The hardware and software of your ColorFast have been thoroughly tested during their development. These release notes provide you with a summary of the results of our testing effort, up-to-date information on software compatibility, and some general information on ways to improve your printing productivity.
Before installing the software, you must first read the installation instructions provided in the ColorFast User’s Manual.
If you do not have the ColorFast User’s Manual or if you are missing any of the disks or other manuals, please contact your dealer or call GCC Technologies® Customer Support at (800) 422–7777 to obtain these documents.
• Speed
ColorFast 1.1 will, in general, print significantly faster than ColorFast 1.0, depending on your system configuration, whether you are running Virtual Memory (see below), and other factors.
• 7.0 Compatibility
ColorFast 1.1 is fully compatible with system 7.0, allowing you to use 32-bit addressing and Virtual Memory (VM) while printing, assuming your application is itself “32-bit clean” and compatible with VM.
VM makes it appear as though your machine has more memory available than the actual amount of physical memory (RAM) installed, so you may be able to print documents which were too large or complex to print when only the RAM on your machine was available.
Because accessing a hard disk is slower than accessing RAM, use of VM typically increases the time required to print a document with ColorFast. If several applications are open simultaneously, available RAM will be reduced and the ColorFast software may have to access the disk more frequently, thus reducing printing speed. However, it is possible that, if enough of the data not required by ColorFast is moved out to the disk, more RAM will be available to the ColorFast software than would have been the case without VM. In this case, the time required to print may actually decrease.
If you find that VM causes unacceptable increases in printing time and you are running multiple applications simultaneously, try closing the other applications before printing. If this does not help, you may want to turn VM off.
• TrueType Compatibility
ColorFast 1.1 will print using TrueType fonts (including rotated and flipped text) if your screen font is a TrueType font and there is no corresponding GCC font in your Font File Folder.
• 3rd Party Font Substitution
If you have replaced GCC fonts with either ATM® or TrueType®, the font substitution features of the ColorFast software can now be used. Font Substitution will now take place if outline fonts (ATM or TrueType) are installed for Helvetica, Times, or Courier. Please note, however, that there may be line-layout problems when fonts are substituted since the character widths are vastly different between New York and Times, Geneva and Helvetica, and Monaco and Courier. If you have installed TrueType Geneva, Monaco and New York, you can avoid these problems by printing without Font Substitution.
• Font Installation
Beginning with System 6.0, Apple's Installer installed bitmapped fonts for Times, Helvetica, Courier, and Symbol. GCC includes Times, Helvetica, Courier and Symbol bitmaps with our printers as well, BUT THEY ARE DIFFERENT. Because GCC fonts originate from Bitstream, and Apple uses Adobe fonts in the LaserWriters, the character widths may vary slightly. In order to ensure that the correct metrics are being used, you should first REMOVE Times, Helvetica, Courier, and Symbol COMPLETELY before installing GCC’s fonts. Installing GCC’s fonts over Apple’s will NOT correct problems, but instead add to them.
• Temporary Memory
When running under MultiFinder or System 7.0, ColorFast 1.1 may use memory outside the application’s memory partition, if there is any available. This extra memory is called Temporary Memory.
When you choose “Print Now” from the Print dialog, ColorFast 1.1 will make use of Temporary Memory. In many cases, documents which could not be printed from the application because of a lack of memory can now be printed because of ColorFast’s use of Temporary Memory. You may no longer need to increase the “Application Memory Size” value in the “Get Info” dialog of your application in order to print, since Temporary Memory is usually available. In fact, if an “Out of Memory” error occurs when printing with ColorFast 1.1, you may find that by reducing the “Application Memory Size” value to the “Suggested Memory Size” you will be able to print, because by reducing the application’s memory partition, you are making more Temporary Memory available.
• System Memory
Because ColorFast 1.1 resides in the System’s memory partition rather than in the application’s memory partition, you may find that documents which could not be printed from the application due to lack of memory can now be printed. Because ColorFast 1.1 is not using the application’s memory, more memory is available for printing from within the application.
Although ColorFast has been designed to run on systems with 4 megabytes of RAM, it performs significantly better on systems with 8 megabytes or more.
• Improved Resolution
ColorFast 1.1 now supports higher printing resolutions for scanned or bitmap images when printing from applications which support multiple resolutions.
Since ColorFast is a high-resolution device, you will get your best results from draw or object-oriented presentation or graphics applications.
• Improved On-Line Help
The on-line Help facility (available in the “Page Setup…” and “Print…” dialogs and in the GCC Print Manager) has been improved over that available with ColorFast 1.0.
