DynoPage introduces two new printing capabilities to Macintosh: 1/ double-sided printing and 2/printing to virtual pages. Instead of printing a six-page document on six sheets of paper — a task you're familiar with — DynoPage lets you print the same document onto three sheets of paper, double-sided. Or, DynoPage lets you to print all six pages to one sheet of paper, reducing and positioning the pages for you onto six virtual pages on a single sheet of paper.
We suggest you read your DynoPage User Manual first before going through this document. Much of this document assumes some working knowledge of DynoPage. This document includes additional tips and expansions on what is covered in the user manual.
If you don't like to read manuals, please do the 3 tutorial examples in the manual. A "power user" like you can do them in less than 30 minutes. We guarantee they'll make you a better user of DynoPage.
Our beta testers tell us that the only learning curve with DynoPage is learning to set the paper orientation in Page Setup to the target sheet of paper. This takes some practice, but after a few prints, it will become second nature to you. If you don't read anything at all, read the first page about orientation!
DynoPage is three software items — a control panel device, a printer driver and a folder — "DynoPage Folder" — of page layouts. The control panel device turns DynoPage on and off and adds its capabilities to your system at startup, much like screen savers, virus protectors and other commercial startup documents such as Suitcase, After Dark, and others.
DynoPage is also a unique printer driver. DynoPage 'captures' the print job of your application on its way to printing, gives it new page definitions and passes it on to your regular printer driver. It works with your application, your printer and your standard printer driver.
When DynoPage is turned on, it informs the System that it is the assigned printer driver. It keeps track of the name of the printer you've selected in the Chooser. Choosing a printer works transparently with DynoPage so you can switch printers at any time without having to inform DynoPage specifically. However, any time you turn DynoPage on or off, or any time that you switch printers, it is a good idea to choose Page Set up.
DynoPage creates its virtual page options from a set of Virtual Page Layouts which you place in the DynoPage Folder. When you first use DynoPage a set of layouts is already placed there. You can add or remove layouts at any time. The DynoPage Folder must be in your system folder for DynoPage to work.
Double-sided — Full Size pages
One of the simplest things about DynoPage is that it will enable you to print double-sided to save space and paper and to create more professional looking documents. Just remember to rotate your pages 180° for the second sides.
Double-sided — Paper Handling
When you print to a landscape sheet, take your first sides, exactly as they emerge on the top of the printer, and place them back in the tray for the second sides. When you are printing to a portrait sheet, you will probably have to rotate the pages 180° before placing them back in the tray.
Adjust for Binder Holes
This leaves extra left and right margins on alternating odd and even pages to allow for loose-leaf binder holes. Try leaving this off. With most source documents there is enough margin to allow for binding. Use only with documents that print close to the edge and where your final pages are going to be hole-punched.
100%, Reduce, Maintain Pagination
The first two choices will reflow your text documents to the new virtual page dimensions at either 100% or some reduction that you set. Maintain Pagination will calculate the reduction required to maintain the original documents line breaks and page breaks.
100%
When you print at 100%, a 12 point type text document is printed in 12 point type to the virtual page margins. A graphics document will be print at 100% and be split over how ever many virtual pages it takes to contain the entire image.
Reduce
When you reduce, say by 75%, a 12 point type text document is reduced and printed in 9 point type to the virtual page margins. The text is reflowed to the new virtual page margins and any graphics are reduced by 75%. A graphics document will be print at 75% and may be split over how ever many virtual pages it takes to contain the entire image.
Maintain Pagination
When you choose Maintain Pagination, DynoPage calculates the reduction required to fit your original document (text and/or graphics) into the reduced area of the virtual page. As much as possible, DynoPage will maintain the original's line breaks and page breaks. Some times, the page breaks will leave extra space on your virtual pages because they are a different aspect ration than the original. If you wish DynoPage to reflow the document to the full virtual page area and make new page breaks, simply click on Reduce after you've chosen Maintain Pagination.
