Saving in PostScript Format

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated January 9, 2021)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


There may be times when you need to output a Word document in a special format. For instance, you may need to send a document to a printer or to an outside service bureau, and they require the document in PostScript format instead of Word's native document format.

PostScript, of course, is a page description language used by printers and other output devices. It is not a format in which you would normally save your document. For this reason, you can't choose Save As and select PostScript as a file type. Instead, you need to print your document to a file using a PostScript printer driver.

The key here, of course, is to make sure you have a PostScript printer driver installed on your system. Check with the people requiring your file in PostScript format, asking them which printer driver you should use. You can then install that printer driver within Windows, and you are ready to follow these steps within Word:

  1. Load the document you need in PostScript format.
  2. Choose Print from the File menu. Word displays the Print dialog box. (See Figure 1.)
  3. Figure 1. The Print dialog box

  4. Use the drop-down Name field to select the printer driver you want to use for making the PostScript file.
  5. Make sure the Print to File check box is selected.
  6. Click on OK. You are asked to provide a filename for the output.
  7. Enter a filename, including a path if desired.
  8. Click on OK.

Now you can quit Word, locate the file you specified in step 6, and copy or e-mail the file for use by the outside party.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (561) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Working In Feet and Inches

Your chosen occupation may require that you work with linear distances in feet and inches. Excel can do this, to a ...

Discover More

Ways to Concatenate Values

Users of the most recent versions of Excel have four different ways available to combine values into strings. Even those ...

Discover More

Using Named Ranges in a Macro

Named ranges are a great capability provided by Excel. You can define all sorts of named ranges in a workbook, but how do ...

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 2013 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Access) with VBA programming, using it for writing macros, automating Office applications, and creating custom applications. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2013 today!

More WordTips (menu)

Understanding Background Saving

Word has the capability to save your work, in the background, while you continue to edit your documents. This tip ...

Discover More

Open Documents Suddenly Become Read-Only

If a Word document is marked as "read only," that means that you cannot save updates to the document; they must be saved ...

Discover More

Setting a Default Document Format

Word allows you to save your documents in a variety of different formats. You can specify the format when you actually ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 7 + 9?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the menu interface (Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, or Word 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

Videos
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.