Copyright: Copyright © 1994-97 Electronic Ink


The PrintOMatic Lite Xtra

Version 1.6.5

The PrintOMatic Lite Xtra provides essential printing functionality for Macromedia Director and Authorware. Its main purpose is to add a global print handler to Lingo that will print just about anything, and a printStage handler that easily prints the contents of the Stage.

You are free to use the unregistered version of PrintOMatic Lite royalty-free in all your Director productions. However, if you register your copy of PrintOMatic Lite for $50 U.S., you gain the ability to use the printStage command in your projectors, and you also get unlimited technical support for PrintOMatic Lite.

Registering PrintOMatic Lite

You can register your copy of PrintOMatic Lite on-line at the following location:

    http://www.printomatic.com

You can also print out an order form from the PrintOMatic Lite Demo movie, and mail or FAX it to Electronic Ink to register your copy of PrintOMatic Lite.

Topics in this Help file:

PrintOMatic "Heavy": The Full Version

Using PrintOMatic Lite

PrintOMatic Lite Message List

new

forget

reset

doPageSetup

doJobSetup

setLandscapeMode

setMargins

setDocumentName

setTextFont

setTextSize

setTextStyle

append

printPreview

print

printStage

getVersionTechnical Notes

Release Notes


PrintOMatic “Heavy”: The Full Version
PrintOMatic "Heavy": The Full Version

The PrintOMatic Xtra is the full featured version of PrintOMatic Lite. It is the premier printing tool for Macromedia Director and Authorware. PrintOMatic adds a full set of page-layout, text and graphics printing features to Director 5, Director 6, and Authorware 4 projects on Macintosh and Windows.

PrintOMatic includes commands for accurately specifying the position of any text or graphic element on the page. PrintOMatic documents can contain graphic files from disk, styled text, graphic primitives, cast member bitmaps, and snapshots of the Director stage.

Product Features

-	Generates multi-page layouts with full control over the placement of text and graphic elements on the page.

-	Print styled text: any combination of available fonts, sizes, or styles

-	Print PICT, BMP or EPS files from disk, any portion of the Director stage, or Director cast members.

-	Print object-oriented graphic primitives: lines, boxes, ovals and rounded rectangles.

-	"Master Page" can contain any combination of text or graphic elements

-	Automatic page numbering

-	Customizable and hideable Print Progress dialog

-	Paper-saving Print Preview feature

-	Supports all Macintosh and Windows compatible printers

-	Supports color and landscape-mode printing

-	Fully compatible with MacOS and Windows 95, 98, Me, NT, and 2000

Where to Find PrintOMatic

Unregistered but fully functioning "demonstration" copies of PrintOMatic are distributed as shareware. The latest version can always be downloaded from our Web site:

http://www.printomatic.com/

All documentation, sample code and ordering information for PrintOMatic is included in the downloadable distribution packages at this site.

Purchasing PrintOMatic

The PrintOMatic Xtra is published by Electronic Ink. A cross-platform copy of PrintOMatic, with a royalty-free, unlimited use license to use PrintOMatic in your multimedia productions costs $300.00 US.

You can download your copy of PrintOMatic from the Web sites listed above. The PrintOMatic demonstration movie, included with the download, prints out an order form for the PrintOMatic Xtra, as well as other Electronic Ink Xtras. To order your copy of PrintOMatic, simply fill out this form and FAX, mail, or e-mail it with payment information to:

Electronic Ink

PO Box 3473

Crested Butte, CO 81224

Tel: (970) 349-1747

Email: info@printomatic.com


Using PrintOMatic Lite

The PrintOMatic Lite Xtra can be used in two ways. The first and simplest way to use PrintOMatic Lite is by calling the global print command, passing the Director object(s) you would like to print as parameters:

print member "illustration" of castLib 1

print "Some example text for printing"

print sprite 1, sprite 5

print castLib "documentation"

If all you have to do is print something out quickly and easily, you can stop reading now; hat's all there is to it.

Using an Instance of the PrintOMatic Lite Xtra

The second way of using PrintOMatic Lite, which is more powerful and customizable than  simply using the global print command,  is to create an instance of the Xtra using the new command:

set doc = new(xtra "PrintOMatic_Lite")

if not objectP(doc) then exit

An instance of the PrintOMatic Lite Xtra is called a "document object ". Be sure to check the validity of the document object using the objectP() function before continuing.  Once you have created a document object, you can change its attributes, such as the document's name, margins and landscape orientation:

setDocumentName doc, "My Document"

setMargins doc, Rect(36,36,36,36)

setLandscapeMode doc, TRUE

Then, you can add items such as sprites and cast members to the document object using the append command:

append doc, member "title" of castLib 1

append doc, sprite 1

Text field cast members will be printed with all their fonts and styles intact. Rich text cast members' bitmap images will be printed. However, text strings have no inherent style data associated with them. You can use setTextFont, setTextSize and setTextStyle to set the attributes of text strings that you append.

setTextFont doc, "Helvetica"

setTextSize doc, 10

setTextStyle doc, "normal"

append doc, copyrightInfo

When you have appended all the elements you want to print to the document object, show the user the job setup dialog, and print the document if doJobSetup returns TRUE. If you don't want the user to see the job setup dialog, omit the call to doJobSetup.

if doJobSetup(doc) then print doc

Finally, dispose of the document object by setting its value equal to zero. This will release all the memory taken up by the PrintOMatic Lite document.

set doc = 0


PrintOMatic Lite Message List

This is the full list of commands supported by the PrintOMatic Lite Xtra.

-- CREATE/DESTROY/RESET A DOCUMENT

new object

forget object

reset object

--

-- DOCUMENT PRINTING SETUP

doPageSetup object

doJobSetup object

setLandscapeMode object, boolean

setMargins object, rect

setDocumentName object, string

--

-- TEXT ATTRIBUTES

setTextFont object, string

setTextSize object, int

setTextStyle object, string

--

-- APPEND TO DOCUMENT

append object, *

--

-- PRINTING

* printPreview *

* print *

--

--MISCELLANEOUS

+ getVersion object


new

Syntax:	set doc = new(xtra "PrintOMatic_Lite")

The new command is used to create a new instance of the PrintOMatic Lite  Xtra. The newly created instance is called a document object, since it represents a printable "document": a collection of items that are printed together in a single print job by PrintOMatic Lite.

Once the document has been created, its settings can be modified, items can be appended to the document, and it can be printed or displayed in a print preview window.

Important Note:

new will return an error code instead of a document object if there is no currently selected printer, or a printing error occurs. Always check the result of new with the objectP() function to make sure you have a valid Xtra instance before continuing!

