.pdf">W</a>]
<a
href="https://www.adobe.com/content/dam/acom/en/devnet/actionscript/articles/PS3010and3011.Supplement.pdf">PostScript
® Language Reference Supplement</a>
<br> (Adobe PostScript 3 Version 3010 and 3011 Product Supplement, 30 August 1999)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td rowspan="1" style="background-color: black; color: black;">█</td>
<td>ISBN 0-201-57044-0</td>
<td>[<a
href="https://web.archive.org/web/20211015105033/https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=31022577996">W</a>]
[<a href="https://archive.is/fLcNR">A</a>] <a
href="https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=31022577996">book</a></td>
<td><b>Adobe Type 1 Font Format</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td rowspan="2" style="background-color: white; color: white;">█</td>
<td><a href="https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/white+book">White book</a>
[<a
href="https://web.archive.org/web/20211013092423/https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/white+book">W</a>]
[<a href="https://archive.is/Sh6tF">A</a>] †</td>
<td></td>
<td>Adobe Systems Incorporated, Addison-Wesley, 1990.</td>
</tr>
<tr style="border-bottom: thin solid black;">
<td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PostScript#Further_reading">Black book</a>
[<a
href="https://web.archive.org/web/20211015104012/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PostScript#Further_reading">W</a>]
[<a href="https://archive.is/IQ0MK">A</a>] †</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td rowspan="2" style="background-color: purple; color: purple;">█</td>
<td>ISBN 0-201-58135-3</td>
<td>[W] [A] book</td>
<td><b>Programming the Display PostScript System with Next</b></td>
</tr>
<tr style="border-bottom: thin solid black;">
<td>Purple book</td>
<td></td>
<td>Adobe Systems Incorporated, Addison-Wesley, 1991. </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td rowspan="2" style="background-color: MediumPurple; color: MediumPurple;">█</td>
<td>ISBN 0-201-62203-3</td>
<td>[<a
href="https://web.archive.org/web/20211014215202/https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30960438797">W</a>]
[<a href="https://archive.is/RnxiW">A</a>] <a
href="https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30960438797">book</a></td>
<td><b>Programming the Display PostScript System with X</b></td>
</tr>
<tr style="border-bottom: thin solid black;">
<td>Light purple book</td>
<td></td>
<td>Adobe Systems Incorporated, Addison-Wesley, 1993.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td rowspan="16" style="background-color: grey; color: grey;">█</td>
<td>ISBN 0-201-10174-2</td>
<td>[<a
href="https://web.archive.org/web/20211014214840/https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30847330619">W</a>]
[<a href="https://archive.is/bmlMQ">A</a>] <a
href="https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30847330619">book</a></td>
<td><b>Portable Document Format Reference Manual</b></td>
</tr>
<tr style="border-bottom: thin solid black;">
<td>Grey book</td>
<td></td>
<td>Adobe Systems Incorporated, Addison-Wesley, 1993.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>ISBN 0-201-62628-4 ‡</td>
<td>[W] [A] book</td>
<td><b>Portable Document Format Reference Manual Version 1.1</b></td>
</tr>
<tr style="border-bottom: thin solid black;">
<td>Grey book</td>
<td>[<a
href="https://ia601400.us.archive.org/7/items/Portable-Pocument-Format-Reference-Manual-Version-1.1.ISBN_0-201-62628-4/Portable-Pocument-Format-Reference-Manual-Version-1.1.ISBN_0-201-62628-4.pdf">W</a>]
</td>
<td>Adobe Systems Incorporated, Addison-Wesley, March 1996.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>ISBN 0-201-62628-4 ‡</td>
<td>[<a
href="https://web.archive.org/web/20211014213811/https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30756916111">W</a>]
[<a href="https://archive.is/bn7fW">A</a>] <a
href="https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30756916111">book</a></td>
<td><b>Portable Document Format Reference Manual Version 1.2</b></td>
</tr>
<tr style="border-bottom: thin solid black;">
<td>Grey book</td>
<td>[<a
href="https://web.archive.org/web/19961219053721if_/http://www.adobe.com:80/supportservice/devrelations/PDFS/TN/PDFSPEC.PDF">W</a>]
</td>
<td>Adobe Systems Incorporated, Addison-Wesley, November 1996.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>ISBN 0-201-61588-6</td>
<td>[<a
href="https://web.archive.org/web/20211014212849/https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30800450387">W</a>]
[<a href="https://archive.is/wip/KJTiZ">A</a>] <a
href="https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30800450387">book</a></td>
<td><b>PDF Reference, Second Edition, Version 1.3</b></td>
</tr>
<tr style="border-bottom: thin solid black;">
<td>Grey book</td>
<td>[<a
href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190501115442if_/https://www.adobe.com/content/dam/acom/en/devnet/pdf/pdfs/PDFReference13.pdf">W</a>]
<a href="https://www.adobe.com/content/dam/acom/en/devnet/pdf/pdfs/PDFReference13.pdf">PDF</a>
</td>
<td>Adobe Systems Incorporated, Addison-Wesley, July 2000.
