mime application/postscript

The MIME type application/postscript is used to denote the presence of PostScript files. This MIME type is categorized under ‘application’.

PostScript files use the extension PS. However, certain other PostScript formats carrying the extensions AI and EPS may also be denoted by this MIME type. PostScript is described as a concatenative, dynamically typed programming language. It was created in the year 1982 to overcome various limitations of the contemporary printing system. It is thus known more for its utilization as a page description language in the publishing industry, both the electronic and desktop kind, than for its other uses.

PostScript was used in the printing industry mainly to combine two forms of printing that were separate at the time. There were printers that were used for printing only text using built in fonts. Each system differed from the other and even the advent of Dot Matrix printers did not change this. Another device type was used to print graphics and these were called Plotters. PostScript helped to combine these two together to form one standard that would be able to contain both text and image in one document. PostScript gave rise to modern font systems and caused Apple to develop the TrueType font system.