Example:

The following code example creates a new document, sets the page orientation to landscape mode, creates a new page and "frame" on the page, appends an image with a caption to the document, and prints the document:

set doc = new(xtra "PrintOMatic_Lite")

if not objectP(doc) then exit

setLandscapeMode doc, TRUE

append doc, member "picture", TRUE

append doc, RETURN & "Image printed by the PrintOMatic Lite Xtra.", TRUE

if doJobSetup (doc) = TRUE then print doc

set doc = 0


forget

You should never call the forget command directly for an instance of a Lingo Xtra. Director automatically calls forget  when an instance of an Xtra needs to be disposed; calling forget yourself can lead to memory leaks or crashing.

Use the following syntax to explicitly get rid of a PrintOMatic Lite document when you are done using it:

set doc = 0

Where doc is the PrintOMatic Lite document you want to dispose of. Explicitly disposing of documents is optional, since Director will automatically get rid of the object when it's no longer referenced anyway.


reset

Syntax:	reset document

The reset command is used to reset an instance of a PrintOMatic Lite document. All the contents of the document and any existing pages are deleted. The page settings, such as margins and page orientation, are maintained; they are NOT reset to default values.


doPageSetup

Syntax:	doPageSetup(document)

Returns:	TRUE if the user clicks "OK" in the page setup dialog

FALSE  if the user clicks "Cancel" in the page setup dialog

The doPageSetup function displays the Page Setup dialog for a document. This function must be called on an empty document, before any elements are added to it. doPageSetup returns TRUE if the user clicks the "OK" button in the dialog box, or FALSE if the user clicks "Cancel".


doJobSetup

Syntax:	doJobSetup(document)

Returns:	TRUE if the user clicks "Print" in the job setup dialog

FALSE if the user clicks "Cancel" in the job setup dialog

The doJobSetup function displays the job setup dialog for a PrintOMatic Lite document. This function should be called right before printing. If doJobSetup returns TRUE, the user clicked the "Print" button, and printing should proceed. If doJobSetup returns FALSE, the user clicked "Cancel", and you should not print the document. This function cannot be called on an empty document.

Example:

This is the recommended way of calling doJobSetup right before printing a PrintOMatic Lite document:

if doJobSetup (doc) = TRUE then print doc


setDocumentName

Syntax:	setDocumentName document, name

This command sets the name of a PrintOMatic Lite document, which is displayed in the print progress dialog as the document prints. If background printing is enabled, this document name is also displayed by PrintMonitor (Mac) or Print Manager (Windows) as your document prints in the background.


setLandscapeMode

Syntax:	setLandscapeMode document, trueOrFalse

This command switches the page orientation of a PrintOMatic Lite documentbetween landscape and portrait orientation. Since this method changes the whole coordinate system of the document, your document must be empty when you call setLandscapeMode. You can call reset on your document beforehand just to make sure.

In Windows, this method works in a very straightforward manner: call it, and the landscape mode changes.

Unfortunately, it's an entirely different story on the Macintosh. The only safe way to change the page orientation on the Mac is by showing the Page Setup dialog and letting the user manually select landscape mode. While showing a Page Setup dialog may be fine for normal software applications such as Word, it's often unacceptable in the context of a multimedia production.

To get around this, PrintOMatic Lite for the Macintosh relies on a "printer database" to store default landscape and portrait page setups for the most common Macintosh printers. This printer database consists of a set of 'PHDL' resources located in the same file as the PrintOMatic Lite Xtra. This database is used by the setLandscapeMode method in the Macintosh version of PrintOMatic Lite.

If the currently selected printer is not found in the printer database, the user is asked to MANUALLY create default Page Setups for landscape and portrait modes, and those settings are saved and added to the database. This is done through a series of prompt dialogs presented automatically by PrintOMatic Lite when you call setLandscapeMode for an unknown printer.

These user-configured "custom entries" to the printer database are stored in a file called "PrintOMatic Preferences" in the Preferences folder on the user's hard disk. Subsequent calls to setLandscapeMode on the same computer, with the same printer selected, won't present any annoying dialogs.

What the presence of this "printer database" means is that when you change the landscape mode on the Macintosh, all the other Page Setup settings such as scaling, font substitution, etc., will also revert to those found in the printer database. This is important if the user has changed any of these settings (during a call to doPageSetup) before setLandscapeMode is called.


setMargins

Syntax:	setMargins document, marginRect

This command sets the margins of a PrintOMatic Lite document. The marginRect parameter is in the form of a Lingo Rect. Values are specified in the format Rect(left, top, right, bottom). The measurements are in points (72 points to the inch). Since this method changes the whole coordinate system of the document, your document must be empty when you call setMargins. Call reset on your document beforehand just to make sure.

Example:

The following example creates a new document and sets the margins to two inches (144 points) on the left, and one inch (72 points) on all other sides.

set doc = new(xtra "PrintOMatic_Lite")

if not objectP(doc) then exit

setMargins doc, Rect(144,72,72,72)


setTextFont

Syntax:	setTextFont document, fontName

Returns:	TRUE if the requested font was available

FALSE if the requested font could not be found

This command sets the text font that will be applied to non-styled text data (such as strings) that are subsequently appended to the PrintOMatic Lite document. If the requested font is not available, the default font (Geneva on the Macintosh, Arial on Windows) is used.

Note that the current font set using setTextFont will be overridden by the fonts, sizes and styles within styled text field cast members that you subsequently append to your document. The default font used for non-styled text data after appending a styled text field will be the last font contained within the text field.


setTextSize

Syntax:	setTextSize document, fontSize

This command sets the text size that will be applied to non-styled text data (such as strings) that are subsequently appended to the PrintOMatic Lite document.


setTextStyle

Syntax:	setTextStyle document, styleString

This command sets the text style that will be applied to non-styled text data (such as strings) that are subsequently appended to the PrintOMatic Lite document. The names of the style values correspond exactly to the Director "textStyle" property. Possible values for text styles are:

normal

plain

bold

italic

underline

On the Macintosh, the following additional styles are available:

outline

condense

extend

shadow

All values except normal or plain are added together in a call to setTextStyle, so you can combine a number of styles together in a single call.

