[net.micro.mac] Laser Writer

egv@aicchi.UUCP (Vann) (03/13/85)

We just got our LaserWriter into the store where I work part-time.
As you might imagine we all took turns trying out our favorite MacPaint
files.  Each of us also tried out the wordprocessors with which we were
most familiar in an attempt to put the beast through its paces.  Therefore,
I have some observations.

The box is similar in size to that produced by Hewlett-Packard.  It is
as they describe it relatively quiet.  I will certainly co-inhabit any
office space in a friendly fashion.  Unlike the Mac it is a stark white
color, like the Apple IIc line of products.

The output from MacPaint documents, while very impressive pointed out two
things to me.  First, the Imagewriter does a VERY creditable job of serving
as a poor man's laser printer.  While the images made by LaserWriter were
crisp and even in tone, they were not that much better than those made by
my Imagewriter.  Secondly, where the LaserWriter did shine was in producing
text via its OWN fonts.  These are sharp and look just great.  This allows
a user to produce text that is head and shoulders above even a daisy wheel
printer.

If any educators are listening in, please keep this tool in mind for your
use.  It will make all the difference to students too long accustomed to
reading smeared and fading purple mimeographed copies of lecture notes and
tests.  This beast produces copy that is a joy to read.

Along with our LaserWriter we got a demo disk from Aldus, Inc.  They are the
ones who make the electronic pasteup system called PageMaker.  This is the
same one being used in-house by Apple Computer.  The demo file produced by
the package looked quite nice.  It is done in magazine style complete with
merged graphics and unbalanced columns.  For the in-house publications
department of companies and schools this is going to be a real boon.

The LaserWriter is relatively slow in operation.  Because of the size of
the PostScript interpreter and printer driver, not much else can fit on
your MacWrite disk should you be using that wordprocessor.  MacWrite does
NOT properly handle underlining.  For one thing it calls forth a rule that
it too thick and secondly cuts through the bottom portion of characters
with descenders, such as g,j,y and p.  I will have to test WORD to see if
it is more successful.

It would be quite nice in fact to be able to define the thickness of rules
used in underlining.  But this will have to be a future enhancement for one
or both of these wordprocessors.

Accompanying the LaserWriter is a rather impressive acrylic stand outfitted
with samples done on the LaserWriter.  This is a rather nice touch.  I can
see a great deal of potential in business in the production of forms and  
other mundane but often used documents.  I think Apple Computer has a winner
here.  A few added touches to WORD and/or MacWrite and we all stand to
benefit.  Just imagine your thesis or dissertation done on this printer!
*** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR MESSAGE ***
-- 
Eric Geoffrey Vann
Analysts International (Chicago Branch)
(312) 882-4673
..!ihnp4!aicchi!egv

gtaylor@lasspvax.UUCP (Greg Taylor) (03/14/85)

Yes, the LaserWriter is truly lovely, especially on McDraw stuff. Only
problem I've heard of is that the current release of WORD creates some
difficulty for the NeoLaserite...it only prints the first page.

reid@Glacier.ARPA (03/14/85)

> We just got our LaserWriter into the store where I work part-time.
...
> The output from MacPaint documents, while very impressive pointed out two
> things to me.  First, the Imagewriter does a VERY creditable job of serving
> as a poor man's laser printer.  While the images made by LaserWriter were
> crisp and even in tone, they were not that much better than those made by
> my Imagewriter
...
> The LaserWriter is relatively slow in operation.  Because of the size of
> the PostScript interpreter and printer driver, not much else can fit on
> your MacWrite disk should you be using that wordprocessor.  MacWrite does
> NOT properly handle underlining
...
> Eric Geoffrey Vann
> Analysts International (Chicago Branch)

There has been extensive discussion of the LaserWriter in fa.laser-lovers,
so I won't repeat it here. I would like to comment on the 3 things that you
mention in my excerpts above.

First, MacPaint is not a fair test of the laserWriter, because MacPaint
deals in screen pixels, and when you print a screen pixel it still looks
like a screen pixel. MacDraw (not yet announced) and various other graphics
programs do a much better job of showing off what the LW can do. MacPaint
was made to show off the Mac, and cannot really exploit the LW very well.

Second, the PostScript interpreter is in ROM in the LW proper, not on your
disk. That interpreter is actually quite fast.  The reason why the LW is
slow when used with MacPaint is that the LW is doing a huge amount of
computation trying to figure out how to print a 72bpi raster image on a
300dpi machine.  When the LW is driven with software that knows how to use
it properly, it moves faster than the ImageWriter.

Third, it is not really appropriate to underline with a typesetting machine.
People who have learned their use of word processors on character-oriented
machines like Diablos have learned to underline things, but real typesetting
does not underline. Real typesetting uses italics instead. Pick up any book
from any publisher and you will see this. The LaserWriter is a real
typesetting machine, and the fonts that it uses are taken directly from
German typesetter manufacturers. These fonts were never designed to be used
with underlining, they were designed to be used with italics, and any
attempt to underline with them is going to look amateurish. That's not
entirely the fault of MacWrite. 
-- 
	Brian Reid	decwrl!glacier!reid
	Stanford	reid@SU-Glacier.ARPA

tdn@cmu-cs-spice.ARPA (Thomas Newton) (03/14/85)

The reason that MacPaint documents don't look all that much better on the
Laserwriter than they do on the Imagewriter is that they are being printed
at Mac screen resolution, scaled up to compensate for the difference in dpi.
If MacPaint worked with Laserwriter-resolution bitmaps and scaled them down
for the ImageWriter, there would probably be a quite noticeable difference.

egv@aicchi.UUCP (Vann) (03/20/85)

In response to a letter today...

According to device documentation the LaserWriter DOES have an RS-232
port.  This should indeed make it possible for an IBM PC user to plug
directly into the imagesetter.

Also for those of you who get the chance, typesetting industry guru
Jonathan Seybold report on PUBLISHING SYSTEMS of January 28, 1985
(Vol. 14, No. 9) has a really in-depth article on the LaserWriter and
PostScript.  The following is a short excerpt from page 3:

"Last week, Apple Computer, Allied Linotype, Adobe Systems and International
Typeface Corporation made a series of announcements which we think will have
a profound impact on the publishing world.  Taken together, the announcements
do more than anything to date to bridge the personal computer, office and
graphic arts worlds.  If you still cling to the notion that typesetting
systems and products can be clearly distinguished from mass market personal
computer and office products, we think it is time you changed you mind."

Strong words from such a well known figure.  I agree entirely!  I hope that
all of you get a chance to see this wonderful beast soon.  Be sure that
your dealer lets you take a look at the output from the ALDUS product
PageMaker.  Wow!!!
:wq
:
-- 
Eric Geoffrey Vann
Analysts International (Chicago Branch)
(312) 882-4673
..!ihnp4!aicchi!egv

uggora@sunybcs.UUCP (Michael Gora) (10/07/86)

     I read in the July 1986 issue of MacUser that there were at least
three companies that have color laser printers in the works, would 
someone happen to know more about this?