Amiga Developer CD 2.1

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ Amiga Developer CD 2.1 / Amiga Developer CD v2.1.iso / Reference / Amiga_Mail_Vol1 / Printer / Pref1.3 < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1999-10-27 | 20.7 KB | 554 lines

(c) Copyright 1989-1999 Amiga, Inc. All rights reserved. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice, and is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied. The entire risk as to the use of this information is assumed by the user. V1.3 Preferences by Eric Cotton and David Berezowski The Preferences program for the V1.3 Workbench has a number of additions to support new features of this release, including extended printer support. General There is now a Preferences drawer. Within the drawer are icons for Preferences, Pointer, Printer, and Serial. The Preferences icon is for the Preferences program itself. Double-clicking runs Preferences much as before. Pointer, Printer, and Serial are project icons; the DEFAULT TOOL of each is Preferences. The TOOL TYPES specify the preference screen with which Preferences is to begin. The format is "PREFS=" immediately followed by "pointer", "printer", or "serial". For instance the TOOL TYPES of the Serial icon is "PREFS=serial". Double-clicking on the icon opens Preferences with the serial preference screen. Preferences now accepts command line arguments. The format is as follows: Preferences [POINTER | PRINTER | SERIAL] The argument specifies the screen to display. Selecting Save automatically updates the battery backed-up clock, if present, with the new date and time. The CLI On/Off option has been eliminated. Henceforth, the icon for the Command Line Interface (CLI) will always appear in the System drawer unless deleted by the user. Change Printer The Graphic Select gadget has been replaced by two new gadgets: Graphic 1 and Graphic 2. The new Graphic 1 gadget is equivalent to the V1.2 Graphic Select gadget and is used to request the first of two printer graphic Preferences screens. Graphic 1 The Graphic 1 screen is selected by clicking on the corresponding gadget in the Change Printer screen. There is a new Print Shade selection, Gray Scale2. This shade is for printing pictures designed using the A2024 Monitor which supports a maximum of seven shades of gray. Graphic 2 This is a new Preferences screen which supports extended printer graphics features. Select it by clicking the Graphic 2 gadget in the Change Printer screen. The various gadgets are as follows: Smoothing [ON/OFF] - attempts to smooth diagonal lines. This option is best suited for use with programs that do graphic dumps of text such as ProWrite, PageSetter, CityDesk, Publisher 1000 or NotePad. The smoothing option incurs an approximate 2:1 speed penalty on printing. Also, Floyd-Steinberg dithering cannot be used in conjunction with Smoothing. If F-S is enabled when turning on Smoothing the dithering mode will change to Ordered. Default is OFF. Left Offset - horizontally offsets the printed picture. This option effectively sets up a left margin. The offset can be entered in increments of tenths of an inch. The Center option disables Left Offset. Default is 0.0 inches. Center [ON/OFF] - horizontally centers the printed picture. This option overrides the Left Offset value. Default is OFF. Density [1 through 7] - selects graphics print density. The lower the density the faster the print time. Not all printers can support this. Refer to specifications of the V1.3 Printer Drivers for a description of densities supported by each individual printer. Default is 1. Color Correct R/G/B - tries to better match screen colors to printer colors. This option selectively tries to match all shades of either red (R), green (G), or blue (B) from the screen to the printer. Without color correction, the printer device can print all the 4096 colors of the AMIGA on a printer. However, as color correction is applied the total number of printed colors is reduced to a low of 3172 (308 per RGB). To see the effect of this option, printout a picture