# Ghostscript > Ghostscript is the de facto benchmark interpreter for PostScript and PDF — a 35+ year-old C engine that powers the print pipeline at major printer manufacturers, RIP vendors, document management systems, and SaaS conversion tools worldwide. At ~3 MB it is the smallest and fastest print engine on the market. Ghostscript is part of a family that includes GhostPDF (standalone PDF), GhostPCL (PCL/PXL), GhostXPS (XPS), and GhostPDL (the unified package), plus a commercial Ghostscript Enterprise edition that adds Microsoft Office document support. Suitable for print engineers, RIP/MFP/printer firmware developers, PDL conversion tooling, and any pipeline that converts between PostScript, PDF, PCL, XPS, and raster/vector output. Ghostscript covers a different surface from Artifex's other products. Use Ghostscript for **print pipeline work** (driving printers, RIPs, imposition, color trapping, screening, ICC color management) and **PDL conversion** (PostScript ↔ PDF, PCL → PDF, XPS → PDF, PDF → DOCX). Use MuPDF for embeddable PDF viewing/manipulation in mobile and web apps. Use PyMuPDF/PyMuPDF4LLM for Python-side PDF extraction and LLM/RAG workflows. Key facts: - 35+ years of engineering heritage (Ghostscript predates the modern internet). - ~3 MB binary footprint — smallest and fastest print engine available. - Runs on Windows, macOS, Unix/Linux, VMS, and embedded systems. - Native rendering and conversion of all major page description languages. - Language bindings for Python, C#, and Java via the `gsapi` interface. - AGPL-licensed open source; commercial licenses available for proprietary deployment. ## Products - [Ghostscript](https://www.ghostscript.com): The flagship interpreter for PostScript and PDF, with a graphics library backing it. - [GhostPDF](https://www.ghostscript.com): The new PDF-only interpreter, rewritten entirely in C (replacing the previous PostScript-based implementation). Now the default in Ghostscript; also available as a standalone binary. - [GhostPCL](https://www.ghostscript.com): Interpreter for PCL™ and PXL files, built on the Ghostscript graphics library. - [GhostXPS](https://www.ghostscript.com): Interpreter for XPS (XML Paper Specification) files, built on the Ghostscript graphics library. - [GhostPDL](https://www.ghostscript.com): The unified package combining all four interpreters. - [Ghostscript Enterprise](https://ghostscript.readthedocs.io/en/latest/Ghostscript-Enterprise.html): Commercial edition that extends Ghostscript to read and process Microsoft Office documents (Word, PowerPoint, Excel) in addition to PostScript, PDF, PCL, and XPS. ## Documentation - [Ghostscript documentation (ReadTheDocs)](https://ghostscript.readthedocs.io/en/latest/): Full reference for the interpreter, command-line usage, devices, and the gsapi C/Python/C#/Java interfaces. - [Ghostscript Enterprise docs](https://ghostscript.readthedocs.io/en/latest/Ghostscript-Enterprise.html): Documentation for the commercial edition with Office document support. ## Features Each feature has a dedicated page on the marketing site: - [Cobalt Acceleration Library (CAL)](https://www.ghostscript.com/features/cobalt/index.html): Performance enhancement library for embedded and host-based systems. Delivers superior speed and print quality. - [Graphics Library](https://www.ghostscript.com/features/graphics-library/index.html): Supports PostScript Level 3, PDF 2.0, PCL 5e/5c/XL, and XPS imaging models. - [Color Management](https://www.ghostscript.com/features/color-management/index.html): Full ICC standards support throughout the workflow. - [Screening](https://www.ghostscript.com/features/screening/index.html): Three high-performance screening technologies — Even Toned Screening, Error Diffusion Screening, and Threshold Array Screening. - [Interpreters](https://www.ghostscript.com/features/interpreters/index.html): Native rendering of all major PDLs to raster, plus high-level conversion via vector output devices. - [Trapping](https://www.ghostscript.com/features/trapping/index.html): Color Approximation Trapping — bitmap-based trapping integrated into the rendering process. - [More features](https://www.ghostscript.com/features/more-features/index.html): Imposition, custom screening, OCR, and additional capabilities. ## Capability surface (selected) - **N-up imposition**: Now handles all input file types (PDF, PCL, XPS, PostScript). - **Overprint simulation**: All output devices can simulate overprinting and spot colors regardless of target device capabilities. - **DOCX output**: The `docxwrite` device outputs to Microsoft Word format. - **OCR**: Available since the 9.53 release. Convert paper documents, scanned images, and digital camera images into searchable PDF text. - **PDF compression**: Enterprise-grade compression with full control over settings. - **Map text to black**: Force text fill and stroke operations to draw in solid black. - **Custom device drivers**: Wide array of device drivers; external library support enables further customization. ## Distribution - [Releases / Downloads](https://www.ghostscript.com/releases/index.html): Source and binary releases for all platforms. - Source: https://www.ghostscript.com (linked from the releases page; mirrored on GitHub). ## Licensing - [Commercial licensing](https://artifex.com/licensing): For AGPL-incompatible use cases — proprietary printers, MFPs, RIPs, embedded systems, OEM redistribution. - [Ghostscript inquiry / sales](https://artifex.com/contact/ghostscript): Contact form for Ghostscript-specific licensing and integration inquiries. ## Optional - [Blog: Changes to the PDF interpreter](https://artifex.com/blog/changes-to-the-pdf-interpreter): On the rewrite of the PDF interpreter from PostScript to C (GhostPDF). - [Understanding ZUGFeRD: The Future of E-Invoices](https://artifex.com/blog/understanding-zugferd-the-future-of-e-invoices) (Mar 2025): ZUGFeRD e-invoice format explained. - [Sister product: MuPDF](https://mupdf.com): Lightweight PDF rendering library — use this for embeddable PDF viewing and manipulation in apps. Different audience from Ghostscript. - [Sister product: PyMuPDF](https://pymupdf.io): Python binding for MuPDF; for general-purpose PDF processing in Python. - [Sister product: PyMuPDF4LLM](https://pymupdf.io/4llm): LLM/RAG-optimized Python extraction. - [Sister product: PDF.co](https://pdf.co): Hosted REST API for low-code PDF automation. - [Parent company: Artifex](https://artifex.com): The company behind Ghostscript, MuPDF, PyMuPDF, and PDF.co.