How We Often Print
When we want to print to organizer pages from full-size originals, we use Maintain Pagination to determine the reduction required and then type a slightly higher value in the Reduce text box. For example, if we are printing to "120 Dynodex" to get 2 pages on 1 sheet, Maintain Pagination will probably calculate a 60% reduction. We would then type 66% to get DynoPage to reflow the document without maintaining page breaks. In this example, 12 point type will print at about 8 point type which is usually very readable. See example below:
Side-to-Side Ratios
When printing a document originally formatted for US Letter paper (Example 1) to one of the virtual pages of the 106 Dynodex layout, the side-to-side ratios of the two pages are different. On a US Letter sheet, the dimensions are 8.5" x 11", a 1:1.29 side-to-side ratio—one side slightly longer than the other. On one 106 Dynodex virtual page, the dimensions are 3.67" x 6.75". This is a 1:1.84 ratio, where one side is nearly double the length of the other.
Maintaining Line Breaks
Maintain Pagination works to shrink your page as a whole and the percentage generated allows the entire page to fit into the new page dimensions. However, if the side-to-side ratios are quite different, this will leave a gap above and below the image of the original page (Example 2). If you want to keep the line breaks as in your original document and can allow your page breaks to occur at the different places, click on Maintain Pagination, which generates a percentage of reduction, then click on the Reduce/Enlarge button without changing the percentage. Your application will keep the same line breaks as in the original document yet still take full advantage of the shape of the new virtual page by flowing the text into the entire area (Example 3).
Learning DynoPage is quite simple and involves just a few steps. In addition to the easy-to-read DynoPage User Manual, there are Help buttons in all DynoPage dialogs. These clearly diagram each of the different parts of the dialog.
When applications make assumptions about page size or try to plot the actual physical location of any part of a file on the paper, there is the possibility that problems can arise when using DynoPage.
Tables and Tabs
For Tables and Tabs it is recommended to print with Maintain Pagination. Tables and Tabs may use absolute measurements on the page. For example, a program may set a tab at exactly 2" from the left margin or a table cell at 3.25" from the left. These are absolute measurements and may not print as you expect with DynoPage except when Maintain Pagination is selected.
Page Ordering
Some applications have customized Page Setup dialogs with options such as “Front to Back” printing. Similar options may also be available from the Print dialog. You will probably want to keep these boxes unchecked since DynoPage has its own page ordering scheme and selecting these options may cause undesirable results, particularly in the ordering of your pages.
Assumed page sizes
Certain programs don't consider that their documents might be printed to a page size other than a standard (large) size such as US letter, A4 letter or US legal size pages. Certain applications, particularly older ones, may print headers and/or footers incorrectly on virtual pages that are somewhat small. That's because these programs assume that part of the header (or footer) can be measured from the left margin and part from the right margin. This may occur without Maintain Pagination selected but is less likely to occur with Maintain Pagination turned on.
Memory needs
DynoPage needs memory to do its job just as your application and your printer driver need memory. DynoPage gets its memory from two places depending on your system environment. When running MultiFinder, DynoPage calculates and images your pages from the portion of memory requested by DynoPage at startup. This portion of memory exists as part of the System heap. DynoPage asks for 128K when you start up your Mac. When not running MultiFinder, DynoPage does its calculations and imaging in the application heap.
If you are printing to very large sheets or if you get a rare "out-of-memory" error in MultiFinder, you may need to increase the size of your System's memory allocation. You can do this using Public Domain programs like Heap Fixer. If you need help, contact Technical Support at Portfolio Systems.
No assigned printer problems
If DynoPage is turned on and you get an error such as "Printer driver not available" or "Unable to Print", you should first try reselecting the printer driver in the Chooser. If this is not possible, try quitting from the application, reselecting your printer in the Chooser, and restarting the application. If you still receive the error, try restarting your Macintosh.
PostScript files
Applications are able to send PostScript files to PostScript printers in two ways: PICT comments and directly. PICT comments is the Apple recommended method and files sent in this way will work with DynoPage. PostScript sent directly to the printer instructs the printer exactly where to draw the objects or text, and this may not be interpreted correctly by DynoPage. A file may be sent in both ways, so that part of the file prints correctly with DynoPage and the other does not. Because these problems specifically involve the PostScript language, the same problems may not appear when printed to a non-PostScript printer, such as a Hewlett Packard DeskWriter.
