Dec 17 2007

Install Ghostscript for Windows and GIMP

Filed under: Software » Graphic Design,

Tools:

Installing GhostScript for Windows

GhostScript for Windows supports PostScript (.ps) and Encapsulated PostScript (.eps) files. You can download it and install it here. To install it, you'll want to download a Windows distribution with an installer (.exe), and follow the installation instructions.

Getting GIMP to recognize GhostScript

To get GIMP, the popular open-source image editing application, to recognize your GhostScript installation, you'll need to set an environment variable in Windows as follows:

Browse to Start -> Control Panel -> System
Select the "Advanced" tab
Click the "Environment Variables" button at bottom
then click "Add" to add the following system variable:
- Variable: GS_PROG
- Value: Full path to the location of your gswin32c.exe file (in your GhostScript installation directory - the default location is C:\Program Files\gs\gs8.54\bin\gswin32c.exe, but this may vary depending on where you installed it)

Mastering GIMP graphic design

Used to Photoshop, or just starting off with GIMP and having trouble? GIMP is an excellent, open source (free) alternative to Photoshop that is constantly getting better. However, it's not known as the most user-friendly alternative to Photoshop. There is a Windows version available now, which is making it a lot more accessible to the average designer (although most professional designers are on Mac's - which also has a GIMP version). GIMP was originally written for Linux. Check out our feature on How to Design Graphics with GIMP to get the most out of your design software.

Tools:

Thanks ,it works great.

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Mon, 2010-07-05 12:02.

Thanks ,it works great.

it works. Thanks

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Mon, 2010-07-05 12:01.

it works. Thanks

Thanks, works great.

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Mon, 2010-06-28 17:04.

Thanks, works great.

Thanks a bunch.

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Wed, 2010-03-17 01:48.

Thanks a bunch. This was a very useful tip. I just got GhostScript working with GIMP so that I could do a little editing on an EPS file. I followed them and I was surprised it worked the first time.

Works great!

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Thu, 2010-03-11 15:44.

I'm using GIMP 2.6.8 (32 bit) and Ghostscript 8.7 (64 bit) on Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit and the instructions worked fine.

Running GS 8.71 I found that

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Thu, 2010-02-25 08:32.

Running GS 8.71 I found that GIMP 2.6.2 works with gswin32.exe but not with gdwin32c.exe in Windows XP.

Thanks! It's working like a charm now.

Good to know

Submitted by cwd on Tue, 2010-03-02 11:03.

Thanks for sharing your findings - that's good to know, I'm sure it will save someone a lot of time

Worked Great

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Tue, 2010-02-23 20:42.

Installed in Vista Control Panel || System || Advanced Settings || Environmentals

C:\Program Files\gs\gs8.71\bin\gswin32c.exe

Mucho Thanks
Fredz

Environmental Does Work

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Tue, 2010-02-23 20:39.

Thanks, you saved my bacon! I had told my client that GIMP would import EPS and was taken aback when I got an error message about "Ghostscript needs to be found"?

Download and install was easy. I was able to find the Vista environmentals in "System || advanced system settings || evironmental variables" , with Admin privileges. The new version had a little different path "C:\Program Files\gs\gs8.71\bin\gswin32.exe"

Great Work and thanks again
Fredz

Thanks Fredz

Submitted by cwd on Tue, 2010-03-02 11:27.

Hi Fredz,

Thanks for sharing your experience, we're glad you got it working!

PATH setup

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Wed, 2010-02-17 10:39.

As a matter of interest. In your explanation you say full path to win32c.exe, but as an example of the path you mention win32.exe. (without the c)

Which one is correct? I am using Eclipse and constantly get an error that my path is wrong when I want to print. Would every program use a different path variable? How can I test my path if I do not have GIMP?

Thanks

Path variables

Submitted by cwd on Mon, 2010-02-22 19:52.

The path variable (GS_PROG) simply stores the path of the GhostScript executable (win32c.exe). When the variable is used in GIMP, it should call the GhostScript executable and load it. Thanks for pointing out the typo - they should both be win32c.exe. If your path is wrong, GhostScript won't run correctly.