TMPLee@DOCKMASTER.ARPA (01/08/89)
Seeing as there does now seem to be someone (Scott Lindsey) reading this who can knowledgebly answer questions about AWGS, let me try repeating the question I've asked a couple times before and not had answered (as best I remember). I have an HP DeskJet printer. a) is there any chance of AWGS supporting that printer? b) if not, prsumably it will however drive it running in Epson emulation mode (EVERYONE supports epson.) c) in either case -- what kind of resolution is output printed at: GS screen resolution or the finest density the printer can support? (e.g., if I were to use the AWGS graphics features to draw boxes, circles and lines, etc., what resolution would those be printed at?) d) if I am printing just ordinary text (whether mixed with graphics or not) does that get printed out in graphics mode -- a la macintoshes -- or is AWGS smart enough to switch the printer back to text mode when it is printing text in a font supported by (or close to one supported by) teh printer? (I know of at least one desktop program in the IBM world that is smart enough to do that.) TMPLee@Dockmaster.arpa
scott@claris.com (Scott Lindsey) (01/11/89)
From article <890107222556.311665@DOCKMASTER.ARPA>, by TMPLee@DOCKMASTER.ARPA: > > I have an HP DeskJet printer. > > a) is there any chance of AWGS supporting that printer? Only if Apple chooses to support it. AppleWorks GS as a program is ignorant of printers. It simply calls the Print Manager and lets the system software do the rest. > b) if not, prsumably it will however drive it running in Epson emulation > mode (EVERYONE supports epson.) Apple isn't EVERYONE. Back when we were at StyleWare, Kevin Harvey wrote (well, modified an ImageWriter driver into) an Epson driver and some card (port) drivers to go with it. It was somewhat successful, and Apple licensed it (bought it, actually) from him. That was under ProDOS 16, not GS/OS and the newer tools. Depending on the printer and card, some people are able to use their Epson (compatibles). There is talk of fixing the existing Epson driver and possibly supporting other cards (writing other port drivers), but don't hold your breath. > c) in either case -- what kind of resolution is output printed at: GS > screen resolution or the finest density the printer can support? (e.g., > if I were to use the AWGS graphics features to draw boxes, circles and > lines, etc., what resolution would those be printed at?) I'm not terribly familiar with the Epson driver, so I couldn't be sure, but judging from the LaserWriter driver & its output, you'd get approximately screen resolution. > d) if I am printing just ordinary text (whether mixed with graphics or > not) does that get printed out in graphics mode -- a la macintoshes -- > or is AWGS smart enough to switch the printer back to text mode when it > is printing text in a font supported by (or close to one supported by) > teh printer? AWGS isn't smart at all. It doesn't know a thing about printers. The print manager isn't 'smart' in that respect either. On the ImageWriter, the most common printer in the Apple world, the native text mode is not as high a quality as using bit-mapped fonts. In other words, no. Maybe this isn't what you wanted to hear, as it sounds like you haven't bought AWGS, but are considering it. I'd rather people know what the capabilities of the program (and the system software) than be upset after the fact. -- Scott Lindsey, wombat | UUCP: {ames,apple,portal,sun,voder}!claris!scott Product Development | Internet: scott@claris.com | AppleLink: LINDSEY1 Claris Corp. | Disclaimer: These are not the opinions of Claris, (415) 960-4070 | Apple, the author, or anyone else living or dead.
prw@meccts.MECC.MN.ORG (Paul Wenker) (01/11/89)
In article <8010@claris.com> scott@claris.com (Scott Lindsey) writes: >From article <890107222556.311665@DOCKMASTER.ARPA>, by TMPLee@DOCKMASTER.ARPA: >> c) in either case -- what kind of resolution is output printed at: GS >> screen resolution or the finest density the printer can support? (e.g., >> if I were to use the AWGS graphics features to draw boxes, circles and >> lines, etc., what resolution would those be printed at?) > >I'm not terribly familiar with the Epson driver, so I couldn't be sure, but >judging from the LaserWriter driver & its output, you'd get approximately >screen resolution. From Print Manager's and the application's point of view, the Epson driver is identical to the ImageWriter driver. The normal vertical resolution for all three printers is 36 pixels/inch. Setting the vertical sizing to Intermediate will give you 54 pixels/inch. Setting the vertical sizing to Condensed will give you 72 pixels/inch. The horizontal resolution for the ImageWriter/Epson driver is 40 pixels/inch (80 pixels/inch in 640 mode), while the resolution of the LaserWriter driver is 42 pixels/inch (84 pixels/inch in 640 mode). -Paul Wenker prw@meccsd.MECC.MN.ORG -MECC, Technical Services