chuq@plaid.UUCP (04/30/87)
Desktop Publishing Archive #5
Subjects
Thunderscan and DTP
Word 3.0 for the mac press release
Attaching a scanner to the Sun.
Summary of answers to my laserwriter questions...
LaserWriter Typefaces
[editorial note: since the message with my laser writer questions and
some of the answers sent to both me and the group are duplicated
in the summary, I've removed them from the archive -- chuq]
From: chuq (Chuq Von Rospach)
Subject: Thunderscan and DTP
I've been meaning to write about this for a while, and just now getting to
it. When I first started the group, I mentioned I had a Thunderscanner as
part of my ensemble.
For those that aren't aware, the Thunderscanner is a low cost digitizing
scanner for the Mac. For about $250 (list, about $170 discount) you can
buy a doohickey that attaches to your Imagewriter (I or II) printer and
using the printer mechanicals for movement and positioning (one way it
saves money) digitize material for integration into DTP.
I've used mine on and off for a while, and I've come to a couple of
conclusions. I've had a few people ask me whether it is really useful for
production work, and the answer I have is no. Why? Primarily because
it has a limited (72DPI) resolution.
In theory, the TS will digitize up to 288DPI, almost the resolution of the
laserwriter. The practical problem to that, however, is that you have to
use a magnified scan and than print it in a reduced format. To get a reasonable
144DPI out of it, you have to lay the entire page (or document) out at a 200%
resolution and then print it at 50% reduction.
This is possible, at least with MacPublisher II, but I find that the way it
is handled is generally a pain, and not worth it. A 100% resolution is
limited to 72DPI, which simply doesn't do justice to the art.
What to do?
Two things. One is simply to lay out white space, and then use traditional
methods to strip in the art. If you REALLY want to do everything electroncically,
there are now 300DPI scanners on the market. You'll pay about $2500 for
them, though -- they are definitely not hobby toys. Just as there are
laserwriters for rent these days, I've seen a couple of places that rent
scanners now, too -- if you need an occasional piece of art scanned in, this
might be an alternative.
The Thunderscan turns out to basically be a toy. fun, but there isn't a
reasonable way to get good results in the DTP environment.
==========
From: chuq (Chuq Von Rospach)
Subject: Word 3.0 for the mac press release
I thought this would be of interest. Here is the press release for Word 3.0,
pulled from the MSOFT SIg on Compuserve.
-----
[76703,4235]
MAC300.TXT 03-Nov-86 7440 28
Keywords: MACINTOSH WORD 3.00 ANNOUNCEMENT PRESS RELEASE
This is the long-awaited press release announcing Microsoft Word 3.00 for
the Apple Macintosh. One feature this press release doesn't mention is
that you now have an option to keep any combination of the program and/or
the document in memory. More info will be available soon.
(R D M) !r
- MICROSOFT WORD VERSION 3.00 FOR THE APPLE MACINTOSH -
NEW YORK, NY -- October 27, 1986 -- Microsoft Corporation today
announced Microsoft Word Version 3.0 for Apple Macintosh systems, with
revolutionary new features that make it the best document processor or
any personal computer. Microsoft Word advances word processing on the
Macintosh in the way Microsoft Excel advanced financial analysis a year
ago.
Microsoft Word for the Macintosh is extremely fast. In addition,
features unique to Microsoft Word for the Macintosh include flexible
menus, Quick-Switch, Page Preview, and the ability to place graphics
and text side by side. According to Microsoft chairman, Bill Gates,
"Microsoft Word for the Macintosh has lightening speed. I think this
is the fastest word processor ever on a personal computer."
This new version of Microsoft Word offers an impressive list of
features in a graphics-based environment which are accessible even to
the novice user. Word's functions work together, are consistent, and
can be easily accessed by someone without dedicated word processing
experience. When combined with an Apple LaserWriter, Microsoft Word
Version 3.0 produces the highest-quality output available from any
personal computer-based system.
"Our four years of intensive experience with developing software for
the Macintosh gives us the technological edge to produce fast,
sophisticated applications programs," said Gates. "Microsoft Word 3.0
uses the superior graphics capabilities of the Macintosh to give users
the flexibility to easily generate a great-looking document from start
to finish."
