PostScript operators

PostScript’s built-in operators live in systemdict. They take their operands from the stack and push their results; the groups below follow chapter 8 of the PostScript Language Reference (third edition), and the level marks follow its appendix A: unmarked operators are LanguageLevel 1, those marked ² came with LanguageLevel 2 (some first as LanguageLevel 1 extensions for CMYK colour, composite fonts and file systems) and ³ with LanguageLevel 3. Operators of Display PostScript and printer-specific statusdict operators are not listed. LanguageLevel 2 also had currentshared, setshared, scheck, shareddict and SharedFontDirectory, older names for the global VM operators, which the third edition no longer lists among the operators.

Stack, arithmetic and logic

Group	Operators
Operand stack	`pop` `exch` `dup` `copy` `index` `roll` `clear` `count` `mark` `cleartomark` `counttomark`
Arithmetic and maths	`add` `sub` `mul` `div` `idiv` `mod` `abs` `neg` `ceiling` `floor` `round` `truncate` `sqrt` `atan` `cos` `sin` `exp` `ln` `log` `rand` `srand` `rrand`
Relational, boolean, bitwise	`eq` `ne` `ge` `gt` `le` `lt` `and` `or` `xor` `not` `true` `false` `bitshift`

Arrays, dictionaries and strings

Group	Operators
Array	`array` `[` `]` `length` `get` `put` `getinterval` `putinterval` `astore` `aload` `copy` `forall`
Packed array	`packedarray`² `setpacking`² `currentpacking`², and `length` `get` `getinterval` `aload` `copy` `forall`
Dictionary	`dict` `<<`² `>>`² `length` `maxlength` `begin` `end` `def` `load` `store` `get` `put` `undef`² `known` `where` `copy` `forall` `currentdict` `errordict` `$error` `systemdict` `userdict` `globaldict`² `statusdict` `countdictstack` `dictstack` `cleardictstack`
String	`string` `length` `get` `put` `getinterval` `putinterval` `copy` `forall` `anchorsearch` `search` `token`

Control, conversion and files

Group	Operators
Control	`exec` `if` `ifelse` `for` `repeat` `loop` `exit` `stop` `stopped` `countexecstack` `execstack` `quit` `start`
Type, attribute, conversion	`type` `cvlit` `cvx` `xcheck` `executeonly` `noaccess` `readonly` `rcheck` `wcheck` `cvi` `cvn` `cvr` `cvrs` `cvs`
File	`file` `filter`² `closefile` `read` `write` `readhexstring` `writehexstring` `readstring` `writestring` `readline` `token` `bytesavailable` `flush` `flushfile` `resetfile` `status` `run` `currentfile` `deletefile`² `renamefile`² `filenameforall`² `setfileposition`² `fileposition`² `print` `=` `==` `stack` `pstack` `printobject`² `writeobject`² `setobjectformat`² `currentobjectformat`²
Resource	`defineresource`² `undefineresource`² `findresource`² `findcolorrendering`³ `resourcestatus`² `resourceforall`²
Virtual memory	`save` `restore` `setglobal`² `currentglobal`² `gcheck`² `startjob`² `defineuserobject`² `execuserobject`² `undefineuserobject`² `UserObjects`²
Miscellaneous	`bind` `null` `version` `realtime`² `usertime` `languagelevel`² `product`² `revision`² `serialnumber`² `executive` `echo` `prompt`

Graphics

Group	Operators
Graphics state (device-independent)	`gsave` `grestore` `clipsave`³ `cliprestore`³ `grestoreall` `initgraphics` `gstate`² `setgstate`² `currentgstate`² `setlinewidth` `currentlinewidth` `setlinecap` `currentlinecap` `setlinejoin` `currentlinejoin` `setmiterlimit` `currentmiterlimit` `setstrokeadjust`² `currentstrokeadjust`² `setdash` `currentdash` `setcolorspace`² `currentcolorspace`² `setcolor`² `currentcolor`² `setgray` `currentgray` `sethsbcolor` `currenthsbcolor` `setrgbcolor` `currentrgbcolor` `setcmykcolor`² `currentcmykcolor`²
Graphics state (device-dependent)	`sethalftone`² `currenthalftone`² `setscreen` `currentscreen` `setcolorscreen`² `currentcolorscreen`² `settransfer` `currenttransfer` `setcolortransfer`² `currentcolortransfer`² `setblackgeneration`² `currentblackgeneration`² `setundercolorremoval`² `currentundercolorremoval`² `setcolorrendering`² `currentcolorrendering`² `setflat` `currentflat` `setoverprint`² `currentoverprint`² `setsmoothness`³ `currentsmoothness`³
Coordinates and matrices	`matrix` `initmatrix` `identmatrix` `defaultmatrix` `currentmatrix` `setmatrix` `translate` `scale` `rotate` `concat` `concatmatrix` `transform` `dtransform` `itransform` `idtransform` `invertmatrix`
Path construction	`newpath` `currentpoint` `moveto` `rmoveto` `lineto` `rlineto` `arc` `arcn` `arct`² `arcto` `curveto` `rcurveto` `closepath` `flattenpath` `reversepath` `strokepath` `ustrokepath`² `charpath` `uappend`² `clippath` `setbbox`² `pathbbox` `pathforall` `upath`² `initclip` `clip` `eoclip` `rectclip`² `ucache`²
Painting	`erasepage` `stroke` `fill` `eofill` `rectstroke`² `rectfill`² `ustroke`² `ufill`² `ueofill`² `shfill`³ `image` `colorimage`² `imagemask`
Insideness testing	`infill`² `ineofill`² `inufill`² `inueofill`² `instroke`² `inustroke`²
Forms and patterns	`makepattern`² `setpattern`² `execform`²
Device setup and output	`showpage` `copypage` `setpagedevice`² `currentpagedevice`² `nulldevice`
Glyphs and fonts	`definefont` `composefont`³ `undefinefont`² `findfont` `scalefont` `makefont` `setfont` `rootfont`² `currentfont` `selectfont`² `show` `ashow` `widthshow` `awidthshow` `xshow`² `xyshow`² `yshow`² `glyphshow`² `stringwidth` `cshow`² `kshow` `FontDirectory` `GlobalFontDirectory`² `StandardEncoding` `ISOLatin1Encoding`² `findencoding`² `setcachedevice` `setcachedevice2`² `setcharwidth`
Interpreter parameters	`setsystemparams`² `currentsystemparams`² `setuserparams`² `currentuserparams`² `setdevparams`² `currentdevparams`² `vmreclaim`² `setvmthreshold`² `vmstatus` `cachestatus` `setcachelimit` `setcacheparams`² `currentcacheparams`² `setucacheparams`² `ucachestatus`²