with solid red, green, and blue shades twice; first with this option on, and then with it off. Now compare the two pictures with the screen display. The shades of the color corrected picture should more closely represent those displayed on your monitor. Default is no color correction (R, G, and B not selected). Dithering [Ordered/Halftone/F-S] - sets dithering mode. Changing the dither method has no effect on the printout when a Shade of Black and White is selected from the Graphic 1 screen. B&W shading does no dithering. Default is ORDERED. Ordered - Color intensities on the printer are formed using an ordered dither method. Ordered dithering produces shades on the printer using an ordered pattern of dots. Halftone - Color intensities on the printer are formed using a halftone dither method. This technique is similar to the one used in newspapers and comic books. It works best on high density printers (greater than 150 dots per inch). F-S - Color intensities on the printer are formed using the Floyd-Steinberg error distribution method. This option incurs an approximate 2:1 speed penalty on printing. Note: Selecting this option automatically turns off Smoothing as they can not be used in conjunction with each other. It works best on high density printers (greater than 150 dots per inch). Scaling [Fraction/Integer] - selects scaling method. Default is FRACTION. Fraction - Normal scaling is performed. Integer - Every dot on the screen is guaranteed to appear as an even number of dots on the printer in both the x and y dimensions. For example, if the source picture is 320 x 200, the printed picture width will be either 320, 640, 960, etc. dots wide and 200, 400, 600, etc. dots high. This option should be selected when trying to print a picture that contains thin vertical and horizontal lines (like a grid). The actual size of the printed picture will be the requested size scaled up or down to the nearest multiple of the width and height of the picture. Integer scaling completely overrides the aspecting feature of the printer device. Thus it is possible to get a slightly distorted (non-aspect ratio correct) picture. This option is also useful for printing out bit-image text since the fonts will not be distorted due to fractional scaling. Width Limit - limit the width of the printed picture. Default is 0. The width can be limited in tenths / inch, pixels or a multiplication factor. See Limits below. Height Limit - limits the height of the printed picture. Default is 0. The height can be limited in tenths / inch, pixels or a multiplication factor. See Limits below. <- Limits - determines how the Width and Height limits are interpreted. Default is IGNORE. Ignore - The limits are to be ignored. The printed picture's size is bounded by: width = (right margin - left margin + 1) / characters per inch. height = lines per page / lines per inch. This option is the default and is included to remain compatible with pre V1.3 software. Bounded - The printed picture's size is bounded by Width Limit and Height Limit. For example, if the printed picture should be no bigger than 4.0 x 5.0 inches, set MaxWidth to 40, MaxHeight to 50, and select Bounded. This option is provided so that the text settings (margins, lines per page, etc.) need not be changed every time a graphic print is made. Absolute - Width Limit and Height Limit are interpreted as absolute values. The printed picture's size is no longer bounded. Rather, it is the absolute size specified. For example, if the printed picture should be exactly 4.0 x 5.0 inches, set MaxWidth to 40, Width Limit to 50, and select Absolute. This completely overrides the aspecting feature of the printer device. Thus it is possible to get a very distorted (non-aspect ratio correct) picture. Setting only one of the dimensions to zero aspect ratio corrects only that dimension. Hence if Width Limit is set to 40 and Height Limit to 0, then the printed picture will be 4.0 inches wide and as tall as necessary in order to be aspect ratio correct. If both of the dimensions are zero then the printed