#PixelScript
9 messages in this thread
On the advice of some people over in AmigaVendor I just purchased
Pixelations PixelScript. After beating my printer driver into submission
(it would not allow PixelScript to print at the maximum resolution for the
printer), I got it to work; and it works well.
There were only three things which bothered me:
1) The manual failed to mention all of the ASSIGNs which were needed.
This was frustrating when pieces of PixelScript did not function, which
brings me to point two:
2) When PixelScript failed, it gave me no clue as to why it failed. It
was only a lucky guess which allowed me to get it working.
3) Memory is _very_ tight in my one-meg machine with PixelScript running.
I've got a feeling, though, that there isn't much you can do about this
one. <sigh>
That being said; the improvement in the print quality I'm getting out of
my Panasonic KX-P1180 using ProWrite, ProScript and PixelScript is pretty
impressive. It isn't a laser printer by any means, but it's a considerable
improvement over what I was getting with ProWrite alone.
This is one time when, in the end, I'm glad I took the advice I was given
here. (Now if only I could find a _real_ driver specifically for the
KX-P1180. The EpsonX driver doesn't seem to support some of the special
features of the Panasonic printer.)
MCR – San Jose, CA
What were the assigns that were needed to get Pixelscript to work? Were
there any other undocumented things you could tell us about?
(Sometimes writing up some notes and uploading them to the files area
could be worthwhile in saving others the same trouble.)
Thanks.
Jim,
When PixelScript is installed, it creates a set of directories in the
drawer you install it in. Each of these requires an ASSIGN. The device name
is the same as the directory name.
So:
ASSIGN PxS: dh0:PxS ; The directory you installed PixelScript in
ASSIGN PxSFonts: PxS:PxSFonts
ASSIGN PxSFiles: PxS:PxSFiles
.
.
.
There were no other undocumented features or problems that I've run into
so far. One thing I did find, though, is that it's worthwhile running of
floppies without the hard disk mounted. This frees up enough memory to do
real work. This only applies if you've only got a one-meg machine (I do).
MCR – San Jose, CA
Jim,
Actually, I did just think of one thing people ought to know. If you are
using a Panasonic KX-P1180 printer with PixelScript, best results seem to
be with the _new_ EpsonX driver set at density 2. But don't try to run
ProWrite with your preferences set this way. It crashes, for no reason I
can discern (but I'm running 2.0.5, so salt is appropriate).
MCR – San Jose, CA
Speed and memory problems are always an issue for hi-res printing..
remember that even a low-end postscript laser printer has 3 megs and a fast
68020 cpu.. more computer than many of the computers which send them
code… also, as resolution increases, memory requirements and processing
time increase like the square of the resolution gain.
Arnie,
I knew that, that's why I had a feeling they couldn't do mucH Y1out it.
There is _one_ thing they could do; use the disk as a scratch pad instead
of memory. Put the work area in a file in the T: directory. If you have
plenty of memory, put T: in RAM:. If not, put it on your disk. Having it on
disk would slow it down, but it would work _at all_ where it won't do now.
MCR – San Jose, CA
We tried to keep the manual short and simple, and cut some areas too short.
We were torn between giving a technical explanation (which I now wish we
had done) and trying to make things automatic. More technical detail would
have allowed people who are more knowledgable to diagnose problems, etc.
Memory is tight in a 1-meg machine — but most PostScript clones can't run
in 1 meg at all (and those that use disk-based virtual memory run very,
very slow).
Good luck with your printing! Justin
Justin,
I do think the manual should have been a bit longer. And a bit more
accurate. I'm fairly technical, so I was able to figure out what was going
wrong. But I really shouldn't have had to.
Presumably PixelScript uses a "scratch area" to keep data about the
raster being generated. If an option were present to allow this "scratch
area" to be on disk, memory pressures would be reduced substantially (I
have 60mb of disk and only 1mb of RAM). Just a thought.
In general I like the product. I got the project I needed it for done and
it looked much better than bit-mapped output from ProWrite. I look forward
to your company releasing versions with improvements.
Now, how would I go about getting more fonts for PixelScript?
MCR – San Jose, CA
Michael,
Actually, PixelScript doesn't use a scratch area (that's one reason we can
run at all on a 1meg machine), we use a completely different approach to
rasterizing.
We offer 6 packages of fonts (typically 3 per package) — you'll get info
on these when you register PixelScript. You can also use CG fonts if you
have the utility from Gold Disk that creates PostScript from the CG format.
Justin