engst@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu (Adam C. Engst) (08/28/88)
In article <3737@polya.Stanford.EDU> rokicki@polya.Stanford.EDU (Tomas G. Rokicki) writes: >>I think you are talking about text dumps to the printer. These it does >>quite quickly. This discussion is about graphics. >>Ever used a Macintosh laser printer, I got very used to 45-50 minutes >>for a moderately simple graphic. > >Again, using what? 45 minutes a page? That is simply unusable. >Even full-page 300 dpi graphics shouldn't take more than a couple >of minutes a page, absolute maximum. I repeat, *what* *software* >gives you such poor performance? I have waited close to an hour for a page of CricketDraw graphics with lots of neat Postscript effects on them. It wasn't pleasant waiting (I was under a deadline) but it did look quite nice when it finally came out. Definately not a speed demon, Postscript. I think some company makes some sort of speedup program that is quite a lot faster than Postscript. But I'm talking about page description languages, not the speed of the laser printer. I think the LaserWriter is rated at 6 pages/minute. What is the DeskJet rated at (whatever the comparison factor might be)? Also, does anyone know if a DeskJet can be easily connected to a Mac with good drivers to take advantage of its capabilities (I don't really want to emulate an Epson FX-80 too often any more)? Adam -- Adam C. Engst engst@tcgould.tn.cornell.edu pv9y@cornella.bitnet "If it's not interactive, it's not fun."
fry@husc8.HARVARD.EDU (David Fry) (08/28/88)
In article <6131@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu> engst@tcgould.tn.cornell.edu (Adam C. Engst) writes: >In article <3737@polya.Stanford.EDU> rokicki@polya.Stanford.EDU (Tomas G. Rokicki) writes: >>Again, using what? 45 minutes a page? That is simply unusable. >>Even full-page 300 dpi graphics shouldn't take more than a couple >>of minutes a page, absolute maximum. I repeat, *what* *software* >>gives you such poor performance? > >I have waited close to an hour for a page of CricketDraw graphics with lots >of neat Postscript effects on them. It wasn't pleasant waiting (I was under >a deadline) but it did look quite nice when it finally came out. Definately >not a speed demon, Postscript. While PS is not the fastest language in the world, it's very easy for people and programs using it to slow it down unneccesarily with font changes and rotations that could be avoided with better planning. I have no idea if this is what Cricket does, but some programs will draw a string of text in font A, draw a string in font B, and then go back to font A, etc. It's better to do all your work in font A and then do all the work in font B, etc, saving a lot of calculations. I know people yell about PS's speed a lot, but the LaserWriter can print a full page 256 grayscale halftone image in a few minutes, so it can't be all bad. David Fry fry@huma1.harvard.EDU Department of Mathematics fry@harvma1.bitnet Harvard University ...!harvard!huma1!fry Cambridge, MA 02138
Mark_Peter_Cookson@cup.portal.com (08/29/88)
Well, if Apple would use a newer version of Postscript (I think they do in the new series) things would be a lot better. Postscript 44 is supposed to be greased lightning compared to Postscript 38 (which was what was in the Laser Writer Plus, I think). Mark
borton@uva.UUCP (Chris Borton) (09/09/88)
In article <8555@cup.portal.com> Mark_Peter_Cookson@cup.portal.com writes: >Well, if Apple would use a newer version of Postscript (I think they do in the >new series) things would be a lot better. Postscript 44 is supposed to be >greased lightning compared to Postscript 38 (which was what was in the Laser >Writer Plus, I think). Bingo! LaserWriter II series (NT and NX) have PostScript 44. They also have 2M RAM, more than the LW {Plus}. Thus they are speedier. I haven't had a chance to do any real comparisons here; anyone care to comment? Also note that later versions of the LaserPrep and LaserWriter driver have vastly improved performance. -cbb -- Chris Borton borton%uva@mcvax.{nl,bitnet,uucp} Rotary Scholar, University of Amsterdam CS
arons@ccnysci.UUCP (Michael Arons) (02/14/89)
