[comp.binaries.ibm.pc.d] Print Postscript font on 9-pin printer program wanted

tsuming@mcs213k.cs.umr.edu (Tsu-Ming Huang) (06/13/91)

I am tired to go out to use Mac and make a laser copy each time I want to
modify my document. I heard from my friend that there is some program which
can print documents on ordinal 9/24-pin dot matrix printer which has 
similiar quality as a laser copy, do you folks know where can I get such
program?

-Scott Chu

conner@buster.cps.msu.edu (Conner Christopher) (06/13/91)

In article <2811@umriscc.isc.umr.edu> tsuming@mcs213k.cs.umr.edu (Tsu-Ming Huang) writes:
>I am tired to go out to use Mac and make a laser copy each time I want to
>modify my document. I heard from my friend that there is some program which
>can print documents on ordinal 9/24-pin dot matrix printer which has 
>similiar quality as a laser copy, do you folks know where can I get such
>program?
>
>-Scott Chu



WOW!  laser copy quality on a 9 pin dot matrix printer!  If this isn't
just a cruel joke, somebody please post the name and location of this 
program!

                                       CCC


-- 
    :  conner@buster.egr.msu.edu     :
    :  ccubed@dcssparc.cl.msu.edu    :
    :  CCC                           :
    :  "no god slayers aloud" - ME   :

hartung@crl.ucsd.edu (Jeff Hartung) (06/14/91)

In article <1991Jun13.125305.22403@msuinfo.cl.msu.edu> conner@buster.cps.msu.edu (Conner Christopher) writes:
<In article <2811@umriscc.isc.umr.edu> tsuming@mcs213k.cs.umr.edu (Tsu-Ming Huang) writes:
<>I am tired to go out to use Mac and make a laser copy each time I want to
<>modify my document. I heard from my friend that there is some program which
<>can print documents on ordinal 9/24-pin dot matrix printer which has 
<>similiar quality as a laser copy, do you folks know where can I get such
<>program?
<>
<>-Scott Chu
<
<
<
<WOW!  laser copy quality on a 9 pin dot matrix printer!  If this isn't
<just a cruel joke, somebody please post the name and location of this 
<program!
<
<                                       CCC

I have seen a comercial program in some software stores called GOSCRIPT which
is supposed to do this.  It ain't cheap.  I recall it cost something in the
neighborhood of $200 - $300.  On the otherhand, there is also LQ, available at
SIMTEL20 and other places, which is a TSR which can work w/ WordPerfect and
other programs to make near letter quality print come off of your aging 9-pin
dot matrix printer.  It has several fonts, and the print is quite an
improvement, albeit slow to print since it causes your printer to print in
high density graphics mode.  You might want to give this a try.

-- 
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 Disclaimer: My opinions only, etc., etc., BLAH! BLAH! BLAH!...
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vanmick@hpsgm2.sgp.hp.com (Van Der Beek Michael-Leo) (06/14/91)

Hi,

	I just happend on the advertisment in a BYTE magazine. It is called
UltraScript PC and it is produced by QMS.

	It is supposed to be able to accept Postscript input and then use the
dot matix or a Deskjet printer to print. It supports software that produce
PostScript output such as PageMaker, WordPerfect, Ventura and Windows.
	
	You need a 286 system with atleast 1.5Mb of Ram(recommended). Depending
on which package you get (it contains different number of fonts) the cost is
US$195 or US $455. You can call QMS at 1-800-635-3997..

	As I said, I just happen to come accross it, not an employee of QMS.


Michael

carroll@ssc-vax (Jeff Carroll) (06/15/91)

In article <1991Jun13.125305.22403@msuinfo.cl.msu.edu> conner@buster.cps.msu.edu (Conner Christopher) writes:
>In article <2811@umriscc.isc.umr.edu> tsuming@mcs213k.cs.umr.edu (Tsu-Ming Huang) writes:
>>I am tired to go out to use Mac and make a laser copy each time I want to
>>modify my document. I heard from my friend that there is some program which
>>can print documents on ordinal 9/24-pin dot matrix printer which has 
>>similiar quality as a laser copy, do you folks know where can I get such
>>program?

>>-Scott Chu

(filler material here to keep rn from eating this post due to quote/new
ratio)

>WOW!  laser copy quality on a 9 pin dot matrix printer!  If this isn't
>just a cruel joke, somebody please post the name and location of this 
>program!

I suppose that someone should point out that in order for this to work,
the pins on your dot-matrix job would have to be less than 1/10 mm in
diameter. At that diameter, whatever they were made of would have to
be pretty stiff in order to push the ribbon (under tension) down to the
platen hard enough to print, without buckling.

Do a quick reality check on your friendly neighborhood 9-pin printer.

Now there are probably fancy-font programs around that will drive 9-pin
printers, but they won't give you 300 dpi. I think you get fancy 
font capability with Windows 3, don't you?


-- 
Jeff Carroll		carroll@ssc-vax.boeing.com

"...and of their daughters it is written, 'Cursed be he who lies with 
any manner of animal.'" - Talmud

rivard@granite.ma30.bull.com (Dennis Rivard) (06/18/91)

In article <20588@sdcc6.ucsd.edu> hartung@crl.ucsd.edu (Jeff Hartung) writes:
>I have seen a comercial program in some software stores called GOSCRIPT which
>is supposed to do this.  It ain't cheap.  I recall it cost something in the
>neighborhood of $200 - $300.  On the otherhand, there is also LQ, available at
>SIMTEL20 and other places, which is a TSR which can work w/ WordPerfect and
>other programs to make near letter quality print come off of your aging 9-pin
>dot matrix printer.  It has several fonts, and the print is quite an
>improvement, albeit slow to print since it causes your printer to print in
>high density graphics mode.  You might want to give this a try.