Microsoft Word 3.0 for the Macintosh combines features of high-end
personal computer-based word processing programs with the ease of use
and graphical user interface of the Macintosh. The result is
high-speed software that makes it very easy to prepare
professional-looking documents ranging from memos to long reports that
combine text and graphics. The new version of Word for the Macintosh
includes such advanced capabilities as:
Faster Execution-- Most commonly used functions like scrolling,
saving, and printing are significantly faster than previous versions of
Microsoft Word.
Flexible Menus-- Short Menus list only the basic word processing
features, very similar to MacWrite. The learning process is
accelerated, because the more sophisticated functions are not apparent.
As novice users progress, one keystroke offers access to Full Menus and
more advanced functions, including outlining, style sheets, and
Quick-Switch. Finally, the ability to customize menus gives
experienced users the power to build the menu of choice for a valuable
shortcut to their most-used commands.
Compound Documents and Quick-Switch-- Microsoft Word 3.0 for the
Macintosh supports documents that include data in the form of text,
but-mapped graphics, object-oriented graphics, formatted numerical
tables, and equations. Word makes it easy to edit these other types of
data using Quick-Switch. the users need only remember one command key
to access and return from other appropriate software. Word performs
the necessary data manipulation. Users can change text, draw lines,
formulate equations and resize or crop graphics from within Microsoft
Word 3.0.
Page Preview-- To eliminate surprises at final output, users can
view on-screen headers, footers, margins, and page breaks of two entire
pages, exactly as they will be printed. These then can be
interactively adjusted, which saves time and effort by eliminating
repeat printings.
Page Layout Flexibility and Desktop Publishing-- Microsoft Word
allows text and graphics to be laid out in multiple snaking columns or
in independent (side-by-side) columns. Graphics can be moved with text
within the same paragraph. Embedded PostScript gives the user the
ability to tap the full potential of the Apple LaserWriter. Microsoft
Word for the Macintosh is designed to work seamlessly with Aldus
PageMaker for those individuals requiring the advanced features of page
layout program. All character and paragraph formatting in Word is
maintained when the text is "poured" into a page layout.
Integrated Outliner-- A integrated outliner allows writers to
organize ideas, get a fast overview of work-in-progress, and reorganize
lengthy documents. When headings are restructured in Outline view, the
accompanying text is automatically moved.
Integrated Style Sheets-- Documents can be formatted quickly and
consistently using integrated style sheets, which make it easy to
maintain a consistent look throughout all documents. Styles can be
defined or modified as thent is created to effect changes
instantly throughout the document.
Data Exchange-- Version 3.0 includes a conversion utility for the
IBM Document Content Architecture (DCA) format. It also supports
built-in two-way data conversion with other leading software packages
or standards in other environments including Microsoft Word for the PC,
Rich Text Format (RTF),ASCII files, MacWrite, and Microsoft Works.
Column Manipulation-- Microsoft Word 3.0 includes traditional column
manipulation functions such as column move, delete, five function math
(=,-,%,x,/), and sorting.
Spelling Corrector-- An 80,000-word spelling corrector is integrated
in Microsoft Word 3.0.
With its increased graphics capabilities and flexible formatting,
Microsoft Word 3.0 for the Macintosh complements today's desktop
publishing systems. Version 3.0 integrates many of the formatting
features traditionally found in desktop publishing systems and, with
PostScript support, provides users with more sophisticated features
required for complex page layout designs.
The advanced document processing capabilities of Microsoft Word 3.0
help position the Macintosh on the desks of business users by providing
a powerful program designed for serious business tasks. The increased
power, graphical user interface, and improved keyboard of the Macintosh
Plus combined with Microsoft Word 3.0 produce the highest-quality
professional documents possible on a personal computer.
Office environments that utilize both Macintosh and IBM personal
computers will benefit from the data conversion capabilities of Version
3.0, as well as complete utilization of the Macintosh Plus keyboard.
Microsoft Word 3.0 users can perform cursor movements and selection
from the keypad.
Microsoft Word for Apple Macintosh systems requires a minimum of
512K memory. The program is delivered on an 800K disk, but owners of
the 512K Macintosh who have not upgraded to an 800K double-sided disk
drive can obtain a copy on two 400K disk free of charge by completing
the coupon included in the Word 3.0 package and returning it to
Microsoft.
