kimbrennan@gnh-starport.cts.com (Kim Brennan) (03/19/91)
Using Postscript on the GS.
There are several ways this can be done. The easiest, though it is questionable
whether it is the best, is through an Appletalk interface. This will also give
the fastest output. You will need to have an Appletalk compatable Postscript
printer, Appletalk cables (or equivalent such as Phonenet) and a GS with a
reasonably current version of GS/OS.
You need to enable Appletalk on the GS. This has problems, which I will
mention elsewhere, but is necessary if you wish to print directly to a
Postscript printer.
You will need to install the Apple Laserwriter Driver on your boot disk.
THis driver should have come with your GS/OS system disks. Please use the
installer when putting the Laserwriter driver on your boot disk as the ORDER of
files in the boot process is critical when using Appletalk. The Installer will
also put a Cdev on your boot disk which will make life a little easier.
If you are running a ZIp Chip GS you may have to set some options on the Zip
Chip GS for full compatability with Appletalk, this may involve setting an
Appletalk Delay to ON as well as possibly slowing the Zip Chip GS down somewhat
(Zip is working on a fix for the slow down 'feature').
Once you've installed the Laserwriter driver you should be able to boot
your gs and select your Appletalk Postscript printer from the Laserwriter Cdev.
If you Printer does NOT show up in the Cdev, something is wrong. Check your
cabling, make sure your printer knows it is using Appletalk, check the GS
control panel for Appletalk being on, make sure you have the Appletalk cables
attached to the correct port, and if you have an Accelerator make sure that it
is functioning in a compatable mode for Appletalk (see previous paragraph for
Zip Chip GS Compatability).
Another option is the print to disk option. For this you will need to
rename the Apple Laserwriter Driver FILE to something other than Laserwriter. I
name mine by their version numbers (current version is 3.1 so the file is
called Laserwriter3.1). If you are switching from Appletalk to printing to disk
you may wish to duplicate the Laserwriter file since the Appletalk portion
needs it to be called Laserwriter. To print to disk you need to be able to
select the driver from the direct connect Cdev (for easiest use anyway). That
is the reason for renaming the file. Once selected and laid out you print to
disk by Holding Open Apple F while CLICKING on the OKAY button of the print
menu (Hitting return won't do it, you'll have to click on the Okay button).
This will put a file called Postscript.GSxx (xx being a two digit number) in
your */System/Drivers folder. This file is a Postscrit text file that can then
be sent to a Postscript compatable printer...normally. Because of the print to
disk operation, occassionally there will be some slight garbage included in the
text file (from where the driver was attempting to get info from Appletalk).
Since Appletalk wasn't enabled or available the uninitialized variables may
have put non-text info into your Postscript text file. Use a simple text editor
to remove it (I like WriteIt! NDA).
Printing to disk is different than printing over Appletalk. Some GS Screen
fonts are NOT translated to their Postscript equivalents when printing to disk.
Unless you are familiar with Postscript type face naming conventions, stick to
Times & Helvetica (in any style) when printing to disk.
I, have sucessfully managed to use Type 3 fonts on my GS by downloading
them into the printers extra memory. Their is currently a Type 1 Font
downloader undergoing beta-test, but it is not complete.philip@yunexus.yorku.ca (Phil McDunnough) (03/20/91)
In article <m0jIdBh-00004zC@jartel.info.com> kimbrennan@gnh-starport.cts.com (Kim Brennan) writes:
[material related to printing to a Postscript printer, references to
Appletalk and how to deal with Appletalk and the Zip]
I have been printing from a GS to an Appletalked LW( and also via the
serial port) for ages. Recently when I switched from a TWGS to a Zip
GSX, I found I was having problems. You can of course slow the Zip
down and enable the Appletalk delay. But this is no longer necessary.
Go to tybalt, or have a look on comp.binaries.apple2 for Ziptalk1.0.
This is a PIF( place in System.Setup) which allows you to run at any
speed over an Appletalk network. We all owe a great deal to Todd Whitesell
for solving this problem. I have used it with a 10/64k Zip GSX over
Appletalk for printing, accessing servers, using Public Folder GS,etc...
As far as I'm concerned this solves the Zip Appletalk issue.
Philip McDunnough
University of Toronto
philip@utstat.toronto.edu