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Internet Message Format | 1996-08-05 | 19.5 KB

Path: nntp.crl.com!usenet From: joewald@crl.com (Joseph Waldvogel) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.emulations Subject: Re: SS Printer Drivers Date: 21 Jan 1996 03:11:37 GMT Organization: CRL Dialup Internet Access Message-ID: <19582.6593T722T5@crl.com> References: <1575.6592T1424T987@in.net> NNTP-Posting-Host: crl6.crl.com X-Newsreader: THOR 2.22 (Amiga;TCP/IP) *UNREGISTERED* >>>Steve Warner writes: >>>> The SS manual says that the DeskDriver printer driver on the Mac side >>>> won't operate a HP Deskjet on the Amiga. Does anyone have a solution? >>>> I'd like to get SS running to work with Adobe Streamline and Freehand, >>>> but I don't want to buy a new printer just to do so... >>>Yes! Run to the nearest Mac dealer and buy PowerPrint - It's a >>>(outstanding) package from GDT. It's the only package that really works >>>with my HP Laserjet II+ (and my friends HP Deskjet). I've used it with Amax >>>and now I'm using it with SS. >>>You can get more information at http://www.gdt.com/home.html >> If you have a HP-Deskjet just download a copy of HPDJ printer Driver, it >> works just fine, and it's FREE. But Hey, if you want to BUY printer driver >> software for your MAC Emulator also thats fine I guess, Myself I spend that >> money for the AMIGA and bought Studio Printer II for the Amiga for GREAT >> HP-Deskjet Support. I don't do that much printering on the Mac, Mainly >> when using Netscape, and there's a Page I'd like to print out really quick, >> but thats about it. Works just fine. > I have the Hp855c, and the free program prints slowly, and with mediocre >results. However, it is significantly better than what I am getting on the >Amiga. Does StudioPrinterII support the 855C? > I guess I would recommend trying the free one to see if it meets your >needs, and then buying the PowerPrint package if it doesn't. Ya, that Driver is quite SLOW, and results arn't that great, Unless you use a HIGH Resolution setting, but then it's REALLY REALLY Slow! But it's just fine for printing a few things here and there, Better then Spending $100 for PowerPrint. Yes Studio Printer II Supports ALL the Deskjets, I have a New 660C Myself and get Great Printing results, and Much faster then the Normal Amiga Desket Driver. It Supports ALL the Deskjets Abilities. A Update for Studio II Was just posted on AmiNet ST210.LHA. This is the BEST Printer Driver Software for the Amiga. COst is around $100 US Here's Part of the README FIle for the Latest Update Having to do with HP's and what's been Updated to give you a Basic Idea of what it can do! It's a bit long. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Studio V2.10b Update While all printers will benefit from this update, most changes of this disk are mainly targeted at Deskjet 6xx and 8xx (xx means any number like 00, 50, 55, ...) and Canon BJC 610 users. This update comes with the latest software for these printers. Please note that not all parts of Studio V2.00 - V2.06 are updated. However, all major parts are updated. If you still think you are missing something, contact your distributor and ask for a complete set of V2.10b disks for a minor handling fee. So here is a list of the included new software: - Improved printing program and CMS tools. - New Workbench DeskDriver, DeskDriver4C and CanonBJ-EC software. - New output modules for the printing program: o Canon BJC 610 o Deskjet 6xx, 8xx, 1600 - New Deskjet 6xx, 8xx and Canon BJC 610 printer profiles for the printing program - Minor fixes to the output modules: o Fargo Primera (Greyscale printing fixed) o Canon BJC 800 (DIN A3/US Ledger printing fixed) o PCL_5C (some old PCL 5C printers had problems) ------------------------------------------------------------------ DESKJET NOTES Dear Deskjet 6xx/8xx (xx = 00, 60, 50, ...) user. WARNING: The current drivers are able to print 600*600dpi in greyscale mode. Please note that the printer is unable to print 600*600dpi in color mode. Don't try to print color in 600dpi mode (Density 2 or 6 with the 600x600 option set in DeskPref/DeskPref4c) or you might mess-up your printers output. The driver will automaticly print in SuperGrey mode when trying to print 600x600dpi. In order to print 600x600dpi, set the 600x600dpi gadget in DeskPref/DeskPref4C. This will double the print resolution from Density 1, 2 and 6. Use Density 2 or 6 for 600 dpi b/w printing. Deskjet 8xx users should NEVER use density 5 (600*300) dpi for printing. This mode is not supported by the Deskjet 8xx family and can currently only be used with the Deskjet 6xx family. Deskjet 6xx and Deskjet 8xx should always enable the 600x600 gadget in the DeskPref 4C preference program. This will enlarge the printable area for graphics. Please note that the printers do have an unprintable margin of roughly 1.5 cm (1.2 cm plus 3 mm tolerance because of mechanical reason). It also avoids printing offsets between different graphic pages. DeskPref4C offers two presets in the menu for Deskjet 6xx and 8xx users. "Set I" adjusts the driver for 300dpi greyscale printing and 300 dpi color using an Ordered dither method. "Set II" adjust the driver for 600 dpi greyscale printing (Ordered dither) and 300 dpi color using the slower Blue Noise dither. Simply try out wich one fits your needs (and paper!) best. Or make your own settings starting with one of these two presets. It is rarely known that the Deskjet 8xx printers offer an enhanced mode for printing color images. This mode is a major improvement to other Deskjet's currently available - including the Deskjet 6xx and 1600 series. The new Deskjet 8xx output module for the Studio printing program supports this new mode. It allows you to use the printers enhanced 64 color mode. In this mode, you can print up to 64 