--- a/scripts/plot/print.m
+++ b/scripts/plot/print.m
@@ -74,8 +74,18 @@
 ## orientation specified.  This options is equivalent to changing
 ## the figure's "paperorientation" property.
 ##
+## @item -TextAlphaBits=@var{n}
+## @itemx -GraphicsAlphaBits=@var{n}
+##   Octave is able to produce output for various printers, bitmaps, and
+## vector formats by using ghostscript.
+## For bitmap and printer output antialiasing is applied using
+## ghostscript's TextAlphaBits and GraphicsAlphaBits options.
+## The default number of bits for each is 4.
+## Allowed values, for @var{N}, are 1, 2, or 4.
+##
 ## @item -d@var{device}
-##   Output device, where @var{device} is one of:
+##   The available output format is specified by the option @var{device},
+##   and is one of:
 ##
 ##   @table @code
 ##   @item ps

--- a/scripts/plot/private/__ghostscript__.m
+++ b/scripts/plot/private/__ghostscript__.m
@@ -32,6 +32,8 @@
   opts.device = "";
   opts.epscrop = false;
   opts.antialiasing  = false;
+  opts.antialiasing_textalphabits = 4;,
+  opts.antialiasing_graphicsalphabits = 4;
   opts.resolution = 150;
   opts.papersize = "";
   opts.pageoffset = [0 0];
@@ -70,7 +72,9 @@
 
   if (opts.antialiasing && isempty (strfind (opts.device, "write")))
     ## Apply anti-aliasing to all bitmap formats/devices
-    gs_opts = sprintf ("%s -dTextAlphaBits=4 -dGraphicsAlphaBits=4", gs_opts);
+    gs_opts = sprintf ("%s -dTextAlphaBits=%d -dGraphicsAlphaBits=%d",
+                       gs_opts, opts.antialiasing_textalphabits,
+                       opts.antialiasing_graphicsalphabits);
     gs_opts = sprintf ("%s -r%dx%d", gs_opts, [1, 1] * opts.resolution);
   elseif (any (strcmp (opts.device, {"pswrite", "ps2write", "pdfwrite"})))
     gs_opts = sprintf ("%s -dEmbedAllFonts=true", gs_opts);

--- a/scripts/plot/private/__print_parse_opts__.m
+++ b/scripts/plot/private/__print_parse_opts__.m
@@ -49,6 +49,8 @@
   arg_st.ghostscript.pageoffset = [];
   arg_st.ghostscript.resolution = 150;
   arg_st.ghostscript.antialiasing = false;
+  arg_st.ghostscript.antialiasing_textalphabits = 4;
+  arg_st.ghostscript.antialiasing_graphicsalphabits = 4;
   arg_st.loose = false;
   arg_st.lpr_binary = __quote_path__ (__find_binary__ ("lpr"));
   arg_st.name = "";
@@ -118,6 +120,20 @@
         arg_st.fig2dev_binary = arg{10:end};
       elseif (strncmp (arg, "-PSTOEDIT:", 9))
         arg_st.pstoedit_binary = arg{10:end};
+      elseif (strncmpi (arg, "-textalphabits=", 15))
+        n = find (arg == "=");
+        if (! isempty (n) && n == numel (arg) - 1 && ismember (arg(end), "124"))
+          arg_st.ghostscript.antialiasing_textalphabits = str2num (arg(end));
+        else
+          error ("print: improper syntax, or value, for TextAlphaBits")
+        endif
+      elseif (strncmpi (arg, "-graphicsalphabits=", 19))
+        n = find (arg == "=");
+        if (! isempty (n) && n == numel (arg) - 1 && ismember (arg(end), "124"))
+          arg_st.ghostscript.antialiasing_graphicsalphabits = str2num (arg(end));
+        else
+          error ("print: improper syntax, or value, for GraphicsAlphaBits")
+        endif
       elseif ((length (arg) > 2) && arg(1:2) == "-G")
         arg_st.ghostscript.binary = file_in_path (getenv ("PATH"), arg(3:end));
         if (isempty (arg_st.ghostscript.binary))