HP Laser Printer driver
16 messages in this thread
Does anyone have any ideas concerning a wordprocessor that by-passes the
selected printer preferences and instead has it's own printer program? I
have an Okilaser and the current preferences does not support many of the
features such a various internal fonts, card fonts or soft fonts. Or
perhaps you may have seen a separate printer driver for HP lasers written
and posted somewhere that is more complete than the Amiga prefs? Or if you
have any ideas how I may be able to by pass Amiga prefs? Thank you. /exit
Steve, I may be wrong about this, and if so I'm sure someone will jump
right in here and bash me, but I have been led to believe that none of the
Amiga programs supports the internal fonts on any of the printers on the
market. For instance, though the HP LJ III which I use with PageStream has
some very nice scalable fonts, the PageStream program uses all its own
fonts to output to the printer. Sorry I can't help more, but I'm just not
that well versed in fonts and strange things like that. Maybe someone else
will jump in here.
Jim Halley
– via Whap!
Jim,
Actually, it's not just Amiga programs. Few programs will support the fonts
in a LJ or compatible. Ventura Publisher on the PC knows about some of
them. The 25-in-1 cart comes with a disk for kludging MultiMate and Lotus
to use those fonts but since the applications AREN'T WYSIWYG, it's very
easy to get disappointing results. But at least you get them fast. 😀
PageStream knows the letter widths of the fonts it uses but it can't know
the widths of the various fonts inside your printer. Without this
information, it can't give you an accurate screen display.
Generally speaking, most applications that allow font changes either send
the text portions as graphics or PostScript. And so you get those two
choices when it's time to print. To use LJ's with graphics AND text would
require the _application_ to be rewritten giving you a choice of DM, PS or
LJ. It's NOT as simple as changing printer drivers, the application has to
be smarter. And there would need to be some mechanism for deriving the
width tables of your fonts (be they built-in, soft or cart) and feeding
them to the various applications in their own file formats. Not simple.
Of course, this would open up a multitude of possible errors that might be
difficult to diagnose in a support call. The power user might get
everything right but the beginning would mostly be baffled. So… the
solution is to send everything as graphics so the user gets proper output.
I always advise users to ignore the presence of fonts in a printer (unless
it's a PostScript printer). One of the sad facts of life when dealing with
such printers.
I think the presence of those fonts was a good thing when people were using
word processors instead of DTP. Especially when the fonts were monospaced
and matched the screen characters. With proportional fonts, they cause more
problems than they're worth, IMHO.
Malcolm
Just as a comment on this issue, I have been using ProWrite with an Epson
LQ printer with 9 typefaces. With a PD Epson LQ printer driver from Wolf
Faust in Germany, I was able to select the typeface from the ProWrite print
requester. I used proportional fonts by composing a document in 8 x 10
page size, then reformatting the page to 12.5 x 10 and printing. The right
margin changed from the ProWrite screen, but it holds all the tabs and
indents etc. I have just recently switched to a TI microlaser and I use
the same technique with ProWrite and the HP proportional fonts and I get
quick, proportional book-quality letters from ProWrite. I still have to
select the typeface at the printer because the printer driver I have does
not support the printer font #. I am now on the lookout for an HP LJII
driver that does support typeface changes. Just so you know, someone is
doing it this way.
JL
You make some good points. Doesn't it make you wonder why these printer
manufacturers waste their time putting all these capabilities into their
product when the software manufacturers refuse to take advantage of it?
JH
– via Whap!
Jim,
re: all the capabilities in printers going unused
No, it doesn't make me wonder at all. They make a list of features, it gets
read by the people that buy and don't use, they buy it, give it to the
people who have to use it and the users can't make it work anyway.
The docs stay in the hands of the data priests so the users have to call
them to make it work. They come, get it working minimally and leave. Users
are happy till next piece of equipment comes in the door.
See, they're all made for that vast PC market that doesn't know what it's
doing or how it works. <shrug>
Malcolm
>>See, they're all made for that vast PC market that doesn't know what it's
>>doing or how it works. <shrug>
We'll have to include Amigas in that vast "PC" market. Most of the Amiga
users I know, know very little about what their machine is doing or how it
works. Same with the Mac owners. However, my PC clients are very
knowledgable, at least about what's going on.
