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PrintCAD 1.30 printer driver for IBM/DOS CAD packages including AutoCAD and Microstation (C) Copyright Ravitz Software Inc. 1991,1993 Ravitz Software Inc. BBS/FAX 606-268-0577 P.O. Box 25068 Lexington, KY 40524-5068 USA Compuserve Cary Ravitz [70431,32] Introduction ....................................................... 2 License and Registration 3 What Is New ........................................................ 3 Operation 4 Installation ....................................................... 5 Syntax 6 Example Setup Instructions ......................................... 7 Overview of Options 8 /1, /2, /3, /4, /5 - Alternate Configurations ...................... 8 /A - Location Option 8 /B - Tiling Option ................................................. 9 /C - Pen Color Option 9 /D - Output Destination Option .....................................10 /F - Output Format Option 11 /I - Scaling Point Location Option ................................ 13 /J, /K - Printer Code Prefix, Suffix Options 13 /L - Page Layout Option ........................................... 14 /M - Magnification Option (Scale, Size) 15 /O - Origin and Orientation Option ................................ 15 /P - Intercept Mask Option 15 /Q - Number of Copies Option ...................................... 16 /R - Internal Resolution Option 16 /S - Pen Shading Option ........................................... 16 /T - Temporary File Option 16 /W - Pen Width Option ............................................. 17 /X - Control Option 17 /Y - D/Y and S/E Settings, ADI Handler Option ..................... 18 /Z - Chord Angle and Enhanced Font Option 18 Large Paper ....................................................... 19 Color Processing 20 DESQview and Windows .............................................. 20 Answers 21 Useful Prefix and Suffix Codes .................................... 22 Output Devices 23 Compatibility and Technical Information ........................... 28 User Support 28 p-2 Introduction --------------------------------------------------------- PrintCAD is a pen plotter emulator that acts as a printer driver for most IBM/DOS based CAD packages. It lets you print drawings directly from CAD programs, via the CAD program's pen plotter driver - either AutoCAD's ADI plotter driver or an HP-GL driver. PrintCAD works with AutoCAD, AutoSketch, Micro CADAM, Microstation, Cadkey, Generic CADD, Draft Choice, PC-Draft-CAD, and other CAD programs. It will print on Epson and IBM 9 pin printers, Epson, Fujitsu, IBM, NEC, and Toshiba 24 pin printers, HP LaserJet, DeskJet, PaintJet, QuietJet, HP-GL/2 devices, and HP-GL plotters, Canon LBP, BJ, and BJC printers, HI JetPro printers, IBM LaserPrinter, ExecJet, and Quietwriter 2 and 3, Kodak Color 4, PDP ProTracer, Tektronix ColorQuick, and PostScript printers, and it will generate PCX files. PrintCAD prints faster than many native CAD printer drivers and provides additional flexibility, such as pen width, shading, and color (with color mixing), and paper size, orientation, magnification, and positioning. PrintCAD uses the best graphics modes available for each printer that it supports. PrintCAD is a swapping resident program that uses 5K of base memory and 400K of EMS or XMS memory. Either 400K of EMS or XMS memory is required. EMS and XMS are expanded and extended memory management protocols that are typically set up with memory management software such as HIMEM/EMM386, QEMM386, or 386MAX. If you have a computer with extended or expanded memory hardware, you need to install such a driver to use it as EMS or XMS memory. For use with DOS extender based programs such as AutoCAD 386 and Microstation 4, a VCPI handler needs to be present. VCPI handlers are built into MS-DOS 5's EMM386.EXE and recent versions of QEMM 386, 386MAX, and other 386 memory managers. If PrintCAD notes "VCPI not present" then you need to upgrade your memory management software. PrintCAD has been tested in a variety of environments. However, because it is a swapping resident program, unusual situations may cause it to crash the system. Please test it thoroughly on your system before using it with unsaved data. PrintCAD will generally work with multitasking systems such as DESQview and Windows, but this is not guaranteed. See DESQview and Windows for information. This program is produced by a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for members' products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI 49442 or send a CompuServe message via CompuServe Mail to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536. p-3 License and Registration --------------------------------------------- PrintCAD is provided as is. There are no warranties expressed or implied. PrintCAD is a swapping resident program that may have problems with unusual environments. PrintCAD is copyrighted by Ravitz Software Inc. You may copy PrintCAD only for use under this license agreement. PrintCAD is distributed as shareware. You may use PrintCAD without charge on a trial basis to determine its suitability for you. If you continue to use it after your evaluation, you must purchase a registered copy for $49. This registration covers use by a single person (on multiple computers) or installation on a single computer (may be used by a group of people). There is no cost to use a later 1.** version after registering any 1.** version. You may distribute PrintCAD as a stand alone product if you keep the entire package together, unchanged, including this license explanation, and do not charge more than $10. You may not distribute PrintCAD as part of another product. To purchase a registered copy of PrintCAD, send your name, address, and $49 check to: Ravitz Software Inc. P.O. Box 25068 Lexington, KY 40524-5068 USA You will be sent a printed manual and disk (always the latest version). Please specify 3.5 or 5.25 inch disk. If you previously registered PrintCAD, you may send $15 to get a current disk and manual. The price for multiple licenses is $49 for the first copy (with disk and manual) and thereafter $40 per copy with disk and manual or $25 per copy without disk or manual. For users outside the USA, please make checks payable in US dollars, and except for Canada, please use a check from a US bank if possible. Don't forget to include your country in your address. If you register through a business, be sure to include your name. What Is New ---------------------------------------------------------- V 1.30 - Version number matches PrintGL. Supports Canon BJC880, Canon LBP 8 Mk4, Canon BJC800 native mode, IBM 4029 LaserPrinter 600 dpi PPDS upgrade. PrintCAD can take binary ADI data. The PCADDV function is built in to PCAD.EXE. V 1.18 - Supports HP DeskJet 500C, PaintJet XL 300, LaserJet 4. /XN inhibits swapping for improved compatibility with DOS extender based programs. p-4 Operation ------------------------------------------------------------ PrintCAD is a resident program that intercepts plot data output from CAD software, processes the data, and prints the resulting picture. When PrintCAD is first run it installs itself. Subsequent runs look for the resident copy and send control