Errors

When an operator fails, the interpreter runs the procedure of that name in errordict, which by default stops the job and reports the error (through handleerror).

configurationerror dictfull dictstackoverflow dictstackunderflow execstackoverflow handleerror interrupt invalidaccess invalidexit invalidfileaccess invalidfont invalidrestore ioerror limitcheck nocurrentpoint rangecheck stackoverflow stackunderflow syntaxerror timeout typecheck undefined undefinedfilename undefinedresource undefinedresult unmatchedmark unregistered VMerror

Filters

Decode	Encode	Method
`ASCIIHexDecode`	`ASCIIHexEncode`	Hex digits.
`ASCII85Decode`	`ASCII85Encode`	Base 85.
`LZWDecode`	`LZWEncode`	LZW compression.
`FlateDecode`³	`FlateEncode`³	zlib/deflate compression.
`RunLengthDecode`	`RunLengthEncode`	Byte run lengths.
`CCITTFaxDecode`	`CCITTFaxEncode`	Fax group 3 and 4.
`DCTDecode`	`DCTEncode`	JPEG.
`SubFileDecode`	`NullEncode`	Reads up to an end marker; passes through.
`ReusableStreamDecode`³	–	Buffers data so it can be read again.

Filters are made with filter and chained, for example currentfile /ASCII85Decode filter /FlateDecode filter. Filters are LanguageLevel 2 (table 3.6); in LanguageLevel 3 all encoding filters except NullEncode became optional.

Colour spaces and resource categories

Colour space families: DeviceGray, DeviceRGB, DeviceCMYK, CIEBasedA², CIEBasedABC², CIEBasedDEF³, CIEBasedDEFG³, Pattern², Indexed², Separation², DeviceN³.

Resource categories (LanguageLevel 2 and later): Font, CIDFont, CMap, FontSet, Encoding, Form, Pattern, ProcSet, ColorSpace, Halftone, ColorRendering, IdiomSet, InkParams, TrapParams, OutputDevice, ControlLanguage, Localization, PDL, HWOptions; and implicit categories that list what the interpreter supports: Filter, ColorSpaceFamily, Emulator, IODevice, ColorRenderingType, FMapType, FontType, FormType, HalftoneType, ImageType, PatternType, FunctionType, ShadingType, TrappingType, plus Category and Generic.

LanguageLevel 3 operators in procedure sets

Some LanguageLevel 3 operators live in ProcSet resources rather than in systemdict (table A.1):

Procedure set	Operators
`BitmapFontInit`	`addglyph` `removeall` `removeglyphs`
`CIDInit`	`beginbfchar` `endbfchar` `beginbfrange` `endbfrange` `begincidchar` `endcidchar` `begincidrange` `endcidrange` `begincmap` `endcmap` `begincodespacerange` `endcodespacerange` `beginnotdefchar` `endnotdefchar` `beginnotdefrange` `endnotdefrange` `beginrearrangedfont` `endrearrangedfont` `beginusematrix` `endusematrix` `StartData` `usecmap` `usefont`
`ColorRendering`	`GetHalftoneName` `GetPageDeviceName` `GetSubstituteCRD`
`FontSetInit`	`StartData`
`Trapping`	`currenttrapparams` `settrapparams` `settrapzone`

Sources

Adobe, PostScript Language Reference, third edition (1999) – §8.1 operator summary, table 3.6 filters, tables 3.7–3.9 resource categories, §3.11 errors, appendix A (LanguageLevel feature summary and table A.1)

.PS File Format – Operators