<br>[<a
href="https://web.archive.org/web/20211011082512/https://www.loc.gov/preservation/digital/formats/fdd/fdd000316.shtml">W</a>]
<a href="https://www.loc.gov/preservation/digital/formats/fdd/fdd000316.shtml">PDF_1_3</a>
(which covers version 1.0, 1.1 and 1.3)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>ISBN 0-201-75839-3</td>
<td>[<a
href="https://web.archive.org/web/20211017185532/https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30919715222">W</a>]
[<a href="https://archive.is/NjF8b">A</a>] <a
href="https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30919715222">book</a></td>
<td><b>PDF Reference, Third Edition, Version 1.4</b></td>
</tr>
<tr style="border-bottom: thin solid black; vertical-align:top;">
<td>Grey book</td>
<td>[<a
href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210801214003if_/https://www.adobe.com/content/dam/acom/en/devnet/pdf/pdfs/pdf_reference_archives/PDFReference.pdf">W</a>]<a
href="https://www.adobe.com/content/dam/acom/en/devnet/pdf/pdfs/pdf_reference_archives/PDFReference.pdf">PDF</a>
</td>
<td>Adobe Systems Incorporated, Addison-Wesley, December 2001.
<br>[<a
href="https://web.archive.org/web/20211011180237/https://www.loc.gov/preservation/digital/formats/fdd/fdd000122.shtml">W</a>]
<a href="https://www.loc.gov/preservation/digital/formats/fdd/fdd000122.shtml">PDF_1_4</a>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>ISBN N/A</td>
<td>PDF-only</td>
<td><b>PDF Reference, Fourth Edition, Version 1.5</b></td>
</tr>
<tr style="border-bottom: thin solid black; vertical-align:top;">
<td>Grey book</td>
<td>[<a
href="https://web.archive.org/web/20211006011302if_/https://www.adobe.com/content/dam/acom/en/devnet/pdf/pdf_reference_archive/PDFReference15_v6.pdf">W</a>]<a
href="https://www.adobe.com/content/dam/acom/en/devnet/pdf/pdf_reference_archive/PDFReference15_v6.pdf">PDF</a>
</td>
<td>Adobe Systems Incorporated, August 2003.
<br>[<a
href="https://web.archive.org/web/20211008013608/https://www.loc.gov/preservation/digital/formats/fdd/fdd000123.shtml">W</a>]
<a href="https://www.loc.gov/preservation/digital/formats/fdd/fdd000123.shtml">PDF_1_5</a>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>ISBN 0-321-30474-8 </td>
<td>[<a
href="https://web.archive.org/web/20211017111920/https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30812782678">W</a>]
[<a href="https://archive.is/u0lfh">A</a>] <a
href="https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30812782678">book</a></td>
<td><b>PDF Reference, Fifth Edition, version 1.6</b></td>
</tr>
<tr style="border-bottom: thin solid black; vertical-align:top;">
<td>Grey book</td>
<td>[<a
href="https://web.archive.org/web/20211008013608/https://www.loc.gov/preservation/digital/formats/fdd/fdd000123.shtml">W</a>]<a
href="https://www.loc.gov/preservation/digital/formats/fdd/fdd000123.shtml">PDF</a></td>
<td>Adobe Systems Incorporated, Adobe Press, November 2004
<br>[<a
href="https://web.archive.org/web/20211011092752/https://www.loc.gov/preservation/digital/formats/fdd/fdd000276.shtml">W</a>]
<a href="https://www.loc.gov/preservation/digital/formats/fdd/fdd000276.shtml">PDF_1_6</a>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>ISBN N/A</td>
<td>PDF-only</td>
<td><b>PDF Reference, Sixth Edition, Version 1.7</b></td>
</tr>
<tr style="border-bottom: thin solid black;">
<td>Grey book</td>
<td>[<a
href="https://web.archive.org/web/20101110133335/http://www.adobe.com/content/dam/Adobe/en/devnet/acrobat/pdfs/pdf_reference_1-7.pdf">W</a>]<a
href="https://www.adobe.com/content/dam/acom/en/devnet/pdf/pdf_reference_archive/pdf_reference_1-7.pdf">PDF</a>
</td>
<td>Adobe Systems Incorporated, November 2006.