information to it, updating the parameters. PrintCAD must be installed before running the CAD software. Do not install it from a DOS shell. PrintCAD automatically loads high if a 5K DOS or XMS upper memory block is available. Do not use LOADHI or LOADHIGH. PrintCAD can only function as a plotter - it cannot function as a ADI printer/plotter or as a rendering driver. PrintCAD can intercept data from two sources, DOS file writes and AutoCAD/Sketch ADI 4.0 interrupts. With the option /PADI, ADI interrupts are intercepted. With /Pmask, for example /P*.PLT, DOS file writes are intercepted. PrintCAD can interpret two kinds of data, HP-GL and AutoCAD/Sketch ADI 4.0 binary plotter data. HP-GL data is always interpreted. If you use /PADI or /YA then ADI plotter data is also interpreted. To use PrintCAD as an HP-GL interpreter, use /Pmask to tell it what files to intercept. Use /P*.PLT, /P*.DPF, /P*.HPG, /P*.000, etc. to match the names that the CAD software uses when writing HP-GL files. Configure the CAD software for HP-GL (HP 7550 or 7585) output to a file. Then plot (do NOT print). PrintCAD intercepts the data and prints it. To use PrintCAD with AutoCAD or AutoSketch as an ADI interpreter that intercepts ADI binary files use /P*.PLT. Configure AutoCAD for an ADI 4.0 plotter, binary data output to a file, up to forty pens, 1016 steps/inch, and six non-solid line types. Then plot. To use PrintCAD with AutoCAD or AutoSketch as an installed ADI 4.0 plotter driver use /PADI. After installing PrintCAD configure AutoCAD for an ADI 4.0 plotter, installed at interrupt hex 78, up to forty pens, 1016 steps/inch, and six non-solid line types. Then plot. After making PrintCAD resident, you can verfiy the installation with "pcad /xq". You can verify that it is functional by copying an HP-GL (or ADI if you use /YA) file to "pcad.plt" with the DOS COPY command. For COLOR output, the CAD package should be configured for a plotter with multiple pens, the CAD package's pen assignment table should be set up match screen colors to pen numbers, and PrintCAD's /C option should set up to match. PrintCAD causes a high/low beep the first time that data is sent after a file open. If you turn on sound (/XS), it causes a high beep after swapping in its code and a low beep before swapping it out, to let you monitor its processing. p-5 When PrintCAD is running, Esc stops processing at the next good stopping point. Ctrl-B stops processing immediately and will likely leave the printer in need of a reset. Internally PrintCAD uses two byte coordinates on a 1016 dots/inch grid. This allows for plots with coordinates of over 30 inches - far larger than an HP 7475 can handle. However, if you are using PrintCAD to emulate a large plotter, you may overflow the internal coordinate system. This condition is not checked, and it will cause garbage output. You can change the internal resolution to 508 dots per inch (giving 60 inch maximum plot sizes) with the /R option (/R508). This only helps store the original plot internally. The next step in PrintCAD converts these coordinates to the requested size in the resolution of the output device, and these coordinates must also fit in the two byte coordinate list. Installation --------------------------------------------------------- Copy the file PCAD.EXE to your working disk or directory. This is the PrintCAD executable file and is all that you need to run PrintCAD. In addition to PCAD.EXE, these files are included in the package, and must be included if you distribute PrintCAD as shareware: PCAD.DOC documentation ADD.DOC additional documentation since last release ORDER.FRM order form README.* quick information p-6 Syntax --------------------------------------------------------------- The calling syntax of PrintCAD is: PCAD /option1 /option2 ... Spaces between parameters are not required. Except for the /X and /P options, if a given option is entered more than once, only the last entry is used. And if an option is invalid (but not incorrect), it is ignored. Only one /X and one /P option is allowed. If you do not enter any parameters, PrintCAD displays its option reminder screen. The DOS environment variable PRINTCAD is examined by PrintCAD and if it is nonblank then it is put in front of the command line parameters. When you need to exceed the 127 character DOS command line limit, put some of the parameters in the PRINTCAD variable, for example SET PRINTCAD=/CRGB... /S... /W... PCAD /P*.PLT ... Below, [ and ] enclose optional suboptions and | separates mutually exclusive suboptions. The options and suboptions may be in any order except that multiple numeric suboptions are ordered and numeric suboptions must follow character suboptions where the characters may be digits. "c" refers to a suboption character, "x" and "y" to suboption numbers, "i" and "j" to suboption integers, "b" to a suboption byte, and "f" to a DOS file or device name. For numbers (x, y), a decimal point is allowed but is not required, and scientific notation is not allowed. "-" is allowed but not "+". For integer input (i, j), only base ten integers from -32768 to 32767 are allowed. "+" is not allowed. A byte (b) must be a base ten integer from 0 to 255 or a hexadecimal number prefixed with $ from $00 to $FF. Further range checking is done for most options to flag unreasonable input. If an option has multiple numeric suboptions, these may be separated with commas or blanks. * It is very important to choose the right output format (/F * option). It is likely that the default output format will work on * your printer, but it is equally likely that it will not produce * optimal results. Please look carefully at the entire list of * output formats before choosing one, and do not assume that because * a format works that it is the best one to use. p-7 Example Setup Instructions ------------------------------------------- Below are instructions for simple setups to help you get started. After you have PrintCAD running, there are many additional options that might be useful. To use AutoCAD (or AutoSketch) with an HP DeskJet 500C or 550C, install PrintCAD with "pcad /padi /fa! /L7.9,10,0,.3 /crygcbmk". Configure AutoCAD for an ADI 4.0 vector plotter installed on interrupt 78h, 7 pens, 1016 steps/inch, plot area 10x7.9, no calibration. Set up the AutoCAD pen assignment table so that the seven pens are assigned red, yellow, green, cyan, blue, magenta, and black. Set skip perforation off on the printer by setting DIP switch 1-8 up. Then plot. To use a Canon BJC800 or 820 with 11x17 paper with AutoCAD, install PrintCAD with "pcad /p*.plt /f& /L10.5,16,0,0 /crygcbmk. Configure AutoCAD for an ADI 4.0 vector plotter with binary output to a file, 7 pens, 1016 steps/inch, plot area 16x10.5, no calibration. Set up the AutoCAD pen assignment table so that the seven pens are assigned red, yellow, green, cyan, blue, magenta, and black. Then plot. To use a Canon BJ330 with cut sheet paper with AutoCAD, install PrintCAD with: pcad /ppcad#.plt/f7 1,1.01 /L8,10,0,.4 /j27,67,0,11 pcad /2/f7 1,1.01 /L10.5,16,0,.4 /j27,67,0,17 pcad /3/f7 1,1.01 /L13.5,21,0,.4 /j27,67,0,22 Configure AutoCAD for an HP 7585 plotter with output to a file. To print on 8.5x11 paper set