picture will be the printer's maximum dots wide and as tall as necessary in order to be aspect ratio correct. Pixels - Width Limit and Height Limit are interpreted as absolute values in printer pixels rather than tenths of an inch. Otherwise, the same rules for the Absolute selection apply. (Width Limit = 0 and Height Limit = 0) Multiply - Width Limit and Height Limit are used to multiply the source picture's width and height. For instance, if you specified a WidthLimit of 2 and a Height Limit of 4, the printed picture would be two times the source picture's width pixels wide and 4 times the source picture's height pixels high. Thus if the source picture were 320 x 200, the printed picture would be 640 (320 x 2) pixels wide and 800 (200 x 4) pixels high. The same rules for Absolute scaling apply (Width Limit=0 and Height Limit = 0). In addition, the benefits inherent to Integer scaling are valid here. Tips for Generating Better/Faster Graphic Dumps ----------------------------------------------- Faster ------ 1. If you are dumping a 1 bitplane image select the B&W mode in preferences. This is much faster than a grey-scale or color dump. 2. Horizontal dumps are much faster than vertical dumps as they use the blitter to read the pixel data. 3. Smoothing doubles the print time. Use it for final copy only. 4. F-S dithering doubles the print time. Ordered and halftone dithering incur no extra overhead. 5. The lower the density the faster the printout. Better ------ 1. Friction fed paper tends to be much more accurate than tractor fed paper in terms of vertical dot placement (ie. less horizontal strips or white lines). 2. Densities which use more than one pass tend to produce 'muddy' grey-scale or color printouts. It is recommended that you not chose these densities when doing a grey-scale or color dump. V1.3 Printer Driver Notes ------------------------- In general, densities which use more than one pass should only be used for B&W shade dumps. They can be used for Grey-Scale or Color Shade dumps BUT the output may tend to look muddy or dark. Also multiple pass Color dumps tend to dirty or smear the ribbon (ie. yellow will get contaminated with the other colors on the ribbon). Alphacom_AlphaPro_101 --------------------- 1. Daisywheel printer (text only). Brother_HR-15XL --------------- 1. Daisywheel printer (text only). CalComp_ColorMaster ------------------- 1. Thermal transfer b&w/color printer (text and graphics). 2. Use Black ribbon for non-color dumps; color ribbon for color dumps. 3. Linefeeds number of vertical dots printed. 4. Densities supported are 203x200(1) dpi. CalComp_ColorMaster2 ------------------- 1. Thermal transfer b&w/color printer (text and graphics). 2. Use black ribbon for non-color dumps; color ribbon for color dumps. 3. Linefeeds number of vertical dots printed. 4. This driver is the same as the Calcomp_ColorMaster driver except it is approximately 2 times faster during color dumps and requires LOTS of memory (up to ~1,272,003 bytes for a full 8x10 inch, 1600x2000 dot color dump). Typically, full-size color dumps are 1600x1149 dots and require ~730,767 bytes. The memory requirements are 1/3 when doing a non-color printout. 6. Densities supported are 203x200(1) dpi. Canon_PJ-1080A -------------- 1. Ink jet b&w/color printer (text and graphics). 2. Linefeeds number of vertical dots printed. 3. Densities supported are 83x84(1) dpi. CBM_MPS1000 ----------- 1. Dot matrix non-color printer (text and graphics). 2. Linefeeds number of vertical dots printed (-1/3 dot if PaperType is Single). (2) 3. Density XDPI YDPI XYDPI Comments 1 120 72 8640 2 120 144 17280 two pass 3 240 72 17280 (1) 4 120 216 25920 three pass 5 240 144 34560 two pass (1) 6 240 216 51840 three pass (1) 7 same as 6 Diablo_630 ---------- 1. Daisywheel printer (text only). Diablo_Advantage_D25 -------------------- 1. Daisywheel printer (text only). Diablo_C-150 ------------ 1. Ink jet b&w/color printer (text and graphics). 2. Always linefeeds 4 dots (limitation of printer). 3. A PaperSize of 'Wide Tractor' selects a maximum print width of 8.5 inches for wide roll paper. 