Example:

The following example creates a PrintOMatic Lite document, sets the default font to bold italicized 10 point Helvetica, and prints a short text string:

set doc = new(xtra "PrintOMatic_Lite")

if not objectP(doc) then exit

setTextStyle doc, "bold, italic"

setTextFont doc, "Helvetica"

setTextSize doc, 10

append doc, "Some sample text to print out."

if doJobSetup(doc) then print doc

set doc = 0


append

Syntax:	append document, member whichCastmember [, ... ]

append document, member whichCastmember of castLib whichLib [, ... ]

append document, castLib whichCast [, ... ]

append document, sprite whichSprite [, ... ]

append document, string [, ... ]

append document, list [, ... ]

The append command appends one or more items to a PrintOMatic Lite document.

type of object	what gets appended

_________________________________________________________________

text field cast member	the text of the field, using the

specified fonts and styles

rich text cast member	the bitmap image of the cast member,

including anti-aliasing

bitmap cast member	the cast member graphic

PICT cast member	the cast member graphic

cast library	all printable cast members in the

library, in cast sequence

sprite	the cast member of the sprite

text string	the text string, in the default font

(Geneva 10pt on Macintosh,

Arial 10pt on Windows)

list	the elements in the list

Example:

The following example creates a PrintOMatic Lite document, sets the document name, creates the first page, adds a frame to it, and appends a number of items to the document, and prints it:

set doc = new(xtra "PrintOMatic_Lite")

if not objectP(doc) then exit

setDocumentName doc, "My Example Document"

append doc, sprite 1, TRUE

append doc, [member "image", member "caption", sprite 5], TRUE

append doc, castLib "printout", TRUE

if doJobSetup(doc) then print doc

set doc = 0


printPreview

Syntax:	printPreview(document)

printPreview(any [, ... ])

Returns:	TRUE if the user previews all the pages in the document

FALSE if the user cancels the print preview

This function displays an on-screen facsimile of the output that the print command will generate when it is passed the same set of parameters. printPreview will display a preview of a documentas well as sets of strings, sprites, cast members, lists, etc. See the print command for a complete list of the elements that can be previewed.

Typing any key or clicking in the preview window advances to the next page; typing command-period (Escape on Windows) cancels the preview without displaying all the pages. When the document can't be displayed on the main screen at 100% size (which is most of the time, unless you have a big monitor), the page is scaled to fit.


print

Syntax:	print member whichCastmember [,... ]

print member whichCastmember of castLib whichLib [, ... ]

print castLib whichCast  [, ... ]

print sprite whichSprite  [, ... ]

print string [, ... ]

print list [, ... ]

print document

The print command is an extension to Lingo provided by the PrintOMatic Lite Xtra. This command is used to print one or more items to the currently selected printer. The following Director objects are printable:

type of object	what gets printed

_________________________________________________________________

text field cast member	the text of the field, using the

specified fonts and styles

rich text cast member	the bitmap image of the cast member,

including anti-aliasing

bitmap cast member	the cast member graphic

PICT cast member	the cast member graphic

cast library	all printable cast members in the

library, in cast sequence

sprite	the cast member of the sprite

text string	the text string, in the default font

(Geneva 10pt on Macintosh,

Arial 10pt on Windows)

list	the elements in the list

document	the contents of the PrintOMatic Lite document

Examples:

You can print a number of objects together with a single call to the print command:

print "Printed Output" & RETURN , member "image" , member "someText"

One of the most powerful uses of the print command is to assemble all the elements of a document into a single cast library, and print the entire cast library with one line of Lingo:

print castLib "document"


printStage

Syntax:	printStage [(grabOffscreen)]

Returns:	TRUE, if printing was successful, FALSE if printing was canceled.

This function prints the contents of the Stage (or Authorware presentation window) with one command. This routine uses a “best fit” method to position the stage contents on the printed page. If the stage is wider than it is tall, the paper orientation is automatically switched to landscape mode. If the stage is exceptionally large, it is proportionally scaled to fit on the page within one-inch margins. The output is always centered on the page.

The grabOffscreen parameter affects whether the image on the stage is grabbed from the screen, or Director’s offscreen buffer. The default is to grab from the offscreen buffer, which will not capture “trails”, overlapping movies-in-a-window, the mouse cursor, or other windows. If grabOffscreen is false, the Xtra will take a “screen shot” of the stage, including all “trails”, and any other elements that may overlap the stage.

This command is not available in projectors until you register your copy of PrintOMatic Lite.

Examples:

printStage        -– prints from offscreen buffer

printStage(FALSE) -- prints a screen shot


getVersion

Syntax:	getVersion(xtra "PrintOMatic_Lite ")

Returns:	the version number of the Xtra, in string form

This function returns the version number of the xtra.

Example:

set version = getVersion(xtra "PrintOMatic_Lite")

if version <> "1.5.5" then alert "Incompatible Xtra version."


PrintOMatic Technical Notes
PrintOMatic Lite Technical Notes

You can always view the most recent Tech Notes about PrintOMatic Lite on our web site at http://www.printomatic.com/

-1 Error When Printing on Windows

Are Serial Numbers Cross-Platform?

Blank Output in Windows

Can't Print an Empty Document

Linked Cast Members Don't Print

Macintosh PHDL Resources

Selecting Paper Sizes on Macintosh

Selecting Paper Sizes on Windows

Serial Numbers & Registration

Shockwave and PrintOMatic

Text Fields Print with Incorrect Fonts

Text Members and PrintOMatic

Text/RTF Members Print Too Small

Using PrintOMatic in Windows 3.1

Using PrintOMatic With Authorware

Xtra Not Found Errors


Tech Note:-1 Error When Printing on Windows

Updated: 8/22/99
Products: PrintOMatic Xtra 1.6.5 , PrintOMatic Lite Xtra 1.6.5
Platforms: Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT

When trying to print using PrintOMatic or PrintOMatic Lite for Windows, an error dialog pops up that says: "The printer could not be initialized. Error code=-1"

This the result of using an out-of-date version of PrintOMatic with Director 7.

The solution is to download the latest version of PrintOMatic or PrintOMatic Lite.

For those who are interested, some background about this problem. This error is the result of a conflict between Director 7, and version 4 and later of Microsoft's MFC class libraries, which renders MFC unable to initialize the printer.

Version 1.5.8 and later of the PrintOMatic and PrintOMatic Lite Xtras for Windows were compiled using the version 2 MFC libraries, which do not have this conflict.


Tech Note: Are Serial Numbers Cross-Platform?

Updated: 8/22/99
Products: PrintOMatic Xtra 1.6.5 , Table Xtra 1.0 , Yak Xtra 1.1 , PrintOMatic Lite Xtra 1.6.5
Platforms: 68K Macintosh, Power Macintosh, Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT

Yes. You only have to buy one serial number for Electronic Ink's cross-platform Xtras, such as PrintOMatic, PrintOMatic Lite, Table, and Yak. The same serial number works on both Macintosh and Windows versions of these products.


Tech Note: Blank Output on Windows

Updated: 3/22/01
Products: PrintOMatic Xtra 1.6.5 , PrintOMatic Lite Xtra 1.6.5
Platforms: Windows 98, Windows 95, Windows NT

Blank or garbled output from PrintOMatic and PrintOMatic Lite for Windows is almost always a result of two factors: 16-bit color depth, combined with out-of-date or poorly written print drivers, particularly drivers for Hewlett-Packard printers. The problem sometimes occurs with systems set to 32 bit color, in addition to 16 bits. The problem is more prevalent with larger images than small.