colors at 300dpi. Normal drivers only offer you 8 colors per addressable printer dot. The Deskjet 8xx output module offers you to select the number of printable colors beside the print density. If you select "300:300/64" as "Density" in Studio, you get 300*300dpi with 64 colors per dot. Note that this improved color mode requires more computing time and thus is often somehow slower. Using this mode does not improve text or simple line art graphics with primary colors. The main improvement comes with color images. ------------------------------------------------------------------ STUDIO PRINTING PROGRAM After three years work Studio's V2.10 CMS printing system is finaly done. With release V2.10 we finaly have CMYK support built-in and various precise profiles. The system now basicly allows you to control any color aspect of your printer. We can now concentrate on the rather "simple" things. So what's the very near future (3 months)? Most important, we will start releasing color profiles with measured values. These profiles will finaly show the power of Studio's CMS. We will start with new profiles for the Stylus Color family. If you think the color in the output is not perfect now, than wait for these new profiles ;-) Also you can expect further speed increases and more functions combined with improvements to the user interface in the very near future. ---- Studio (V2.08) now supports the PNG image format (PNG is pronounced "ping"). The PNG format is intended to provide a portable, legally unencumbered, well-compressed, well-specified standard for lossless bitmapped image files. We hope PNG will soon replace the well known GIF format. Beside offering more features than GIF, PNG also offers a very good lossless compression. We are sure PNG will soon become a well known standard beside JPEG/JFIF format used for lossy compression ---- Studio (V2.09) now supports the PCX image format. This format is very popular on MS DOS PC's. Studio supports 1,2,4,8 and 24 bit PCX files. Studio is also able to print the first image of DCX images. DCX images are mainly generated by fax software. ---- Studio (V2.10) now offers a saturation slider in the "Color..." window. An additional separation window allows you to control the separation used by Studio when printing color images without CMS. ---- The new separation functions offered are used for converting RGB screen colors to CMYK printer colors. Please note that the separation settings are used only if you print a color image without using the CMS. CMS profiles provide their own separation settings as the profiles are made for a specific separation process. Changing the separation process would result in faulty colors in the output. However, you can change the separation function used by the CMS by changing the profile settings using CMSEdit. Studio currently offers five different separation functions: Internal UCR/GCR: Uses the default internal separation. The method is simple: Studio will print a black dot if a cyan, magenta and yellow dot would otherwise be printed at the same place. Custom UCR/GCR: Uses the standard linear UCR and GCR percentage settings defined by the UCR and GCR integer gadgets. The meaning of this setting is very similar to that used by various DTP and image processing programs on the Amiga. Under color removal (UCR) describes the practice of removing quantities (here defined in percentages) of yellow, magenta and cyan from where the black is printing -- literally removing color from under the black. Greyscale component replacement (GCR) removes yellow, magenta and cyan ink from where all three inks print together, and replaces them with black. The black plate carries most of the tone in the reproduction, therefore neutrals (greys) are easier to print. Again, you define the percentage of how much color should be replaced. Custom UCR / Weak GCR: This setting uses the standard linear UCR setting as described above, but with a preset "weak" non linear grey component replacement function (Weak means less black is used). The non linear function results in composite grey being used for bright shades and black is only used for dark shades. This gives you fewer distrurbing black dots in lighter areas of your output. The output will look less grainy. Instead of offering a GCR setting, this method offers a setting for defining the maximum percentage of black being used by the replacement function. Usually a value between 80 and 100 percent gives good results. "Custom UCR / Medium GCR": This setting is similar to Custom UCR / Weak GCR. However, the GCR function will use black for brighter shades. "Custom UCR /Strong GCR": This setting is similar to Custom UCR / Medium GCR. However, the GCR function will use black for bright shades and the increase of black is nearly linear to the amount of composite grey of the processed color. So, when do you need the separation functions? Mainly when not using the CMS or when generating a profile using the tools (CMSScan) described later in an extra chapter. There is no general rule for which type of separation is best. The "Internal UCR/GCR" function is very fast and offers decent quality. The "Custom UCR/GCR" function is mainly offered for compatibility with other programs. The last three non-linear separation functions offer good quality. If your printer offers good ink coverage without bleeding and similar problems, Custom UCR / Weak GCR gives best results. For instance, if you own a normal inkjet printer, Custom UCR / Weak GCR often gives the best results when using coated paper. Plain paper often results in rather worse output as too much color ink is being printed. In those cases Custom UCR / Strong GCR might be better. Simply give it a try and see what you think is best for your printer, paper and dither method. Again note: when generating a CMS profile make sure