The product is expected to ship in January 1987, will have a
suggested retail price of $395, and will not be copy protected.
Current registered users can upgrade to Version 3.0 for $99. In
mid-November registered users will be notified by mail of the upgrade
process. Users who purchase a license for Microsoft Word 1.05 after
October 1, 1986, and submit proof of purchase, will receive the Version
3.0 for $50.
==========
From: munnari!yarra.OZ!richb@seismo.CSS.GOV (Rich Burridge)
Subject: Attaching a scanner to the Sun.
Chuqs article on his Thunderscanner has prompted me to relate my experiences
attaching a scanner to the Sun workstation.
I'd better get my disclaimers in at the beginning. I work for Sun Australia
which is a distributor of the Sun, and the company is not part of SMI.
These opinions are my own and probabily not my employers.
The scanner in question is the Microtek MS-300A. This is being sold in the
US. with the associated software as Abaton Scan 300 by Perfect Byte Inc.
of Omaha, and is listed in the latest Sun Catalyst catalogue.
Some background information on the scanner first. Scanning can be done at
various resolutions between 75 dpi and 300 dpi. You can scan documents upto
8 1/2 inches by 14 inches. You can also window in on just a small portion
and only scan that. Scanning can be done in line-art and half-tone modes
with adjustments on brightness, contrast and number of gray scale levels.
Anyway, it was my dubious pleasure to "re-invent the wheel" and produce the
same kind of software interface. The Microtek scanner comes with some Mac
software called Versascan which already does all of this for the Mac.
My program would be used in conjuction with the Frame Maker program, so I
decided to make the software have the same feel and look as Frame. I hope
the Frame people don't mind.
The scanner is capable of being driven at 9600, 19200 or 57600 baud. I am
not sure how to drive the Suns RS422 ports at 57600 or indeed if it is
even possible.
The scanner can send uncompressed or compressed data to the host computer.
Uncompressed data was easy to get working, but if you were scanning a
complete A4 piece of paper, at 19200 baud, it took rather a long time to
transmit. The compressed data uses the CCITT Group 3 1D algorithm for
compressing line-art. This uses variable length code words to indicate
different run length of black and white pixels.
After sitting down for a couple of days, I eventually came up with a very
fast method of uncompressing this compressed data. If anybody is interested
in how I did it, then please mail me. Being able to send compressed data
drastically improved the performance of the scantool.
Frame handles scanned images nicely. For display on the Sun screen, Frame
adjust the resolution it displays the image at. When you come to print it
out on the LaserWriter, it uses the resolution (usually 300 dpi) that the
picture was saved at.
One problem I seem to have found is that Frame will only accept pictures upto
a certain size. Perhaps David Murray can tell me, how Frame determines if
the file you give it is a valid raster file. I occasionally get the message
"Not a monochrome image" being displayed, but I can still use and display the
image outside Frame. I only have the 0.6 prototype version of Frame so it
might be fixed in 1.0.
I would be interested to see how the Perfect Byte software looks. I have
produced a very useful tool, I feel they have added all the whistles and
bells, and reading the Catalyst description it sounds good.
Unfortunately I can't distribute what I've written (management will sell it,
once I've added the frills), but I can describe it in a lot more detail to
anybody who is interested.
==========
From: chuq (Chuq Von Rospach)
Subject: Summary of answers to my laserwriter questions...
A while ago, I sent out a note asking for help on a number of
laserwriter related questions. I got LOTS of answers -- thank you!
Since others may well have similar questions, I'm summarizing what I
found out. My comments are [bracketed] and everyone elses are in
semi-random order. Since a lot of people wrote in with the same
information, I'll pulled all the names and taken representative
comments to keep the size reasonable.
Thanks to everyone for the information and the help.
> First of all, am I going to have trouble hooking it up to my system? I'm
> currently running a Paradise hard disk off of the printer port, an
> Imagewriter/Thunderscan and a modem off of an A/B switch on the modem port.
> Appletalk also plugs into the modem port, right? ...
>(note: since the LW can't do mailing labels, I can't completely retire the
>Imagewriter, although the Thunderscan may be retired soon).
