#Postscript printing
23 messages in this thread
I just saw an ad for a utility that allows printing of a Postscript file on
a non-postscript laser or dot-matrix printer. The ad was printed with the
utility and looked pretty sharp. They called the output analytic as opposed to
bit-mapped. If this works then it is just what I am looking for. I have an HP
Deskjet printer and Professional Page. The printer is great but the output
from Pro Page dismal. Pagestream apparently has uch capability built in
(or should I say it WILL?) but they have had my for 7 mos. and have yet to
ship.
The program is called PrintScript from Pixelations (CI$ 73407,76). I am
awaiting further info from them. It MAY not be available (read "created") yet.
If there is another way to do this then I am all ears.
….Mark Sterling 74335,1677 P.S. The ad is in Feb Amiga world p.108
Mark,
Sorry about the delay in responding to your EMAIL – we expected the ad to
appear after Jan 17th, and have been quite busy.
The "analytic" refers to the fonts, which are defined in PostScript (i.e., as
paths or geometric definitions). We feel that the results are far superior to
bit-mapped fonts, even with smoothing.
The ad copy was done on an HP LaserJet series II, but looks the same on an HP
DeskJet. Naturally the output isn't as great on a dot-matrix printer, but a
24-pin printer will give quite usable results.
PrintScript IS created, and we are working towards release early in February.
I hope it will meet your expectations! (It does work with Pro Page.)
Justin Fisher Pixelations
Justin,
What is the price of PrintScript?
-larry
Larry,
PrintScript costs $89. We'll be selling it initially only through direct mail
order; maybe after it proves itself distributors will be interested. We prefer
not to take orders until we're ready to ship- we'll let you know when that is.
Our release is scheduled for early February; I know, I know, "Real Soon Now"-
but we HAVE stayed on schedule so far!
Amanda Fisher Pixelations
Amanda,
Thanks for the info. Will you be able to take VISA (if not, chances are I
won't be interested until it comes to my dealer).
-larry
Larry,
We're in the process of arranging to accept Visa and Mastercard, but I don't
really know how long the paperwork will take.
Amanda Fisher Pixelations
Thanks Amanda,
Please keep us posted as to the progress of the program and the VISA status.
-larry
Justin,
This is good news. I just replied to Email from Amanda Fisher. I am looking
forward to receiving further info from you. Need a beta test site? I am NOhRDkk[]-_VK7(xPI+Jie. I have an A1000 with an Insider and a CMI Accellerator
with a 68881 coprocessor. If haven't already done so you might consider
utilizing the new IEEE math libs that can use the math coprocessor in this
configuration as well as the Ronin or A2620 type coprocessor setup. Am I right
in assuming that this is a math intensive process that takes awhile w/out a
coprocessor?
Thanks again!
….Mark
Mark,
We DO use the IEEE math libraries, but we don't yet have the co-processor board
ourselves. Assuming the libraries work as they're supposed to, you will be
using your co-processor with our package. It IS a pretty math-intensive
process!
Amanda Fisher Pixelations
Amanda,
Great! Using the math coprocessor with the IEEE libs speeds up the few
programs I have that are written that way by 2-10 times. It wouldn't speed up
tranmission time to the printer but the calculations would FLY!
….Mark Sterling
Justin, now that's what I need. I WANT IT!
BTW, how much is it. Also, how much time does it take to print a complex page
compared to a 'straight' postscript printer?
Khalid.
TS[
+>(Pldoseri 7Y2F%+6D /UALX }8[Zd
PrintScript costs $89, and will be released in early February.
We haven't done any side-by-side comparisons of performance between ourselves
and a PostScript printer. Our AmigaWorld ad took about 15 minutes to print;
our ad in the March Info- which is more elaborate and includes an image- took
about 25-30 minutes. The Laserjet requires a long time for transmission- about
15 minutes per page. An all-text page will print in close to that time, and
the time increases as the page gets more elaborate.
The real benefit of PrintScript, of course, is that with it one can get nice
results without the cost of buying a fully-equipped PostScript printer.
Amanda Fisher Pixelations
Amanda, the price is very good. Much cheaper than a PS printer. BTW, do you
print at 300dpi fullpage, and if so, how much mem would the LJ need. I've got
1.5 meg in my LJII. Also, how about doing a PostScript previewer, i.e. a
program that will display PS output on the screen. Should be much faster than
sending to the printer, and will save a lot of time if the 'page' wasn't what
you really wanted.
I know that's a lot of questions, but I really like the idea of PS->LJ
translation. At one time around two months ago I was going to write such a
beast, but didn't have the time. Seems like you beat me to it! (grin) This
is one thing that we beat the IBM (yuck) world in. YAY! They had to spend
thousands of $$$ to add PostScript to the LJ. Well Done, Pixelations!
Khalid.
No, we haven't beaten them yet. Just matched them (they have a similar program
that does the same thing, tho it's not as easy to use). -msl-/
and it's more expensive as yours!
-Mike
Khalid,
We do print at 300dpi full-page. Our HP Laserjet also has 1.5M, so that's
certainly enough!
You're right- a screen display would definitely save time when you're setting
up a page and trying to get it just right. (It's also very useful when
debugging the interpreter!) Our version isn't real pretty or "Amiga-ized",
since we did it originally for debugging, but it does work. We've put polishing
it down on our "wish list" for future releases. It's best when used to get a
particular part just right- the screen resolution isn't good enough to do
justice to an entire page- parts would be simplified beyond recognition. But
you would still be able to get an overview.
Thanks for your interest and encouragement!
Amanda Fisher Pixelations
Amanda,
I haven't had much experience with postscript (DTP in general) but I saw a
demo of a similar product to yours a while back and one thing in particular
blew me away. Now this product was running on a 25Mhz RISC processor w/4MB of
onboard RAM as an add in board for an ms-dos based machine, but still …
What blew me away was the 'interpretivness' of the language. This guy
typed in something like…
font Blah-Blah set
45 rotate
500 100 display "Whatever"
print_this_page_now!
Will we be able to do similar things with your Pixelations package?
-John
John,
Yes, PrintScript can handle direct commands, as well as PostScript files
generated by a DTP- or other- package. You'll be able to use PostScript in the
same manner as the demo you saw.
Amanda Fisher Pixelations
This is wonderful news. I'd be VERY interested in that. Please tell me more
about the price and uses.
Betty
Betty,
PrintScript costs $89 and will be released in early February. It allows you to
print a PostScript file at the best resolution your printI
n handle, rather
than bypassing PoSRAt and printing a screen-resolution bit-map.
PostScript files can be generated with packages from other vendors, such as
Professional Page and several from LaserUp! as a few examples, or the
PostScript commands can be entered directly. In either case, you'll get the
best-looking output your printer can create.
Thanks for your interest!
Amanda Fisher Pixelations
Do you know of any spreadsheets that can generate a Postscript file? Saw the
question earlier today, and didn't know of one.
Betty
Amanda
What fonts will you support ? Will we have to buy Postscript fonts ?
Bob Naffziger – Vivid Copy
Bob,
PrintScript supports PostScript fonts. It comes with two- a Times-like one,
and a Helvetica-like one. Be careful though – the metrics are not yet the same
as Adobe's. We also support PostScript fonts from other vendors, such as
LaserUp! In fact, we use LaserUp!'s "Classic" font in our ads in the March
AmigaWorld and the next Info.
I hope that as PostScript becomes more popular the number of PostScript fonts
available will begin to rival the number of bit-mapped fonts we can find now.
Amanda Fisher Pixelations