I think it has to do with the inherent differences between people that
point&click to do something and those who have to be able to type a command
line to get their job done. (I own two Amigas, a Mac and a '386 and
consult for a living, no Amiga or Mac bashing intended).
As to the built in fonts in a LaserJet… until the HP III you got
Courier, Courier and something that sort of looked like Courier <g>. My
solution was to plug in a Postscript cartridge and tell my Apps that I have
an Apple LaserWriter IINTX. Instant clean 35 postscript scaleable
typefaces at 300 dpi. Every program I've used on the PC supports this,
including wysiwyg modes. Unfortunately, with the meager postscript driver
I have for 1.3, Most of my Amiga programs don't fare so well.
Rick,
Yeah, a PS cart is my solution too. (Wish I could afford to implement it!)
I understand your point about the knowledge level of various users but I
wasn't thinking of individual users. I was thinking of business where the
user says, "I need a printer" and 6 weeks later they get either a
SilentWriter or a LaserJet, depending on their job title.
It's been like this everywhere I've worked. <sigh>
At least an individual user will spend that 6 weeks trying to find out what
they need to know before laying out the cash.
Agreed that screen resolution graphic prints are less than thrilling. Not
sure what the solution to that is.
Malcolm
MO>>Yeah, a PS cart is my solution too. (Wish I could afford to implement
Hehe, you could always do what a friend of mine did. He took on a job for
someone doing some layout work. Convinced them the job needed PostScript
to be done properly and did the job for enough money to pay for the
cartridge plus a little extra.
Since then, he gives them a bargain rate.
Rick,
Well, I'm doing exactly that! I'm working on a project now and, when it's
finished and I get paid, I'll be off to get a PS laser lickety-split! And a
bigger hard drive. 🙂
Maybe the next job can get me a 3000. Is there no end to these desires?!
How did I become a slave to the lust for power?!
😀
Malcolm
;-D yes, I know all about the Lust for power. I'm hooked on my new
A2000/GVP 33 Mhz '030 Combo Board. Makes using my Amiga fun again! (been
spoiled by the high speeds of my '386 based dos machines).
Only problem is, I'm expecting a knock at the door by the Secret Service
wanting to confiscate it.
Two friends of the kid I bought it from where just arrested by the Secret
Service in what's being called the largest computer crime and credit card
fraud case in Nevada history. They were using their Amiga to break into
Equifax and were using the credit card info to buy things mail order.
While I have no reason to believe the kid I bought mine from was involved,
guilt by association is rearing it's ugly head, and I have no problem
seeing a scenario where the SS investigates them, tracks the charges down,
contacts a dealer, gets the serial numbers, then the kid tells them he sold
it to me. At which point they come take it from me as evidence. So I lose
out on the purchase price, plus my new toy.
And just when I'm getting used to it!
Rick,
Your tale of woe has touched my heart. You have my deepest sympathies and I
hope that everything will work out OK.
Imagine! Having to use DOS machines…..
HAR!
Malcolm
Rick, Dos users know whats going on only because Dos is so limited that
you have to know al kinds of BS and about all kinds of stuff that provides
work-arounds to the OS to get the dad-gum thing to do anything useful. The
biggest workaround of all just hit the market – Windows 3.0. It is an
appalling failure for what it attempts to be – the interface of choice for
those who want to be users instead of programmers/PC gurus. But woe be
unto the user who tries to use it that way. If you aren't aware of TSR
quirks, machine config quirks, DOs quirks etc. productivity goes right out
the window as the groups of 'well informed command line users" gather to
try to sort out what has happended to Harry's machine. I too am a
consultant and have seen users turned into the used by MS and IBM. They
mezmerized the consumer to the point that they never demanded the
technologically sensible things from the companies and are left with
computing chaos and ever decreasing productivity that is somehwhat
mitigated by faster processors. This IS intended as PC bashing. They are
junk and IBM admitted it when they first sold them. Unfortunatly they are
so rampant that, like kudzu there will never be an eradication by a higher
species.
wmc
Gawd Wayne…. you bash amiga, you bash IBM…. is there anything you DO
like?? 🙂
–jp–seattle–
Wayne,
To my mind, your PC bashing is absolutely right on.
PC's – just say no.
Malcolm
I agree totally with your assessment.
JH
– via Whap!