smedley@udel.edu (Trevor Smedley) (03/21/91)
The LaserWriter driver that comes with the new TrueType stuff has a radio button for generating a postscript file. I was very pleased to see this, but something is a little weird. First, it seems to include the LaserPrep file. Up until now I have been generating Postscript without the LaserPrep and then adding a modified version with macps. The file produced by the new driver _does_ print when I send it to our Personal LaserWriter (NT?). Does anyone know if this is because the LaserWriter is adding a modified version of LaserPrep, or am I just getting lucky because it is an Apple printer I am sending things to? Second, the files generated are huge! I had a file which contained the string "This is a TrueType test..." repeated 5 times. Always in Times, with the point sizes 12, 14, 18, 20 and 24. The resulting Postscript file was over 393716 bytes. This looks like it is the LaserPrep file (around 30k), followed by roughly 300k of what looks like a hex encoding of something (font definitions?), followed by the couple of lines specifying the actual postscript for the file. Is there any way to get rid of all this hex stuff? I only use fonts that the printer already knows about, so if this is font definition information it isn't necessary. In case you are curious, using the old LaserWriter driver, the file generated (without the LaserPrep) is 1177 bytes, and once the modified LaserPrep is added with macps is is 35517 bytes. The difference in transferring a 1177 byte file and a approx 400k file from my Mac to my Sun, and from the Sun to the printer is _very_ significant. Looks like I won't be using TrueType for now... Perhaps on my Plus at home with my ImageWriterLQ, but not here. Thanks, Trevor Smedley smedley@udel.edu
umh@vax5.cit.cornell.edu (03/22/91)
In article <48316@nigel.ee.udel.edu>, smedley@udel.edu (Trevor Smedley) writes: > > The LaserWriter driver that comes with the new TrueType stuff has a radio but > > First, it seems to include the LaserPrep file. Up until now I have been > generating Postscript without the LaserPrep and then adding a modified versio > with macps. The file produced by the new driver _does_ print when I send it > our Personal LaserWriter (NT?). Does anyone know if this is because the > LaserWriter is adding a modified version of LaserPrep, or am I just getting > lucky because it is an Apple printer I am sending things to? > > Second, the files generated are huge! I had a file which contained the strin > "This is a TrueType test..." repeated 5 times. Always in Times, with the poi > sizes 12, 14, 18, 20 and 24. The resulting Postscript file was over 393716 > bytes. This looks like it is the LaserPrep file (around 30k), followed by > roughly 300k of what looks like a hex encoding of something (font > definitions?), followed by the couple of lines specifying the actual postscri > for the file. Is there any way to get rid of all this hex stuff? I only use > fonts that the printer already knows about, so if this is font definition > information it isn't necessary. > > In case you are curious, using the old LaserWriter driver, the file generated > > Looks like I won't be using TrueType for now... Perhaps on my Plus at home w > > Thanks, Trevor Smedley > smedley@udel.edu This info is from "Inside the Apple Macintosh" It claims that in System 7 the LaserPrep file will no longer exist and the printer driver will "initialize the printer on the fly, sending only those portions of the dictionary necessary to print the current job" They suggest this might be to remove the problems that currently exist when different users on the network use different versions of the laser prinetr drivers. One might hope that this will also generate self-contained STANDARD postscript that can be printed on UNIX machines, incorporated into TeX etc, unlike the rigamarole that is currently produced- ie only 7bits usage, no weird machine language instructions etc. Maynard Handley maynard@helios.tn.cornell.edu
dorner@pequod.cso.uiuc.edu (Steve Dorner) (03/22/91)
In article <1991Mar22.033251.3536@vax5.cit.cornell.edu> umh@vax5.cit.cornell.edu writes: >the laser prinetr drivers. One might hope that this will also generate >self-contained STANDARD postscript that can be printed on UNIX machines, >incorporated into TeX etc, unlike the rigamarole that is currently produced- ie >only 7bits usage, no weird machine language instructions etc. Tee-hee. Not from Apple; to paraphrase Paul Simon, "Still downloading 68000-machine-code after all of these years." ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ (you have to sing this part real fast to get the right effect.) Adobe has said they're developing a real PostScript printer driver; Apple's driver really IS a LaserWriter driver, not a general one. -- Steve Dorner, U of Illinois Computing Services Office Internet: s-dorner@uiuc.edu UUCP: uunet!uiucuxc!uiuc.edu!s-dorner
samalone@athena.mit.edu (Stuart A. Malone) (03/26/91)
I've also had problems after installing the TrueType INIT and the new LaserWriter driver on my SE/30 running System 6.0.7. In the past I have used the hidden "Disk File" check box to generate PostScript code and then downloaded the code to my Adobe PostScript DEC LN03R printer via the modem port. (No, I don't use a modified LaserPrep file. The version that comes in the Apple Color Folder on System 6.0.7 works just fine as is.) I was delighted to see the new "PostScript File" option in the new LaserWriter driver, but I ran into several problems: 1. The new PostScript files are HUGE. They include what was formerly LaserPrep, and the TrueType font definitions--even for Times and Helvetica, which are, to the best of my knowledge, available in ALL PostScript printers. I had a PostScript file that usually takes 30k grow to over 300k. 2. The file prints on my Adobe PostScript DEC LN03R printer using the TrueType fonts, even though Times and Helvetica are available as PostScript fonts in the printer. 3. The TrueType fonts that come out of the LN03R look really bad compared to their PostScript counterparts, especially at 12 points or less. Many letters like "o", "d", "g", and "f" that contain thin lines become disconnected at this size, and the thin cross- bars in the "t" and "f" nearly dissappear. As an experiment, I've kept the TrueType INIT installed but gone back to the LaserWriter driver that came with System 6.0.7. So far I've had no problems, and I'm in the best of both worlds: TrueType for screen display, and PostScript for printing. My worry is, what happens when I want to upgrade to System 7? I fear that the 6.0.7 LaserWriter driver won't work with System 7, and I'll be faced with the unpleasant choice of either taking a step backwards in PostScript printing or postponing my upgrade to System 7 until Adobe can provide a new PostScript driver. Is there some way I can get the new LaserWriter driver to behave better? --Stuart A. Malone samalone@athena.mit.edu