Table of Contents

• 1. PostScript Level 2
• 2. Overview
• 3. Key Enhancements
  • 3.1. Color Support
  • 3.2. Composite Fonts
  • 3.3. Memory Management
  • 3.4. New Data Types
  • 3.5. Enhanced Operators
• 4. New Operators
• 5. Backward Compatibility
• 6. See Also

1. PostScript Level 2

Major enhancement to PostScript released in 1990, adding color, composite fonts, and improved performance.

2. Overview

PostScript Level 2 added significant capabilities while maintaining backward compatibility with Level 1. It introduced color support, composite fonts, improved memory management, and numerous new operators.

3. Key Enhancements

3.1. Color Support

• RGB Color: setrgbcolor, currentrgbcolor

• CMYK Color: setcmykcolor, currentcmykcolor

• HSB Color: sethsbcolor, currenthsbcolor

• Color Spaces: setcolorspace, setcolor

• Separation Colors: For professional printing

3.2. Composite Fonts

• Multi-byte character encodings (CJK support)

• Hierarchical font structure

• Font mapping algorithms

• Multiple descendant fonts

3.3. Memory Management

• Global vs. Local VM: Separate memory regions

• Auto-Expanding Dictionaries: No dictfull error

• Garbage Collection: Automatic memory reclamation

• VM Control: setglobal, currentglobal

3.4. New Data Types

• Packed Arrays: Memory-efficient read-only arrays

• Gstate Objects: Saveable graphics state

• Patterns: Tiling patterns for fills

• Forms: Cached graphical objects

3.5. Enhanced Operators

• Binary Encoding: Binary object sequences

• Filters: Data compression and encoding

• Resources: Standardized resource management

• User Paths: Optimized path handling

• Device Control: setpagedevice

4. New Operators

Level 2 added approximately 120 new operators, including:

• packedarray, setpacking

• undef, known, where enhancements

• setcolorspace, setcolor

• makepattern, setpattern

• filter with multiple encoding types

• setpagedevice, currentpagedevice

• Resource management operators

• And many more…​

5. Backward Compatibility

Level 2 maintains full backward compatibility:

• All Level 1 operators work unchanged

• Level 1 programs run without modification

• New features are additions, not replacements

6. See Also

• PostScript Level 1 - Original specification

• PostScript Level 3 - Latest features

• Version Comparison - Detailed feature comparison

• PostScript Levels Overview