Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!samsung!sdd.hp.com!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!ux1.cso.uiuc.edu!ux1.cso.uiuc.edu!m.cs.uiuc.edu!gillies From: gillies@m.cs.uiuc.edu Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.system Subject: Apple: Please fix Postscript on mac Message-ID: <70500007@m.cs.uiuc.edu> Date: 8 Jun 90 23:35:00 GMT Lines: 48 Nf-ID: #N:m.cs.uiuc.edu:70500007:000:2080 Nf-From: m.cs.uiuc.edu!gillies Jun 8 18:35:00 1990 In system 6.0 (or was it 5.2?), Apple fixed the "flashing alarm clock" problem. This used to be the most commonly asked question in comp.sys.mac.*. Now we turn our attention to generating postscript for non-apple printers, which is a mess. This is now the most commonly asked question in these newsgroups. System 7.0 is an ideal time to make the following improvements -- 1. The "disk file" checkbox should be visible in the laserwriter driver shipped with system 7.0 (or equivalent). 2. It should be possible to set this checkbox to be TURNED ON by default (or through the chooser). 3. The laserprep file produced on macintoshes is incompatible with virtually ALL non-apple printers. This is ridiculous. The whole idea of generating a laserprep file is for use on non-apple printers. Apple should revise its laserprep to make it run on other printers. They should take out the handful of non-standard, needless postscript instructions that cause most printers to choke. 4. The destination folder of the postscript file is always a surprise. This can be fixed with ResEdit, but only by changing the string resource and hard-wiring a hard disk name into the laserwriter icon. I'd like to see a more general way of specifying "Postscript files go into folder xyz". 5. The names "Postscript0".."Postscript9" are unimaginative. Personally, I NEED these names to stay the same in order to run my (brain-damaged) uploading RR9.4 scripts. But others would rather see the postscript from "file" named something like "file.ps" or "file.ps0".."file.ps9". It would be nice to provide both options. 6. MOST IMPORTANT: please add a page or two of documentation to the macintosh owner's manual. This will benefit the thousands of clueless users who don't have usenet access. I hope Apple will take these suggestions seriously, and clean up one of the great mysteries about macintosh printing. Don Gillies, Dept. of Computer Science, University of Illinois 1304 W. Springfield, Urbana, Ill 61801 ARPA: gillies@cs.uiuc.edu UUCP: {uunet,harvard}!uiucdcs!gillies