5. Densities supported are 120x120(1) dpi. EpsonQ (24-pin Epson compatible) ------ 1. Dot matrix b&w/color printer (text and graphics). 2. Drives all EpsonQ compatible printers such as LQ1500 and LQ2500. 3. Linefeeds number of vertical dots printed. 4. Density XDPI YDPI XYDPI Comments 1 90 180 16200 2 120 180 21600 3 180 180 32400 4 360 180 64800 (1) 5,6,7 same as 4 5. A PaperSize of 'Wide Tractor' selects a maximum print width of 13.6 inches for wide carriage printers. 6. A PaperType of Single uses only 16 of the 24 pins, whereas a PaperType of Fanfold uses all 24 pins. The Single option is useful for those printers which have a weak power supply and cannot drive all 24 pins continuously. If during a single pass of the print head you notice that the top two thirds of the graphics are darker than the bottom one third then you'll probably need to drop down to 16 pins. EpsonX (8/9-pin Epson compatible) ------ 1. Dot matrix b&w/color printer (text and graphics). 2. Drives all EpsonX compatible printers such as EX/FX/JX/LX/MX/RX, etc. 3. Linefeeds # of vertical dots printed (-1/3 dot if PaperType is Single). (2) 4. Density XDPI YDPI XYDPI Comments 1 120 72 8640 2 120 144 17280 two pass 3 240 72 17280 (1) 4 120 216 25920 three pass 5 240 144 34560 two pass (1) 6 240 216 51840 three pass (1) 7 same as 6 5. A PaperSize of Wide Tractor selects a maximum print width of 13.6 inches for wide carriage printers. 6. Use this driver if you own a CBM_MPS-1250 as it is EpsonX compatible. EpsonXOld (8/9-pin Epson compatible) --------- 1. Dot matrix b&w/color printer (text and graphics). 2. Drives all very old EpsonX compatible printers. 3. Linefeeds number of vertical dots printed. 4. Density XDPI YDPI XYDPI Comments 1 120 72 8640 2 240 72 17280 (1) 3,4,5,6,7 same as 2 5. A PaperSize of Wide Tractor selects a maximum print width of 13.6 inches for wide carriage printers. 6. Use this driver if the EpsonX driver doesn't work properly in graphics mode on your EpsonX compatible printer. generic ------- 1. Text only printer. Howtek_Pixelmaster ------------------ 1. Plastic ink jet b&w/color printer (text and graphics). 2. Linefeeds number of vertical dots printed. 3. Density XDPI YDPI XYDPI Comments 1 80 80 6400 2 120 120 14400 3 160 160 25600 4 240 240 57600 5,6,7 same as 4 4. Maximum print area is 8.0 x 10.0 inches. HP_DeskJet ---------- 1. Ink jet non-color printer (text and graphics). 2. Linefeeds number of vertical dots printed. 3. Density XDPI YDPI XYDPI Comments 1 75 75 5625 2 100 100 10000 3 150 150 22500 4 300 300 90000 5,6,7 same as 4 4. Maximum print area is 8.0 x 10.0 inches. HP_LaserJet (LaserJet+/LaserJetII compatible) ----------- 1. Laser engine non-color printer (text and graphics). 2. Linefeeds number of vertical dots printed. 3. Density XDPI YDPI XYDPI Comments 1 75 75 5625 2 100 100 10000 3 150 150 22500 4 300 300 90000 5,6,7 same as 4 4. Maximum print area is 8.0 x 10.0 inches. HP_PaintJet ----------- 1. Ink jet b&w/color printer (text and graphics). 2. Linefeeds number of vertical dots printed. 3. Densitie(s) supported are 180x180(1) dpi. HP_ThinkJet ---------- 1. Ink jet non-color printer (text and graphics). 2. Linefeeds number of vertical dots printed. 3. Density XDPI YDPI XYDPI Comments 1 96 96 9216 2 192 96 18432 3,4,5,6,7 same as 4 Imagewriter II (Imagewriter compatible) -------------- 1. Dot matrix b&w/color printer (text and graphics). 2. Linefeeds number of vertical dots printed. 3. Density XDPI YDPI XYDPI Comments 1 80 72 5760 2 120 72 8640 3 144 72 10368 4 160 72 11520 5 120 144 17280 two pass 6 144 144 20736 two pass 7 160 144 23040 two pass Nec_Pinwriter (24-wire Pinwriter compatible) ------------- 1. Dot matrix b&w/color printer (text and graphics). 2. Drives all Nec 24-wire Pinwriter compatible printers such as the P5/P6/P7/P9/P2200. 3. Linefeeds number of vertical dots printed. 