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- G .O. Graphics, Inc., a leading supplier
- of PC-based typesetting software, and
- Atari Corporation of Sunnyvale, CA have
- signed an agreement to develop a
- low-cost, high-quality desktop publishing
- system based on the Atari Mega ST2 and
- ST4 computers and the Atari SLM804
- laser printer which was unveiled earlier
- this year and will be released in the fall
- quarter.The product is based on G.O.
- Graphics' Deskset typesetting software
- which is currently available for MS-DOS
- computers and is compatible with
- Compugraphic typesetting systems.
- Deskset is a professional-level typesetting
- package which is popular among
- typeshops, printing firms, graphics
- studios and publishers. It provieds all the
- functionality of dedicated typesetting
- systems which typically cost $25,000 to
- $50,000.Deskset uses genuine
- Compugraphic scalable
- outline fonts,
- which will be incorporated into the Atari
- system. Each font can be
- set in 134 sizes from 5-point to 72-point in half-point increments. Any
- font can be set in reverse video (white type on a black background) or
- condesnced or expanded in half-point increments. The kerning capabilities
- of the fonts are unique in a personal computer-based product. The font
- data includes automatic sectored kerning, which is algorithmic kerning
- based on character shapes. User-definable kerning pairs may be specified
- by the user to supplement the sectored kerning, with 256 unique kerning
- pairs per font.The Atari system will also utilize Deskset's WYSIWYG
- technology. According to Dave Price, G.O. Graphics Product Manager,
- Deskset's WYSIWYG screen is generated from the same scalable outline font
- data that is used to print the page. You can see the actual kerning and
- letterspacing that you'll get when the page is printed or typeset. This
- capability is highly desirable and does not exist in other packages
- available for the Macintosh and IBM.Additional benefits from the G.O.
- Graphics technology is that font cartridges and bitmap fonts are not used.
- The fonts are not downloaded to the printer and there is no RAM required
- in the printer. Instead, the page is built in the RAM of the Mega ST and
- output to the laser printer as full-page bitmap through a DMA port in the
- MEGA ST. Because there are no fonts and no RAM required in the printer and
- a page description language is not used, the Atari printer can sell at a
- favorable price.Another advantage is tha printing throughput time is
- extremely fast for two reasons. The DMA printer interface accesses the
- page bitmpa directly and there is no processing overhead as with systems
- which use page description languages. The printing method is similar to
- that used in the MS-DOS version of DESKSET, which uses a 2-megabyte JLaser
- Plus from Tall Tree Systems which drives most laser printer engines
- directly.The Atari system will generate high-quality typography because
- all of the features which exist in the MS-DOS version of Deskset will be
- ported to the Atari version running under TOS, the Atari operating system.
- It will feature linguistic-based hyphenation in eight languages supported
- by user-modifiable exception hyphenation dictionaries; autmotic and manual
- character compensation(white space redution and tracking); floating tabs;
- auto tabs; minimum, maximum and preferred settings for wordspace and
- letterspace expansion; negative and positive letterspacing for attractive
- justification; pagination with widow/orphan control; rules, boxes and
- graophics support; automatic indents (including hanging indents);
- automatic columnar text flow with text runarounds; control of minimum
- number of characters before and after a hyphen; and control of maximum
- number of consectuively hyphenated lines. Deskset currently uses
- typesetting commands identical to those found in Compugraphic typesetting
- systems. G.O. Graphics is removing the commands and incorporationg the TOS
- windows-mouse-icons-menus interface for an interactive WYSIWYG product.An
- option planned for the system is the capability to typeset files from the
- Mega ST to approximately 24,000 Compugraphic MCS typesetting systems
- installed in the United States. The MS-DOS Deskset product currently
- drives a Compugraphic typesetter directly via driver software and a board
- manufactured by G.O. Graphics, or via a compatible diskette written in MCS
- disk format. Output from the Atari laser printer would be an exact proof
- of the typeset page bacause the Compugraphic fonts, character sets,
- couting algorithms and width valuse are identical to those found in
- Compugraphic typesetting systems.G.O. Graphics has developed
- text-processing systems since 1973. It has provided communications and
- interfacing products on an OEM basis to such firms as Compugraphic, Allied
- Linotype, Varityper and Xerox. It began shipping Deskset in August, 1986.
- For further information Contact G.O. Graphics, 18 Ray Avenue, Burlington,
- MA 01803 (617) 229-8900 or Atari Corporation, 1196 Borregas AVenue,
- Sunnyvale, CA 94086 (408) 745-2367.