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PrintGF 1.02
GIF printer for IBM/DOS systems
(C) Copyright Ravitz Software Inc. 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
Installation 4
Operation .......................................................... 4
Syntax 5
Overview of Options ................................................ 6
/A - Area Option 6
/B, /C - Brightness, Contrast Options............................... 7
/D - Output Destination Option 7
/F - Output Format Option .......................................... 8
/G - GIF File Option 9
/J, /K - Printer Code Prefix, Suffix Options ....................... 9
/L - Page Layout Option 10
/N - Page Number Option ........................................... 10
/Q - Print Quality Options 11
/X - User Interface Option ........................................ 11
/Y - Gray Balance Correction Option 12
/Z - Gamma Correction Option ...................................... 12
PrintGF Menu (PGFMenu) 13
PGFMenu Specific Functions ........................................ 13
PGFMenu Input and Picture Quality Options 14
PGFMenu Output Options ............................................ 14
PGFMenu Window and Margins 14
Large Paper ....................................................... 15
Answers 15
Useful Prefix and Suffix Codes .................................... 16
Dithering 17
Blurring .......................................................... 18
Color Correction 18
Color Processing .................................................. 19
Output Devices 20
Compatibility and Technical Information ........................... 24
User Support 24
p-2
Introduction ---------------------------------------------------------
PrintGF is a shareware GIF printer for IBM/DOS systems. It prints
GIF files on Epson and IBM 9 pin printers, Epson, Fujitsu, IBM, NEC,
and Toshiba 24 pin printers, HP LaserJet, DeskJet, color DeskJet,
PaintJet, QuietJet, HI JetPro printers, IBM ExecJet, Quietwriter 2
and 3, LaserPrinter, Canon LBP, BJ, and BJC printers, Kodak Color 4,
PDP ProTracer, and Tektronix ColorQuick. It will also display on a
CGA, EGA, VGA, VESA SVGA, or HGC, and output a ZSoft PCX bit map
file.
PrintGF transforms the bit map size and resolution to match the user
specified size and the native resolution of the output device. It
outputs 240 level dithered gray on black/white devices and 240 level
per plane dithered color on three plane (CMY or RGB) color devices
(giving 13 million colors). The processing resolution and the error
diffusion filter can be set to trade speed verses print quality.
The user options include picture area, print area and margins,
processing resolution, brightness and contrast, gamma and gray
balance color correction, printer type, output destination, etc.
PrintGF can be run from the DOS command line (and .BAT files) or
from PrintGF Menu (PGFMenu). PGFMenu is a menu driven program that
lets you choose options, select a list of GIF files, and run
PrintGF. This simplifies the selection of options and lets you run
multiple GIF files without intervention. PGFMenu lets you save five
configurations, so after initial setup you can use it with minimal
effort.
GIF stands for Graphics Interchange Format. It is a widely used
format for storing bit mapped images. The images are defined via a
palette of up to 256 colors each defined at 256 levels per plane (16
million colors). GIF files are compressed via LZW compression and
may contain multiple images so they are an efficient way of handling
bit mapped images.
The Graphics Interchange Format (c) is the Copyright property of
CompuServe Incorporated. GIF (sm) is a Service Mark property of
CompuServe Incorporated. For further information, please contact:
CompuServe Incorporated
Graphics Technology Department
5000 Arlington Center Blvd
Columbus, OH 43220
USA.
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 ---------------------------------------------
PrintGF is provided as is. There are no warranties expressed or
implied.
PrintGF is copyrighted by Ravitz Software Inc. You may copy PrintGF
only for use under this license agreement.
PrintGF is distributed as shareware. You may use PrintGF 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 $34. 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 PrintGF 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
PrintGF as part of another product.
To purchase a registered copy of PrintGF, send your name, address,
and $34 check to:
Ravitz Software Inc.
P.O. Box 25068
Lexington, KY 40524-5068
USA
You will be sent a current disk - specify 3.5 or 5.25 inch disk. If
you previously registered PrintGF, you may send $10 to get a current
disk.