If you are having problems printing a LINKED cast member, consult the tech note "Linked Cast Members Don't Print"

Nearly every problem with printing true color images or screen shots with PrintOMatic can be attributed to out of date or flawed printer drivers. Just because other programs can print doesn't mean your drivers are OK. Part of the problem is that very few programs actually send 16-bit data to the printer. Photoshop, for example, always sends 24-bit data to the printer, regardless of the source bit depth.

The blank output problem most commonly occurs when using Hewlett Packard print drivers to print to a black & white HP printer. We are discovering that these are the worst print drivers in the industry, with the most poorly implemented color support. HP is virtually the only manufacturer whose drivers have color printing flaws that cause PrintOMatic pages to come out blank.

Some Background

PrintOMatic is one of a very few programs that actually send data to the printer at the source bit depth, which for many people running Windows 95 and NT, happens to be 16 bits per pixel.

A bit of history. In Windows 3.1 and earlier, the only "legal" bit depths for DIB data (Windows' internal format for bitmapped images) were 1, 4, 8,and 24. The format was very rigid, and very simple. When Microsoft wrote Windows NT and 95, they expanded the DIB format to include a number of new bit depths (16 bits among them), and a number of extra features for handling true-color images better.

When printer driver developers updated their Windows 3.1 drivers to work in Windows 95 and NT, many of them forgot about the expanded DIB format that these operating systems supported. Some who didn't forget simply did a poor job of implementing 16-bit support. (Developers of VIDEO drivers were much better about this.) The result was print drivers that didn't support 16-bit image data, or did so poorly, even though the operating systems now had full 16-bit color support.

Over the past couple of years, most driver developers have finally stepped into line with 16-bit image data support. As a result, getting the latest version of the drivers for your printer will often solve the "blank page" bug when printing true color images with PrintOMatic.

However, many HP print drivers, especially drivers for their black & white printers, still contain color printing flaws as described above.

Recommended Solutions

1. Update your print drivers to the latest version from HP's web site.

2. Manually change the screen depth to 8 bits (most reliable) or 24 bits.

3. Detect the screen depth using the colorDepth. If the colorDepth = 16, then alert the user and use an Xtra like The DisplayRes Xtra to switch bit depth on the fly. (A tutorial on the DisplayRes Xtra is out of the scope of this tech note.)


Tech Note: Can't Print an Empty Document
Tech Note: Can’t Print an Empty Document

Updated: 9/18/00
Products: PrintOMatic Xtra 1.6.5 , PrintOMatic Lite Xtra 1.6.5
Platforms: 68K Macintosh, Power Macintosh

The Problem: When trying to print a sprite using the syntax:

   print sprite X

PrintOMatic responds with an error: "Can't print an empty document."

The Solution: There is a Lingo bug in the Macintosh version of Director 7 and later that prevents this syntax from working. Instead, use the syntax:

   print the member of sprite X


Tech Note: Customizing (and Hiding) the Print Dialogs

Updated: 4/17/01
Products: PrintOMatic Xtra 1.6.5
Platforms: 68K Macintosh, Windows 3.1, Windows 98, Power Macintosh, Windows 95, Windows NT

There are three dialogs associated with the printing process in PrintOMatic. These dialogs are:

• The Page Setup Dialog

• The Job Setup Dialog

• The Print Progress Dialog

The first two dialogs can be displayed to the user or not, at your discretion. The Print Progress dialog can be hidden from the user, positioned wherever you want it on the screen, or customized with a graphic of your choice.

Pre-Requisites

Before you can customize the printing dialogs, you must be using document objects instead of the simple "print" commands to do your printing.

You create a document object by "creating an instance" of the PrintOMatic Xtra, and then manipulating the document object before you finally print its contents. A basic printing framework that uses a document object to print (with the normal dialogs) looks like this:

   set doc = new (xtra "printomatic")
   if not objectp(doc) then exit
   append doc, member "blah"
   if doJobSetup(doc) = TRUE then print doc
   set doc = 0

Displaying the Page Setup Dialog

You must display the page setup dialog box before you add anything to your document. Once you start addding items to your document object, the page layout cannot be changed. Display the page setup dialog by adding a new line to the basic script:

   set doc = new (xtra "printomatic")
   if not objectp(doc) then exit
   if doPageSetup(doc) = FALSE then exit
   append doc, member "blah"
   if doJobSetup(doc) = TRUE then print doc
   set doc = 0

The "if" statement bracketing the doPageSetup command cancels the print job if the user clicks the "Cancel" button.

Hiding the Job Setup Dialog

It's easy to hide the job setup dialog box from your users. Simply don't call doJobSetup() before calling print:

   set doc = new (xtra "printomatic")
   if not objectp(doc) then exit
   append doc, member "blah"
   print doc
   set doc = 0

Hiding the Print Progress Dialog

To hide the print progess dialog, use the setProgessLoc() command to position it off the screen using negative coordinates:

   set doc = new (xtra "printomatic")
   if not objectp(doc) then exit
   append doc, member "blah"
   setProgressLoc doc, Point(-1000,-1000)
   if doJobSetup(doc) = TRUE then print doc
   set doc = 0

The setProgessLoc command is only available when you register your copy of the Xtra.

Customizing the Print Progress Dialog

You cam place your own custom bitmap into the Print Progress Dialog. Simply use the setProgressPict() command to specify a bitmap cast member you would like to use:

   set doc = new (xtra "printomatic")
   if not objectp(doc) then exit
   append doc, member "blah"
   setProgressPict doc, member "myprogresspict"
   if doJobSetup(doc) = TRUE then print doc
   set doc = 0

The setProgessPict command is only available when you register your copy of the Xtra.


Tech Note: Linked Cast Members Don't Print
Tech Note: Linked Cast Members Don’t Print

Updated: 3/22/01
Products: PrintOMatic Xtra 1.6.5 , PrintOMatic Lite Xtra 1.6.5
Platforms: 68K Macintosh, Windows 3.1, Windows 98, Power Macintosh, Windows 95, Windows NT

The Problem:

Cast members that are linked to a file on disk (especially a large or high-resolution file) don't print.

Solution:

You might have to force Director to preload the cast member using the preloadCast command, before you print the member.

Also, the default memory size for projectors on the Macintosh is quite small. You might have to increase the projector's memory usage in order to have enough memory for the projector to properly load the cast member for printing.


Tech Note: Macintosh PHDL Resources

Updated: 8/22/99
Products: PrintOMatic Xtra 1.6.5
Platforms: 68K Macintosh, Power Macintosh

What PHDLs Are Used For

Because Apple supplies a non-standard method for handling landscape printing mode, PrintOMatic Xtra uses an internal PHDL resource to provide information which in fact is printer driver specific. As shipped, the PHDL resource covers most known common Macintosh compatible laser printers.