Another program to try and get laser quality out of a 9=pin, is Image
Print...
it has 24 fonts and allows you _FULL_ controll of your printer... it
is similar to TeX in style (near as I can tell, anyway), and produces
beautiful output...




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Work: rivard@granite.ma30.bull.com  | Must rise and save us from        |
My opinions are my own.             | ourselves.  - "Witch Hunt" Rush   |

monett_s@cho006.cho.ge.com (06/20/91)

In article <2811@umriscc.isc.umr.edu>, 
    tsuming@mcs213k.cs.umr.edu (Tsu-Ming Huang) writes:
> I am tired to go out to use Mac and make a laser copy each time I want to
> modify my document. I heard from my friend that there is some program which
> can print documents on ordinal 9/24-pin dot matrix printer which has 
> similiar quality as a laser copy, do you folks know where can I get such
> program?
> 
> -Scott Chu

Ghostscript from the FSF people does exactly what you want. I have been
hacking on it lately to clean up its 8 pin support. If you have a 24 pin
printer or better (like a Canon Bubblejet) then it will produce really
great looking copy. But, as it comes from the archive it uses low
density (120h x 72v) graphics on an 8 pin printer. If you are looking
for a previewer to see if your page is **going** to look OK when printed
on the laser printer then even the limited 8 pin support is useful. If
you want a program that allows your 8 pin printer to act as a high
quality replacement for your laser printer then you will be dissapointed.

The program comes with plenty of fonts and example pictures and since it
comes from the FSF people, the price is right.

Get it from prep.ai.mit.edu. You'll need both the program and the fonts.

( When I grabbed it a few weeks ago I got version 2.2. It has a bug in )
( the 8 pin support that was introduced trying to extend the support   )
( for 24 pin printers. The fix is easy (as long as you have a compiler).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Steve Monett                        monett_s@cho006.cho.ge.com
GE-Fanuc; Charlottesville, VA

carl@point4.com (Carl W. Bergerson) (06/20/91)

In article <2811@umriscc.isc.umr.edu> tsuming@mcs213k.cs.umr.edu (Tsu-Ming Huang) writes:
>I am tired to go out to use Mac and make a laser copy each time I want to
>modify my document. I heard from my friend that there is some program which
>can print documents on ordinal 9/24-pin dot matrix printer which has 
>similiar quality as a laser copy, do you folks know where can I get such
>program?
>
>-Scott Chu

Seven or so years ago I bought and used a program called Fancy Font. This
program could print on my 9 pin Citizen MSP-20 (an Epson FX-80 enhanced clone)
at something like 212x244 dpi.

This program was (is?) distributed by a company named Softcraft in, if
memory serves me correctly, Wisconsin. Please do not confuse this Softcraft
with the Softcraft (bought by Novell a couple of years ago) in Texas
that distributed Btrieve.

Back to Fancy Font. Fancy Font read in a text file and produced output
suitable for a small variety of printers. You had to have the version
of Fancy Font that was compatible with the type of printer you had. As I
mentioned above my copy was for Epson FX and compatibles.

You could insert directives into the text file to cause Fancy Font to fill
and adjust your text, indent, skip lines, change fonts and type sizes and
the like. All in all it felt much like a subset of troff, the Unix
typesetting program.

In addition to Fancy Font, which came with some basic fonts and sizes, you
could buy more fonts and sizes, a font editor, and a kerning program as well
as interface prograams to Word? and WordPerfect?.

If you didn't use the word processing programs that Fancy Font had special
interfaces for you were on your own for supplying a text editor,
spelling checker and hyphenation program (Fancy Font supported a soft
hyphen feature).

I used the MKS version of vi, IBM Personal Productivity Word Proof, and
a modified version of Allen Holub's hyphen (Dr. Dobbs ca. 1985) for these
functions, respectively.

In summary, Fancy Font produced tremendous output on dot matrix printers
using various fonts and sizes.


Sorry I don't have any information on how you can contact the company
or where you can buy this program today.

Carl
-- 
Carl Bergerson                                           uunet!p4tustin!carl  
Point 4 Data Corporation                                     carl@point4.com
15442 Del Amo Avenue                                   Voice: (714) 259 0777
Tustin, CA 92680-6445                                    Fax: (714) 259 0921

deano@areyes.com (Dean Carpenter) (06/23/91)

carl@point4.com (Carl W. Bergerson) writes:

>Sorry I don't have any information on how you can contact the company
>or where you can buy this program today.

  I still have Fancy Font - though I haven't used it for quite a few years ...
In the front of the manual is:

	Softcraft Inc.
	Suite 500
	16 N. Carroll st.
	Madison, WI 53703
	(800) 351-0500 orders
	(608) 257-3300 tech support

  As I recall, output on an Epson FX100 and Epson LQ1500 was quite fantastic
for a dot matrix.  Slow as molasses though, I seem to remember about 8 or 10
passes per line for 14pt text on the FX100 and about 4 for the LQ1500.  Set it
going to print a paper, go to dinner and then out for fun, and hope it was done
by the time I got back .... ah those were the days :)

-- 
Dean Carpenter		uunet!areyes!deano		(203) 531-5007
Areyes, Inc.		deano@areyes.com

"Wherever you go, there you are" sayeth Buckaroo - across the Eighth Dimension