yahnke@vms.macc.wisc.edu (Ross Yahnke, MACC) (07/03/90)
August 1990 MacUser had a tip on how to print the large word "DRAFT"
over a document, using a PS escape font. I've sort of gotten it to
work in Nisus, only problem is the word "DRAFT" obscures the
underlying text - unlike the example in the magazine. Can anybody
suggest what must be done to make the word "DRAFT" transparent?
Here's the code, thanks!:
gsave
initgraphics
/font /Helvetica-Bold def
/pointsize 100 def
/text (DRAFT) def
/center {dup stringwidth pop
2 div neg 0 rmoveto} def
306 396 moveto
90 setgray
font findfont pointsize scalefont setfont
45 rotate
24 0 text center ashow
grestore
>>> yahnke@macc.wisc.edu <<<glenn@heaven.woodside.ca.us (Glenn Reid) (07/04/90)
In article <3937@dogie.macc.wisc.edu> yahnke@vms.macc.wisc.edu (Ross Yahnke, MACC) writes: >August 1990 MacUser had a tip on how to print the large word "DRAFT" >over a document, using a PS escape font. I've sort of gotten it to >work in Nisus, only problem is the word "DRAFT" obscures the >underlying text - unlike the example in the magazine. Can anybody >suggest what must be done to make the word "DRAFT" transparent? You have to draw the word "DRAFT" before you start drawing the page. It's not really transparent, it's underneath the rest of the text. You can do this by redefining "showpage" to image your DRAFT notice after it's done printing the page, but you still have to prime the pump so it works on the first page. Try something like this: /DRAFT { % draft code here } def /orig_showpage /showpage load def /showpage { orig_showpage DRAFT } def Then make sure you put one call to DRAFT at the beginning, before the first page executes. Note that this will not work as you expect in the event that the application paints the page white before it starts drawing text. It will white out your DRAFT notice, too. I'm not sure why programs do this, but it's not that uncommon. I have gotten around this in the past by making the DRAFT notice actually print along the edge of the paper, right where you would flip the pages with your thumb, rather than being large and in the middle of the page. If you put a continuous border of "DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT" around the page, it works pretty well and stays out of the way of the rest of the page. Cheers, Glenn -- Glenn Reid PostScript/NeXT consultant glenn@heaven.woodside.ca.us One-day turnaround on many projects ..{adobe,next}!heaven!glenn Unparalleled Quality
philip@pescadero.Stanford.EDU (Philip Machanick) (07/05/90)
In article <196@heaven.woodside.ca.us>, glenn@heaven.woodside.ca.us (Glenn Reid) writes: > In article <3937@dogie.macc.wisc.edu> yahnke@vms.macc.wisc.edu (Ross Yahnke, MACC) writes: > >August 1990 MacUser had a tip on how to print the large word "DRAFT" > >over a document, using a PS escape font. I've sort of gotten it to > >work in Nisus, only problem is the word "DRAFT" obscures the > >underlying text - unlike the example in the magazine. Can anybody > >suggest what must be done to make the word "DRAFT" transparent? > > You have to draw the word "DRAFT" before you start drawing the page. > It's not really transparent, it's underneath the rest of the text. > You can do this by redefining "showpage" to image your DRAFT notice > after it's done printing the page, but you still have to prime the > pump so it works on the first page. Try something like this: [sample code plus various hints on how to make it work] Excuse my ignorance, but what's wrong with simply putting the PS before anything else that prints on the page? This may not always be possible, but most word processors presumably print from top to bottom (I don't know Nisus), so you just put your PostScript first (assuming "a PS escape font" means you just embed PS in your text). Some DTP packages allow you to "send to back", which is even more explicit. Of course, none of this will work if the word processor whites out underneath itself, as Glenn observed, but then neither will his approach (without changing the stragey, again as he noted). Philip Machanick philip@pescadero.stanford.edu
yahnke@vms.macc.wisc.edu (Ross Yahnke, MACC) (07/05/90)
Thanks for all the replies! Turns out that I was issueing the
ps commands in my document footer so naturally it painted the
word DRAFT on top of the already printed text. So I switched it
to the header and it works fine there.