the plot area to 10x8 and output the plot to file PCAD1. For 11x17 paper set the plot area to 16x10.5 and output to PCAD2. For 17x22 paper set the plot area to 21x13.5 and output to PCAD3. To use the BJ330 with another CAD package, replace the ".plt" with the default plotfile extension for that package. AutoCAD, AutoSketch, and Micro CADAM use ".plt", Microstation uses ".000", GenCADD uses ".dpf", and EasyCAD and FastCAD uses ".hpg". DesignCAD has no default extension - use ".plt" and enter the entire file name when plotting (PCAD1.PLT for example). To use a LaserJet with Microstation, install PrintCAD with "pcad /p*.000 /fL /L7.9,10,0,.1". Configure Microstation for an HP 7585 plotter, set the plot area to 10x7.9, and plot. Instead of /fl, choose the best LaserJet driver from this list: /FL any LJ /FL! any LJ2 and any LJ3 with less than 1.5 Meg /FI any LJ3 with 1.5 Meg or more and the LJ4L /FI+ any 600 dpi LJ4 For manual feed legal paper use "/p*.000 /fl /L7.9,13,0,.1 /J27,38,108,50,72,27,38,108,51,65" and set the plot area to 13x7.9. p-8 Overview of Options -------------------------------------------------- PrintCAD's options fall into several categories. The first is input and output choices. The input option (/Pmask) lets you choose an intercept filename mask, or you may select ADI interrupt 78 by using "adi". The output options are /F, the output format (printer model), and /D, the destination port, device, or file. The second category is the page layout. /L controls the size and location of the print window (hard clip limits) and the option to box the window, not send a form feed, and reverse the image color. Tiling is set with /B and copies with /Q. The third category defines how the plot looks within the print window. /M, the magnification, sets the size of the plot. /A determines the location of the plot within the print window. /O sets the origin and orientation, and is used to rotate or mirror the plot. /I sets the plotter's initial scaling points. The fourth category defines the pens, /W for the width, /C for the color, and /S for the shade. The fifth category determines how PrintCAD processes the plot. This includes the temporary file /T, the default and minimum chord angle /Z, the plotter Y/D and S/E switch position and ADI handling /Y, the internal resolution /R, and prefix and suffix printer codes /J and /K. The last category is PrintCAD setup, /P sets the intercept mask, /X sets up the initial configuration, /1, /2, /3, /4, and /5 set up multiple configurations. /1, /2, /3, /4, /5 - Alternate Configurations ------------------------ These options select up to 5 alternate configurations, labeled 1..5. /1 is the default. The configuration used for printing is chosen based on the file name and mask (/P option). /A - Location Option ------------------------------------------------- /A[O][x,y] - location - default /A The A option determines the location of the plot in the print window via a point on the plot that is aligned with a point in the print window. You can specify the plot alignment point with x,y in inches from the plot's origin (before PrintCAD applies magnification), or let it default to the plot center. For the print window alignment point, you can default to the center or specify the origin with O. /A puts the center of the plot at the print window center /AO0,0 puts the plot 0,0 at the print window origin /A0,0 puts the plot 0,0 at the print window center p-9 /B - Tiling Option --------------------------------------------------- /B[i,j,x] - tiling parameters - default /B1,1,0 /B lets you specify tiling options that break a large plot into pages. Each page is defined by the page layout option (/L). I and j specify the number of tiles (pages) horizontally and vertically. X specifies the overlap in inches. /B2,2,.5 breaks the plot into 4 pages with .5 inch overlap /B is the same as /B1,1,0 and produces no tiling /C - Pen Color Option ------------------------------------------------ /C[O|T]c.. - color - default /CK /C specifies the color of each pen. The colors are B for blue, C for cyan, G for green, K for black, M for magenta, R for red, W for white, and Y for yellow. Unspecified pens use the last selected color (/CRGB is the same as /CRGBBBBBB). For black/white output formats, all nonwhite colors become black. Additional colors can be created with shade mixing. These colors use shading patterns to mix the eight pure colors. The format for a mixed color is .?? where each ? represents any of the eight pure colors. The first color is printed with the pen's shading pattern (/S option) and the second is printed with the inverse shading pattern. If the shade value is 0 (solid) it is replaced by 2 (50%) which produces the most uniform mixed colors. On many printers, using a shade of 1 (75%) or 3 (25%) gives a better color. Here are some useful mixed colors for inkjet printers. Use them with shade 1. color description color description .cb light blue .yr orange .mb violet .rk brown .cg blue-green .ck teal .yg yellow-green .kr black on DeskJet 500C Mixed colors need line widths of at least 2 (4 for 2 dot shading patterns) to look good, and they may have visual artifacts on edges near a 45 degree angle. Multipass dot matrix formats may not handle color mixing well. By default, colors are overwritten into the print, so they appear opaque. You can switch to translucent colors (ored into the print) with the T suboption, and then back to opaque with the O suboption. Make this mode switch in front of the pen that you want to change. For PostScript devices and plotters, the color processing is done by the device, not PrintCAD. PostScript devices use opaque lines and plotters use translucent lines. " means repeat the previous color. /COKR.MB""T.KY sets pen 1 to opaque black pen 2 to opaque red pen 3..5 to opaque magenta on blue pen 6..40 to translucent black on yellow p-10 /D - Output Destination Option --------------------------------------- /D[+]f - destination - default /D1 The D option specifies the output printer port, device, or file. The + suboption causes files to be appended rather than overwritten (it has no effect on device output). 1, 2, and 3 select the BIOS printer routines. X1, X2, X3, and X4 select xon/xoff controlled serial port drive. H1, H2, H3, and H4 select hardware controlled serial port drive. You can also use the DOS devices LPT1, COM1, etc. PrintCAD cannot set up the serial ports. This is usually done in the AUTOEXEC.BAT with MODE (probably MODE COM1:9600,N,8,1,P). If you specify a three digit number for a file name extension (for example .000), and multiple pages are output via the multiple copies option or tiling, then rather than appending the destination file, additional files are created with sequential extensions. This is useful for PCX output. /D2 sends output to the second parallel port via BIOS /DLPT3 sends output to the DOS device LPT3 /D+TEMP.PRN appends output to file TEMP.PRN /DOUTPUT.000 sends output to OUTPUT.000, OUTPUT.001, ... p-11 /F - Output Format Option -------------------------------------------- /Fc[-|+|*][!