For users outside the USA it is preferred that the check be drawn on
a bank in the US, Canada, England, France, or Switzerland, and be
payable in US Dollars. If the check is drawn on a bank from any
other country, please make it payable in the currency of that
country with the amount calculated at the current exchange rate.
What Is New ----------------------------------------------------------
Version 1.02 adds gamma and gray balance color correction.
The latest version of PrintGF is available from the support bulletin
board at 606-268-0577 (1200..9600,N,8,1 24 hours/day, XMODEM or
YMODEM (1K XMODEM) download), packed in .ZIP format.
p-4
Installation ---------------------------------------------------------
Copy the files PRINTGF.EXE and PGFMENU.EXE to your working disk or
directory. These are all that you need to run PrintGF. In addition,
the files PRINTGF.DOC (documentation) and README.* (quick
information) are included in the package and must be included if you
distribute PrintGF as shareware.
Operation ------------------------------------------------------------
When working with flat GIF files (most of them), printed in portrait
orientation, PrintGF reads a GIF file and prints simultaneously.
Interlaced GIF files or landscape prints require PrintGF to read the
entire file into XMS memory and then print it, so there is a delay
between startup and printing.
Esc stops PrintGF at the next good break point, leaving the printer
ready for new data. Ctrl-B stops PrintGF as quickly as possible. You
generally need to do a printer reset after a Ctrl-B.
When you display a plot, press Enter or Esc to return to the DOS
text screen, any of the four cursor movement keys to scroll across
the plot, PgDn to magnify, PgUp to reduce, or S to cycle between
full, half (the default), quarter, and eighth page scrolling.
Print quality and print speed are predominantly affected by two
parameters, the output format (/F) and the quality option (/Q). The
output format is chosen to match your printer and many formats have
- or + modifiers that change the printer resolution. For example the
HP LaserJet 3/4 driver, /FI, prints at 300 dpi. /FI- prints at 150
dpi (faster) and /FI+ prints at 600 dpi (slower).
The quality option lets you choose the processing resolution. High
resolution processes the data at the printer resolution. Medium,
Low, and Very low resolutions group the data in 2x2, 4x4, and 8x8
cells with shade levels 0..4, 0..16, and 0..64. In each case the
shade levels are dithered via error diffusion to shade levels
0..240, or 0..192 for very low resolution. Lower resolution gives
faster processing and sometimes better color. Higher resolution
gives better edge definition and fewer dithering artifacts. The
quality option also lets you specify the error diffusion filter.
Choosing the Stucki filter slows processing while perhaps giving
better picture quality.
Maximum processing and printing resolution does not always give the
best picture quality. If the output resolution is much higher than
the input resolution then the resulting picture can show too much
detail of the digital nature of the picture.
PrintGF works within a printer's current margins and starts at the
current vertical print position. If you decline the form feed
suboption of the /L option then PrintGF leaves the printer at the
start of the line directly below the plot.
PrintGF will not automatically change a printer's operating mode. On
multimode printers, the right operating mode must be set before
running PrintGF or with the prefix code (/J) option.
p-5
Syntax ---------------------------------------------------------------
The calling syntax of PrintGF is:
PRINTGF giffile /option1 /option2 ...
Spaces between parameters are not required. The GIF file may be
specified with the /G option if it is inconvenient to make it the
first parameter.
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. This lets you set up a batch file with your preferred
options but override them as desired. For example, create GIF.BAT
with the line:
PRINTGF /FL /PM /G %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9
Then GIF can be called just like PRINTGF but it defaults to HP
LaserJet format with medium processing resolution.
The DOS environment variable PRINTGF is examined by PrintGF and if
it is nonblank then it is put in front of the command line
parameters. If you put "SET PRINTGF=/FL/PM" in your AUTOEXEC.BAT
then PrintGF will default to LaserJet format with medium processing
resolution.
If you do not enter any parameters then PrintGF displays its option
reminder screen.
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, "w", "x", "y", and
"z" to suboption numbers, "i", "j", "k", and "l" to suboption
integers, "b" to a suboption byte, and "f" to a DOS file or device
name.
