This is an archive of CompuServe forum messages from 1985 to 1995, as saved in transcripts by John Foust.
Search Results (53 messages)
Brad: Nah, I'm all conventioned out. Got to fly to Chicago next weekend for GraphX and the long awaited unveiling of Quadex on a Sun Workstation. Ta da! Had a long chat with one of Cg's product managers for the Sun. Sounds like a hell of a frontend if it…
NEC890 XL
Message #13388
Thanks for the explanation Stephen. I got a less complete version recently from a product manager at Tektronix (manager of the Color printers) who made similar comments about 'theoretically'. By the way, my friend decided not to buy the XL after discovering that it was not yet truly available. So…
Thanks for the lead. I have also called some other people in upstate New York and gotten some prices… I had another question: I saw that you mentioned having written a nifty test strip routine which prints material at diferent resolutions, etc. Can I get a copy of it, is…
Oh my God, i just bought an NTX ! at any rate I don curently have a Mac with slots Blaise.
Jon, Are you going to Info '89 at the Javits Center next week? I have a feeling the Mac representation will be small, but the show should be interesting. Bell Atlantic is supposed to have a heck of a booth, including interactive displays and a theater "that will surround your…
The royalty paid to Adobe for the PostScript interpreter by a large-volume producer of laser printers like Apple is remarkably small; according to the best reports I've heard it's under $250. If you think that isn't worth it, you don't remember the state of the industry before Adobe. If you…
Hmmm. Points to ponder. There are two different PostScripts being discussed here: 1) PostScript, the programming language which has become the advanced-technology standard-bearer of the US graphic arts industry; and 2) PostScript, the product brought to you by Adobe Systems, Inc. PostScript is being discussed and defended primarily from the…
David: By "most PostScript work is performed on the MAC" I meant that most of my shop's PostScript work is performed on the Mac. Thanks for the detailed answer. Do you know off hand if Birmy will be displaying its machines at GraphX in Chicago next week? The owner of…
Mike – interesting reading. Do you work for Adobe (I might have said Apple a year ago). What do you care if some other company trys to compete and build and better product. Why waste time trying to assault a project before you've seen the result. Adobe's just been greedy…
Steve – probably right about PS on the MAC and PC and what proportion of jobs are done on laser versus lino-like. In D.C., though, lots of big clients (gov't) are moving to Ventura. For most book work its hard to beat. DG in DC
I personally have yet to see ANYTHING on PC's that look anything but clunky (however you wish the term to apply). Yes the work can get done, but it's a pain in the A*S, even if you're expert at MS-DOS, etc. Now the MAC is a different story. Not only…
(and as if you haven't heard enough…) Most (as in 80-90%) existing PostScript work is on the Mac. I'm honestly surprised you disputed this. PostScript implementation and DTP in general under MS-DOS are relatively complex and costly undertakings in relation to what is an off-the-shelf solution using Macs. The bulk…
David, I don't know about your service bureau, but on our imagesetters at least 80% of the jobs come from the Macintosh. And that's not because we don't support PC applications. We fully do, including printed documentation on how to create PostScript files from Ventura and PC PageMaker. I'm sure…
Blaise, Run the following piece of PostScript code to clear font cacheing on a Lino: /scratch 100 string def systemdict /filenameforall known { (FC/*) {deletefile} scratch filenameforall } if serverdict begin 0 exitserver systemdict begin quit The RIP should be reset at the end of the process, but if it…
Blaise, I manage the service bureau portion (called the Electronic Media Department) of a typesetting/graphics company called Central Graphics in San Diego, CA. We've chosen to focus primarily on the market in San Diego and southern Orange Counties in California. We do accept some files on our bulletin board system…
The fastest plain paper (300 dpi) PostScript language compatible printer/device in the RIPS 4000i. Using the Intel 960 RISC and 4 Mbytes of RAM, this device processes PostScript faster than any other (for now!). Faster, yes, that the PS Clone implementation on the AMD 29000. Where can you get a…
Jon – I'm not sure that "most PostScript work is performed on the MAC." Actually, I'd suspect that in a short while there will be more PC users realizing the benefits of PostScript and start having their applications produce said code. Most all PC applications have PS drivers. In regard…
Yes, I was also curious about The Brimy setter, but my questions were in fact directed to 300 dpi plain paper printers. Blaise
Oh, Steve, what is this Disk Restore I keep hearing about? Is this available as a standalone application or is it a piece of code one downloads (PostScript)? I know of an Lino 100p in southern Spain which is in serious need of a disk cleanup. Blaise
Steve, pardon me for asking but since I'm looking for a service bureau here in the States, what bureau DO you work for? Actually, I've never used a service bureau here before. Is it a good idea to use a local one (one that I can drive to)? I'm in…
Thanks Stephen. I suspected as much. I guess it looks like NTX city for the time being. Blaise
Jungle, If this is the "RIP fixer/Disk Restore" file you're sending: /scratch 100 string def systemdict /filenameforall known { (FC/*) {deletefile} scratch filenameforall } if serverdict begin 0 exitserver systemdict begin quit …then the reason everything goes into Never-Never Land immediately after this file is executed is that the last…
David: Does the Birmy handle Type 1 fonts from those type foundries that are producing hinted fonts but didn't by the rights from Adobe (like Bitstream and URW)? How does the Birmy interface to the Macs if virtually all your PostScript work is on the Mac environment and not IBM?…
OOOPS! Sorry, David, you took my reply to Blaise a little out of context – he was soliciting an assessment of 300 dpi LW replacements. It's my understanding (all second hand, admittedly) that they're still glitchy. The only non-Adobe RIP's supporting Type 1 are all high-res units. No slight intended…
