Some explanations that are really pretty unnecessary for such a simple idea:
The ImageWriter to LaserWriter template was an idea I had on a dark and lonely Tuesday evening, while listening to WNEW-FM. You see, I do a lot of “DTP” at home and then bring it to work to print on one of the LaserWriter Pluses. However, I use an ImageWriter at home and the page layout is quite different, so I would often have to completely re-format a document for printing, a process which somewhat defeats the purpose of doing it at home in the first place.
My first solution was to have both the ImageWriter and LaserWriter printer drivers on disk, and switch between them with the Chooser for the proper page layout. (This idea may also be useful to some...) However, with the advent of the new system software -- I jumped from System/Finder versions 3.2 / 5.3 to 4.2 / 6.0 in one swell foop -- I found that my two-floppy system was getting severely crunched for disk space. So in a flash of brilliance -- or something -- I thought of the solution that takes up only 1 K (538 bytes).
I simply brought up RSG, Chooser set to the LaserWriter driver, and “traced” the dotted line that indicates the edge of the useable page area with the rectangle tool. I set the pen to 50% darkness, to make it look as much like the actual LaserWriter page as possible. Then I configured it to “Don’t Print” and “Locked”, so there won’t be any of the problems with accidently moving it around, or having it print with the rest of the document. The final move was to set the “Show Page Area” to off, under the “Preferences…” menu, and voila! -- instant LaserWriter document.
If you like RSG’s standard grid functions as much as I do, you will find that they will not be of much use here, as they will still be set for the ImageWriter layout. If you really need them, customize them. The left margin for a LaserWriter document starts at 0.4167 inches. The maximum width is 7.6667 inches. The top margin starts at 0.4306 inches down, and the maximum depth is 10.1389 inches. All this info is available by clicking on the rectangle and selecting “Specifications…” from the “Edit” menu.
In case you’re interested, I moonlight as a Mac consultant (you wouldn’t believe how many people are befuddled by a mouse!), and I’m also the Mac sysop on The Dorsai Embassy BBS, in NYC. I also have a CompuServe account, but that’s too expensive for my blood (I haven’t logged on in two months).
I hope this made interesting reading, cause it sure was fun writing it.
Derek Lichter
GEnie: LICHTER
Dorsai Embassy: MACLOVER
PS: Don’t you just love utilities where the docs are larger than the