For numbers (w, x, y, z), a decimal point is allowed but is not
required, and scientific notation is not allowed. "-" is allowed but
not "+". For integer input (i, j, k, l), 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.
p-6
Overview of Options --------------------------------------------------
PrintGF's options fall into four categories. The first is input and
output choices. The input is chosen with /G, the GIF file, /N, the
page number, and /A, the area of the GIF file to be printed. 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 and the option to not send a form feed.
The third category defines how the image is processed. /B and /C set
the brightness and contrast. /Q sets the processing resolution,
error diffusion type, and blurring level. /Y sets the gray balance
and /Z sets gamma color correction.
The fourth category defines user interface options. /X sets all of
these options.
/A - Area Option -----------------------------------------------------
/Ai,j,k[,l] - area to be printed - default /A50,50,100
/A defines the area of the GIF file that is to be printed. This can
be any rectangular area, defined by the center point of the
rectangle, its width, and optionally its height. The center point is
set as the percent distance from the left and top of the picture to
the center of the area (0..100). The width is set as a percentage of
the picture width, from 1 to 100. The height may be set as a
percentage of the picture height (1..100) or defaulted to the same
percentage as the width. The center point will be adjusted to insure
that the entire width and height are on the picture.
/A50,50,100 the default, prints the entire picture
/A25,25,50 prints the upper left hand quarter of the picture
/A25,75,50 prints the lower left hand quarter of the picture
/A25,90,20 is adjusted to 25,80,20 so that the area fits on the
picture
/A50,50,75,100 for the standard 4/3 width/height GIF, this prints
the largest centered square that fits in the picture
p-7
/B, /C - Brightness, Contrast Options --------------------------------
/Bi[,j[,k]] - brightness - default /B50
/Ci[,j[,k]] - contrast - default /C50
PrintGF modifies each GIF color based on the /B and /C options.
These numbers can be specified overall or for each color plane
(RGB). They are applied before any conversion to black/white.
The brightness number specifies the output level (%) at an input
level of 50%. 50 is the default and it leaves the brightness
unchanged.
The contrast number specifies the difference in output level at
input level 100% verses input level 50%. 50 is the default and it
leaves the contrast unchanged.
Output levels clip at 0% and 100%. If the brightness plus contrast
total 100 or less then you will not clip any colors at the top. If
the brightness minus the contrast is 0 or above then you will not
clip any colors at the bottom.
/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. /D is
ignored for display output.
PrintGF cannot set up the serial ports. This is usually done in the
AUTOEXEC.BAT with MODE (probably MODE COM1:9600,N,8,1,P).
/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
p-8
/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 to or from four plane color
processing. These suboptions are allowed even if they have no
effect.
For PCX (/FZ) you can append the nominal device resolution, one or
two numbers.
Each printer driver has a default level of data compression, chosen
to give maximum compatibility 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 3 and 4 plane color (see Color Processing).
/F1 IBM 9 pin .................................... 120x72
/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
/F6 ! IBM Proprinter X24 180x182
/F7- ¡ Canon BJ IBM mode, IBM ExecJet .............. 180x180
/F7 ¡ Canon BJ IBM mode, IBM ExecJet 360x360
/F9 ! ~ NEC 24 pin .................................. 180x180
/F#- ¡ JRL J bubblejet Epson mode 180x180
/F# ¡ JRL J bubblejet Epson mode .................. 360x360
/F&- ~ Canon BJ/BJC native mode 180x180
/F& ~ Canon BJ/BJC native mode .................... 360x360
/F@- ~ Canon BJC CaPSL mode 180x180
/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 180x180
/FB ¡~ Canon BJ/BJC Epson mode ..................... 360x360
/FC CGA display 80x33
/FD- !¡ Canon LBP (ISO/CaPSL mode) .................. 150x150
/FD !¡ Canon LBP (ISO/CaPSL mode) 300x300
/FD+ !¡ Canon LBP (ISO/CaPSL mode) .................. 600x600