Document Margins
When you print with DynoPage using Maintain Pagination, DynoPage shrinks the entire document page as a whole, including the margins. When you print at 100%, DynoPage uses 100% of the margin value. When you print at a reduction percentage, DynoPage reduce the margins that same percentage. If your original document has 1" margins all around for a document formatted as 8.5" x 11" US Letter, this amount may be too large for smaller virtual pages if you are printing your text at 100%. To take advantage of the virtual page's entire area, you may want to reduce your original document's margins, if only for a one-time printing with DynoPage. Remember to set your margins back if you will then be saving your document.
Clipping
Clipping of part of the image of your document can occur when printing a full page image to a smaller virtual page. Selecting Maintain Pagination or setting the correct reduction value should correct any clipping.
One-page graphic printing as two pages
Occasionally, a one-page graphics document with Maintain Pagination on will preview (and print) on two or more pages. In these situations, just a small portion of one or more of the sides will print onto other virtual pages. In other words, graphics along the edge (or edges) of the file "leak" over onto another virtual page. The solution is simple. Set the percentage up in the application’s Page Setup dialog to 105% or 110%.
Blank Preview screen
When DynoPage is on, the application prints to what it believes is the printer. Instead, DynoPage intercepts each page and spools it to disk. With Preview turned on, DynoPage quickly spools it from disk to the screen, one page at a time. In low memory situations, however, there may not be enough memory available for such a preview and you will see a blank screen rather than the page image. This doesn't necessarily indicate that there will be a problem printing, and you should choose print.
Nothing Comes Out of Printer
If nothing prints, check your hardware connections. Are the cables to and from your Mac secure and are they plugged into the appropriate ports on the Mac and the printer? Check if you have the correct printer selected in the Chooser and whether AppleTalk and the port are appropriately set.
Scaling
When DynoPage reduces your output by a significant percentage, the actual image, whether text or graphic, may become slightly distorted. The proportion of the parts may become slightly askew in relation to the other parts. For example, you may notice a slightly larger spacing between two lines of text than between the other lines. Or you may notice that a line of a graphic looks minutely moved in relation to another line, something you didn't notice in the full-scale original printout. These minute distortions do not necessarily result from DynoPage but are a direct result of the change in size from the original. You might find these same distortions when printing with reduction even without DynoPage.
In rare cases, scaling problems can be more pronounced, resulting in noticeable or even significant distortions. These problems are usually a result of the application hard coding the size or location of lines or objects. There is no workaround in the current version, since DynoPage accepts the application's output as is and tries to reduce it as a whole.
Other problems
The Macintosh is a powerful machine with software that is increasingly complex. If you have a system problem or experience a system crash, there could be many possible causes. Often problems are not a direct result of any single piece of software but occur because of the interaction between two pieces of otherwise smoothly functioning software. If you experience any software problems which you feel may be connected in some way to DynoPage, don't hesitate phoning our technical support staff. But a rule of thumb for hunting down any hardware-type problems, such as printers not being found, is to check the connections, including the cables.
DynoPage was designed to be compatible with the largest number of applications (and DA's) and the largest number of current and future printers, as well as with future versions of Macintosh system software. Still, there are certain applications that may be somewhat or entirely incompatible with DynoPage in its current version.
SuperLaserSpool
SuperLaserSpool and SuperSpool are not compatible with DynoPage. The reason is that both assign themselves as the printer driver while remembering what the real driver is. This conflict may be fixed in future versions of both software products.
4th Dimension
Individual pages are printed as separate print jobs in 4th Dimension and this enables DynoPage to capture and print only the first page of a 4th Dimension printing. Future versions of DynoPage may be able to circumvent this problem.
Aldus PageMaker 3.0 and 4.0
Aldus PageMaker utilizes its own special Printer Driver, Aldus Prep, and Page Setup, so it will not normally print with DynoPage. However, Aldus Pagemaker can very easily print using the Apple Driver. Hold down the option key when you choose Print. Then DynoPage will work normally.
MacWrite 4.6 or earlier versions
Similar to 4th Dimension, old versions of MacWrite send each page to the printer as separate print jobs. Again, DynoPage will only be able to print the first page of a print request. This problem may occur in applications besides old versions of MacWrite.