|¡][~][`][x,y] - output format - default /FN~ The F option specifies the output format. -, +, and * are resolution modifiers, ! and ¡ select compression levels, ~ turns off color processing, and ` switches four plane color processing on or off. These suboptions are allowed even if they have no effect. For HP-GL (/F8), HP-GL/2 (/F0), PostScript (/FS), and PCX (/FZ) you can append the nominal device resolution. Matching the nominal resolution to the printer may yield improvements in print quality. For PCX the nominal device resolution may be one or two numbers. For output formats other than PCX, you can append the true horizontal and vertical resolution of the output device in dots/inch. This overrides the normal output device resolution, but does not affect the structure of the output. These numbers should follow all other suboptions. This lets you compensate for print size error. For example, a 360x360 dpi printer consistently under indexes so that a 6 inch high box comes out 5.94 inches. Using 360,363.6 (6/5.94*360 = 363.6) removes the error. For print size correction, you also specify a number from .5 to 2 which is interpreted as the nominal resolution times this number. For example on a 360 dpi printer, 1.0,1.01 is the same as 360,363.6. Each printer driver has a default level of data compression, chosen to give maximum compatilibity among the different printers that the driver supports. Many drivers have an optional enhanced level of compression, chosen with !. This will be incompatible with some printers. And some drivers let you turn all compression off with ¡ (ASCII 173). This is rarely of any use. Where these suboptions are effective, they are marked in the table below. Drivers marked below with ~ can handle color. Using ~ suppresses color processing, substituting black for all colors except white. ` switches between 4 and 3 plane color (see Color Processing). /F0[i] ~ HP-GL/2 ................................ 600x600, ixi /F1 ~ IBM 9 pin 120x72 /F1+ ~ IBM 9 pin (2 pass) .......................... 120x144 /F1* ~ IBM 9 pin (4 pass) 240x144 /F2 IBM Quietwriter 2 ........................... 240x240 /F3 IBM Quietwriter 3 240x240 /F4- !¡ IBM LaserPrinter (PPDS mode) ................ 150x150 /F4 !¡ IBM LaserPrinter (PPDS mode) 300x300 /F4+ !¡ IBM LaserPrinter (PPDS mode) ................ 600x600 /F5 ! ~ IBM 24 pin alternate 1 180x180 /F5+ ! ~ IBM 24 pin alternate 1 (2 pass) ............. 360x180 /F5* ! ~ IBM 24 pin alternate 1 (4 pass) 360x360 /F6 ! IBM Proprinter X24 .......................... 180x182 /F6+ ! IBM Proprinter X24 (2 pass) 360x182 /F6* ! IBM Proprinter X24 (4 pass) ................. 360x364 p-12 /F7 ¡ Canon BJ IBM mode, IBM ExecJet .............. 360x360 /F7+ ¡ Canon BJ IBM mode, IBM ExecJet (2 pass) 360x360 /F8[i] HP-GL ................................ 1016x1016, ixi /F9 ! ~ NEC 24 pin 180x180 /F9+ ! ~ NEC 24 pin (2 pass) ......................... 360x180 /F9* ! ~ NEC 24 pin (4 pass) 360x360 /F& ~ Canon BJ/BJC native mode .................... 360x360 /F@ ~ Canon BJC CaPSL mode 360x360 /FA- ! ~ HP DeskJet 500C, Mannesmann Tally MT92C ..... 150x150 /FA ! ~ HP DeskJet 500C, Mannesmann Tally MT92C 300x300 /FB ¡~ Canon BJ/BJC Epson mode ..................... 360x360 /FB+ ¡~ Canon BJ/BJC Epson mode (line overlap) 360x360 /FD- !¡ Canon LBP (ISO/CaPSL mode) .................. 150x150 /FD !¡ Canon LBP (ISO/CaPSL mode) 300x300 /FD+ !¡ Canon LBP (ISO/CaPSL mode)................... 600x600 /FF ! ~ Fujitsu 24 pin 180x180 /FF+ ! ~ Fujitsu 24 pin (2 pass) ..................... 360x180 /FF* ! ~ Fujitsu 24 pin (4 pass) 360x360 /FG ¡ PDP Protracer (IBM mode) .................... 360x360 /FI- HP LaserJet 3, DeskJet 150x150 /FI HP LaserJet 3, DeskJet ...................... 300x300 /FI+ HP LaserJet 4 600x600 /FJ Canon BJ BJ130 mode ......................... 360x360 /FK ~ Kodak Diconix Color 4 192x192 /FL- !¡ HP LaserJet ................................. 150x150 /FL !¡ HP LaserJet 300x300 /FN ~ Epson 9 pin .................................. 120x72 /FN+ ~ Epson 9 pin (3 pass) 120x216 /FN* ~ Epson 9 pin (6 pass) ........................ 240x216 /FO ! ~ Toshiba 24 pin 180x180 /FO+ ! ~ Toshiba 24 pin (2 pass) ..................... 360x180 /FO* ! ~ Toshiba 24 pin (4 pass) 360x360 /FP ! ~ HP PaintJet ................................. 180x180 /FQ HP QuietJet (PCL mode) 192x192 /FR ~ Tektronix ColorQuick ........................ 216x216 /FS[i] ~ PostScript 600x600, ixi /FT ! ~ Epson 24 pin ................................ 180x180 /FT+ ! ~ Epson 24 pin (2 pass) 360x180 /FT* ! ~ Epson 24 pin (4 pass) ....................... 360x360 /FW ~ Epson 9 pin alternate 120x72 /FW+ ~ Epson 9 pin alternate (3 pass) .............. 120x216 /FW* ~ Epson 9 pin alternate (6 pass) 240x216 /FX ! ~ IBM 24 pin alternate 2 ...................... 180x180 /FX+ ! ~ IBM 24 pin alternate 2 (2 pass) 360x180 /FX* ! ~ IBM 24 pin alternate 2 (4 pass) ............. 360x360 /FZ[i[,j]] ~ ZSoft PCX 100x100, ixi, ixj p-13 /I - Scaling Point Location Option ----------------------------------- /IA|R|W[N] - IP point location - default /IA This option is not useful with AutoCAD or any software that outputs HP-GL that does not use scaling commands or that initializes the plotter or sets the scaling points. The I option sets the initial scaling points (P1, P2 - the scaling points may be set in the HP-GL file with the IP command). A (absolute) sets the points to the default for the paper size (see below). R fits P1 and P2 to the print window with at least .25 inch margins and an x/y ratio of 10/7.2 (the same ratio as the HP 7475 with small paper). W fits P1 and P2 to the print window with a .25 inch margin. N makes the margin 0 for R or W and is ignored with A. The default scaling points depend on the print window (/L option) with the implied paper size and the plot orientation (/O option). paper options default scaling pts with RO90 command 7440 A /O1 /L 7.54,10.14 250,279 10250, 7479 279,250 7479,10250 7440 A4 /O1 /L 7.54,10.74 250,279 10250, 7479 279,250 7479,10250 7475 A4 /O1 /L 7.84,10.20 250,596 10250, 7796 154,244 7354,10244 7475 A4 /O1 /L 7.60,10.88 603,521 10603, 7721 0,610 7200,10610 7475 B /O1 /L10.20,16.38 522,259 15722,10259 283,934 10283,16134 7475 A3 /O1 /L10.88,15.90 170,602 15370,10602 607,797 10607,15997 7440 A /O2 /L10.14, 7.54 250,279 10250, 7479 279,250 7479,10250 7440 A4 /O2 /L10.74, 7.54 250,279 10250, 7479 279,250 7479,10250 7475 A /O2 /L10.20, 7.84 250,596 10250, 7796 154,244 7354,10244 7475 A4 /O2 /L10.88, 7.60 603,521 10603, 7721 0,610 7200,10610 7475 B /O2 /L16.38,10.20 522,259 15722,10259 283,934 10283,16134 7475 A3 /O2 /L15.90,10.88 170,602 15370,10602 607,797 10607,15997 anything else 250,279 10250, 7479 279,250 7479,10250 /O3 and /O4 gives the same default scaling points as /O1 and /O2. /IA uses the default scaling points /IWN sets the scaling points to fit the print window /J, /K - Printer Code Prefix, Suffix Options ------------------------- /J[b,b,..] - printer code prefix - default /J /K[b,b,..] - printer code suffix - default /K /J lets you send codes to the printer before PrintCAD's usual data is sent and /K lets you send codes after PrintCAD's usual data is sent. This lets you set up and reset the printer for special situations. For PostScript and HP-GL output, the /J codes follow the initialization commands. The codes are specified with byte values (0..255 or $0..