4. Density XDPI YDPI XYDPI Comments 1 90 180 16200 2 120 180 21600 3 180 180 32400 4 120 360 43200 two pass 5 180 360 64800 two pass 6 360 180 64800 7 360 360 129600 two pass 5. A PaperSize of Wide Tractor selects a maximum print width of 13.6 inches for wide carriage printers. Okidata_92 ---------- 1. Dot matrix non-color printer (text and graphics). 2. Always linefeeds 7/72 inch (limitation of printer in graphics mode). 3. Densities supported are 72x72 dpi. Okidata_293I ------------ 1. Dot matrix b&w/color printer (text and graphics). 2. Drives 292 or 293 using the IBM interface module. 3. Linefeeds number of vertical dots printed (-1/3 dot if PaperType is Single) (2) 4. Density XDPI YDPI XYDPI Comments 1 120 144 17280 2 240 144 34560 3 120 288 34560 two pass 4 240 288 69120 two pass 5,6,7 same as 4 5. A PaperSize of Wide Tractor selects a maximum print width of 13.6 inches for wide carriage printers. Okimate-20 ---------- 1. Thermal transfer b&w/color printer (text and graphics). 2. Use black ribbon for non-color dumps; color ribbon for color dumps. 3. Linefeeds an even number of dots printed. (ie. if 3 printed, 4 advanced). 4. Densities supported are 120x144(1) dpi. Quadram_QuadJet --------------- 1. Ink jet b&w/color printer (text and graphics). 2. Linefeeds number of vertical dots printed. 3. Densities supported are 83x84(1) dpi. Qume_LetterPro_20 ----------------- 1. Daisywheel printer (text only). Tektronics_4693D ---------------- 1. Thermal transfer b&w/color printer (graphics only). 2. Densities supported are 300x300(1) dpi 3. Due to the way the printer images a picture none of the printer preferences options affect the printout with the following exceptions: a)Aspect - Horizontal, Vertical b)Shade - B&W, Grey_Scale, Color As a result of this only full size pictures can be printed. Toshiba_P351C (24-pin Toshiba compatible) ------------- 1. Dot matrix b&w/color printer (text and graphics). 2. Drives all Toshiba_P351C compatible printers. 3. Linefeeds # of vertical dots printed. 4. Density XDPI YDPI XYDPI Comments 1 180 180 32400 2 360 180 64800 3,4,5,6,7 same as 2 5. A PaperSize of Wide Tractor selects a maximum print width of 13.5 inches for wide carriage printers. Toshiba_P351SX (24-pin Toshiba compatible) -------------- 1. Dot matrix b&w/color printer (text and graphics). 2. Drives all Toshiba_P351SX compatible printers such as the 321SL, 321SLC, 341SL. 3. Linefeeds number of vertical dots printed. 4. Density XDPI YDPI XYDPI Comments 1 180 180 32400 2 360 180 64800 3 180 360 64800 two pass 4 360 360 129600 two pass 5,6,7 same as 4 5. A PaperSize of Wide Tractor selects a maximum print width of 13.5 inches for wide carriage printers. Xerox_4020 ---------- 1. Ink jet b&w/color printer (text and graphics). 2. Always linefeeds 4 dots (limitation of printer). 3. This driver is identical to the Diablo_C-150 driver except it outputs all black dots twice. This is a special feature of this printer and produces much more solid, darker black shades. Please note that some printing time overhead results from this feature; if you don't want it use the Diablo_C-150 driver. 4. Densities supported are 121x120(1) and 242x240(2) dpi. Selecting a density of 2 or higher really doesn't give you true 240 dpi resolution since the Xerox_4020 only has 121 dots per inch. Instead this mode tells the printer to go into it's pseudo 240 dpi mode. Here, it outputs a line of dots at 121 dpi; moves the paper up 1/240 of an inch and outputs the line again shifted to the right by 1/240 of an inch. This produces much more vibrant colors and gives the illusion of more resolution. One drawback is that large areas of solid colors tend to over-saturate the paper with ink, especially red, green and blue. 5. A PaperSize of Wide Tractor selects a maximum print width of 9.0 inches for wide roll paper. Notes ----- (0) - on most printers, friction fed paper tends to produce better looking (ie. less horizontal banding) graphic dumps than tractor fed paper. (1) - in this mode the printer cannot print two consecutive dots in a row. It is recommended that you only use this density for B&W Shade dumps. (2) - only when 72 YDPI is selected. This option is useful if you notice tiny white horizontal strips in your printout.