/FE ~ 128K EGA color display 80x58
/FF ! ~ Fujitsu 24 pin .............................. 180x180
/FG ¡ PDP Protracer (IBM mode) 360x360
/FH Hercules graphics card display ................ 90x58
/FI- HP LaserJet 3, DeskJet 150x150
/FI HP LaserJet 3, DeskJet ...................... 300x300
/FI+ HP LaserJet 4 600x600
p-9
/FJ- Canon BJ BJ130 mode ......................... 180x180
/FJ Canon BJ BJ130 mode 360x360
/FK ~ Kodak Diconix Color 4 ....................... 192x192
/FL- !¡ HP LaserJet 150x150
/FL !¡ HP LaserJet ................................. 300x300
/FM 128K EGA monochrome display 80x58
/FN ~ Epson 9 pin ................................. 120x72
/FO ! ~ Toshiba 24 pin 180x180
/FP ! ~ HP PaintJet ................................. 180x180
/FQ HP QuietJet (PCL mode) 192x192
/FR ~ Tektronix ColorQuick ........................ 216x216
/FT ! ~ Epson 24 pin 180x180
/FU- ~ 320x200 256 color VGA display ................. 40x33
/FU ~ VESA 640x480 256 color SVGA display 80x80
/FU+ ~ VESA 800x600 256 color SVGA display ......... 100x100
/FU* ~ VESA 1024x768 256 color SVGA display 128x128
/FU^ ~ VESA 1280x1024 256 color SVGA display ....... 160x170
/FV ~ 640x480 VGA display 80x80
/FV+ ~ VESA 800x600 SVGA display ................... 100x100
/FV* ~ VESA 1024x768 SVGA display 128x128
/FV^ ~ VESA 1280x1024 SVGA display ................. 160x170
/FW ~ Epson 9 pin alternate 120x72
/FX ! ~ IBM 24 pin alternate 2 ...................... 180x180
/FZ[i[,j]] ~ ZSoft PCX 100x100, ixi, ixj
/G - GIF File Option -------------------------------------------------
/Gf - GIF file - no default
The GIF file may be specified as the first parameter with no prefix,
or it may be specified anywhere in the option list with /G.
When the GIF file name is SHADE10 to SHADE32 (with no path or
extension), PrintGF generates data internally giving a color scale
with 10 to 32 steps. This is useful for setting the gamma color
correction and gray balance correction.
XMS memory is required for interlaced GIF files.
/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 PrintGF's usual data is
sent and /K lets you send codes after PrintGF's usual data is sent.
This lets you set up and reset the printer for special situations.
The codes are specified with byte values (0..255 or $0..$FF)
separated with blanks or commas. There is a limit of 80 characters
for any option, so very long sequences must be handled outside of
PrintGF.
/J27,69 does a printer reset on HP-PCL printers
p-10
/L - Page Layout Option ----------------------------------------------
/L[L][N][x[,y[,x,y]]] - page layout - default depends on printer
The L option defines the page layout.
L sets landscape mode, i.e. the picture is printed sideways. Note
that the print window width and height are as the printer sees the
paper, not as the picture sees it. So an 8x6 portrait mode picture
will look right at 7.5x10 (not 10x7.5). XMS memory is required for
landscape mode.
N turns form feeds off. This is ignored for bit maps and display
output.
The first optional x and y are the print window width and height in
inches. These define output bit image size. If the height is 0 or is
not included then it is calculated to give the correct aspect ratio
for the image.
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. Margins are ignored for display output and bit maps.
THE PRINT WINDOW PLUS THE MARGINS MUST FIT WITHIN THE PRINTABLE AREA
OF THE PRINTER.
The default print window is 8. For display output, PrintGF acts as
if the screen is 8 inches wide and 6 inches high.
/L6 print window 6x?, left margin 0, top margin 0
/L8,4,0,1 print window 8x4, margins 0,1
/N - Page Number Option ----------------------------------------------
/Ni - page number - default /N1
The /N option specifies the page number to print.
/N3 prints page 3
p-11
/Q - Print Quality Options -------------------------------------------
/Q[H|L|M|V][F|R|S|X][B|D|N] - print quality - default /QLRN or /QHRN
The H, L, M, and V options specify the processing resolution. With H
(high) each output dot is treated as one dot internally with shade
levels 0 or 1. With L (low), M (medium), and V (very low) output
dots are grouped in 2x2, 4x4, and 8x8 cells with shade levels 0..4,
0..16, and 0..64. Lower resolution is faster and higher resolution
gives better edge definition. The default processing resolution is
High for displays and Low for printers and PCX files.