Yes, except that if RIP fixer (aka Disk Restore) is first in the set, the following files in the LaserStatus set (e.g., Helvetica Narrow patch, 90 lpi default screen reset for RIP 2 with 150-line default) get sent to Never-Never Land instead of into RIP memory. Perhaps Laser Status in…
Nathan, Thanks for the correction. This is one of those poorly documented features in PostScript which demand clarification. Now I can add save/restore to my exitserver routines to clean up memory. ^Steve^
(continuation of Birmy praise) Also, Birmy seems to be one of the few firms really tackling speed as an issue. In fact, I'm told plans call for a new RIP card with 52 Mbytes of RAM packed on it so that board sheet pages can approach the 1 pg/min mark.…
Since no one mentioned the BirmySetter specifically, I'll add my two cents. In regard to type faces, the BirmySetter, using a RIP and interpreter from RIPS, Inc., has been capable of using Adobe I encrypted fonts for some 6 or 7 months. We use a BirmySetter every day and almost…
That's kinda why I conditioned my response on not having my PostScript references on hand – I had this feeling that a little surgery on our "standard" exitserver job files would produce one that would do what we wanted. It's just that my previous attempt or two to do this…
Steve: exitserver can be executed anytime there are no composite objects still on the stack or defined in dictionaries. Basically, as long as the environment of the interpeter is the same as the beginning of a job (easily attained by proper use of save/restore) an exitserver could even be done…
I'm not particularly beating the Adobe drum, Blaise, but I'm personally leery of the current crop of clone controllers – a lot of them will hiccup at inopportune moments, aside from the limitations of not being able to handle Type 1 (hinted) fonts. …mm
Blaise, It is NOT a good idea to proof on a laser printer with one set of fonts, and then print at a service bureau with another. (1) Even if the laser printer used fonts with allegedly the same width values as the imagesetter fonts, they might differ in more…
Mike, I've discovered by experience that you can combine multiple routines within an exitserver job. You can even print out a job outside the server loop. For example, I've set up a density strip for the Lino that changes to each of three resolutions, prints a density bug at each…
Mike You can send as many exitserver routines as you wish in a single blow. But you can only exit the server loop once in a 'connect'. Once you've executed 'serverdict begin exitserver', you can stay there till you turn blue in the face changing persistent parameters till they're worn…
If you're depending on your clone laser printer for proofing (using non-Adobe fonts) and expect to run final output on an Adobe-licensed imagesetter (with Adobe fonts), you are depending on more than "good" clone fonts. At a minimum, you would have to have a font library that matches the Adobe…
Frankly, sounds like a deficiency in PostScript to me. Who says that the user _doesn't_ want to send multiple exitserver routines at a whack? Hmm? …mm
#Clone Controllers
Message #13187
I hope the sysops don't consider this question politically dangerous: Has anyone out there used the non-Adobe fonts (Bitstream, Font Company, Image Club, etc)? I've used Casady and Image Club fonts. The display types are ok but the text faces are nothing to write home about. I think, frankly, that…
Glad I could help.
Exitserver routines can only be ended by breaking communication with the Interpreter. The interpreter resets itself to the server mode so that the next time you connect, you are back in the server mode.
Great idea! I too get tired waiting and wondering what it's doing. It's nice to get some feedback. There's always a thought in the back of my mind that it's busily reformatting my hard disk… I'll give your addition to the utility a whirl.
9600 Comments?
Message #13175
Actually, I'm a little embarrassed because I _should_ have known that, and could have just as easily asked the two CG sales types sitting next to me at Tuesday's "Lino Users Group" meeting. …mm
Which brings to mind to ask why "exitserver" jobs can't be concatenated into a single file. Is this Apple's doings in the LW driver, or is there some manner of EOJ command or comment which can be included in the file? The answer may be hopelessly obvious, but my PostScript…
Printers
Message #13166
Has anyone out ther used the new crystal shutter printers (Jasmine, Qume, Mirror) with the "PostScript compatible" controller? I hear from Jasmine that they will absolutely not print Adobe brand fonts. Bummer. Have you guys seen output from these printers? Maybe this isn't the right place but: Has anyone used…
Trading Post/Daystar
Message #13158
Anyone have any experience using Trading Post in an Appleshare network via a Daystar PS/2 Appletalk card? I'm configured to have LPT3: as my Postscript printer port, but Trading Post doesn't see anything there. Advice? Rich Meislin
Merg. 606
Message #13149
Does anyone know of a driver software or a "black box" that will let me use a Mergenthaler 606 with either a PC or a Mac?
#apd
Message #13145
Hi, Mike, Welcome back from the West Coast and back on Compuserve. Actually I think you could create such a suite of setup files with LaserStatus. It permits you to create "sets" of PostScript files which are run sequentially. ^Steve^
Ill. 1.8.3 and SE/30
Message #13142
Actually, we use Disk Restore whenever we need to restart the RIP to free up memory fo^C p-89 10:37:47
Hi Bob. Does the ready light keep blinking forever until it's turned off? Even of the PostScript job has an error somewhere, the printer should timeout after 30 seconds. Unless the VAX is still sending info. We've connected LN03Rs and Varityper VT-600s and have queues running them successfully (but we…
#3384-
NEC LC890
Message #3515
Roger, Thank you for taking the time to explain how to set the legal operator and tell the printer to expect legal sized paper and therefore print the appropriate legal image. I will edit your response and add some information about the Supplement manual and then post it online in…
#Apple Laserwrtr on VAX
Message #3509
I need some help in getting a print queue for an Apple Laserwriter to work properly on a MicroVax. I've set up a standard terminal print queue and can get one form to print fine , but then the ready light on the laser writer continues to blink after the…
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