Can anyone help me with accomplishing the following: software writes to STDOUT --> filter --> PDF or PS "tiny text" thunbnail. Where "label" means something that fits on a biz card or smaller and remains readable.

Here is an example,

1. I want a "paper label" for data DVD media, or to include in the case with a carry-around USB drive.
2. I can make content with ls -lh ... and similar utils with some post processing, but the resulting text file prints too large.
3. A biz card has a similar form factor to a letter page only much smaller, so I need a filter of some sort.
4. Process the text into postscript(ps) or PDF "tiny text" page thumbnail.
5. Print this thumbnail label and store it with the media.

I can also use the online page thumbnails as index into an archive or catalog.

Can some TEXT--TO--PS or TEXT--TO--PDF expert help work out how to accomplish this sort of thing?

What do most people do about keeping an index or catalog of offline media (CD, DVD, USB drive) contents? (I know that "don't bother" is a popular option.)

~~~ 0;-Dan

You could use something like a2ps, eg
The '-f' flag sets the font size and '-M sets the page size. This prints straight to a printer, though you can redirect to standard output as well.