For the 256 color VGA modes (/FU), the screen is used as a 0..5
level per plane color device or a 0..60 level monochrome device. The
processing resolution is ignored in this case.
Regardless of the processing resolution, the output shade levels
0..2, 0..4, 0..5, 0..16, and 0..60 are dithered to 0..240 via error
diffusion (see Bit-Mapped Graphics by Steve Rimmer). Output shade
level 0..64 is dithered to 0..192. Three error diffusion filters are
available. The Floyd-Steinberg filter is selected with suboption F.
The Stucki filter is selected with S. A special filter, labeled
Ravitz, is selected with R (the default).
You can turn off error diffusion dithering, leaving only the pattern
dithering used by the specified processing resolution, with the X
suboption. This might be usefule with the V processing resolution.
If too much digitization detail shows in the output picture, you can
reduce it with the Blur or Double blur suboptions. These options
increase the processing time and the required memory. You can also
reduce detail by lowering the processing resolution. This is faster
but may not give the same picture quality.
See Dithering for more information on PrintGF's dithering options.
/X - User Interface Option -------------------------------------------
/X[P][S] - interface options - default /X
The X option sets various interface options. P causes a pause before
each printed page. S suppresses extra information messages.
/XS gives only the most important messages
p-12
/Y Gray Balance Correction Option ------------------------------------
/Y[H|R][x,y,z] - gray balance - default /Y1,1,1
/Y lets you do gray balancing to compensate for printers that use a
cyan, magenta, yellow ink mix to produce an non-neutral black. The
three numbers represent the fraction of cyan, magenta, and yellow
ink to use to get a neutral black. H specifies HP's suggested
compensation for the HP DeskJet 500C printer. R specifies
compensation on the black component of each color, without regard to
the total non-black range.
/YR1,1,1 is the default and does no gray balancing
/YH.67,1,1 is HP's recommended value for the HP DeskJet 500C
/Z Gamma Correction Option -------------------------------------------
/Zw[,x,y[,z]] - gamma correction - default /Z.5 or /Z1
This option specifies the use of the gamma shade level transfer
function that corrects for typical printer nonlinearity. The value
may be specified for overall red, green, and blue (one number), for
independent red, green, and blue (three numbers) or for independent
cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (four numbers). A value of 1.0
gives a linear response. Values from 0.1 to 1.0 increase the
brightness of the output. The default is 0.5 for printers and 1.0
for displays.
See Color Correction for more information.
p-13
PrintGF Menu (PGFMenu) -----------------------------------------------
PrintGF Menu (PGFMenu) is a menu driven program that lets you select
PrintGF options, choose a list of GIF files, and run PrintGF.
To run PrintGF Menu, enter PGFMENU at the DOS prompt, and press
Enter. There are no command line options. The PGFMenu main menu is
displayed at the top of the screen, and the bottom of the screen is
used differently for each main menu option. The PGFMenu main menu is
divided by column into four groups. Each group is described below.
When the cursor is on a main menu item, the current value of the
option is displayed below the main menu. To change the value, press
Enter (or left mouse button). The options are modified with cursor
movement and typing numbers/names. The Enter key returns you to the
main menu with the new option values. Esc (or right mouse button)
returns you to the main menu with the option values unchanged.
If one of the first two letters of a main menu item is capitalized,
that item may be accessed immediately by pressing the letter.
When a cursor bar has a notch, the value in the notch may be edited.
PGFMenu Specific Functions -------------------------------------------
The first column of main menu options is dedicated to PGFMenu
functions. These include running PrintGL, switching to an alternate
configuration, exiting PGFMenu, saving the current PGFMenu
configurations, setting PGFMenu options, and creating a BAT file
corresponding to the current PGFMenu configuration.
The "Alt configuration" item rotates between five PGFMenu
configurations. The current configuration name is on line 2.