you select the correct separation function for your set-up. Otherwise all printed calibration pages might be useless because they would have been made with a bad separation function. ---- Studio (V2.10) now includes several output modules for PCL compatible printers (mainly DeskJets and LaserJets). All output modules use Hewlett-Packard's "Printer Command Language" (PCL) in various forms. The installation program will install the proper output module for your printer. However, if you can't find an output module listed for your specific model of printer, choose an output module that matches your printer's emulation. We get many letters asking for output modules for specific printers, even if a generic module is available. In most cases these letters have been unnecessary. For instance, there is not one single drawback if you use a generic PCL 5C output module instead of a specific DeskJet 1200C module. (PS: You can use this module in b/w mode on Laserjet PCL 5 printers too!!!) The PCL 5C module was designed to work with several printers, including the PaintJet 300XL. The differences between the various DeskJet and PCL output modules are minor. Often the output module will offer you settings in the Config window which are already known by the preferences program for the Workbench driver. So if you don't find a specific setting described here, use the index of the Studio manual to learn about the meaning of the setting. First some general notes. Most modern DeskJet printers are able to print 600 dpi maximum in greyscale mode, while the color mode supports only 300 dpi maximum. If you own Studio V2.10 or higher, the program will automatically switch from color to greyscale printing if you choose a density of 600 dpi. When it comes to color printing, the DeskJet 8xx output module is a little different. Please note that a printer like the DeskJet 850C offers 300 dpi color printing similar to the cheaper DeskJet 660C printer. But the DeskJet 850C printer also offers 64 color shades per addressable printer dot, compared to the normal 8 colors. This results in a much better output quality when printing images. So once the DeskJet 8xx output module is selected, the "Density" gadget in Studio will also show you the printable color shades per addressable printer dot. ---- Following additions have been made to the ARexx interface of Studio V2.10: 10.07.95 V2.08 I - Support for the new PNG image format added. E - Problem with reading compressed Targa images fixed E - Version 2.07 didn't install the SetupPJL program for Laserjet 4L users. Users had to select PCL 5e during installation for getting SetupPJL. 21.07.95 V2.09 I - PCX file format support added I - DCX file format support added 27.11.95 V2.10 I - Switched to SAS/C V6.56 compiler. Optimizer now seems to work fine and thus was fully enabled. I - This is the major improvement in V2.10: Scaling, Dithering, Border handling, Effects, CMS, and much more... rewritten for complete CMYK(!!!) processing. Slightly faster too. I - And this is the second major step: CMS now accepts CMYK profiles and profiles with various precission. I - Saturation control added to the color window. I - Update to PNG compression library E - BNoise b/w dither method was not reentrant since V2.07. Now reentrant again. I - Separation functions/settings added. Binary CMY->CMYK and CMYK->CMY functions added beside the standard UCR/GCR functions. I - SEPARATION [0-4], UCR [0-9999], GCR [0-9999], GREYSCALE, COLOR and SATURATION [-50 - 50] Arexx commands added. Arexx Version command will now report "2" to reflect the changes. E - A problem reported by a user when printing from ARexx hopefully got fixed - even though I couldn't repeat the problem on my machine. The problem seems to cause dark/black images being printed when not using the the PANEL command prior to PRINT or PRINT WAIT. I - Blue Noise non binary dither method (previously only used by Fargo output module) now much faster. Also fixed: BNoise 30% was printed as 50%. I - Studio Version is now supplied to the output module. I - Studio will now switch to greyscale printing for a specified print density if output module doesn't support color printing for a specific resolution. For instance, a Deskjet 660C can only print greyscale at 600dpi. I - Added additional functions to Studio server for upcoming PageStream V3 server printer driver. These functions offer an easy way to a future setup window of the PageStream driver. E - Canon BJC800 output module didn't allowed paper width greater 8.5 inch. Because of this, users had to use the slower Workbench driver for printing A3. Similar problems with right margin do exist with other Canon modules when printing 180 dpi. Fixed. I - A bug in the BSC/Alpha Data Multiface III pit.device can cause a lockup of any print program with a priority below 0. All output modules will now open pit.device with a changed priority of zero unless priority was set to high by user (in this case pit.device is always accessed with priority 0 anyway). I - Canon BJC 610, Deskjet 8xx, 6xx, 1600 and PCL 5C output module with CRet and TES (REt) support added. Also drivers and profiles added for these new printers. E - CanonBJ-EC right margin problems when using a different density than 360dpi fixed. I - 1200 dpi PJL and Max Res setting added to LaserDriver for Lexmark Optra 1200dpi laser printers. (not included with this update disk) 23.12.95 V2.10b C - Recompiled without SAS/C Peephole Optimizer (just to make sure... as it seems the Optimizer still didn't worked right). E - DeskDriver4C might print 3-4 unwanted characters on a page with some programs. Fixed. E - Fargo Primera greyscale printing problems fixed. I - PCL_5C output module now works with some none 100% compatible PCL 5 printers. Faster too. -------------------------------------------------------------------------