Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!think.com!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!unix.cis.pitt.edu!dsinc!bagate!cbmvax!cbmehq!cbmuk!cbmuka!psldev!tarnot From: tarnot@psldev.UUCP (Timothy W. Arnot) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.applications Subject: Re: SBase Professional 4: questions and answers Message-ID: Date: 27 May 91 21:13:42 GMT References: <1991May25.102224.1@cc.helsinki.fi> <1991May26.024619.1@acad2.alaska.edu> <1991May27.214744.4123@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu> Lines: 80 >In article <1991May27.214744.4123@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu> es1@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Ethan Solomita) writes: >In article <1991May26.024619.1@acad2.alaska.edu> axpmw@acad2.alaska.edu writes: >> >>One thing that did bug me, is that the number of printer drivers that came with >>the package is limited to 3 (PREFS, LaserjetIII and epson.) I happen to >>have a paintjet which could do more fonts, but I can't figure out how >>to tell superbase which fonts to use - anyone who has ideas let me know. >>Prefs does ok, but is limiting. >> > One noticable lack in Amiga software is the font support. Damn right! It ain't perfect, but look at Windows 3 for _really good_ font support. If I specify a font, CG_Times on a form (I have Intellifont for Windows installed) in Superbase, Windows provides a good (if slow) rendering on-screen, and invokes the CG_times font on my Laserjet III when I print it. Fast. There font support is at the OS, not the application level. It really pi$^(s me off that printing a document in ProPage in a CG font that is _built in_ to the _hardware_ of my printer should take so long because (a) the Amiga printer.device is incapable of mixing text and graphics on a page, and (b) PPage therefore has to print all the text as a bitmap. For the same page in the same font: ProPage = 12 minutes, Protext (my wordprocessor that has LaserjetIII support coded) = 15 seconds. Sorry, but it's a hobby horse with me (Send flames to .advocacy, or email) >It is amazing that many of our word processors have terrible font >support (read all). Here is why I think this is true: They are >all waiting for CBM to come up with an approved way to do >CompuGraphic fonts. Everyone knows CBM is doing it. The question >is really when, and how extensive the support will be. Well, Wordprocessors (in the UK anyway) fall into 2 categories; those that use the Amiga's bitmap fonts (Prowrite etc), and those that use the printers fonts (Protext, Wordperfect etc). The former look good on screen, and print lousy, the latter print well (but only after _much_ effort on the part of the user in terms of configuring the drivers to the printer) and look "MS-DOSish" on screen (not that that is bad per se). I do not think that "Compugraphic font support" is the panacea that people imagine, at least as far as printing is concerned. Ok, you could render the font at 300 dpi into a _huge_ RastPort (an A4 page would be somewhere around 1MB), and then wait 12 minutes for it to print. That would not be an acceptable option in a business environment, which is where SBpro4 is aimed. > i.e. it is easy to create a display font, but then to be >able to PRINT at full 300dpi without losing quality, that'll be >the feat. Why should these software companies go nuts doing >something which will eventually be done for them, and have them >do it in a non-standard way? > The only question is, how long will this take and how >much will bad Word Proc. programs and printouts have hurt the >market. You'd be amazed how critical business people are of the quality and speed of printed output. In the beta test period for SB4Windows, we literally had bug reports saying "SB takes 25 seconds to print this form, but Designer only takes 20". At the end of the day, businessmen look at sheets of paper, and that's the _only_ thing that counts. For real improvements in printer quality, I think we need to see more intelligence in the printer drivers and a _far_ greater knowledge of the hardware involved (including transparent HPPCL & postscript support, printer fonts etc.). Dream on. >Now the world has gone to bed, Now I lay me down to sleep, >Darkness won't engulf my head, Try to count electric sheep, >I can see by infrared, Sweet dream wishes you can keep, >How I hate the night. How I hate the night. -- Marvin -- Cheers, Tim. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Timothy W. Arnot cbmehq!cbmuk!cbmuka!psldev!tarnot Precision Software Ltd, R&D psldev@cix.co.uk Abingdon, Oxon, UK. "One magician is two too many" - Terry Pratchett Disclaimer: This is my opinion only and not that of my employer -----------------------------------------------------------------------