[Appletalk plugs into the printer port. In my specific case, I can
plug the paradise into the modem port, so there is no problem. It is
also possible to A/B switch Appletalk and a modem of the printer port,
but I've been warned not to put modem control stuff out Appletalk, as
it might make life interesting.
The long term 'fix' is to upgrade to a mac+ and get a SCSI disk, but
the current siuation is workable without the Thunderscanner. This is
no big deal, since I find the Thunderscanner doesn't really do what I
need it to do -- I'm going to look for a firm that has a 300dpi
scanner I can rent time on instead.
Oh, I was very wrong on the fact that the LW can't do labels. It can,
and you can get sheets of labels that can be hand fed into it. So I
probably won't need to keep the Imagewriter (one less toy to cable
in...)]
> Question #2. How well in reality does bitmapped (i.e. MacPaint) art and
> graphics reproduce? Am I (as an example) going to want to upgrade to
> SuperPaint so I can do Postscript graphics? Has anyone played with the
> new Postscript clip art starting to come out? Is SuperPaint better than
> MacDraw? What are the tradeoffs?
With the new LaserWriter drivers (which have been out for a few months
now) bitmapped graphics, like MacPaint graphics, will come out
beautifully. They finally implemented the printing right, so you can
tell the LaserWriter that you'd like your MacPaint bitmaps smoothed, or
not. As far as reproduction quality, you've nothing to worry about. I
haven't tried SuperPaint, so I can't comment on it. I use MacDraw for
any drawing tasks I have, since I generally don't deal with bitmapped
images. On the Laserwriter, MacDraw produces some of the most fantastic
output I've ever seen. It's pretty compatible with MacPaint, so you can
paste in a bitmap from MacPaint, and mess around with it, and print it out...
=================
MacPaint images pasted into true LW pages look pretty poor -- the
larger dots really leap out at you. What you could do is paste them in
at 1 Mac pixel to 1 LW pixel (they would come out 1/4 the size), but I
have no idea how you do this. The latest issue of 'Colophon', Adobe
Systems' News Publication, says that it used GrayPaint(tm) software
from Fractal Software; I imagine this lets you work with bitmaps at the
high resolution of the LW.
There's also a product called Bill's Ultimate Bitmap Editor, or
something, which simplifies editing 300dpi stuff. It was mentioned in
some recent Mac magazine (MacUser? Macazine?).
You need a special bitmap editor because at 300dpi it's incredibly
time- consuming to work on a dots by dots basis.
=================
Macpaint won't print any worse then on the imagewriter. The one thing
is until you get a laserwriter you don't realize how bad (+ noisy) the
image writer is. In fact if you turn on smoothing, the lw will make
somethings look better. BUT 300dpi lines are NEAT.
=================
the main problem with the LaserWriter is that programs such as MacDraw
do not align the bitmaps properly with object text, no WYSIWYG.
SuperPaint does.
No program is practical for editing 300 dpi bitmaps, unless it includes
AI. You can certainly do it with SuperPaint, but it will take all day
(according to the president of Silicon Beach) to do anything sizable,
so it seems most appropriate for recurring artwork.
In short, 72 dpi bitmaps from MacPaint or FullPaint turn into 75 dpi
bitmaps, shrunk 4%. What a LaserWriter means is that you use MacDraw
or SuperPaint to draw objects whereever possible.
I'm using MacDraw and SuperPaint for my book, but MacDraw has a number
of annoying bugs (e.g., it remembers fonts by position, not name or
number, so if you read a doc on another system disk, all your fonts
have changed!) and made some illustrations with SuperPaint that could
have not been done with either {Mac,Full}Paint or MacDraw.
I will use SuperPaint exclusively once I get 1.0; the only thing
missing now is align to grid, which I use all the time, particularly
for sizing boxes. For using the LaserWriter, you can't beat object
manipulation in FatBits-style.
=================
You will definitely want to use a program such as Draw to get the
maximum quality from drawings on the Laserwriter. I write papers for
my Microeconomics Theory class here that usually have several graphs
with lines and arcs illustrating the point I am making, and I will
never go back to Paint for this kind of stuff for output on the
Laserwriter. You see, if you use bit-mapped graphics, which are 72dpi
(I think), you can't take advantage of the Laserwriter's outstanding
300dpi resolution. And it makes a huge difference. I don't know about
Superpaint, but MacDraw yields really professional quality
illustrations on the Laserwriter.