The "save configurations" item saves all of the current PGFMenu
configurations. The GIF file list is not saved. PGFMenu saves its
configuration by writing to PGFMENU.EXE. To find PGFMENU.EXE it
looks in the current directory and then searches the DOS PATH,
saving to the first PGFMENU.EXE that it finds.
The "menu options" item lets you set the configuration name, mouse
sensitivity, screen colors, up to five initial plotfile masks, and
the name of the BAT file created by the "create BAT" option. Screen
colors are specified with the standard IBM BIOS attributes.
For color displays, the left hex digit is the background color and
the right hex digit is the foreground color. Bright colors are not
available in the background.
0 black 4 red 8 gray (bright) C bright red
1 blue 5 magenta 9 bright blue D bright magenta
2 green 6 brown A bright green E bright yellow
3 cyan 7 white B bright cyan F bright white
"Create BAT" creates a BAT file that can be run with "batfile
GIFfile /opt1 /opt2 ..". The BAT file contains the options defined
by the current PGFMenu configuration and accepts additional options.
p-14
PGFMenu Input and Picture Quality Options ----------------------------
Column two of the main menu lets you choose the GIF files to print
(the /G option in PrintGF), the GIF page number (/N) and picture
area (/A), and the picture quality (/B - brightness, /C- contrast,
/Q - quality, /Z - gamma color correction, /Y - gray balance
correction).
You may enter up to 99 GIF files in the "gif file" main menu option.
To choose from a list of files, enter a mask name and press Enter
(the cursor must be on the mask). PGFMenu will then display a list
of corresponding files. Select any number of the files by moving the
cursor to the desired file and pressing Space (or the middle mouse
button). If no files have been selected, then pressing Enter selects
the file under the cursor. The selected files are added to the file
list at or below the cursor. Files that would overflow the 99th
position on the plotfile list are dropped.
When you run PrintGF, PGFMenu runs PrintGF for each file on the
plotfile list. Masks are ignored. For any GIF files that PrintGF
does not successfully process, PGFMenu inserts an arrow in front of
the plotfile name. You can view the results from the "gif file" main
menu item. The arrow is not considered part of the file name by
PGFMenu, so you do not need to remove it to retry PrintGF.
PGFMenu Output Options -----------------------------------------------
The third column of options specifies the output destination (/D),
output format (/F), and other output options (/L suboption F - form
feed, /X suboption P - pause to load paper, /J prefix codes, and /K
suffix codes.
In the output format menu, printers that support color have a color
option ("clr:" on the menu). This lets you specify a black/white
output. Output formats that do not support color do not have this
option and always convert to black/ white.
PGFMenu Window and Margins -------------------------------------------
The fourth column of main menu options includes just
"window/margins", which lets you specify the print area and its
position on the paper.
p-15
Large Paper ----------------------------------------------------------
PrintGF can handle printing on paper larger than the usual 8.5x11,
but this takes some extra work. First you need to increase PrintGF's
print window to cover the large paper. This is done with the /L
option. The print window plus the margins 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
PrintGF prefix codes. For Canon, Epson, Fujitsu, IBM, and NEC line
printers (dot matrix, ink jet, thermal) use /J27 79, or "modify
output" "prefix codes: 27 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 0 .25
/J27 67 0 17. You will probably need to adjust the margins (0 .25)
for best centering.
The maximum width of the print window on most narrow carriage
printers is 8. The maximum print window width on most wide carriage
printers is 13.6. The horizontal margin should be set to 0 to get
this width.
Answers --------------------------------------------------------------
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 need 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-16
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-17
Dithering ------------------------------------------------------------
Dithering is the process of reducing the 0..255 shade per plane
color the input bit map to the 0..1 shade per plane color of the
output. There is no exact way to do this - edge or color defintion
will be lost and artifacts of the dithering process will be visible
in the output. Because of this, PrintGF offers a wide range of
dithering options, specified by the /Q option.
PrintGF starts the dithering process using a pattern dither. The
output dots are divided into groups and each group is set from a
pattern that gives various levels of color. The pattern can be 8x8
dots giving 0..64 shades per plane (chosen with the V suboption -
very low processing resolution), 4x4 dots giving 0..16 shades (L),
2x2 giving 0..4 shades (M), and 1x1 giving shades 0 and 1 (H).
