harper@convex.UUCP (David Harper) (07/11/90)
A friend of mine recently purchased a DeskJet Plus and has a couple of
questions that he is hopes that the net can answer:
1) He wants to purchase the RAM cartridge and be able to download soft
fonts to the printer. He saw an article in PC Magazine recently
which indicated that DeskJet fonts are similar, but not completely
compatible, to LaserJet fonts. If this is the case, does anyone
know of a conversion utility which will take public domain fonts for
a LaserJet and convert them to a DeskJet format? Has anyone tried
downloading LaserJet fonts to see what would happen?
2) Are there emulation packages available for the DeskJet? If so, are
these packages downloadable to the printer or do the run on the PC?
Any tips on who sells these packages? (He has seen ads for emulation
packages but they say they are for the LaserJet not the DeskJet).
Any help on the above questions would be greatly appreciated. Either reply
to this note or email me at the address below and I will see that he gets
the information. Thanks.
Dave Harper - Convex Computer Corp. E-mail address:
3000 Waterview Pky. Richardson, TX 75081 harper@convex.COM
(214) 497-4525 (W) (214) 727-4206 (H)cs002@UNOCSS.UNOMAHA.EDU (Stan Wileman) (07/14/90)
In article <9007130346.AA00746@crayola.cs.UMD.EDU>, harper@convex.UUCP (David Harper) writes: > > ... does anyone > know of a conversion utility which will take public domain fonts for > a LaserJet and convert them to a DeskJet format? Has anyone tried > downloading LaserJet fonts to see what would happen? > This is, apparently, an often-asked question. DeskJet fonts are NOT the same as LaserJet fonts, although the same escape sequences are used to download them. What's different is the content of the bitmap. Fundametnally, the big difference is that DeskJet bitmaps are sent to the printer in column-major order, and LaserJet bitmaps are sent in row-major order. See, the DeskJet, being an ink jet printer, print columns of dots as the print head moves horizontally. The LaserJet prints a row of dots, then the next row, and so forth. The heart of the algorithm that converts LaserJet fonts to DeskJet fonts is the `corner-turning' logic (as well as the other administrivia, like the compression, etc.). LaserJet fonts will *NOT* work on a DeskJet without conversion. There is a very good conversion utility available from S. H. Moody & Associates, 1810 Fair Oaks Avenue, South Pasadena, CA 91030. It's called LJ2DESK, and is accompanied by a utility called FONTVIEW which displays the individual characters on your monitor. LJ2DESK will convert most LaserJet fonts, including the public domain fonts you can find, and makes appropriate corrections in the fonts as required. I have two DeskJets and a LaserJet III, and the same fonts that work on the LaserJet III can be used on the DeskJets (subject, of course, to the size limitations of the DeskJet). LJ2DESK is reasonably priced (but I don't recall the cost). Stan Wileman, U. of Nebraska at Omaha, Math/CS Dept. cs002@unocss.unomaha.edu -or- stanw@zeus.unomaha.edu
vp@cui.unige.ch (07/16/90)
In article <9007130346.AA00746@crayola.cs.UMD.EDU> harper@convex.UUCP (David Har per) writes: >A friend of mine recently purchased a DeskJet Plus and has a couple of >questions that he is hopes that the net can answer: > >1) He wants to purchase the RAM cartridge and be able to download soft > fonts to the printer. He saw an article in PC Magazine recently > which indicated that DeskJet fonts are similar, but not completely > compatible, to LaserJet fonts. If this is the case, does anyone > know of a conversion utility which will take public domain fonts for > a LaserJet and convert them to a DeskJet format? Has anyone tried > downloading LaserJet fonts to see what would happen? It won't work! The DeskJet fonts are sufficiently different from the LJ ones that the printers reject them. For example the DJ uses 600 dpi horizontal resolution while the LJ is 300 dpi. Other diffs are caused by the fact that the DJ has only(!) 50 heads, so that larger fonts have to be printed in more than one pass; since the DJ only has a Z80 in it, it can't afford to have to do a lot of work, so you have to define each pass SEPARATELY. >2) Are there emulation packages available for the DeskJet? If so, are > these packages downloadable to the printer or do the run on the PC? When you say emulation what do you have in mind? HP is selling an EPSON FX-80 emulator cartridge, but you lose all the extra features of the DJ when its plugged in. Anyway, if you want to emulate smth you'll have to do it on the PC side, there is no way (to my knowledge) of downloading *code* to the DJ (note also that the DJ has a different processor then the DJ+). If anybody knows that it CAN be done (and knows how to do it) I'd be REALLY happy to hear from them!! I've been working on a troff backend for the DeskJet, but it uses BSD vfonts, and its using the graphics mode of the printer (i.e. it doesn't attempt to download characters). I am supposed to be working on converting it to download fonts instead, but a couple of deadlines forced me to do other work :-( **vp email: vp@cui.unige.ch | Vasilis Prevelakis uucp: ...!mcsun!cui!vp | Centre Universitaire d'Informatique (CUI) Phone: +41 (22) 787 65 86 | 12 Rue du Lac, Fax: +41 (22) 735 39 05 | Geneva, Switzerland CH-1207 For every problem, there is solution that is simple, plausible and wrong. -- H.L. Mencken