Applications and DA's with non-standard Page Setup and Print
Programs which invoke the standard Page Setup and Print routines in non-standard ways may not work with DynoPage, may "trigger" DynoPage unreliably or may force you to rely on workarounds.
applications and DA's with no Page Setup
Because DynoPage relies on information from Page Setup, a program without a Page Setup may be a problem. Try doing a Page Setup from the Finder or another program, then go directly to your problem application and print. Be sure to Preview so you can assure the correct results. This works with Alarming Events and other DA's of that nature.
JetLink Express DeskWriter driver
In MultiFinder, the DeskWriter driver needs more memory to print in landscape than most applications will allow for printing. For this reason, you may have to increase the MultiFinder memory partition of an application with which you use DynoPage and the JetLink Express driver. You should try printing without increasing the partition first, and increase the partition only if you need the extra memory. This can be accomplished by selecting the application in the Finder and doing a "Get Info' from the File menu. In the lower right hand corner of the file info window, you will see "Suggested Memory size" and "Application Memory size". Add 768 to the amount in the "Application Memory size box", then close the window to save the changes. The application will now request more memory from the system when it is launched. If you do not have a lot of memory in your Mac, you can try adding less than 768. If you print from this application only occasionally using DynoPage and the JetLink Express driver, you may want to change the application memory size back to its original amount.
Print Preview will preview the order of your document based on the selections you've made and may not reflect the actual order that your sheets will print. The pages that are previewed are shown in an order matching the characteristics that you selected. For example, say you chose the 106 Dynodex layout with double-sided and Sheet Printing. In Print Preview, the first sheet you see will be the first side of sheet one and it will contain virtual pages 1, 3 and 5. If you click the dog-ear to view the next sheet printed, you will see the back side of sheet one, containing virtual pages 6, 4 and 2 (in that order to match the back side of 5, 3 and 1). Print jobs with Double-sided turned off will display sheets in the order of pages actually printed.
Print Preview displays a scaled-down image of your actual printed sheet. Because of this scaling, graphics—particularly lines—in your document may appear to be missing in the initial miniaturized page image. Zooming in on any part of the document that looks suspect will usually display the "missing" parts. If you have very fine or intricate details in any part of your document, even zooming in on the preview image may not show every detail. If you have any questions, try printing one page and most likely, the print will contain all the details of the original. The Macintosh screen can only display 72 dots per inch, whereas your printer will be able to print with much more detail.
• Help dialogs
When printing with DynoPage, use the online help available from the Help buttons before referring to the manual. The help is condensed and brief, but it may be just enough to jog your memory or clarify a point, so that you can continue working without interruption.
• Turning off Preview
Once you are familiar with DynoPage, it isn't necessary to preview every document before printing. However, we recommend previewing the first document you print after starting your Macintosh.
• Skipping Page Setup
When you feel comfortable with how DynoPage works, you may be able to skip doing a Page Setup and a DynoPage Setup. In many cases, if you are printing documents with identical margins and page size from the same application, you can do a Page Setup for the first document and then just print the additional documents. This will not work in every application, so check if your application remembers your Page Setup settings while you open or create new documents.
• The DynoPage FKEY
Opening and closing the Control Panel can be time consuming. Install and use the DynoPage FKey to turn DynoPage on and off. But even if you forget it's on, DynoPage always gives you a chance to turn it off before printing.
• DynoPage Folder and the Cache file
The first time you use DynoPage by doing a Page Setup, DynoPage will build a DynoPage Cache file, composed of information from all the layout files found in the DynoPage Folder. DynoPage will also rebuild the cache file whenever you add one or more new layouts or remove a layout. In fact, when DynoPage is invoked, it checks to see when the DynoPage Folder was last modified, and will rebuild the cache file when necessary. This insures that the DynoPage Cache file is always up to date, but it takes a few moments to open all the layout files to get the needed information.
The more layouts you have in the DynoPage Folder, the longer it will take to build the cache file. If all layouts shipped with DynoPage (several dozen) are copied into the DynoPage Folder, it may take a minute or longer to build the cache file. While the building is occurring, it might seem that something is wrong. It's a good idea to avoid adding new layouts to or removing them from your folder frequently.
