Comment 9 for bug 820820

On the last UDS we have decided to finally deprecate PostScript as the (former) standard print job format, due to the fact that all standard applications send print jobs in PDF format now and that the CUPS filters (in /usr/lib/cups/filter/) are moving from CUPS to OpenPrinting upstream now. The PostScript-specific filters will get dropped and so the standard way is to have a workflow with PDF as standard print job format. See

https://blueprints.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+spec/desktop-p-new-cups-filters-package
https://www.linuxfoundation.org/collaborate/workgroups/openprinting/pdfasstandardprintjobformat
http://www.openprinting.org/

So a PDF->PostScript->PDF path is more than awkward. Manipulating the output should be done with other methods:

1. Use the CUPS options for N-up, reverse order, selected pages, scale-to-fit, ... They are all executed by the pdftopdf CUPS filter and user-accessible by the GTK printing dialog (later by the Common Print Dialog).

2. Enhance the pdftopdf CUPS filter by adding more page manipulations to it (patches welcome). This would offer these page manipulations also to queues which print to real printers.

3. Use pdftk instead of Ghostscript in the cups-pdf backend.