• Multiple Monitors
ColorFast 1.0 incorrectly placed dialog and alert windows when multiple monitors were in use; ColorFast 1.1 corrects this.
• Free Disk Space
In the ColorFast 1.0 release notes, it was suggested that you keep at least 10 megabytes of space free on your system disk. ColorFast 1.1 uses disk space more efficiently, and usually requires no more than 3 megabytes of free disk space (printing complex or scanned images, however, may require more free space).
• Temporary Files
ColorFast creates temporary files in your System Folder; the files are called “Image File #1.red”, “Image File #1.green”, and “Image File #1.blue” (the number following the ‘#’ may be something other than 1). Normally, these files are deleted upon completion of the print job. If the print job is interrupted (by a system crash, for instance), these files may still be present in your System Folder after you restart your Macintosh. If you notice one or more of these files in your System Folder after a crash, you should delete them.
• New Film Tables
Improvements in print speed and contrast have been made to some of the Film Tables. The Presentation Chrome 35mm, ISO 200 35mm, ISO 100 35mm, Polacolor™ Type 669, and AutoFilm™ Type 339 Film Tables have been upgraded.
• Spool Files
Under ColorFast 1.0, spool files (saved in the Print File Folder) were sometimes not deleted when a print job was cancelled. This has been corrected in ColorFast 1.1.
• Printing from the GCC Print Manager
The GCC Print Manager will print multiple files grouped by resolution (Draft, High-Quality, Professional), not in the order they were generated. This uses memory more efficiently, allowing ColorFast to print faster.
• Calibration
The “Calibration…” command (selected from the “ColorFast” menu in the GCC Print Manager) is the same for ColorFast 1.1 as for ColorFast 1.0, except that Calibration’s error reporting ability has been improved. Calibration compensates for minor misalignment of the camera adapter and film. A given calibration affects only the selected film type and camera adapter; other film types used with the same camera adapter must be calibrated separately.
You may find that your images print properly even though the film type and camera adapter have not been calibrated; in this case, obviously, calibration is not necessary.
You may find that for certain camera adapters, especially 35mm, the same calibration values can be used across multiple film types. For example, the calibration values used for Presentation Chrome 35mm can usually be used for PolaChrome™ 35mm, since the loading mechanism of the 35mm adapter minimizes misalignment. This means that once you have performed calibration for one 35mm film type, you can enter the same calibration values for other 35mm film types without actually performing a full calibration. Note that this does not always work for adapters other than 35mm. Because of the way film is loaded in the Pack Film adapter, for example, misalignment is more likely when changing film.
Also, note that calibration for Colorgraph™ Type 691 instant peel-apart transparency film is adjusted to compensate for the cardboard frame in which the print is placed. You do not need to reduce your image in your application before printing to make sure the entire image will be visible within the frame; if you have performed calibration for the Colorgraph™ Type 691 film, the image will be reduced automatically.
To calibrate a given film type and camera adapter, follow these steps:
— Launch the GCC Print Manager. Make sure you have selected ColorFast 1.1 from the Chooser.
— Select “Calibration…” from the “ColorFast” menu.
— Click on the button next to the name of the camera adapter you wish to use.
— Select the type of film currently in the camera adapter attached to ColorFast. If the film you want to use is not in the menu, make sure the corresponding Film Table is in your ColorFast Folder, located in your System Folder.
— Click on the “Shoot” button to expose a calibration test slide for the selected camera adapter and film. If you are not using an instant film, you will have to remove the film from the camera adapter and have it processed to obtain a calibration slide before continuing with Calibration.
— Once you have developed the calibration test slide, measure the length of each of the four wedges in the image by counting the hash marks covered by each wedge; a wedge can be at most 40 hash marks long. The calibration test image is exposed using maximum zoom; therefore, the wedges will usually not be fully visible. In fact, at maximum zoom, each wedge should cover only about 28 hash marks (note that 28 is the value in each of the Wedge Length item boxes for a film type which has not yet been calibrated).
— Enter the length of each wedge in the corresponding “Wedge Length” item box. For example, if the wedge along the top edge of the slide is 32 hash marks long, enter a 32 in the item box labeled “top” under “Wedge Length” in the Calibration dialog. If you are calibrating color film, the color of the wedge matches the color of the item box label when viewed on a color monitor. For black and white film, use the arrow on the calibration test slide to orient the slide; the arrow points toward the top wedge.
— Click on the “Save” button to store the calibration wedge lengths in the Film Table for the currently selected film type. If you do not save the wedge lengths, the calibration of the selected film type will not be changed.