• Page ranges in long documents
When you request that only certain pages of a document be printed, DynoPage keeps track of this requested page range, but asks the application for all the pages to preserve the integrity of the page breaks. Because DynoPage captures each page as it being generated by the application, you can type a command-period (hold down the command key as you type a period) just after the last desired page has been spooled. DynoPage will normally be ready to display the pages you've requested.
For example, if you have a 20-page document and you only want to print pages 1 through 7 (or 3 through 7), you may type a command-period after the application has completed printing page 7, and DynoPage will cut short its request of pages and your page range will be ready for preview and printing.
Most applications give you some sort of visual feedback as to what page is being printed. Remember that DynoPage is spooling the pages to disk for preview and printing, but the application will normally assume that it is printing directly to the printer. Of course, if you need to print pages 15 through 20 of a 20-page document, you'll need to let all the pages "print". In addition, if your application is very fast at spooling pages to the printer, your command-period may be interpreted as typing the Cancel button in DynoPage Preview. If this happens, you'll simply have to choose Print again.
DynoPage is a great paper saver. Printing double-sided instead of single-sided can more than 50% of the paper you formerly used. Printing to 106 Dynodex paper double-sided for example, allows you to print 6 or more (depending on your setup choices) pages onto only one sheet of paper. This works fine for one multi-page document, but what do you do when you have several documents to print?
DynoPage prints one print job at a time, so each page will print to one virtual page on a sheet of paper. This may leave you with one or more unused pages on a sheet. You can print to these unused virtual pages using the appropriate layouts in the Additional Layouts folder. (If you have a color Mac, these layouts are all light blue.) These layouts may end in “-c” for column or “-r” for row, followed by the number of the column or row. Layouts may also end in a slash “/” followed by a number, indicating that the layout is to be used for printing to one specific virtual page on a sheet. Columns and rows are always figured in relation to a portrait sheet.
A mini page is any single sheet of paper which is smaller than the standard paper that goes through your printer and for which there is no corresponding radio button in the Page Setup dialog. For many laser printers, the standard paper size is US Letter, or 8.5" x 11". These printers also take US Legal paper, 8.5" x 14", in special Legal trays. Some paper sizes, such as Envelope, have special radio buttons in some Page Setups.
Special layouts whose file name begins with a "1" (for 1 mini page) are included in the Special Folder. If your printer allows center-fed manual paper feeding, you will be able to print single- or double-sided to individual mini-pages using these layouts. Layouts for center-fed manual paper feeding (such as the Apple LaserWriter NT or NTX) are signified by ending in a "/c" (for center-fed). If your printer allows right-fed manual paper feeding, you will be able to print single-sided to individual mini-pages. Layouts for right-fed manual paper feeding (such as the Apple Personal LaserWriters) are signified by ending in a "/r" (for right-fed).
For example, if you have a sheet that is 5.5" x 8.5" from your personal organizer or left over from printing to half of a 120 Dynodex sheet, you can use the "1 Half Page/c" layout to print to a LaserWriter NT. The mini pages must be fed in as you would feed any paper manual feed: down the center on many laser printers, along the right side on other printers. Depending on the printer, you may need to alert the printer of your manual feed job by clicking on the Manual Feed button in the Print dialog.
You will find layouts for mini pages in the Mini Pages folder. If you use these, be sure to position the paper correctly and always select Maintain Pagination. These layouts will not work with 100% or Reduce/Enlarge. Because the paper must be guided into the printer by the guides in the manual feed path of your printer, there is a limit to how small a page you can use—normally a single 3.5" x 6.75" is the smallest we recommend.
On printers with a right-fed manual feed path, such as Apple's Personal LaserWriters, the paper will feed face down, top in first. The Preview will display the printed image on the left hand side of the sheet. You can print only on one side of a mini page on a right-fed manual feed path.
We recommend that you print only a few mini-pages at a time.
When you remove DynoPage from the System Folder or when you install a new copy or version of DynoPage, you will need to reselect your printer from the Chooser. If you are going to remove DynoPage from your System Folder, be sure to turn DynoPage off and then remove both the control panel device "DynoPage™" and the printer driver "DynoPage Driver" from the System. You can leave the DynoPage Folder in your System Folder if you wish, since it is simply the holder of DynoPage layouts and does nothing by itself.
