ODT to PostScript Converter

ODT to PostScript — Do You Actually Want PS, or PDF?

This tool lays out your OpenDocument Text (.odt) file and prints it to PostScript (.ps), Adobe's 1984 page-description language — a fixed-page stream of drawing commands meant for PostScript printers, RIPs, and Unix print pipelines. It is not an editable document, and for most people who land here the right target is PostScript's descendant, PDF. The table below shows which one you need; if it is PDF, use ODT to PDF instead.

PostScript vs PDF — Which Should ODT Convert To?

When to Pick PostScript (.ps)

• A legacy print server, RIP (raster image processor), or PostScript-only laser printer that ingests .ps directly.
• A Unix or Linux printing workflow — piping the file through Ghostscript or sending it to a queue with lpr / lp.
• A prepress or packaging vendor whose imposition workflow still expects PostScript input.
• A Ghostscript or dvips-style pipeline that processes PostScript as an intermediate stage.

When to Pick PDF Instead

• You want to email, share, or upload the document — PDF opens everywhere without extra software.
• You need on-screen reading with working search, hyperlinks, or a navigation outline.
• You are archiving the document and want the smaller, more universally readable file.
• You are not sure which you need — that almost always means PDF. ODT to PDF produces a near-identical page layout because the two formats share an imaging model.

How to Convert ODT to PostScript

1. Upload Your ODT File: Drag and drop your .odt into the upload area, or click "+ Add Files" to browse. You can queue several documents to convert with the same settings.
2. Choose a Compression Type: Under Advanced Options, the Compression Type preset — Screen (Best), Ebook, Default, Prepress, or Printer — controls how images inside the document are downsampled and how the output is tuned. Leave it on Screen (Best) unless a print shop or RIP asks for Prepress or Printer-grade output.
3. Keep the Defaults Otherwise: The defaults render the document faithfully to fixed pages; you only need to touch the preset above for a specific print target.
4. Convert and Download: Click "Convert" and download your .ps file. No sign-up, no watermark.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is converting ODT to PostScript or to PDF the better choice?

PDF is the better choice unless something downstream specifically requires PostScript. PDF is PostScript's descendant — Adobe shipped it in 1993 on the same page-imaging model, then added embedded fonts, metadata, search, and reliable on-screen viewing, which is why it became the standard for sharing documents. Convert ODT to .ps only for a legacy PostScript printer, a prepress RIP, or a Unix/Ghostscript print pipeline that reads PostScript directly. For everything else, ODT to PDF is the right fit.

Can I edit the PostScript file after converting my ODT?

Not in any practical sense. ODT is a reflowable, fully editable document; PostScript is the opposite — a print stream of drawing and typesetting commands describing finished pages, paginated at the moment of conversion. Once your ODT is "printed" to PostScript, line breaks and page layout are fixed and there is no editable text to rework. If you need to keep editing, keep the original .odt and re-export when you are done; if you only need a viewable copy, convert to PDF.

Will my ODT layout and fonts be reproduced exactly in the PostScript file?

The document is laid out and rendered to fixed pages, so headings, paragraphs, tables, and images carry over as printed. Exact fidelity depends on fonts: where a typeface is available to the converter it can be embedded or outlined in the PostScript so the page prints the same elsewhere, and where it is not it is substituted with the closest match, which can shift line breaks and spacing on complex layouts. For straightforward business documents the result is faithful; for heavily designed pages, proof the output before sending it to a printer.

How do I send the .ps file to a printer on Linux or Unix?

PostScript files are built for exactly this. Most Unix-like systems can pipe a .ps file to a print queue with lpr or lp, and Ghostscript — the open-source PostScript and PDF interpreter — can act as the raster image processor that turns the PostScript into dots for a non-PostScript printer. A common pattern is to feed the file through Ghostscript with its output piped to the print queue. If your target is a modern desktop printer rather than a RIP, you will usually have an easier time printing a PDF.

What software opens a PostScript file on Windows or macOS?

Ghostscript is the universal free interpreter and runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux; GSview adds a graphical front end on top of it. macOS Preview opens .ps files directly via its built-in PostScript filter. Most Windows installations do not ship with a PostScript viewer, so Ghostscript is the standard install there. Adobe Illustrator and image editors such as GIMP can also rasterize PostScript. This viewer friction is another reason PDF is the better pick when you simply need to read or share the file.

Why is the PostScript file larger than my original ODT?

ODT is a ZIP package of compressed XML, so it stores text very compactly; PostScript stores explicit page-drawing commands plus embedded font and image data with limited compression, so the .ps output is routinely several times larger than the source document. For prepress or print-spooling use that trade-off is fine. If size matters, the Screen (Best) or Ebook compression preset downsamples embedded raster images to shrink the file.

Is converting ODT to PostScript private, and how long do you keep my file?

Your file is uploaded over an encrypted connection and converted on our servers — there is no sign-up and no watermark, and your document is never shared or made public. Uploaded and converted files are deleted automatically a few hours after conversion. In our testing, a text-heavy ODT business document produces a .ps file noticeably larger than the source, because PostScript records explicit page-drawing commands instead of the compact zipped XML inside an .odt.