<br>[<a
href="https://web.archive.org/web/20211011080944/https://www.loc.gov/preservation/digital/formats/fdd/fdd000277.shtml">W</a>]
<a href="https://www.loc.gov/preservation/digital/formats/fdd/fdd000277.shtml">PDF_1_7</a>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td>ISBN N/A</td>
<td>PDF-only</td>
<td><b>Document management — Portable document format — Part 1: PDF 1.7</b></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr style="border-bottom: thin solid black; vertical-align:top;">
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>[<a
href="https://web.archive.org/web/20101110133600if_/http://www.adobe.com/content/dam/Adobe/en/devnet/acrobat/pdfs/PDF32000_2008.pdf">W</a>]
<a href="https://www.adobe.com/content/dam/acom/en/devnet/pdf/pdfs/PDF32000_2008.pdf">PDF</a>
</td>
<td>First Edition. 2008-7-1 <br>[<a
href="https://web.archive.org/web/20211011080944/https://www.loc.gov/preservation/digital/formats/fdd/fdd000277.shtml">W</a>]
<a href="https://www.loc.gov/preservation/digital/formats/fdd/fdd000277.shtml">PDF_1_7</a>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Notes:
<ul>
<li>* W2 misses from the front page until ISBN information, and back page.</li>
<li>† the Adobe Type Font Format book has two nick names ("White book" and "Black book") because the [<a
href="https://web.archive.org/web/20211015105033/https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=31022577996">W</a>]
[<a href="https://archive.is/fLcNR">A</a>] <a
href="https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=31022577996">cover</a> has the top 25% in black
and the bottom 75% in white. I'm not sure about the spine. Hopefully one day I will have this book again.
</li>
<li>‡ indeed ISBN 0-201-62628-4 is shared by both Version 1.1 and Version 1.2 of the Portable Document Format
Reference Manual.</li>
<li>There are way more PDF files about fonts specifications and font design available, that are not printed
books with ISBN numbers.
<p>
They are still under individual files under <a
href="https://www.adobe.com/content/dam/acom/en/devnet/font/pdfs/">www.adobe.com/content/dam/acom/en/devnet/font/pdfs/</a>
without a nice index, so the best index to use was this wayback index: <a
href="https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://www.adobe.com/content/dam/acom/en/devnet/font/pdfs/*">https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://www.adobe.com/content/dam/acom/en/devnet/font/pdfs/*</a>.
</p>
Nowadays the files are under <a
href="https://github.com/adobe-type-tools/font-tech-notes/tree/main/pdfs">github.com/adobe-type-tools/font-tech-notes/tree/main/pdfs</a>
and index under <a
href="https://github.com/adobe-type-tools/font-tech-notes/tree/main/pdfs">github.com/adobe-type-tools/font-tech-notes/tree/main/pdfs</a><br>
Each file under <a
href="https://www.adobe.com/content/dam/acom/en/devnet/font/pdfs/">www.adobe.com/content/dam/acom/en/devnet/font/pdfs/</a>
maps to the same file under <a
href="https://adobe-type-tools.github.io/font-tech-notes/pdfs/">adobe-type-tools.github.io/font-tech-notes/pdfs/</a>
which itself gives a 404.
</li>
</ul>
Based on lots of Googling after reading these pages:
<br>http://mill2.chem.ucl.ac.uk/ccp/web-mirrors/ghostscript/~ghost/doc/books.htm
<br>https://www.loc.gov/preservation/digital/formats/fdd/fdd000030.shtml
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</html>
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