A colleague without access to the net is considering the HP DeskJet as a inexpensive alternative to a laserwriter. Does anyone have any advice? If you respond by email, I will summarize and post the response. Thanks. Mike Arons
taylor@hplabsz.hp.com (Dave Taylor) (02/16/89)
There are currently two major alternatives on the market for those people interested in hooking up an HP Deskjet printer to a Macintosh; the Orange Micro "Grappler LS" or the DataPak Software "Printer Interface III" package. After comparing the two, I chose the latter package (approx. $195) which consists of a special DeskJet printer driver for the Mac (installed by copying it into the System folder and rebooting). It pushes the DeskJet as fast as it will go, 9600 baud, which is actually quite a bit faster than the DeskJet can print. For comparison, the Grappler comes with a small in-line box that is hooked up to the printer port of the Mac as well as a device driver of their own. I assume that the box does a serial -> parallel conversion (the DeskJet can take serial or parallel input, but the Mac can only generate serial, I believe) Both solutions suffer from an inability to properly use the builtin DeskJet fonts and font cartridges, though they indicate that they are capable of same. The basic problem is that the proportional font information for equivalent fonts on the Mac is completely different to that which is actually in the HP font cartridges. The end result is fast, but hideously proportionally spaced output (eg kerning). Courier, however, the monospace sans-serif font that is built in to the printer, seems to work pretty well for program listings and other "typewriter" work; it also allows printouts that are dozens of times faster than with the higher printout quality. The standard way to get high quality printouts on the Deskjet is to have "4x" fonts available; Apple display fonts that are four times the size of the fonts you are using. This way, when you use, say, 10 point Helvetica, the driver can build up an image with 40 point Helvetica and ship a 300dpi graphical image to the printer, which then happily prints at laser quality. (the reason this works is simply aspect and resolution ratios: the Mac screen is 72 dpi, which is ~1/4 the resolution of the 300dpi printer). This actually works beautifully, but requires that you have some pretty large font families on your disk for the driver to access. My solution has been to choose a single typeface that I stick with -- Palatino (a proportionally spaced serif face) -- and to have a considerable number of fonts in that face loaded into my Mac. At the cost of being "stuck" in one typeface (though I do have italics, bold, and bold italics, as well as the more traditional roman) it works out well. If you choose to use a font that is not available in the 4x size, then the driver will try to use a 2x size, with the resulting printout at approximately 150 dpi. If that size is also not available, then you get 72dpi rough ugly typefaces on the printout. With the Printer Interface III you get considerable control over the driver parameters, including the selectable option of having lower than 300 dpi printouts (the lower the resolution the faster the printout) and having no graphics transmitted and "close" typefaces mapped into the builtin fonts (again, speeding up the printout significantly). Graphics print out in publication quality (I often have screen dumps (saved with COMMAND-OPTION-3 and edited with Fullpaint) printed out as figures or illustrations to go with my articles) and look very clean and crisp. I have had especially fine results with MacDraw illustrations, the only strange part being that complex background fills come out at 1/4 the screen image, rather than the same as on the screen. (that is, if I have grey diamonds at a density of, say, 4 per inch on the screen, the printout will have them at 16 per inch). Most of my work is professional correspondence or other desk-top publishing work, and with the exception of the depressingly slow speed of printing, I am quite pleased with the combination of HP DeskJet, Printer Interface III and Mac Plus for output. The DeskJet even prints my envelopes! One other point worth mentioning; GDT Softworks has announced that they will be shipping their own DeskJet driver called JetLink Express (tm). Their advert in MacWorld indicates that JetLink Express "employs