$FF) separated by blanks or commas. There is a limit of 80 characters for any option, so long sequences must be handled outside of PrintCAD. /J27 79 sets skip perforation off to allow plots larger than one page on most continuous form printers p-14 /L - Page Layout Option ---------------------------------------------- /L[B][F|N][R][x,y[,x,y]] - page layout - default depends on printer The L option defines the page layout. B boxes the plot at the print window edge using pen 40. F (the default) and N turn form feed on or off. These are ignored for bit maps and display output. R reverses the colors on displays, bit maps, and output formats 4, D, I, and L (Canon, HP, and IBM page printers) and is otherwise ignored. This gives the equivalent of a photographic negative. The first optional x and y are the print window width and height in inches. These define the hard clip limits. These values are not checked against the printer's capabilities. If you specify a print window that exceeds the output device limits, the results are unknown. You may need to reset the printer's margins or page length for large plots (see Large Paper). The size needed for a given width and height exceeds x and y by 8 dots to allow for line widths. The second optional x and y are the left and top margins, measured from the printer's left margin and current vertical position to the print window. The margins for HP-GL and PostScript are measured from 0,0 (left, bottom). Margins are ignored for display output and bit maps. THE PRINT WINDOW PLUS THE MARGINS MUST FIT WITHIN THE PRINTABLE AREA OF THE PRINTER. To find the largest printable area turn on the box and form feed options and set a window and margins of 7.5,10,0,0. Any plotfile will do - the only concern is the box. Increase the window until you have the largest box that fits on the paper. This is the best that you can do. To improve centering you can reduce the print window and increase the corresponding margin. The default print window is 7.54x10.14 for printers and bit maps and 10.14x7.54 for HP-GL and displays, corresponding to HP 7440 A paper. The default margins are printer specific to compensate for paper handling. /L7.5,3,.5,0 print window 7.5x3, left margin .5, top margin 0 /L7.54,10.14 sets window equivalent to HP 7440 with A paper /L7.54,10.74 sets window equivalent to HP 7440 with A4 paper /L7.84,10.20 sets window equivalent to HP 7475 with A paper /L7.60,10.88 sets window equivalent to HP 7475 with A4 paper /L10.20,16.38 sets window equivalent to HP 7475 with B paper /L10.88,15.90 sets window equivalent to HP 7475 with A3 paper p-15 /M - Magnification Option (Scale, Size) ------------------------------ /M[F]x - magnification - default /M1 The M option sets the magnification. F fits the plot to the print window. The default, /M1, prints at the same size as an HP 7440. /MF.9 prints at 90% the largest size that fits in the print window /M1 plots at the same size as an HP 7475 /O - Origin and Orientation Option ----------------------------------- /O[1|2|3|4[L]] - origin, orientation - default /O The O option sets the print window origin and orientation. The origin is one of four corners numbered 1..4 for upper left, lower left, lower right, and upper right, and implies a plot rotation. The L suboption specifies a left handed coordinate system, which mirrors the plot. If no origin is specified then it is chosen so that the x axis is the longer dimension. Here are pictures of PrintCAD's view of the output media compared to an HP 7475's view. O marks the default origin. HP 7475 PrintCAD A size B size printer plotter y┌────────┐ 0,0┌────────┐y ul o─────┐ur ul ┌────────┐ur │ │ │ │ 1 │ │4 1 │ │4 │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ 0,0└────────┘x │ │ │ │ ll o────────┘lr │ │ │ │ 2 3 │ │ ll └─────┘lr │ │ 2 3 x└────────┘ /O1 puts the print window's origin in the upper left corner /O2 puts the print window's origin in the lower left corner /P - Intercept Mask Option ------------------------------------------- /PADI|mask - intercept mask /PADI sets up PrintCAD as an AutoCAD ADI plotter driver. /Pmask lets you choose a DOS file mask as PrintCAD's intercept mask. The mask should not include disk or directory information - PrintCAD ignores this information when looking at file names. The mask may contain the character #. This is the same as ?, but when a file matches the mask the character that matches the # selects the PrintCAD configuration - 1..5 selects configurations 1..5 and anything else selects configuration 1. /Padi sets up PrintCAD to take data from AutoCAD interrupt 78 /P*.plt intercepts data written to *.plt /Ppcad#.plt intercepts data written to pcad1.plt, pcad2.plt, etc. p-16 /Q - Number of Copies Option ----------------------------------------- /Qi - number of copies - default /Q1 /Q sets the number of copies of each printed page. The default is one. Page printers produce multiple copies faster using the "N copies" prefix code (see Useful Prefix and Suffix Codes). /R - Internal Resolution Option -------------------------------------- /Ri - internal resolution - default /R1016 /R sets the internal grid resolution in dots/inch. It is normally 1016 and rarely needs to be changed. To fit very large plots into the -32768..32767 coordinate limit, use /R762. Setting the resolution to a multiple of the output device resolution times the magnification may yield a small improvement in print quality. /S - Pen Shading Option ---------------------------------------------- /Sc.. - pen shading patterns - default /S0 /S assigns a shading pattern to each pen. Unspecified pens use the last specified shade. The shade values are 0..8 and A..F. The percent coverage for each shade is list below. Narrow line widths may not work well with some shade patterns. 0 100% 1 75% 5 75% coarse pattern A 6.2% D 87.5% 2 50% 6 50% coarse pattern B 3.1% E 62.5% 3 25% 7 25% coarse pattern C 1.6% F 37.5% 4 12.5% 8 12.5% coarse pattern Some printers, especially dot matrix printers in multipass modes, wash out shading because they have a dot size that is large relative to the dot spacing. /S024 sets pen 1 to solid, pen 2 to 50%, pen 3..40 to 12.5% /T - Temporary File Option ------------------------------------------- /T[+]f - temporary file - default /TPLOT.TMP PrintCAD uses a temporary file when it does not have enough memory to handle a plotfile. You can use /T to put it on a RAM disk for extra speed. You can force the use of a temporary file, if the plot has over 1024 data points, with +. If you use a RAM disk this may speed printing. p-17 /W - Pen Width Option ------------------------------------------------ /Wc.. - pen widths - default /WA The W option assigns pen line widths. Each width may be 0..9, .10 .. .24 dots, A..I for 2..10 units of 4/1016 inch (.1 mm), or N to turn off the pen. A..I widths are approximations, based on the device technology. Odd widths of 9 or above are modified to the next higher (even) width. Unassigned pens use the last assigned width. For nonsquare matrix printers, PrintCAD uses pen points optimized for an h/v ratio of .67, 1, or 1.5. Widths are figured in the direction of higher resolution, and are not accurate in the other direction. Line widths of over