As for your letterhead, why not design one in MacDraw using the Laser
fonts? It should look really nice with the Laserwriter's high
resolution.
=================
I think that SuperPaint is pretty neat. Especially the LaserBits
stuff. I think that it is easily better than MacDraw if you want to be
doing things where it is useful to have both a bitmap layer and an
object layer. Especially when you want to do some really deatailed
bitmaps for printing on the Laser.
> Question #3. Does anyone know of a grahics librarian for PICT stuff?
> Picturebase (?) does it for macpaint bitmap stuff, but not for macdraw
> format graphics. Am I stuck with the Scrapbook for now?
[Editorial comment. Bad choice of words. What I meant to ask about was
macdraw object (not PICT) format, which nobody to date supports.]
Picturebase is one. I don't know of others. Why would you be stuck
with the Scrapbook? Why not just store them as MacPaint pictures. If
you do use SuperPaint, MacPublisher, or what have you, there's a DA
that allows you to copy from any MacPaint file from anywhere, so...
=================
Both Microsoft File and Business Filevision will store PICT stuff. I
have not extensive experience with File and PICTS, so there might be
some hidden problems. WIth Business Filevision, however, I am sure
that this works fine (that's becasue I designed Business Filevision and
wrote the part that files PICTs - so if it doesn't really work for you
you will know who to complain to!). I believe the street price on
either of these programs is under $200.
> Question #4. What are your favorite laser fonts? Now that I'm not going
> to be limited to 72dpi, I want to pick up a few distinctive typefaces for
> some of my stuff. I particularly would like to find a good London style
> Old English font, if it exists. What other fonts are available, and
> which ones do you like?
Call up Adobe (800)45-ADOBE to ask for a brochure on fonts and find
your nearest font dealer. I would advise against going with anyone
else's fonts unless you really see all of them at a lot of different
styles and sizes. Poorly designed LW fonts look even worse than all
the ImageWriter junk fonts.
There is an article in the Nov 12th Bay Area Mac Classifieds on
'Unusual Type Effects with Downloadable Fonts' (together with some ugly
sample fonts). With an ordinary LW you can only download 2 fonts per
document (2 per text block in Page Maker), so if you want to use lots
of fancy fonts, you should think about getting a LW+.
If you buy a font designer program, you can in theory put somewhat
sophisticated clip art in the font, and bypass MacDraw/MacPaint altogether.
All the Adobe fonts are good looking. ITC Lubalin Graph is kinda
techy, Optima is cool, ITC Souvenir and Palatino are easy to read...
have fun!
=================
The only one I've tried is Bodoni from the Cassady folks. I wasn't all
that impresses. I read somewhere that there are now over 100
PostScript fonts, so...
=================
Since I do a lot of technical writing, my preferred font is Times 14.
It's not distinctive, but it is easy to read. Keep in mind that with
the new drivers, ANY Macintosh font can be downloaded, so if you have
some really nifty public-domain font, you don't have to worry. It'll
look as good, and in many cases better, than what you see on the
screen. So go ahead and use your London, and enjoy...
New Century Schoolbook, or Optima (you have to buy this from Adobe
though). Garramond is big as shit, and will not all load into the
laserwriter with laser prep. Remember, A LaserWriter requires the
space for the LaserPrep file, unless you run JustText, which cranks
pure postcript.
=================
By all means be sure to get the *complete* set of Apple laserwriter
fonts. They are professionally designed fonts, and far better than any
of the other fonts I've seen. My favorite font is "Palatino", which is
a Roman font with serifs and a somewhat rounded, "modern" look to it
(but the serifs make it look much better than a lot of the sans-serif
modern fonts). The "N Helvetica" (narrow helvetica) is also good for
captioning figures. There is also a font called "ZAPF Dingbats" which
contains a lot of professionally-designed dingbats.
