Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!cs.utexas.edu!natinst!rpp386!woody From: woody@rpp386.cactus.org (Woodrow Baker) Newsgroups: comp.lang.postscript Subject: Re: Using a postscript printer for previewing? Summary: previewing Message-ID: <17404@rpp386.cactus.org> Date: 5 Dec 89 13:54:10 GMT References: Distribution: comp Organization: River Parishes Programming, Plano, TX Lines: 35 In article , pollack@toto.cis.ohio-state.edu (Jordan B Pollack) writes: > > It seems like it might be possible, in principle, to get a cheap and > accurate postscript previewer given you already have postscript in a > printer. > > Couldn't this be achieved by mucking with the device, page-size and > scaling to matchd a host graphic screen or window, rendering inside the > printer at the reduced resolution, and redefining SHOWPAGE to print > the image back to the host in some innocuous ascii format? > > Does anyone have any pointers to it having been done already in some > PD or commercial product, or advice on potential problems (including > why, if its impossible) besides the slowness of serial transmission > speed? > > Jordan Yes, there is a product for the MAC and I under stand for the pc as well now, called LASERTALK that does just that. The way it works, is that it downloads a machinelanguage routine that implements a new postscript operator which causes the video screen to be dumped back. Adobe is extremely jealous of just how to do this, unfortunatly. The lasertalk people had to fork over a gob of cash to get the details from Adobe. One of the problems is that Adobe doesnot like to release genuinly usefull information like this. They will, if you pay enough, and sign umptyump agreements, but for the average Postscript developer, or freelancer, sadly they (Adobe) seem not to want to supply this stuff to. It is one of the reasons that I posted the comment that I did sometime earlier. I heard from Adobe over that one. Like all companies, individuals can be helpful, but corprate attitudes and cultures tend to put a damper on things..... Cheers Woody P.S. the above message is not ment to be derogratory in any way to Adobe.