[comp.sys.next] Preview and Postscript Oddness

gessel@masada.cs.swarthmore.edu (Daniel Mark Gessel) (12/20/90)

>When I use preview to print it, I get a bunch of extra pages
>that I don't want.

>Chris

Preview takes any images which fill larger than the area of one page
assuming about 1 -inch margins, and splits it. Preview does not send
the postscript send to it to the printer, it actually gets the
postscript through the view used to display it onscreen. 

Look at the code it sends out sometime, and you'll see what I mean.

It's a nice feature when something is bigger than normal paper size,
since it automatically splits it up for you, but otherwise it can be a
pain.

In fact, when programming, if you send a view a print postscript
message, it will do a very similar thing. You have to be careful not
to put exactly the same thing out to the printer as you do to the
windowserver.

Dan
--
Daniel Mark Gessel                          Independent Software Consultant
Internet: gessel@cs.swarthmore.edu                   and Developer
I do not represent Swarthmore College (thank God).

glenn@heaven.woodside.ca.us (Glenn Reid) (12/23/90)

In article <GESSEL.90Dec19165843@masada.cs.swarthmore.edu> gessel@masada.cs.swarthmore.edu (Daniel Mark Gessel) writes:
>                                               Preview does not send
>the postscript send to it to the printer, it actually gets the
>postscript through the view used to display it onscreen. 
>
>Look at the code it sends out sometime, and you'll see what I mean.

That's not really true.  It's exactly what would have gone to the printer.
Try the "Save" button in the Print panel and compare.  It's true that
it's a version of the code the view used to display onscreen, but that's
exactly how most apps print, since it's all just PostScript.

The trouble with Preview is that it takes PS code that was destined for
a printer, then wraps it up a second time when you print, so you get two
copies of the NeXT emulations for some DPS operators, two copies of the
page setup commands, and whatever else.  Sometimes this works, often it
doesn't.  Preview, in my opinion, should pass the PostScript code straight
through to the printer when you print, adding nothing.

Glenn
-- 
 Glenn Reid				RightBrain Software
 glenn@heaven.woodside.ca.us		PostScript/NeXT developers
 ..{adobe,next}!heaven!glenn		415-851-1785