If you attempt to set landscape mode on a printer which is "unknown", PrintOMatic Xtra puts up a special one-time only dialog asking for some information which it then stores in the PHDL resource of a special file named "PrintOMatic Preferences" that PrintOMatic Xtra will use in future sessions. The "PrintOMatic Preferences" file is stored in your System Folder's "Preferences" folder.

It's not so much related to *brand* of printer as it is to the printer *driver*. For example, Apple's LaserWriter driver is used for just about every PostScript printer that's out there. Printer-specific features are implemented by the Macintosh OS via .PPD files. This is nice, because it allows the same driver (with the same printer database entry) to be used for a lot of printers.

Which PHDL Resources Come with PrintOMatic?

The default PHDL resources are actually named with the driver that generated them, so you can just look at the names with ResEdit or Resourcer. These are the ones that are in there:

• Express Fax Sender

• ImageWriter

• LaserWriter

• LaserWriter 300

• CoStar LabelWriter

• Acrobat PDFWriter

• LinkSaver 6.1

You don't actually have to have the printer attached to your machine to generate these entries; you just have to have the driver selected in the Chooser. Then calling setLandscapeMode will prompt you to configure the default Landscape and Portrait page setups, and write the appropriate 'PHDL' resources to the "PrintOMatic Preferences" file.

How to Install Custom PHDLs

Using the following steps, you can not only add additional PHDL resources to PrintOMatic Xtra but you can change the default paper sizes used by PrintOMatic Xtra! Here's how to do this:

1. Install all of the printer drivers you want to create PHDL resources for into your Extensions folder.

2. Launch Director (with PrintOMatic Xtra installed in your Xtras folder.)

3. Create an instance of the PrintOMatic Xtra in Director: put new(xtra "PrintOMatic") into doc

4. Use the Chooser to select every print driver (one at a time) and call setLandscapeMode for each driver: setLandscapeMode doc, TRUE

5. Following the on-screen prompts, carefully configure the default landscape and portrait page setup. They'll be saved to the "PrintOMatic Preferences" file in your Preferences folder.

6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 until you have used every printer driver.

7. Quit Director.

Now, you need to copy the PHDL resources from the "PrintOMatic Preferences" file that has been created into a new copy of the PrintOMatic Xtra...

1. Make a backup copy of your PrintOMatic Xtra file. IMPORTANT!!!

2. Open your backup copy of the PrintOMatic Xtra file with ResEdit or Resourcerer.

3. If you want to change the default paper sizes for existing PHDL resources, delete the existing PHDL resources.

4. Open your "PrintOMatic Preferences" file with ResEdit or Resourcer.

5. Copy the desired PHDL resources from the "PrintOMatic Preferences" file into the PHDL section of the PrintOMatic Xtra backup file.

6. Save the changes to the PrintOMatic Xtra backup file.

You're done. Now try everything out by using your modified backup copy of the PrintOMatic Xtra and see if you have properly copied the PHDL resources into the Xtra. Once you have tested everything carefully, you can use your modified copy of the PrintOMatic Xtra for your shipping project!


Tech Note: Selecting Paper Sizes on Macintosh

Updated: 8/22/99
Products: PrintOMatic Xtra 1.6.5 , PrintOMatic Lite Xtra 1.6.5
Platforms: 68K Macintosh, Power Macintosh

The PrintOMatic and PrintOMatic Lite Xtras use the current printer driver to determine the default paper size for your documents. You can control this setting in a number of ways:

Selecting a Printer Driver

On Macintosh systems, you select your printer driver using the Chooser application (accessible from the Apple menu.) When you open the Chooser, you are presented with icons representing the different printer drivers that you have installed. After you select the desired driver, the Chooser will display all available printers on the right side of the dialog. Next, you click on the name of the printer that you want to use.

On Macintosh systems, selecting a printer and printer driver does NOT give you the option of selecting the default paper size. This setting is controlled explicitly from the standard Page Setup dialog.

Therefore, to allow PrintOMatic Xtra documents to be printed using paper sizes other than the default, you need to use the doPageSetup command. Using doPageSetup If you plan to make use of this PrintOMatic Xtra command, you should call it prior to adding any content to your document. This command will give the user the opportunity to select the paper size they want to use by displaying an OS standard Page Setup dialog.

Once the user has made their selection, you can determine the dimensions of the paper size that they have selected by using the getPaperWidth() and getPaperHeight() functions. In addition, you can adjust the document layout space to the maximum allowed by the current paper size setting by using the setPrintableMargins command.

Using SavePageSetup and LoadPageSetup

If you want to make a specific paper size the default, you can accomplish this on the Macintosh by using the savePageSetup and loadPageSetup commands. The savePageSetup command uses the following syntax: savePageSetup object, string fileName, string fileType, string fileCreator, int resourceID object: this should be the instance of the PrintOMatic Xtra you have created fileName: this should be an explicit path and filename for storing the page setup information fileType: this should be a four character sequence. You can use something of your own design, such as "PAGE" fileCreator: this should be a four character sequence. You can use something of your own design, such as "POMX" resourceID: this should be an integer value from 1 to 255. You can save multiple page setups into the same file, so you can use this id to identify the separate page setups.

Example:

    savePageSetup myDocument, the pathName & "pageSetups", "PAGE", "POMX", 1

You can treat this command as a function to verify that your attempt to save the page setup information was successful:

    put savePageSetup(myDocument, the pathName & "pageSetups", "PAGE", "POMX", 1) into saveSuccess
        if saveSuccess then
        -- continue on
    end if

It's important to note that this command saves the information currently stored in the Page Setup dialog. So, if you want to save non-default settings, you need to first call the doPageSetup command to allow the user to select new settings.

Alternatively, you can do this yourself prior to delivering your project. You can save multiple page setups into the same file (or use separate page setup files) so you can store the settings for several paper sizes in advance.

Once you have created page setup files, you can use them with the loadPageSetup command. The loadPageSetup command uses the following syntax:

    loadPageSetup object, fileName, resourceID

object: this should be the instance of the PrintOMatic Xtra you have created

fileName: this should be an explicit path and filename for storing the page setup information

resourceID: this should be an integer value from 1 to 255. You can save multiple page setups into the same file, so you can use this id to identify the separate page setups.