eight dots are distorted at the print window edge to fit within the four dot border. /WA sets pen 1..40 to 0.2 mm /WB2.16 sets pen 1 to .3 mm, pen 2 to 2 dots, pens 3..40 to 16 dots /X - Control Option -------------------------------------------------- /XQ - queries PrintCAD installation /XR - removes PrintCAD if allowed /X[E|N|X][A][M][L][W][P][S][-|+] - controls PrintCAD's setup /XQ checks to see if PrintCAD is installed. /XR removes PrintCAD from memory, if allowed. /XQ and /XR disallow all other options. The other suboptions control setup, and are effective only for initial setup. X specifies XMS for swapping - this is the default. E forces the use of EMS for swapping instead of XMS. N inhibits swapping. This forces the entire program to load in low memory and it will take a large chunk of DOS memory. In return, all of the compatibility problems of swapping TSRs are removed. This can be very useful with DOS extender based CAD programs. A sets an alternate handle (use with PC-Draft-CAD, Drafix, and DesignCAD). M sets an alternate mouse handler. These suboptions may improve compatibility. L forces PrintCAD to load its resident part low. W forces PrintCAD to load its swapping work area low. P causes program prefix segment checking. These suboptions may improve compatibility in unusual situations, but are generally not needed and may make things worse. + or - increases or decreases the PrintCAD memory space, for improved speed or reduced resource usage. S adds progress beeps. This is not advised with the N suboption. /XM sets up PrintCAD with its alternate mouse handler p-18 /Y - D/Y and S/E Settings, ADI Handler Option ------------------------ /Y[D|Y][S|E][A] - D/Y and S/E setting, ADI handler - default /YDS The Y option sets the plotter's D/Y switch to D or Y and the S/E switch to S or E. Y starts with the plotter off and responds to esc.(, esc.Y, esc.), and esc.Z commands. D starts with the plotter on and ignores these commands. S sets the standard interpretation of IW (clipping window) commands. E sets 7550 enhanced interpretation of IW commands, so that they use scaled coordinates. The A suboption turns on PrintCAD's ADI handler. In this mode Autodesk ADI 4.0 vector plotter binary commands are interpreted (along with HP-GL). The ADI driver should be set up at 1016 steps/inch with up to forty pens and up to six non-solid line types. This is not needed when you specify /PADI. /YD puts the YD switch in the usual D position /Z - Chord Angle Option ---------------------------------------------- /Z[E]i,j - default, min chord angle, enhanced font - default /Z10,5 This option is not useful with AutoCAD or any software that outputs HP-GL that draws circles, arcs, and text as line segments rather than using HP-GL circle, arc, and label commands. The Z option specifies the default and minimum chord angles for circles and arcs. The HP 7475 defaults to a chord angle of 5 with no minimum. Using chord angles of less than 10 returns little print quality improvement and adds to processing time. The default is /Z10,5. For better emulation use /Z5,2. The E suboption says to use the enhanced font, which doubles the number of chords on curves in text, improving the curve smoothness. This is only effective on character heights above .5 cm. /Z5,2 sets the default chord angle to 5 degrees, the minimum to 2 p-19 Large Paper ---------------------------------------------------------- PrintCAD can handle printing on paper larger than the usual 8.5x11, but this takes some extra work. First you need to increase PrintCAD's print window to cover the large paper. This is done with the /L option. The print window plus the margins (/L) must fit within the printer's printable area. And then you must make sure that your printer recognizes the larger paper height. For continuous forms paper this is best done by setting skip perforation to off, either by printer switch or with PrintCAD prefix codes. For Canon, Epson, Fujitsu, IBM, and NEC line printers (dot matrix, ink jet, thermal) use /J27 79. For cut sheet paper, on Canon (except BJ native mode), Epson, Fujitsu, IBM, and NEC line printers use /J27 67 0 n, where n is the page length in inches. For the PDP ProTracer use /J27 67 n, where n is the page length in lines, at six lines per inch. And for some printers you need to increase the right margin. For the Canon BJC in Epson mode use /J27 81 114. For the HI V50/100 in printer mode use /J27 91 88 2 0 1 255. For page printers, legal size paper may be specified with these printer code prefixes: HP-PCL printers /J27 38 108 51 65 (/K27 38 108 50 65 to reset to letter), Canon LBP /J27 91 51 50 59 59 112 (/K27 91 51 48 59 59 112 to reset), IBM LaserPrinter /J27 91 70 5 0 3 1 2 1 (/J27 91 70 5 0 3 1 1 1 to reset). To get a 10x16 print window on 11x17 paper with a Canon, Epson, Fujitsu, IBM, or NEC line printer, use these options: /L10 16 .4 .25 /J27 67 0 17. You will probably need to adjust the margins (.4 .25) for best centering. The maximum width of the print window on most narrow carriage printers is 8 - 8/(horizontal dpi). For 300 dpi printers, this is 7.97. At 120 dpi it is 7.93. The maximum width of the print window on most wide carriage printers is 13.6 - 8/(horizontal dpi). At 180 dpi this is 13.55. At 360 dpi it is 13.57. The horizontal margin should be set to 0 to get this width. p-20 Color Processing ----------------------------------------------------- Color graphics devices use a variety of color technologies. PrintCAD supports these basic types. CMY or cyan/magenta/yellow is used by inkjet printers with no black ink. This uses three color planes and give eight pure colors. CMYK or cyan/magenta/yellow/black is used by inkjet and dot matrix printers. This uses four color planes and give eight pure colors. Using black ink instead of a cyan/magenta/yellow mix gives a more neutral black color. RGB or red/green/blue is used by bit maps. This uses three color planes and give eight pure colors. RGBI or red/green/blue/intensity is used and bit maps. This uses four color planes. All simple colors except black are intense. When you specify any color mixed with black at shade 0, then instead of mixing the colors at 50%, the intensity is turned off. This gives fifteen pure colors. CMYK and RGBI are used by default when they are appropriate. You can switch to CMY or RGB with the ` suboption of /F. For dot matrix printers this may speed printing by reducing memory usage and eliminating the use of the black ribbon. /FA! (300 dpi color HP-PCL) uses CMY color by default. /FA!