spexet@ux.acs.umn.edu (D. Robert Spexet II) (02/18/90)
In article <1990Feb17.212036.4311@athena.mit.edu> bmwu@athena.mit.edu (Benson M. Wu) writes: > I wonder if anybody knows whether it is possible to directly print >from a Macintosh computer (II, IIcx, IIci, or SE) to a NeXT laser printer. >I wanted to do this because the NeXT laser printer is so much more cheaper >than Apple's Laserwriter. Please let me know what hardware and software >are needed. If you mean sending the Macintosh PostScript output to the NeXT printer, the answer is no. The NeXT laser printer is cheaper partly because it is lack- ing a printer-based PostScript interpreter. (It doesn't need it since Dis- play PostScript inside the cube itself does the imaging.) However, the Macintosh requires the printer to do the imaging, which is why the Laser- Writers (except for the IISC) have built-in PostScript interpreters. Since the NeXT printer doesn't have the required PostScript interpreter, it won't be able to create the images the Mac sends to it. Sorry... -Dennis R. Spexet II UUCP: rutgers!umn-cs!ux.acs.umn.edu!spexet Internet: spexet@ux.acs.umn.edu SnailMail: Post Office Box 14909, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55414-0909 USA
bmwu@athena.mit.edu (Benson M. Wu) (02/18/90)
---- Hi, I wonder if anybody knows whether it is possible to directly print from a Macintosh computer (II, IIcx, IIci, or SE) to a NeXT laser printer. I wanted to do this because the NeXT laser printer is so much more cheaper than Apple's Laserwriter. Please let me know what hardware and software are needed. Please reply by e-mail to bmwu@athena.mit.edu. Thanks ---- Benson
dennis@yang.cpac.washington.edu (Dennis Gentry) (03/09/90)
From: spexet@ux.acs.umn.edu (D. Robert Spexet II) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac,comp.sys.next Date: 17 Feb 90 17:37:47 GMT In article <1990Feb17.212036.4311@athena.mit.edu> bmwu@athena.mit.edu (Benson M. Wu) writes: > I wonder if anybody knows whether it is possible to directly print >from a Macintosh computer (II, IIcx, IIci, or SE) to a NeXT laser printer. >I wanted to do this because the NeXT laser printer is so much more cheaper >than Apple's Laserwriter. Please let me know what hardware and software >are needed. If you mean sending the Macintosh PostScript output to the NeXT printer, the answer is no. The NeXT laser printer is cheaper partly because it is lack- [incorrect hypothesis about NeXT laser printer deleted] This is wrong. I regularly print Mac postscript output on a cube's laser printer. To produce a postscript file on the Mac, press command-F (or command-K to avoid the PS header) just after you click "OK" in a print dialog. Move the file (probably named PostScript0) to the cube (Kermit, ftp, zmodem, daynafile, or whatever). Print it using "lpr". If this error has already been corrected in the mac group, I apologize for wasting your time. It had apparently passed without comment in comp.sys.next. Dennis Gentry (dennis@cpac.washington.edu)
spexet@ux.acs.umn.edu (D. Robert Spexet II) (03/09/90)
In article <DENNIS.90Mar8223400@yang.cpac.washington.edu> dennis@yang.cpac.washington.edu (Dennis Gentry) writes: > > > I wonder if anybody knows whether it is possible to directly print > >from a Macintosh computer (II, IIcx, IIci, or SE) to a NeXT laser printer. > >I wanted to do this because the NeXT laser printer is so much more cheaper > >than Apple's Laserwriter. Please let me know what hardware and software > >are needed. > > If you mean sending the Macintosh PostScript output to the NeXT printer, the > answer is no. The NeXT laser printer is cheaper partly because it is lack- > > [incorrect hypothesis about NeXT laser printer deleted] > >This is wrong. I regularly print Mac postscript output on a >cube's laser printer. To produce a postscript file on the Mac, >press command-F (or command-K to avoid the PS header) just after >you click "OK" in a print dialog. Move the file (probably named >PostScript0) to the cube (Kermit, ftp, zmodem, daynafile, or >whatever). Print it using "lpr". > No, I don't believe that I am wrong. Reread the question--it doesn't refer to transferring the Mac Postscript output to the cube, it refers to a the possibility of a direct connection of the NeXT laser printer to a Mac, so that the Mac can print on the NeXT laser printer, *without having to go through the cube*. (<--very important distinction.) Now, I understand that if you are using lpr to print anything, that the cube's Display Postscript interpreter takes care of the image processing, and bit-blasts the output to the printer. This is a very important dis- tinction, as the Apple LaserWriter has a built-in Postscript interpreter, and doesn't need to have a computer to do the imaging for it. So what's the point of all this? I claim that you cannot hook a NeXT laser printer to a Mac, and have it display Postscript output. That was the question that was asked, and I believe my answer stands. Thank you kindly, -Dennis R. Spexet II UUCP: rutgers!umn-cs!ux.acs.umn.edu!spexet Internet: spexet@ux.acs.umn.edu SnailMail: Post Office Box 14909, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55414-0909 USA
dorner@pequod.cso.uiuc.edu (Steve Dorner) (03/10/90)
In article <DENNIS.90Mar8223400@yang.cpac.washington.edu> dennis@yang.cpac.washington.edu (Dennis Gentry) writes: >>> I wonder if anybody knows whether it is possible to directly print >>>from a Macintosh computer (II, IIcx, IIci, or SE) to a NeXT laser printer. >>If you mean sending the Macintosh PostScript output to the NeXT printer, the >>answer is no. The NeXT laser printer is cheaper partly because it is lack- >This is wrong. I regularly print Mac postscript output on a >cube's laser printer. They key word here is "cube". If you have a "cube" and a printer, you can print Mac PostScript. If you want to use the $2000 NeXT printer without the $6500 "cube", you're SOL, because the NeXT printer does NOT know PostScript. It is the "cube" that knows PostScript. The printer knows something much simpler than PostScript; it's called, "DMA". Macintoshes, of course, don't know "DMA" even for their disk drives, much less for their printers. -- Steve Dorner, U of Illinois Computing Services Office Internet: s-dorner@uiuc.edu UUCP: {convex,uunet}!uiucuxc!dorner