Only the 8x8 dither pattern is sufficient by itself to produce
acceptable color output, so each of the pattern dithers is enhanced
by error diffusion dithering (see Bit-Mapped Graphics by Steve
Rimmer) that extends the color levels to 240 levels per plane. The
error diffusion can be done via the Floyd-Steinberg filter (F
suboption), the Stucki filter (S), or a special filter labeled
Ravitz (R - the default), or it can be turned off (X). The Ravitz
filter diffuses error only to immediate neighbors, like
Floyd-Steinberg, but has directional properties close to Stucki's.
Ravitz x 6 Floyd-Steinberg x 7 Stucki x 8 4
3 6 1 3 5 1 2 4 8 4 2
1 2 4 2 1
There a couple of exceptions to the above. 256 color display modes
are treated as 0..5 level color or 0..60 level monochrome devices
and the pattern dither is not done. And the 8x8 pattern dither is
extended via error diffusion to 192 levels rather than 240.
The 8x8 pattern dither gives the best color, the fewest unexpected
dithering artifacts (the pattern is always visible but is not
obtrusive), the fastest processing, and the worst edge defintion.
This is likely to be the best choice for high resolution devices.
The 1x1 pattern dither gives the best edge definition and the
slowest processing. The error diffusion does all of the dithering in
this case so the choice of filter is important. The Stucki filter is
generally preferred but it is slower than the others. The Ravitz
filter was included because it runs at the same speed as the
Floyd-Steinberg filter but produces fewer visual artifacts in the
experience of the author. The 1x1 pattern is generally the best
choice for low resolution devices and for pictures that require
sharp edges such as text and line drawings.
The 2x2 and 4x4 patterns are in the middle of the 1x1 and 8x8
patterns on all of the attributes and should be tried to determine
their usefulness.
p-18
Blurring -------------------------------------------------------------
When the output size of a bitmap is significantly larger than the
input, the rectangular nature of the input dots may become apparent.
This can be reduced by reducing the processing resolution, which
effectively reduces the size of the output bitmap. If it is
desirable to stay with a higher processing resolution then you can
use blurring to reduce the effect.
PrintGF has two blur filters, chosen with the B and D suboptions of
/Q. The blurring acts on the output bit map, not the input. B blurs
to 8 neighbors and D blurs to 20 neighbors. This process is slow.
B 121 D 111
242 12221
121 12421
12221
111
Color Correction -----------------------------------------------------
Printer's typically overprint the area of a dot, for example a
nominal 1/300 inch square dot might be printed as a 1.2/300 inch
diameter circle, giving an additional area of 13%. So dithered shade
levels composed of single dots will be 13% too dark. Shade levels
composed of multiple connected dots will also be too dark, but by
less than 13%. Solid white and solid black will exact.
The gamma function is a general correction for this behavior. The
function is g(x,gamma)=255*((x/255)^gamma) for 0..255 level additive
color. For gamma above 1 the function describes an overprinting
situation. Using 1/gamma exactly reverses the function, so if a
printer's gamma is 1.5 then it is corrected by using 1/1.5 = .67.
When specifying gamma independently for cyan, magenta, yellow, and
black PrintGF uses g(x,gamma)=255-255*(((255-x)/255)^gamma). This is
so that cyan, magenta, yellow correction is the same as red, green,
blue correction if black gamma is 1 (/Z.6,.7,.8 is the same as
/Z.6,.7,.8,1)
When the GIF file name is SHADE10 to SHADE32 (with no path or
extension), PrintGF generates data internally giving a color scale
with 10 to 32 steps. Set up the gamma correction to make this scale
look best.
The shade scale is also useful for setting up gray balance.
p-19
Color Processing -----------------------------------------------------
Color graphics devices use a variety of color technologies. PrintGF
supports these basic types.
CMY or cyan/magenta/yellow is used by inkjet printers with no black
ink. This uses three color planes and gives eight pure colors.
CMYK or cyan/magenta/yellow/black is used by inkjet and dot matrix
printers. This uses four color planes and gives 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 displays and bit maps. This uses
three color planes and gives eight pure colors.
