Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!tph
From: tph@cs.utexas.edu (Pow-Hwee Tan)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next
Subject: NeXT and non-laser printer (again)
Message-ID: <13115@cs.utexas.edu>
Date: 3 Oct 90 00:41:31 GMT
Organization: U. Texas CS Dept., Austin, Texas
Lines: 32

Greetings,

  I posted a question about using a non-laser printer with a NeXT
slab some time ago; and got no response except for one person who wants
the same information as well.

  Anyway, I noticed in the university MicroCenter that some 
non-technical type students are also interested in the NeXTstation,
probably using it primarily for text processing and other productivity
work (whatever this means).  In short, use it like a Mac.  Therefore
I think the possibility of using a non-laser printer with a NeXTstation
could be an important consideration for "average-student" who can 
afford a NeXTstation but afteer that without enough money to buy a
laser printer.  (eg. ME)

  What I was thinking is that since the NeXT screen is a bit-mapped
display, there must be routines in the NeXT OS that does the
mapping of PostScript commands to bitmaps (rasterizing).  Also,
I presume that the NeXT laser printer does not do much 
PostScript processing, with much of it done in the NeXT CPU.
Since the printer's resolution in terms of dpi is different from
that of the MegaPixel Display, the mapping routines probably accept
a "dpi" parameter.

  Therefore, wouldn't it be easy to write a driver to utilize
these PostScript-to-Bitmap functions and "bit-blast" the image
to a non-laser printer, such as a DeskWriter with 300 dpi?

  Comments anyone?

--
ph tan, CS Dept, UT Austin