[comp.sys.amiga.applications] Questions about DTP printing and ref

Bill.Hirt@kcufgat.fidonet.org (Bill Hirt) (06/04/91)

Mark Waggoner writes:
 >  - Can it print to a non-postscript printer using the printer's full
 >    graphics resolution.  I mean really using the printer's resolution,
 >	not just scaling the screen to the printer's resolution as
 >	Prowrite, for example, does.
 >

I am very familiar with ProPage, so I can tell you about ProPage. I have an 
HP IIP and it will print to the full resolution of the printer. You will 
need at least a meg and half on something like a LaserJet to print a page at 
300 dpi.

The bad thing about ProPage is that it and the Workbench LaserJet driver 
causes a page to be offset by half an inch right and down which causes you 
to have to go through contortions to print right. I went to a Postscript 
cartridge on my IIP which solved the problem. The Postscript also does much 
better gray handling than the standard Workbench print driver.

I know someone who printed a page to their 24 pin printer at 360x360 
resolution that looked absolutely beautiful using the Compugraphic fonts, 
but it took a very, very long time.


 >  - How long does it take to print a moderately complex page this way?
 >    (Tell me what kind of system you are using).
 >

Takes several minutes depending on the complexity of the page. A typical 
page for one of the newsletters I did took about 5-7 minutes on a stock IIP 
without Postscript. It will be slower if you are using a dot matrix or ink 
jet. It took about 10-15 minutes per page on a DeskJet.

 >  - How fast are screen updates?  Sub second?  Multi second?  Tens of
 >    seconds?  Minutes?
 >

ProPage changed their update drawing in 2.0 which makes the program seem 
like it's updating the screen all the time. It makes it irritating on a slow 
machine. It was irritating on my 2000 with 2620 card, but now that I have 
a 3000 (via PowerUp offer), it's not so bad. I can't imagine what it would 
be like on a stock Amiga. They sent a beta of the new version after I sent 
them some stuff, and it improves on some of the bugs/changed features in the 
original version of 2.0, and I hope they will begin shipping that version 
soon. Gold Disk support has disappeared on Bix where I was getting most of 
my feedback on ProPage, so I can't tell you if and when that will occur.

 >Thanks for any help you can provide.
 >

Hope this helps.

 * Origin: Amiga Central BBS 816-587-5360 320mbs MOKCI (1:280/304)