the same leading-edge outline font technology used by Postscript laser printers...This allows you the flexibility to create various fonts, sizes and styles with astonishing results." I have talked with GDT Softworks and they indicate that there is no need for 2x or 4x fonts with JetLink Express, and that it can also feed data to the printer as fast as it can print. They also indicate that their product will be compatible with SuperSpool and other major printer spoolers. Speaking of compatibility, one gripe with Printer Interface III is that it seems to be a badly behaved driver; I have had problems with more than one program due to my having this driver loaded, notably with MetCom Modula-2. Contact Information: Hewlett-Packard Co. HP DeskJet (300 dpi inkjet printer) 1501 Page Mill Road Palo Alto, CA 94304 (415) 857-1501 Orange Micro Grappler LS Mac Serial Laser/DeskJet 1400 N. Lakeview Ave. Anaheim, CA 92807 (800) 223-8029 (in Ca: (714) 779-2772) DataPak Software, Inc. Printer Interface for the Macintosh: Version III 14011 Ventura Blvd. Suite 401 Sherman Oaks, CA 91423 (818) 905-6419 GDT Softworks, Inc. JetLink Express (not yet released) Post Office Box 1865 Point Roberts, WA 98281 (800) 663-6222 I hope this helps!! -- Dave Taylor Intuitive Systems Los Altos, CA guest of HP Laboratories at taylor@hplabs.hp.com ************************************************************************* *** Note: I have no affiliation with any of the Mac firms mentioned *** *** in this article. I'm just a consumer... *** *************************************************************************
mkhaw@teknowledge-vaxc.ARPA (Mike Khaw) (02/16/89)
<2923@hplabsz.HPL.HP.COM>, by taylor@hplabsz.hp.com (Dave Taylor): } There are currently two major alternatives on the market for those } people interested in hooking up an HP Deskjet printer to a Macintosh; } the Orange Micro "Grappler LS" or the DataPak Software "Printer } Interface III" package. ... } For comparison, the Grappler comes with a small in-line box that } is hooked up to the printer port of the Mac as well as a device } driver of their own. I assume that the box does a serial -> } parallel conversion (the DeskJet can take serial or parallel input, } but the Mac can only generate serial, I believe) That actually sounds like the "Grappler LQ". Grappler LS is software ONLY (well, OK, it DOES come with a Mac mini-DIN to DB-25 cable :)), and uses a modified ImageWriter LQ driver together with workalike fonts for Helvetica and Times from BitStream. Mike Khaw -- internet: mkhaw@teknowledge.com uucp: {uunet|sun|ucbvax|decwrl|ames|hplabs}!mkhaw%teknowledge.com hardcopy: Teknowledge Inc, 1850 Embarcadero Rd, POB 10119, Palo Alto, CA 94303
jwc@peora.ccur.com (Jon Clifton) (02/18/89)
>In article <26722@teknowledge-vaxc.ARPA>, mkhaw@teknowledge-vaxc.ARPA (Mike Khaw) writes: >> <2923@hplabsz.HPL.HP.COM>, by taylor@hplabsz.hp.com (Dave Taylor): >> } There are currently two major alternatives on the market for those >> } people interested in hooking up an HP Deskjet printer to a Macintosh; >> } the Orange Micro "Grappler LS" or the DataPak Software "Printer >> } Interface III" package. >> ... Several weeks ago my local Inacomp dealer ran an add for the HP PaintJet interface. I copied the HP brouchures; it lists a part 17305A HP PaintJet Printer Interface Kit for Macintosh, list $125. It includes chooser selectable drivers, screen fonts, and 2 disks of printer fonts, cables & user manual. The driver is said to map Quickdraw to PCL and is alleged to be compatible with "application software that follows standard Apple printing guidelines..". Other than the brochures, the dealer wasn't very knowlegable. I also noted a copy of Cricket Expressions (?) which appears to be a set of drivers. Any net denizems know what it can or can't do ? About 6 months ago, Inacomp ran a promo show with Apple, HP, Compaq, et al. I asked the HP guys why the DeskJet doesn't interface to the Mac and they said at the time they were doing development, Apple wouldn't give them any technical support (the profit margin on Laser Writers ya know) and HP wasn't so sure of Apple's financial health to commit a lot of money to development. I guess HP sees a market now.... Disclaimer: I never did this before so I don't have an excuse yet.