` switches to CMYK color to let you access true black on the DeskJet 550C. DESQview and Windows ------------------------------------------------- PrintCAD can generally be run inside a window of DESQview or Windows. In this case it can be accessed only from that window. PrintCAD can generally be run under (installed before starting) DESQview or Windows. In this case it can be accessed from any window, but while running all other tasks will be stopped. p-21 Answers -------------------------------------------------------------- To access PrintCAD from a CAD package you must PLOT. Do NOT print. If you are getting system crashes or nothing from PrintCAD, try the options /XA, /XM, /XE, and all combinations of these (/XAM, /XAE, /XME, ...). Try /XN for DOS extender based software. Try /XL, /XW, and /XLW if none of the above work. If your plot is messed up, with wraparound lines covering the page, you have probably exceeded the PrintCAD internal coordinate limit. This happens when the HP-GL coordinates exceed 32 inches. Reduce the internal resolution with /R762 for coordinates up to 42 inches or /R508 for coordinates up to 64 inches. If you are having trouble getting the print size or location correct, check your /L option. The print window plus the print margins must define an area that fits in the printable area of the paper. Printers cannot print over the entire area of the paper. They usually require .25 to .5 inch margins. To get color output from PrintCAD, you must: Define a multipen plotter in your CAD package. Set up the pens in your CAD package so each color is assigned to a pen. Use the /C option to assign the same colors to PrintCAD's pens. Plot spoolers are not generally compatible with PrintCAD, and would be of little value if they were. Do not bother with one. Print buffers/caches are generally compatible. You must install the buffer first. A print buffer may be very useful. If your prints are coming out not quite to scale: For ADI plotters, check that your plotter is defined as 1016 steps/inch. Check that no calibration is being done by the CAD package. See /F - Output Format Option for print size correction. For the Canon BJC-800 in Epson mode, the right margin defaults to 8 inches. Use /J27 64 27 81 114 to set it to 11.4 inches. For the Canon BJ-330 and most wide carriage printers, the maximum print window width is 13.57 inches. This is a printer limitation that you cannot get around. If your printer ejects the paper before the plot is finished, you probably needed to specify a paper length prefix code. For most line printers use /J27 67 0 n where n is the page length in inches. p-22 Useful Prefix and Suffix Codes --------------------------------------- Below, n represents any number 0..255, nA represents any number in ASCII format (1 becomes 49, 2 becomes 50, 43 becomes 52 51, etc.). Canon, Reset 27 64 Epson, N inch paper 27 67 0 n Fujitsu, 17 inch paper 27 67 0 17 IBM, NEC Right margin n columns 27 81 n (not for IBM) dot matrix, Skip perforation off 27 79 inkjet Unidirectional printing 27 85 1 HP PCL, Reset 27 69 DeskJet, Portrait mode 27 38 108 48 79 LaserJet, Top margin 0 27 38 108 48 69 PaintJet Skip perforation off 27 38 108 48 76 11 inch paper 27 38 108 50 65 14 inch paper 27 38 108 51 65 11x17 inch paper 27 38 108 54 65 Manual feed 27 38 108 50 72 N copies 27 38 108 nA 88 (page printers) HP DJ500C High quality, slow 27 42 111 49 81 No ink depletion 27 42 111 49 68 HP PJXL300 Low quality, fast 27 42 111 45 49 81 HP QJ HP-PCL mode 27 37 65 DIP switch mode 27 37 64 IBM LP 11 inch paper, tray 1, n copies 27 91 70 5 0 3 1 1 n 14 inch paper, tray 1, n copies 27 91 70 5 0 3 1 2 n 14 inch paper, manual, n copies 27 91 70 5 0 1 1 2 n N copies 27 91 70 5 0 0 0 0 0 n Can BJ nat Page length, right margin x 10 27 40 103 3 0 n 1 n Can CaPSL Reset 27 99 11 inch paper 27 91 51 48 59 59 112 14 inch paper 27 91 51 50 59 59 112 Manual feed 27 91 49 113 Automatic feed 27 91 48 113 Full page memory mode 27 59 27 91 50 38 122 N copies 27 91 nA 118 Cursor to top of page 27 91 48 100 Diablo mode 27 58 ISO mode 27 59 PostScript N copies nA 32 88 67 Paper tray n nA 32 88 80 ProTracer N line paper 27 67 n HI V50/100 Max margins 27,91,88,2,0,1,255 p-23 Output Devices ------------------------------------------------------- Canon BJ and BJC Printers, IBM ExecJet PrintCAD has five basic drivers for Canon BJ and BJC and the IBM ExecJet. /F7 is the IBM mode driver. It works with the BJ130e, BJ5, BJ10/10e/10ex, BJ20, BJ200, BJ300/330, and ExecJet. /F7+ gives dark print with line to line overlap. /FJ is the BJ130 mode driver. It works with all Canon BJ printers in IBM or native mode. The printer is set to 10 pitch text. /FB is the Epson mode driver. It works with the BJ200 and BJC800/820. Color is supported. /FB+ gives sparse line to line overlap. For the BJC800/820 the prefix code 27 81 114 sets the print width to 11.4 inches. /F& is the native mode driver. It works with the BJ200 and BJC800/820 in any mode. Color is supported. Epson/IBM mode prefix codes are not compatible and are not needed. /F@ is the CaPSL mode driver for the BJC880. Color is supported. Some of these printers have an image density option (DIP switch and/or front panel switch). Low density eliminates every second dot. To get the full 360 dpi resolution, use high density. Canon LBP Printers /FD works with any Canon LBP printer. If the printer is in Diablo mode, it is switched to ISO mode. At 300 dpi it takes up to one meg of printer memory to print a full page of graphics. The ! suboption switches to CaPSL 4 data compression. /FD+! is the best driver for the LBP 8 Mk4 at 600 dpi. You might need to set up the printer with /J27 59 27 91 50 38 122. To switch back to Diablo mode on completion, use /K27 58. Epson, IBM 9 Pin Printers /FN, /FW, and /F1 cover a wide range of Epson/IBM compatible 9 pin dot matrix printers. You need a cyan/magenta/yellow/black ribbon to get color prints. The * drivers use 1/240 graphics. /FN+, /FN*, /FW+, and /FW* use 1/216 indexing and do three vertically interleaved passes. /F1+ and /F1* use 1/144 indexing and do two vertically interleaved passes. /FW sets line feeds to 1/6 inch. For Epson printers and other printers with 1/216 indexing hardware, /FN is preferred. For some not quite compatible printers, /FW works. For IBM Proprinters and other printers with 1/144 indexing hardware, /F1 gives better results. p-24 Epson, Fujitsu, NEC, Toshiba 24 Pin Printers /FT covers all Epson LQ printers and many compatible printers (Panasonic in LQ mode and others). /FF works with Fujitsu 24 pin printers in Fujitsu mode. /F9 works with NEC 24 pin printers. /FO works with Toshiba 24 pin printers. /FO resets the line feed distance to 1/6 inch on completion. For all of these drivers, you need a cyan/magenta/yellow/black ribbon to get color prints. The + and * drivers use 1/360 graphics mode, and the * drivers use 1/360 (1/120 for /FO*) indexing and reset the line feed distance to 1/6 inch on completion. A clean paper path with equal tension on each side is needed for good 360x360 graphics. Many 24 pin printers are not capable of 360x360 graphics and a few cannot handle 360x180 graphics. The compression mode drivers (! suboption) may or may not be an improvement with these printers. Houston Instruments JetPro V50/100 You can drive the HI V50/100 as an HP-GL/2 device. Set the resolution to 360 (/F0 360) and reverse the width and height in the print window, for example use 10x8 instead of 8x10 for 8.5x11 paper. The maximum print window height is 15.25. In printer mode the HI V50/100 acts as a Canon BJ IBM mode printer (/F7). The maximum print width is 15.25 and you need the prefix code 27,91,88,2,0,1,255 to get beyond 13.6 inches. HP DeskJet, HP PaintJet XL300, Mannesmann Tally MT92C /FI works with any black/white DeskJet in portrait mode. /FA drives the DeskJet 500C, PaintJet XL300, MT92C, and any color 300 dpi HP-PCL printer that supports data transfer mode 2. /FA has three modes and covers different levels of 300 dpi color HP-PCL printers. /FA uses RGB color and works with the DeskJet 500C and Mannesmann Tally MT92C. /FA! uses CMY color which can speed printing in some cases. This works with the DeskJet 500C, DeskJet 550C, and PaintJet XL300. /FA!