— Once you have saved your calibration, clicking on the “Verify” button exposes a calibration verification slide using the saved calibration wedge lengths. If your calibration was correct, the calibration wedges should all be fully visible (i.e., each wedge should be about 40 hash marks in length) and should lie along the edges of the slide. Again, if you are not using an instant film, you will have to have your film processed to obtain a calibration verification slide.
— At any point during Calibration, you may end the Calibration session by clicking on the “Done” button. If you have made changes to the Wedge Lengths, you will be asked whether you want to save the new values. If you need to have your film processed between steps, you may click “Done” and return to Calibration later; simply reselect the appropriate camera adapter and film type when you continue.
— When you are satisfied with the calibration of your film and camera adapter, you can select another camera adapter and film type to calibrate, or you can click on the “Done” button to end the Calibration session.
• Page Sizes
ColorFast prints using different page sizes and aspect ratios from those used by printers. This means that you must do a Page Setup before you print any image that was formatted for another output device. If you do not do this, your document will be cropped, or placed incorrectly on the page. We recommend that you always choose Page Setup immediately after opening a new document. The Quick Reference card provided with your ColorFast describes the Page Setup procedure for some popular applications. In addition, it is important for you to choose QuickDraw rather than PostScript in any application that gives you a choice.
• Preview
ColorFast's preview option can help avoid wasted film and time. We recommend you preview documents before printing.
• Other Features
This release of the ColorFast software does not fully support some features that are documented in the ColorFast User’s Manual. These features are listed below and will be supported in the next release of the ColorFast software:
— Film Timer: This feature is not included at this time; software notification of the completion of film exposure and development on Pack films is not available. Exposure is complete when the green indicator light on ColorFast stops blinking. The print may then be pulled from the camera adapter. You will then need to let it develop for the appropriate amount of time before peeling it apart.
— Out of Film: Unlike the 35mm camera adapter and the AutoFilm camera adapter, the Pack camera adapter does not have a control connection to the ColorFast unit. Thus, the hardware and software cannot detect when the camera adapter is out of film. You will need to make sure that it does have film before printing, and that the film type matches the film type specified in the Page Setup and Print dialogs. When printing multiple pages to the 35mm or AutoFilm camera adapter you must make sure that there is enough unexposed film in the adapter to print all the pages you have specified. If ColorFast runs out of film the print job will be canceled without giving you an opportunity to reload new film. All images that have not been printed will then need to be printed with the new film.
• Compatibility: Below is a summary of third party software compatibility issues identified during the testing of ColorFast:
— You will need to use PowerPoint version 2.01d or later. Older versions may result in undesired white edges on the right and bottom of the print. This has been corrected in version 2.01d.
— When using a fountain background in More 3.0, certain patterns may result in a black band in the background. Choose another background pattern to prevent this.
— If “Cancel Printing” from within certain applications does not work, try pressing the command and period keys simultaneously.
— When printing a single image from Studio 8, make sure the check box for Multiple Pages is not selected in the print dialog box to avoid printing a second blank image. If you are printing a multi-page image, check the Multiple Pages box.
— When printing from Digital Darkroom you must choose “Gray” technique instead of black and white in the Print Dialog box.
• Quick Reference Card Errata: The following are additional tips that did not make it on the Quick reference card:
— SuperPaint: Select “Send Color to Printer” in the Page Setup.
— Excel: Select “Print Using Color” in the Print dialog box.
• Warm Up
You should allow ColorFast to warm up for about five to ten minutes after switching on the power. If you receive an AutoLuma error alert when you try to print, it may mean that ColorFast has not warmed up sufficiently. (See your ColorFast manual for information on AutoLuma errors).
• Changing Camera Adapters
You should have your ColorFast switched off when attaching either the 35mm or AutoFilm camera adapter.
• Patterns
Avoid using colors that are a composite of one- or two-pixel-wide repeating patterns. Whenever possible, use solid colors to get the best possible output from ColorFast.
• ColorFast 1.1.1 Changes
Adds support for the 4x5 camera adapter.
New, improved PolaBlue™ 35mm and HC PolaChrome™ 35mm film tables have been added.
Fixes a problem in the Color Dialog which causes an application’s palette to be incorrectly restored after the dialog closes.
Fixes a problem which caused an incorrect number of copies to be printed when printing multiple documents from the finder.
Corrects some “Out of Memory” errors when printing multiple documents from the GCC Print Manager application.
• ColorFast 1.1.2 changes
ColorFast 1.1.2 adds Quadra compatibility.
ColorFast 1.1.2 fixes a problem which could cause a print job to crash or hang when printing large photographic images in 4K mode.
We hope that you enjoy using your ColorFast Digital Film Recorder. If you have any comments or questions please contact our customer service center so that we may assist you in getting the best output quality that ColorFast can provide.
