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From: daveh@cbmvax.commodore.com (Dave Haynie)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: C= (DAVE HAYNEIE) please read this too!  Questions on Hardcopy output
Message-ID: <12130@cbmvax.commodore.com>
Date: 1 Jun 90 22:31:48 GMT
References: <20724@snow-white.udel.EDU>
Reply-To: daveh@cbmvax (Dave Haynie)
Organization: Commodore, West Chester, PA
Lines: 43

In article <20724@snow-white.udel.EDU> 91_bickingd@gar.union.edu (Bicking, David) writes:

>DAVE HAYNIE and any other C= GURUS PLEASE respond.

On printers, you really want Dave Berezowski.  But he's probably as busy as 
the other software folks this week, so I'll take a stab at the problem.

>	I agree that the hardcopy output of the Amiga still leaves much to be
>desired.  I can compare a paper printed out (graphically) on the Amiga to one
>done on the MAC and see the MAC version is much better (much more professional
>and clean).  The fonts look very good.  Further, the printout for the MAC is
>much FASTER!  It takes forever to print a page on my LQ-800 (24 pin) printer in
>maximum resolution, and it comes out so-so :(

First of all, make sure you're using 1.3; there's no use for 1.2 print drivers.
Secondly, in the general case, the Mac has much less work to do.  Most Mac 
users have an Apple printer attached.  The Mac basic shows you 70DPI on screen,
the basic ImageWriter prints out 140DPI.  No magic necessary.  Laser printing 
is usually done via QuickDraw or PostScript, no bitmap dumps.

The Amiga, on the other hand, attempts to handle any possible printer, from
el-cheapo 9 pins dots matrix to laser printers.  The Amiga's internal image
is rarely, if ever, an exact multiple of the arbitary printer's full page
width.  So it has to do non-integer scaling, possibly with dithering added.
That takes more time than the "multiply by two" you get in the case of the
Mac.  You can usually change the scaling in Preferences on the Amiga to give
you integer scaling, which will always be faster.  

The best output on either machine will be using outline fonts instead of 
bitmapped fonts.  Programs such as Professional Page and PageStream on the
Amiga support Compugraphic outline fonts, and will deliver a much better image
than anything that can be done with bitmapped fonts on Amiga or Mac.  The
main reason PostScript looks so good (which is why I use it) is due to its 
internal outline fonts.

>Dave Bicking         	       Single Tasking????? Just say NO!!!!



-- 
Dave Haynie Commodore-Amiga (Amiga 3000) "The Crew That Never Rests"
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	"I have been given the freedom to do as I see fit" -REM