Tech Note: Selecting Paper Sizes on Windows

Updated: 8/22/99
Products: PrintOMatic Xtra 1.6.5 , PrintOMatic Lite Xtra 1.6.5
Platforms: Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT

The PrintOMatic Xtra uses the current printer driver to determine the default paper size for your documents. You can control this setting in a number of ways:

Selecting a Printer Driver

On Windows systems, you select your printer driver using the Printer Control Panel. When you open this control panel, you will be prompted with the option of selecting a printer driver (the method of this selection varies between versions of the Windows OS.) Once you have selected a printer driver, you can access the Properties for that printer driver. In the Properties dialog, you will find an option for selecting paper size.

Unlike the Macintosh OS, here you can specify the default paper size to be used by PrintOMatic Xtra. On Windows, PrintOMatic Xtra gets all of its page size and orientation information from the printer driver that is currently active. After changing your printer driver settings you need to restart Director or your runtime application so that PrintOMatic Xtra will recognize them.

Using SavePageSetup and LoadPageSetup

There is no equivalent to the savePageSetup and loadPageSetup commands for Windows. This is due to the way that the Windows OS functions.

PHDL Resources

There is no equivalent to the PHDL resources and PrintOMatic Preferences file for Windows.

Summary

In short, the only way to set the paper size to a non-default setting is to either manually change the paper size using the Printer Control Panel options or to display the Page Setup dialog using the doPageSetup command provided by PrintOMatic Xtra.


Tech Note: Serial Numbers and Registration

Updated: 1/29/00
Products: PrintOMatic Xtra 1.6.5 , Table Xtra 1.0 , Yak Xtra 1.1 , PrintOMatic Lite Xtra 1.6.5

Purchasing a Serial Number

Being a modern and low overhead company, we don't actually have product disks, manuals, and boxes to sell. Instead, you can download as many products as you want from our Web site, and buy serial numbers for them from our web site once you're convinced they fit your needs.

By buying serial numbers instead of boxes with disks in them, you get fully registered software right away, and you avoid paying any sales tax or shipping.

Registering Your Xtra

All of Electronic Ink's Xtras must be registered using Lingo code. You need to place a call to the Xtra's "register" routine in a place where it will run as soon as your movie is started. We recommend placing this code in your startMovie handler:

    register xtra "[xtra name]", "[serial number]"

When you purchase a serial number for one of our Xtras, you will receive an email with more specific and detailed registration instructions.

The Registration Dialog Box

Some versions of our Xtras had a registration dialog box. This dialog has been removed in recent releases, because this registration system proved unreliable. The ONLY way to properly register an Electronic Ink Xtra is using Lingo.

Common Registration Problems

The most common registration problem is placing your registration Lingo in a place where it does not get executed.

The most common problem occurs when your on startMovie handler is not located in a MOVIE script cast member. To confirm the type of script member, click the "info" button at the top of the script window that contains your registration code. The Type of the script should be "Movie".

If this is not the case, you need to create a new movie script cast member for your registration code. In Director, type command-zero (Mac) or Ctrl-zero (Windows) to open a script window. If this window already contains a script, click on the "+" (plus) icon at the top left corner of the script window to create a blank script member. Check the type of the member by clicking on the "info" icon at the top of the window. The type should be "Movie". Then insert your registration code into the script window:

    on startMovie
        register xtra "PrintOMatic", "[serial number]"
    end

The serial number can be found in your registration email.

Registration problems can also happen if you inadvertently have more than one on startMovie handler. To check for duplicate startMovie handlers, simply perform a find in all casts for "startMovie". A handler that begins with on startMovie should only appear ONCE.

Another PrintOMatic-specific problem is having both PrintOMatic and PrintOMatic Lite Xtras installed at the same time. Since both Xtras support the printStage handler and other handlers, you might end up registering the lite version of the Xtra, while printing using an unregstered copy of the full version. The solution is to only install the Xtra you are registering: if you are using the Lite version of PrintOMatic, remove all copies of the full version from your Xtras folder, and vice versa.


Tech Note: Shockwave and PrintOMatic

Updated: 8/2/00
Products: PrintOMatic Xtra 1.6.5 , PrintOMatic Lite Xtra 1.6.5
Platforms: Windows 95, Power Macintosh, Windows 98

The PrintOMatic and PrintOMatic Lite Xtras have been created "safe for Shockwave", and are available for use and auto-download in your Shockwave movies.

This only is a brief note about using the PrintOMatic Xtra in the Shockwave environment. For complete background on creating Shockwave movies, please read the appropriate chapters of the Using Director manual.

In order to use Xtras in Shockwave, you must prepare your Shockwave movie to auto-download the PrintOMatic or PrintOMatic Lite Xtras when the end-user doesn't have the Xtra installed. Also, the end-user's Web browser must have the Shockwave plugin installed, and have access to www.printomatic.com, to auto-dowload the Xtras from the Internet if needed.

Modifying Xtrainfo.txt

The XTRAINFO.TXT file is located in the same folder as the Director application. Director uses this file to determine the "auto-downloading" information for any Xtras you want to use with Shockwave.

The version of XTRAINFO.TXT that ships with Director 7 does not contain the correct information about the PrintOMatic or PrintOMatic Lite Xtras. You must modify this file in order to use these Xtras with Shockwave:

1. Make sure the Director 7 application is not running.

2. Open the XTRAINFO.TXT file using any text editor.

3. Find the lines in the original file that look like this:

; PrintOMatic Lite from Electronic Ink
[#namePPC:"PrintOMatic Lite Xtra", #nameW32:"PMLITE.X32"

4. Replace those lines with the following text (there should be only ONE line of text per xtra, or TWO lines total):

; Xtras from Electronic Ink
[#namePPC:"PrintOMatic Lite Xtra", #nameW32:"PMLITE.X32", #package:"http://www.printomatic.com/packages/PMLite"]
[#namePPC:"PrintOMatic Xtra", #nameW32:"PMATIC.X32", #package:"http://www.printomatic.com/packages/PMatic"]

Preparing Your Movies

After you have modified the XTRAINFO.TXT files, you can add "auto-download" information to your Shockwave movies.

Do the following for every movie that uses the PrintOMatic or PrintOMatic Lite Xtra:

1. Make sure you have an active Internet connection. You will NOT be able to add Xtras to your Shockwave movie without an active connection.

2. Open the Director movie that uses the Xtra

3. Open the Movie Xtras dialog box by selecting Modify -> Movie -> Xtras from Director's Menu bar.

4. Find the Xtra you are using in the list of Xtras. In Windows, the file name for the PrintOMatic Xtra is PMATIC.X32, and for PrintOMatic Lite, it's PMLITE.X32. On the Macintosh, the Xtras are denoted by their full names.

5. If you don't see the Xtra in this list, click the "Add" button, and locate the Xtra file in the complete list of Xtras.

6. Select the Xtra in the list, and turn on the options "Include in Projector" and "Download if Needed". When you turn on "Download if Needed", Director will connect to the PrintOMatic web site to check for the downloadable Xtra "packages".

