Atari Works Document | 1994-01-22 | 12KB | 75 lines
Allegro
Allegro
#10 Envelopes
on the Hewlett Packard LaserJet 4 MP
by Richard Brown
Having recently acquired this fine printer, I immediately noticed difficulty in adjusting GEMvelope to make a decent envelope on the HP 4. So, why not figure it out in Works?
HOW TO DO IMAGESETTER PERFECT #10 ENVELOPES
ON THE HP 4 MP:
A. Buy an HP 4 MP. It costs the same as the HP 4 M at CompUSA, ($1,399) but the 4M requires $$$$ to add 4 more megs-o-RAM to "enable" PostScript printing. Odd. Although you don't need PostScript currently for Atari Works, it opens up unlimited possibilities even if you don't have a DTP or other program supporting PostScrtipt.
The reason many manufacturers tend to offer physically identical but functionally different models of a single product often is the fault of government contracts.
In my area, a government bid was seen a couple of years ago for Hayes 1200 baud modems. Hayes. Not Supra or any other brand. Not surprisingly, Hayes, originators of
"Command Set" shared by most modems, still makes 1200 baud units priced around $500 (!).
It all boils down to specifications. When government or institutional buying criteria bases itself upon minimum specifications, this creates tunnel vision, and often leads to strange things like HP 4M's and MP's at the same price.
4 MP comes with 6 megs of RAM, and an Appletalk port is added to go with the Serial and Parallel ones. So for the same money, I can have a 4M, 2 megs of RAM, no Appletalk, and no PostScript, or a 4 MP with everything including PostScript.
Don't allow the salesman to tell you the 4 MP is a Macintosh product. That's what I heard at CompUSA, which separates the $1,399 4M from the $1,399 4 MP by placing the 4 MP in with the Macs, a good hundred feet from the 4M. I picture a lot of DOS drones going and getting themselves a snow job on the 4M, which can have PostScript added by buying more RAM. We Atarians have a built-in need for "Power Without the Price."
So, to sum it all up: buy a Hewlett Packard LaserJet 4 MP. Don't be fooled by the 4M.
While the 4 MP is
a PostScript device, in Atari Works, we're concerned with PCL language. The HP 4 MP autoselects the correct protocol based on the headers it receives, so you can print whatever at whim.
B. Boot up with Speedo and the Speedo Printer Drivers accessory. Change the Speedo printer driver to HP LaserJet.
C. Load the file HP4LETTR.STW. Edit the address areas without changing their locations.
D. Consult page 5-11 of the HP4 manual. It shows how to load envelopes .
E. Make sure the "straight-through" mode is enabled by the mechanical switch at the back. This feature is extremely well implemented in the HP 4 MP.
F. Make a cursory check that the page format hasn't changed. It should be:
Page Size: A4 Letter Left Margin: 0
Right Margin: 1.5
Top Margin: 0
Landscape Mode
Bottom Margin: 1
E. Print Away: the quality is phenomenal.
F. Bit of a Warning: Do not attempt printing on envelopes with clasps, snaps, plastic or cellophane windows, etc. Use only "laser safe" envelopes made of paper. In humid clients and sometimes even dry ones, envelopes may be sealed by the printing, generally, they can be reopened without incident and used normally.
ABOUT THOSE UNLIMITED POSSIBILITIES:
PostScript is a page description language. Simple ASCII text is sent to the printer to describe what to do on the page. You can create a text file with commands to create effects on the PostScript printer. The effects can be very impressive.
For example (taken from page 110 of
PostScript by Example
/inch { 72 mul } def This little program makes a neat
/Palatino-BoldItalic findfont up-angled display of the phrase
2.5 inch scalefont setfont "fading in!" print to the page with
(.txt)