tph@cs.utexas.edu (Pow-Hwee Tan) (09/30/90)
Can NeXT output its printout to a DeskJet or DeskWriter printer? The NeXTstation is a nicely priced computer, but requiring a laserprinter to handle its output is expensive, not to mention the cost of toner cartridges and extra maintenance cost for the laserprinter. A DeskWriter printer will also have the advantage of occupying less desk space. Yes, I know that the NeXT's laserprinter is relatively cheap compared to others; and students probably can send their postscript files to school system for output but still it would be convenient to be able to connect a cheap printer to the NeXT. -- ph tan CS Dept, UT Austin tph@cs.utexas.edu
tph@cs.utexas.edu (Pow-Hwee Tan) (10/03/90)
Greetings, I posted a question about using a non-laser printer with a NeXT slab some time ago; and got no response except for one person who wants the same information as well. Anyway, I noticed in the university MicroCenter that some non-technical type students are also interested in the NeXTstation, probably using it primarily for text processing and other productivity work (whatever this means). In short, use it like a Mac. Therefore I think the possibility of using a non-laser printer with a NeXTstation could be an important consideration for "average-student" who can afford a NeXTstation but afteer that without enough money to buy a laser printer. (eg. ME) What I was thinking is that since the NeXT screen is a bit-mapped display, there must be routines in the NeXT OS that does the mapping of PostScript commands to bitmaps (rasterizing). Also, I presume that the NeXT laser printer does not do much PostScript processing, with much of it done in the NeXT CPU. Since the printer's resolution in terms of dpi is different from that of the MegaPixel Display, the mapping routines probably accept a "dpi" parameter. Therefore, wouldn't it be easy to write a driver to utilize these PostScript-to-Bitmap functions and "bit-blast" the image to a non-laser printer, such as a DeskWriter with 300 dpi? Comments anyone? -- ph tan, CS Dept, UT Austin
jwishnie@reed.UUCP (Jeff Wishnie) (10/04/90)
I believe System 2.0 has the capability to generate bitmaps at ARBITRARY dpi settings. This would make writing a print driver simple. Just ask the window server for the proper dpi representation and tell the printer to print it. In the mean time, Robert Lin has written a driver called iwscript which I think is shareware. It is available at the nova.cc.purdue.edu anonymous ftp site. It prints at 72dpi to ImageWriter II's. All that aside, I think that most students who buy dot-matrix printers are wasting there money (anywhere from $300 for an ImageWriter II to around $800 for an LQ) when most schools have labs with all kinds of printers they can use. Now that schools are setting up more labs of NeXTs, students should have better access to high-quality printing facilities. If a school doesn't have a NeXT lab non-techies can put their files on a floppy and print out from an IBM or an Apple. One last printer note, someone posted incorrectly that a LaserWriter IISC could be hooked up to a NeXT. Any laserprinter with a builtin PostScript interpretor can be hooked up easily to a NeXT (This printers include LaserWriters, Pluses, IINTs, IINTXs, HP's with postscript cards etc..) but the IISC does NOT interpret PostScript. It is driven by the Mac and uses QuickDraw as its imaging model. As a result, anyone who has hooked a IISC to a NeXT has had to do some major hacking. Jeff Wishnie stdDisclaimer: My opinions are my own and have from time to time been proven incorrect.
eps@toaster.SFSU.EDU (Eric P. Scott) (10/06/90)
In article <13115@cs.utexas.edu> tph@cs.utexas.edu (Pow-Hwee Tan) writes: > What I was thinking is that since the NeXT screen is a bit-mapped >display, there must be routines in the NeXT OS that does the >mapping of PostScript commands to bitmaps (rasterizing). Also, >I presume that the NeXT laser printer does not do much >PostScript processing, with much of it done in the NeXT CPU. All of it is done in the NeXT CPU. The NeXT Laser Printer is so inexpensive because it's basically a marking engine with a high-speed interface. >Since the printer's resolution in terms of dpi is different from >that of the MegaPixel Display, the mapping routines probably accept >a "dpi" parameter. It's called Resolution, but it's not quite as accessible as one might like. > Therefore, wouldn't it be easy to write a driver to utilize >these PostScript-to-Bitmap functions and "bit-blast" the image >to a non-laser printer, such as a DeskWriter with 300 dpi? Well, sort of. First of all, doing this is subject to the conditions of the NeXT Software License Agreement: The NeXT Software is intended to be used to generate screen displays with resolutions of less than 150 dots per inch on a NeXT Computer and to print images with print resolutions of up to 600 dots per inch on a NeXT Printer. You agree not to make use, directly or indirectly, of the PostScript software included with the NeXT Software to print bitmaps with print resolutions of 150 dots per inch or greater, or to generate fonts or typefaces, other than on a single NeXT Computer in conjunction with a single NeXT Printer. You are free, however, to transmit and print PostScript language files you create with the NeXT Software on any printer. (_Registration, Warranty, and Software License_, 1026.02, 2/90) (This is for 1.0a--I don't know what the 2.0 Agreement will say.) Also consider the following: (1) The NeXT assumes a square aspect ratio. Most low-cost printers (such as commonly used on PCs) are not square. Admittedly, this isn't a problem for you. I don't know what's done in 2.0 to support 100x200 FAX rendering. (2) windowdevice[round] and printerdevice do some subtly different things. *you can't use printerdevice unless you have a NeXT Printer attached* It generates a limitcheck error. (This is documented in Chapter 24 of the SysRefMan and trivially verified.) It so happens that windows believe they're 72dpi (even though they're displayed at 92dpi), so hacks like iwscript aren't *that* difficult to write. Of course, you need to be logged in with Public Window Server enabled (unless someone wants to reveal the secret to how npd gets around this). -=EPS=-
dick@cca.ucsf.edu (Dick Karpinski) (10/08/90)
In article <880@toaster.SFSU.EDU> eps@cs.SFSU.EDU (Eric P. Scott) writes: >In article <13115@cs.utexas.edu> tph@cs.utexas.edu (Pow-Hwee Tan) writes: >>... there must be routines ... mapping of PostScript ... >... doing this is subject to ... the NeXT Software License Agreement I thought I saw something here about using Ghostscript to print on any bitmap printer, but I didn't save it. (Where are the archives?) Any time I see something you can't do because it is forbidden by contract, I remember again why I am so delighted with the GNU project, the Free Software Foundation, and the growing collection of useful software now available for unconstrained use. Such software is often available on prep.ai.mit.edu and many other sites. (Where is that site that keeps a directory of anonymous ftp sites and what they have?) Dick