RGBI or red/green/blue/intensity is used by displays and bit maps.
This uses four color planes to give fifteen pure colors. PrintGF
uses only eight or these fifteen colors - dark black and intense
red, green, blue, etc.
CMY and RGBI are used by default. CMYK and RGB can be selected with
the ` suboption of /F.
p-20
Output Devices -------------------------------------------------------
Canon BJ and BJC Printers, IBM ExecJet
PrintGF has five basic drivers for Canon BJ and BJC printers and
the IBM ExecJet. /F7 is the IBM mode driver. It works with the
BJ130e, BJ5, BJ10/10e/10ex, BJ20, BJ200/230, BJ300/330, and
ExecJet.
/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 BJ200/230 and
BJC800/820. Color is supported. 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 BJ200/230 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.
p-21
Display
When you display a plot, the cursor keys scroll the plot, S cycles
between full, half (the default), quarter, and eighth page
scrolling, PgDn and PgUp magnify and reduce by 1.4, and Enter or
Esc returns to DOS.
Regardless of the size of your monitor, PrintGF acts as if it were
8 inches wide.
/FC drives a CGA, but does not give color.
The EGA drivers, /FE and /FM, require a 128K or 256K EGA. /FC will
work with a 64K EGA. /FM is for an EGA card with a digital (TTL)
monochrome monitor.
/FH supports the Hercules monochrome graphics card.
/FV works with any VGA card. For MCGAs use /FV~.
/FV+ uses VESA SVGA 800x600 16 color mode. /FV* uses VESA SVGA
1024x768 16 color mode.
The /FU drivers use 256 color modes to give 0..5 level per plane
color or 0..60 level monochrome. The processing resolution option
is ignored for these drivers. /FU- drives any VGA at 320x200. /FU,
/FU+, and /FU* use 640x480, 800x600, and 1024x768 VESA SVGA modes.
Display output cannot be redirected to a file.
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. /FW sets line feeds to 1/6 inch.
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.
p-22
HI JetPro V50/100
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.
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.
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-23
IBM 24 Pin Printers
PrintGF 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.
IBM Quietwriter 2 and 3
/F2 and /F3 drive the Quietwriter 2 and 3. Line feeds are set to
1/6 inch on completion.
JRL J bubblejet
/F# drives the JRL J bubblejet in Epson LQ mode.
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 15.
Tektronix ColorQuick
/FR drives the ColorQuick.
ZSoft PCX Bit Map
Use /FZ or /FZ~ to output an eight or two color ZSoft PCX bit map.
The horizontal and vertical dots/inch may be appended to override
the default 100x100, for example /FZ80,90. PCX 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 images. Use /FZ~200,196 to match the fax
resolution.
p-24
Compatibility and Technical Information ------------------------------
PrintGF will run on any IBM compatible system with MS-DOS 2.0 or
above. It requires up to 256K of free memory. XMS memory, available
from HIMEM, QEMM, 386MAX or other memory managers, is required for
interlaced GIF files and landscape mode printing.
By default, PrintGF uses the BIOS printer interrupt to send data to
the printer. The H1..H4 and X1..X4 drivers send data directly to the
serial port, without using or setting the hardware interrupts. If a
file or device is specified for output then DOS 2.0 file handling is
used. Messages are written to the screen with DOS CON output.
PGFMenu runs PrintGF via a DOS shell. The current directory and the
DOS PATH are searched and the first PRINTGF.EXE found is called. To
save its configuration the same search is done for PGFMENU.EXE.
PGFMenu can use any display mode that allows at least 80 columns and
25 lines of text. In text modes PGFMenu writes directly to the
display buffer, and in graphics modes BIOS is used to display text.
PRINTGF.EXE may be compressed with PKLITE, LZEXE, or other EXE file
compressors. PGFMenu should not be compressed because it rewrites
PGFMENU.EXE when saving the user settings.
PrintGF and PGFMenu were written by Cary Ravitz and compiled with
Borland's Turbo Pascal 6.0.
User Support ---------------------------------------------------------
Correspondence about PrintGF 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