When you save your movie as a Shockwave .DCR file, it will be able to automatically download the Xtra when it is needed.

Installing Shockwave in a Web Browser

Internet Explorer will install the Shockwave plugin automatically when it encounter a Shockwave movie on a web page.

When Internet Explorer encounters a Shockwave movie, it will connect to Macromedia's web site to begin the download process, and launch the Shockwave Installation Wizard. Depending upon the speed of the Internet connection, this installation process can take from 1 to 20 minutes.

When a Netscape browser encounters a Shockwave movie, you will be directed to a download page at Macromedia. Click the "download" button in the first panel on this page to download the installer program. When downloading is complete, you must quit your web browser and run the installer. Then, the installer will automatically launch your browser again to complete installation.

After the installation process is complete, the web Browser can load and play the Shockwave movie.

Auto-Download

If a Shockwave movie has been properly configured, the Shockwave plugin will download any needed Xtras after loading the movie. All of Electronic Ink's Xtra packages are located at http://www.printomatic.com/packages/ In many browsers, the Status Bar will display the message "Downloading Xtras". The end-user will be presented with a confirmation dialog describing the Xtra, and the user must confirm the installation. After the user confirms the installation, the Xtra will be placed in Shockwave's Xtras folder.

What if users decline to download the Xtra?

Users can choose NOT to download Xtras when running Shockwave movies. Your code should defend against this situation. Design your interface and coding approach to accomodate both printing and not printing.

Whenever you want to use printing functions, use the code below:

if the platform contains "mac" and the runMode contains "plugin" then
  place non-PrintOMatic code here
else
  place PrintOMatic code here
end if

Two suggested uses of the above include when the PrintOMatic Xtra is registered and/or instantiated, and prior to any printing function being executed. The best approach for the latter example might be to change your interface. For example, if your printing function is triggered from a button, you might include the following in a sprite behavior

on beginSprite me
  if the platform contains "mac" and the runMode contains "plugin" then
    sprite(me.spriteNum).locH = -500
  end if
end beginSprite

This will prevent the user from clicking on the button.

Similarly, the following might be a way to handle registering or instantiating the xtra:

on startMovie
  if not (the platform contains "mac" and the runMode contains "plugin") then
    register xtra("printomatic", "xxxx-xxxx-xxxx")
  end if
end

Try It Out

You can view properly configured Shockwave versions of the PrintOMatic and PrintOMatic Lite demo movies on our web site:

PrintOMatic: http://www.printomatic.com/shockwave/pmatic/

PrintOMatic Lite: http://www.printomatic.com/shockwave/pmlite


Tech Note: Text Fields Print with Incorrect Fonts

Updated: 6/13/00
Products: PrintOMatic Xtra 1.6.5 , PrintOMatic Lite Xtra 1.6.5
Platforms: Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT

Symptoms:

On the Windows platform, text field cast members are not printing in the fonts you specified in the cast members.

Possible Causes:

1. You are using "embedded fonts" which are not installed in the user's system. Embedded fonts are not accessible to the OS and cannot be used for printing unless the font is also installed to the user's operating system.

2. You are using Director 7 or 8, and your cast member is not in the first internal cast. A bug in these versions of Director garbles font information for any text field that is not in the first internal cast. Moving your text field members to the first internal cast will fix the problem.


Tech Note: Text Members and PrintOMatic

Updated: 1/29/00
Products: PrintOMatic Xtra 1.6.5 , PrintOMatic Lite Xtra 1.6.5
Platforms: 68K Macintosh, Power Macintosh, Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT

Macromedia Director 5 and later have two types of cast members: text "field" cast members and rich text cast members. PrintOMatic is capable of printing both types of text members, however, this printing is handled in different ways.

While Director 5 and 6 allow you to edit Rich Text cast members as word-processing text, the ultimate format that this information is saved in is a BITMAP. While this has changed in Director 7, PrintOMatic still only assumes that it can retrieve bitmap information from RTF cast members.

In Director 5 and 6, when you protect a Director movie and bundle it into a projector, all the text information is removed from Rich Text cast members, and only the bitmap image of the text remains.

It is this bitmap image that PrintOMatic and PrintOMatic Lite are able to print. The Xtras handle an RTF member as a large bitmap, and therefore, these cast members are subject to bitmap image scaling rules:

1. If the member is wider or taller than the printable area of the page, it will be scaled to fit the page.

2. You can't "flow" the contents of an RTF member across more than one page. In order to print an RTF member on more than one page, you must break the text up into multiple RTF members, and print them by using the "append" command for each member.

Solutions

The best quality printing with PrintOMatic always comes from using text FIELD members. Consider placing your printable text into these members for best results.

Your other option is to split your RTF into multiple one-page members and print them sequentially, e.g.:

    print member 1, member 2, member 3


Tech Note: Text/RTF Members Print Too Small

Updated: 1/29/00
Products: PrintOMatic Xtra 1.6.5 , PrintOMatic Lite Xtra 1.6.5

PrintOMatic prints RTF ("text") members as bitmapped images, not as styled text. This has to do with the pre-D7 legacy of RTF members, when Director would strip out all the text from these members in Projectors.

The way that PrintOMatic handles bitmaps is to shrink them to fit on the page. As a result, long RTF members will print out at impossibly small sizes on the page.

Solutions

The best quality printing with PrintOMatic always comes from using text FIELD members. Consider placing your printable text into these members for best results.

Your other option is to split your RTF into multiple one-page members and print them sequentially, e.g.:

    print member 1, member 2, member 3


Tech Note: Using PrintOMatic in Windows 3.1

Updated: 8/23/99
Products: PrintOMatic Xtra 1.6.5
Platforms: Windows 3.1

Windows 3.1, also known as "16 bit Windows" or "Win16", is finally becoming obsolete, though it's still around. (Especially in educational and non-profit settings.)

With a 7th-generation multimedia authoring tool, it's a bit much to still expect it to support Windows 3.1, and in fact, with the release of Director 7, Macromedia quit supporting 16 bit Windows altogether, because it's just too difficult to move ahead and still maintain backwards compatibility with such an old system. As Director, Authorware and Shockwave have evolved, 16 bit versions have become harder and harder to build and maintain, and excruciating to debug. Director 7 and Shockwave 7 no longer support 16-bit Windows at all, probably for the same reasons.

In recent releases of PrintOMatic, Electronic Ink has also dropped support for Windows 3.1. The 16-bit Windows version of PrintOMatic is not available in releases after 1.5.6.

However, the 16 bit version of PrintOMatic 1.6 can still be downloaded and used. This version is unserialized: it does not require any serial number to work. It will safely ignore any serial number you try to register it with.

The 16 bit version of PrintOMatic has all the same commands as the current release, with the exception of the "printStage" command.

