Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!qt.cs.utexas.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu!csn!convex!rosenkra From: rosenkra@convex.com (William Rosencranz) Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st Subject: Re: what's a prn_1000 file? Message-ID: <1991Jun30.155927.4929@convex.com> Date: 30 Jun 91 15:59:27 GMT References: <1991Jun28.024631.17876@noose.ecn.purdue.edu> Sender: usenet@convex.com (news access account) Organization: CONVEX Computer Corporation, Richardson, Tx., USA Lines: 51 Nntp-Posting-Host: convex1.convex.com In article gjh@hplb.hpl.hp.com (Graham Higgins) writes: >++ Is there some way of making it produce bitmap files for dot matrix printers >++ or an HP Deskjet? > >See above. > >If dot matrix = Epson then yes. >If printer = HPDJ or HPLJ then yes. i just downloaded (at 2400 baud :-( ) ghostscript yesterday to try it with my Epson LQ-1000. it works well. however, there are a few things to watch out for: 1) the print program, pr.ttp, sends what appears to be an eject for {desk,laser}jets at the end. this code happens to correspond to user-defined characters on Epson. remove it. send "ESC @" or formfeed instead. 2) at least on my LQ, each bitmap file sends an escape for 8/60th inch line spacing. this leaves a gap. you want 6/60th inch. again, i just hacked pr.c to read first 20-30 chars first, looking for the "ESC A 8" sequence and changing it to "ESC A 6", then read the file normally. the interline spacing sequence always seems to appear near the top of the prn_1xxx file (at least on the 4-5 files i tried). i also took out the ioctl on stdin since i did not use gcc to recompile. 3) the full ghostscript distribution (i found v2.2 on uunet.uu.net in the gnu directory there) contains fonts. helvetica and times roman seem ok, though times also seems to be missing some chars in the set (non-alphanum chars). you need 2-3 MB for the full font set available. 4) gs epson driver does not make use of the higher density graphics modes on the LQ and uses single density (8-pin) mode. crude, and not very effective for font sizes below about 16 pts. there is no way around this short of redoing the epson driver in gs itself. 5) interesting side note: good ol' arc 5.21 compresses the .gsf font files SMALLER than lharc (the unix versions i have, anyway). :-) other than that, gs seems excellent so far. enuf to make me want to finally replace/augment my aging 24-pin with the deskjet! kudos to the original autors and the ST porters... -bill rosenkra@convex.com -- Bill Rosenkranz |UUCP: {uunet,texsun}!convex!c1yankee!rosenkra Convex Computer Corp. |ARPA: rosenkra%c1yankee@convex.com