` uses CMYK color to give give better blacks on the DeskJet 550C. p-25 HP LaserJet /FL works with any LaserJet compatible printer. /FL! works with LJ 2 (PCL 4) printers. /FI works with LJ 3 (PCL 5) printers. /FI+ is a 600 dpi driver for the LaserJet 4. All of these drivers work in portrait mode, which may be set with /J 27 38 108 48 79 or you can reset the printer with /J 27 69. LaserJets with under one meg of memory may not be able to handle a full page of graphics. /FL! uses less printer memory than /FI, so it may be preferred on LaserJet 3s with limited memory. HP PaintJet /FP drives 180 dpi PaintJet printers. The compression mode driver (/FP!) uses data transfer mode 2 (instead of 1) and works only with a PaintJet XL. /FA! (the DeskJet 500C CMY driver) works with the PaintJet XL300. HP QuietJet /FQ works with QuietJets in HP-PCL mode. HP-GL, HP-GL/2, HP and IBM Pen Plotters /F8 outputs low level HP-GL, converting text, arcs, fill, and clips to vectors. The output is HP 7220 and HP-GL/2 pen plotter compatible, containing IN, IP, SC, SP, IW, LT, PA, PU, and PD commands. PG is used for form feeds. If you specify no form feed then multiple plots may be appended to the same page. /F0 drives HP-GL/2 raster devices. Use /F8 for HP-GL/2 pen plotters. You can specify the nominal resolution of HP-GL or HP-GL/2 by appending it to the /F option (for example /F8 300). When you set the nominal resolution of HP-GL to other than 1016, enhanced IW command interpretation (HP 7550 enhanced mode) is needed to handle dashed lines correctly. For HP-GL output the width parameter (/W) is used as a pen selector, so for each pen in the original HP-GL, you can specify a new pen in the output. The default /W option for /F8 is /W12345678. Shading and color are ignored. IBM LaserPrinter /F4 drives any LaserPrinter in PPDS (native) mode. /FL will work for HP LaserJet mode. At 300 dpi it takes up to one meg of printer memory to print a full page of graphics. The ! suboption switches to 4029 data compression. /F4+! works with the 4029 with 600 dpi PPDS upgrade. p-26 IBM 24 Pin Printers PrintCAD has three drivers for Proprinter X24 compatible printers. Use native mode, not AGM. /F6 is for all IBM X24s and the 24P. These printers do 1/144 inch indexing and using them at 180 dpi gives horizontal white streaks every 2/3 inch. The /F6 drivers compensate for this by indexing 19/144 per line, giving 182 dpi. To work properly the printer must start on a 1/72 boundary so it is best to keep line feeds at a multiple of 1/72 (1/6, 1/8, 1/9). /F5 is referred to as X24 alternate 1 and is for printers that are X24 compatible except for 1/180 inch indexing. This is the case with most X24 compatible printers, including the IBM Quickwriter and IBM 2390 and 2391. /F5* works only with printers that do 1/360 indexing, including the 2390 and 2391 but not the Quickwriter. /FX is referred to as X24 alternate 2 and is the same as /F5 except for the vertical units command. /FX works with Panasonic printers in X24 mode. The compression mode drivers (! suboption) may or may not be an improvement. IBM Quietwriter 2 and 3 /F2 and /F3 drive the Quietwriter 2 and 3. Do not use 1 for pen widths because Quietwriters do not print consistent 1 dot lines. These drivers reset the line feed distance to 1/6 inch upon completion. Kodak Diconix Color 4 /FK drives the Color 4. Pacific Data Products ProTracer /FG drives the ProTracer (base model) in IBM Proprinter mode. The maximum print window width is 14.97. Use the prefix code 27,67,144 for cut sheet paper longer than 11 inches. PostScript Printers /FS outputs PostScript. All characters, arcs, fill, and clips are converted to simple vectors. PrintCAD's pen color and shading parameters are mapped into gray levels or RGB color levels. You can specify the nominal resolution of the PostScript by appending it to the /F option (for example /FS 300). You can specify the number of copies with a prefix code that includes the number of copies followed by " XC". For example /J 50 32 88 67 makes 2 (ASCII 050) copies. You can specify the paper tray with the XP macro. p-27 Tektronix ColorQuick /FR drives the ColorQuick. ZSoft PCX and Fax Use /FZ to output a ZSoft PCX bit map. The horizontal and vertical dots/inch may be appended to override the default 100x100, for example /FZ80,80. Such output should generally be directed to a file with the /D option. Since most fax software can take PCX files as input, this is useful for faxing drawings. Use /FZ200,196 to match the fax resolution. p-28 Compatibility and Technical Information ------------------------------ PrintCAD will run on any IBM compatible DOS computer with 400K of EMS or XMS memory and a base memory region of 304K. Because it is a swapping resident program, it may have problems in some environments. PrintCAD can handle VCPI (Virtual Control Program Interface) based DOS extenders, but DPMI based programs and stand alone DOS extenders may cause problems. When using a DOS extender based program such as AutoCAD 386 or Microstation 4, use an extended/expanded memory manager that provides VCPI, such as MS-DOS 5 EMM386/HIMEM, QEMM 386, or 386MAX. PrintCAD is a TSR that takes over interrupt hex 21 and watches for DOS 2.0+ file management open functions. If the filename on an open command matches either "pcad#.plt" or the mask specified with /P, then file handle dec 99 (dec 19 if /XA is used) is returned and PrintCAD is awakened. It then responds to write, device information, close, commit, seek, and set date functions. When awake, PrintCAD stores HP-GL commands (from the write command) until its 16K buffer is filled and then it swaps in its 304K memory space, processes the data, and swaps the original memory back. PrintCAD was written by Cary Ravitz and compiled with Borland's Turbo Pascal 6.0. PrintGL Printer Driver is the graphics engine. User Support --------------------------------------------------------- Correspondence about PrintCAD may be sent via the support bulletin board, fax, Compuserve, or mail. BBS: 606-268-0577 1200..9600,N,8,1 24 hours/day To ask a question, prepare an ASCII text file with the details of your question. Then call the bulletin board and choose the upload question option. XMODEM file transfer protocol is required for this. Your question will be assigned a number (such as 1015) - remember this number. An answer file (with the assigned number) will be posted, usually within 24 hours. To get an answer, call the bulletin board, choose the download option, then the answer option, and then enter the answer number. Compuserve: Cary Ravitz [70431,32] Fax: 606-268-0577 If you hand dial, the BBS will answer and hang up (about 20 seconds), then the call is routed to the fax. Faxes from outside the USA may be answered via letter. The fax may be unavailable sometimes. Mail: Ravitz Software Inc. P.O. Box 25068 Lexington, KY 40524-5068 USA