For some reason the existence of these fonts is not well-known around
here, so they may be hard to find without searching. I found them on
one of the Software Supplement disks (*not* the "Printer Install" disk)
which simply says "LaserWriter Fonts: Macintosh Format--Single Sided,
(C) Feb. 1986 Apple Computer, Inc." and which says (in the Get Info
box) "Laserwriter Fonts 1.0". One of our folks here who keeps track of
all the disks claims that some of the fonts are out of date, and he
thought maybe those were, but they have worked fine for me on our
LaserWriter Plus. The really good fonts are in the file called
"Laserwriter Plus Fonts". It may be that the disk also comes with the
Laserwriter nowadays since I notice our Laserwriter Plus manual has the
copyright information on those fonts in it.
> Question #5. What do you recommend for things like custom font/logo/graphic
> design? If I want to develop my own font characters and dingbats, what
> should I look at using, assuming I want PostScript and not bitmap characters?
Fontographer wins for font design. You create a font in terms of its
outline, and you have an assortment of straight segments, curves, and
angles with which to build your font.
> Question the last. With the laserwriter coming in, I'm thinking it would
> be a Good Thing to start using honest letterhead instead of pinfeed with a
> bitmap letterhead logo for stuff. Any suggestions on kinds of paper (also
> colors and tints ) that work well in a laserwriter? What sort of thigns
> should I plan on avoiding (textured papers, for instance...). Does the
> printer have trouble with heavy (say 20lb) paper?
The printer can handle VERY heavy paper. How about 40lb? No prob!
It's just the very light stuff that I'd aviod. Also, take care to not
have any BIG swaths of black, as the Xero-graphic engine doesn't like
it very well.
While I haven't done too much with heavy paper, or anything really
strange, I have printed a bit on lightly textured bond paper (weight
unknown) without any problems. I would want to stay away from anything
extra-heavy or extra-rough textured.. I would recommend you try some
extreme cases, and see what happens....
We have put ALL kinds of paper into our machine, from overhead slides
to heavy J-Card paper (J Cards are cassette inserts for tapes) with no
problem. For thick paper, some adjustment might be needed on the
manual feed, but it should hav little problem.
=================
I need to print disk labels for a project and created the design using
MacDraw. Then using Avery full sheet labels (#5455), these are 8.5x11
inches, I single sheet feed them through the Laserwriter. Worked like a
champ.
I also need to print manual covers, using some 110 pound paper (more
like card board), i single sheet feed the covers through with great
results.
=================
Our new version of Word for the Macintosh allows imbedding of
PostScript in an "intelligent" manner (i.e., it recognizes the
postscript and handles it properly, although I am not sure exactly how
it works). I have seen some really interesting 3-D letterheads done
using Postscript in Word 3.0, though.
[editorial note: ReadySetGo3.0 also is supposed to have what is known
as a PostScript window so you can program graphics directly in
PostScript for your page layout, too]
==========
From: todd@sunlamp (Todd MacMillan)
Subject: LaserWriter Typefaces
The latest edition of the Whole Earth Review (Winter 1986) has a two
page article on typefaces that you can purchase for use on a LaserWriter. It
reviews fonts (and show samples) from 5 companies; their main conclusion is
that faces from Adobe and from Casady are the best for professional quality
work. A very good overview, from a great magazine.
Other interesting (to dtp people, perhaps) articles and reviews
include a portion of an electronic calligraphy book called "Zen and the Art
of the Macintosh", some reviews of "Personal Publishing" and "Publish!",
a review of Eric Drexler's (of L5 fame) "Engines of Creation", a book on
'nanotechnology', and a review of software to drive a LaserWriter from
an Apple IIe.
- Todd
Free catalogs are available from:
Adobe Typeface Library
Adobe Systems Inc.
1870 Embarcadero Rd.
Palo Alto, CA 94300
800-29-ADOBE
Casady Fluent Laser Fonts
Casady Co.
P.O. Box #223779
Carmel, CA 93922
Century LaserFonts
Century Software
2483 Hearst Ave, #175
Berkeley, CA 94709
Image Club LaserType
Image Club Graphics
2828 - 19th St NE
Calgary, Alberta
T2E 6Y9 Canada
Altsys Font Library
Altsys Corporation
720 Avenue F, Suite 108
Plano, TX 75074
------------------------------------
Submissions to: desktop%plaid@sun.com
Administrivia to: desktop-request%plaid@sun.com
Chuq Von Rospach chuq@sun.COM [I don't read flames]
There is no statute of limitations on stupidity