Please visit the PrintOMatic web site at http://www.printomatic.com/products.cfm to download the 16-bit version of PrintOMatic 1.5.6


Tech Note: Using PrintOMatic with Authorware

Updated: 8/23/99
Products: PrintOMatic Xtra 1.6.5
Platforms: 68K Macintosh, Power Macintosh, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT

The current release of the PrintOMatic Xtra works great within Authorware 4 and 5, the versions of Authorware that have Xtras support.

There are a few limitations in working with Authorware, primarily with the data types you can print. While Director gives Xtras a lot of access to the "media" inside its cast members, Authorware has much more limited support. For example, you can't print graphics that are in Authorware, except by printing their portion of the Presentation Window, and you can only print unformatted text strings.

However, this is where PrintOMatic's support for printing graphics from disk, and formatting text fonts, sizes, and styles on the fly becomes useful.

We do not recommend using PrintOMatic Lite with Authorware, unless the only command you are interested in using is "printStage", or you only need to print simple text strings in PrintOMatic Lite's default font (Arial/Geneva).

Please download our PrintOMatic for Authorware demonstration file from our web site at ftp://ftp.printomatic.com/PMaticAWDemo.zip for complete examples of the proper syntax to use with the Xtra in Authorware.


Tech Note: Xtra Not Found Errors

Updated: 1/18/01
Products: PrintOMatic Xtra 1.6.5 , Yak Xtra 1.1 , Table Xtra 1.0 , PrintOMatic Lite Xtra 1.6.5
Platforms: 68K Macintosh, Windows 3.1, Windows 98, Power Macintosh, Windows 95, Windows NT

Symptom: When trying to register an Xtra, Director replies with an "xtra not found" error. In a projector, this may appear as a generic "Script Error".

Is the Xtra Installed?

Have you properly placed the Xtra file in Director's Xtras folder? At authoring time, all the Xtras you use need to be located in the Xtras folder, which is in the same folder as the application.

Have you created an Xtras folder for your projector?

Each projector you create needs ITS OWN XTRAS FOLDER. Projectors do not "share" Xtras with the Director application. Whenever you create a projector, you need to create an Xtras folder in the same folder as the projector, and place copies of all your third-party Xtras in this folder.

Or did you include the Xtra in your projector file?

An alternative to creating an Xtras folder for your projector is to select the Xtra file(s) you are using in the file list when you build your projector. Simply locate the Xtra files you are using, and add them right along with your .DIR and .CST files when you build your projector.

Are you using the correct Xtra file for your platform?

Macintosh and Windows Xtra files CANNOT be inter-changed across platforms. Each platform requires a completely different Xtra file.

Windows Xtra files end with a ".X32" extension. These files will NOT work on a Macintosh.

Macintosh Xtra files generally don't have extensions. They have an "X" shaped icon, and if you do a "Get Info" in the Finder on these files, they will be described as Director documents. These Xtra files CANNOT be used on Windows platforms.

Is the right PrintOMatic Xtra installed?

The PrintOMatic Xtra comes in Lite and Full versions. These versions are NOT interchangeable. If you have a serial number for the Lite version, make sure you have the Lite version installed. The file name is "PMLITE.X32" on Windows, and "PrintOMatic Lite Xtra" on the Macintosh.

If you have a serial number for the full version, make suree you have the full version installed. The file name is "PMATIC.X32" on Windows, and "PrintOMatic Xtra" on the Macintosh.

Are you using the Xtra with Shockwave on a Macintosh?

Currently, a bug prevents the use of PrintOMatic and PrintOMatic Lite with Shockwave on a Macintosh. The process will appear to work properly and will even auto-download the Xtra package if your file is set up correctly. However, whether the Xtra is installed or auto-downloaded, it will not work on a Macintosh. It will, instead, result in an "Xtra Not Found" error. See Technote: Shockwave and PrintOMatic for more information.


PrintOMatic Lite Release Notes

1.5    First public release of the PrintOMatic Lite Xtra.

1.5.1    Fixed a bug in the global print handler that prevented it from working after the first time it was invoked.

1.5.2    Made printPreview a global handler. Made minor internal changes to allow French, German and Japanese localization.

1.5.3 Added version numbers to the About box. Improved the Mac printer database to save the name of the print driver along with the settings. Fixed a bug in the Macintosh version that would print the wrong pages if a specific page rage was selected in the Job Setup dialog. Added protective code to defend against a Director bug that returns a text size of 0 from text fields. Fixed a bug that caused append to lock up in cases when a series of different-styled carriage returns spanned a page break.

1.5.5 Internal architecture was substantially re-written to bring the code up to date for Director 6 and Authorware 4;  PrintOMatic Lite now provides limited functionality in Authorware 4 as well as Director. Fixed a Windows bug that caused true-color bitmaps to “wrap” by 16 pixels. Cleaned up Windows print dialog code that fixes some printing anomalies (will likely stop printing leaks) in Windows 95. Changed the installation directory for the product: now ALL PrintOMatic Lite files are placed into a sub-folder of Director's "Xtras" folder: "PrintOMatic Lite Xtra" on the Mac, and "PMLITE" on Windows. Updated the help launcher code to be compatible with both Director 5 and Director 6 Help applications. Updated code to prevent drawing of PICT cast members on Windows (because Director crashes).

1.5.6 Fixed a Windows bug that caused periodic freezing when using append to add pictures to frames.

1.5.7 Added brand-new printStage routine. Added brand-new registration code that allows users to enter a serial number from the Xtras menu to register the Xtra. Fixed a bug that caused some calls to the global print command to crash.

1.5.8 Recompiled to fix recurring -1 errors in 32-bit Windows and other anomalies.

1.5.9 Made the Xtra "Safe for Shockwave" to enable use in Shockwave 7.

1.6 Added support for printing Director 7 Text members directly. Modified stage-grabbing code for better 16-bit display compatibility.

1.6.1 Added support for printing Director 7 Text members directly. Modified stage-grabbing code for better 16-bit display compatibility. Fixed a Windows drawStagePicture bug that caused the stage image to "wrap" in 16-bit color depth. Fixed a Windows bug that sometimes caused text characters to be dropped at the beginning of pages. Changed instantiation code to allow for better error trapping when no printer is installed.

1.6.2 Fixed a Windows bug that could cause crashing when printing the Stage in 16-bit color. Updated the Macintosh version for MacOS 9 compatibility.

1.6.3 Numbering update only, to keep pace with FULL version numbers.

1.6.4 Made changes to 16- and 32-bit color bitmap printing that might improve print performance (and reduce the likelihood of blank output) with some print drivers, primarily those for HP black & white printers.

1.6.5 Mac version updated to (finally) work in Shockwave. Minor Shockwave compatibility changes to the Windows version.