>>> yahnke@macc.wisc.edu <<<zben@umd5.umd.edu (Ben Cranston) (07/06/90)
In article <3937@dogie.macc.wisc.edu> yahnke@vms.macc.wisc.edu (Ross Yahnke, MACC) writes: > August 1990 MacUser had a tip on how to print the large word "DRAFT" > over a document, using a PS escape font. I've sort of gotten it to > work in Nisus, only problem is the word "DRAFT" obscures the > underlying text - unlike the example in the magazine. Can anybody > suggest what must be done to make the word "DRAFT" transparent? > Here's the code, thanks!: > gsave > initgraphics > /font /Helvetica-Bold def > /pointsize 100 def > /text (DRAFT) def > /center {dup stringwidth pop > 2 div neg 0 rmoveto} def > 306 396 moveto > 90 setgray == I certainly hope this is a mistype of .9 !!! > font findfont pointsize scalefont setfont > 45 rotate > 24 0 text center ashow > grestore Anyway, here's my current slashed banner program, the gore is to avoid having to have magic constants like 306 and 396 for each different page size. %!-Adobe-1.0 %%Title: smudge.ps %%Creator: Ben Cranston <zben@umd2.umd.edu> %%CreationDate: June 12, 1990 %%Pages 0 % Print a word or phrase in gray on every succeeding page /smudgepage { gsave (BUSHLIPS) .95 /Helvetica-Bold findfont dup setfont clippath pathbbox dup 3 index add 2 div 5 1 roll 1 index 4 index add 2 div 6 1 roll 3 -1 roll sub 3 1 roll exch sub exch 2 copy exch atan 3 1 roll dup dup mul 2 index dup mul add sqrt 3 1 roll 2 copy lt {exch} if div newpath 0 0 moveto 7 index true charpath pathbbox dup 3 index add 2 div 5 1 roll 1 index 4 index add 2 div 6 1 roll 3 -1 roll sub 3 1 roll exch sub exch 6 -2 roll 3 -1 roll mul 3 -1 roll add div dup 7 1 roll dup 4 -1 roll mul neg exch 3 -1 roll mul neg 3 -1 roll 5 -2 roll translate rotate moveto scalefont setfont setgray show grestore } bind def /showpage [ /showpage load dup type (operatortype) ne {/exec load} if /smudgepage load /exec load ] cvx def smudgepage % (YOUR POSTSCRIPT GOES HERE) -- Ben Cranston <zben@umd2.umd.edu> Warm and Fuzzy Networking Group, Egregious State University My cat is named "Perpetually Hungry Autonomous Carbon Unit"; I call him "Sam".
woody@chinacat.Unicom.COM (Woody Baker @ Eagle Signal) (07/06/90)
In article <3937@dogie.macc.wisc.edu>, yahnke@vms.macc.wisc.edu (Ross Yahnke, MACC) writes: > August 1990 MacUser had a tip on how to print the large word "DRAFT" > over a document, using a PS escape font. I've sort of gotten it to > work in Nisus, only problem is the word "DRAFT" obscures the > underlying text - unlike the example in the magazine. Can anybody > suggest what must be done to make the word "DRAFT" transparent? > Here's the code, thanks!: > > gsave > > >>> yahnke@macc.wisc.edu <<< First of all, don't do initpage. that is a NO NO. The make sure that the draft routine gets called AT THE FIRST OF THE PAGE, so that it gets layed down first. Postscript uses an OPAQUE painting model (unfortunatly that is *ALL* you get, there is no way to get quite the same effect transparently). At anyrate, by placing the DRAFT down on the page first, then text will get put on top of it. In addition, you should pick a fine, but light (very light) gray shade. I like the one Don uses, 106 45 {dup mul exch dup mul add 1.0 exch sub } setscreen This establishes a fine gray... Cheers Woody