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1994-11-14
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PrintGF 1.20
PrintGF/D - image printer for DOS
PrintGF/W - image printer for Windows
(c) Copyright Ravitz Software Inc. 1993,1994
AccuSoft IFL image interpreter for DOS - PRINTGF.OVR
AccuSoft IFL image interpreter for Windows - PRINTGF.DLL
(c) Copyright AccuSoft Corporation 1994
Fargo Primera, PrimeraPro PR ROM code - PRINTGF.FPR
(c) Copyright Fargo Electronics, Inc. 1994
Ravitz Software Inc. BBS/FAX 606-268-0577
P.O. Box 25068
Lexington, KY 40524-5068
USA Compuserve Cary Ravitz [70431,32]
------------------------------ License -------------------------------
PrintGF (including PrintGF/D and PrintGF/W) is provided as is. There
are no warranties expressed or implied.
PrintGF is copyrighted by Ravitz Software Inc. PRINTGF.OVR and
PRINTGF.DLL are copyrighted by AccuSoft Corporation. PRINTGF.FPR is
copyrighted by Fargo Electronics, Inc. You may copy PrintGF only for
use under this license agreement.
PrintGF is distributed as shareware. You may use PrintGF without
charge on a trial basis to determine its suitability for you. If you
continue to use it after your evaluation, you MUST purchase a
registered copy for $34 (US$). The PrintGF shareware package does not
include PRINTGF.DLL. Registration covers use by a single person (on
multiple computers) or installation on a single computer (may be used
by a group of people). There is no cost to use a later 1.** version
after registering any 1.** version.
You may distribute PrintGF without PRINTGF.DLL as a stand alone
product if you keep the entire package together, unchanged, clearly
label the disk as shareware, and do not charge more than $10. You may
not distribute PrintGF as part of another product or on the same disk
with any commercial software.
See Order Form in PRINTGF.TXT for ordering information.
------------------------------ Contents ------------------------------
PrintGF Initial Information File ......................... PRINTGF.TXT
Introduction 3
License and Registration ........................................... 4
What Is New 4
Installation ....................................................... 5
Operation 6
Syntax ............................................................. 7
Overview of Options 8
/1, /2, /3, /4, /5 - Default Options ............................... 8
/A - Area Option 8
/B, /C - Brightness, Contrast Options............................... 9
/D - Output Destination Option 10
/E - AccuSoft IFL Option .......................................... 11
/F - Output Format Option 11
/G - GIF File Option .............................................. 13
/I - Intermediate File Option 13
/J, /K - Printer Code Prefix, Suffix Options ...................... 13
/L - Page Layout Option 14
/N - Page Number Option ........................................... 14
/Q - Print Quality Options 15
/R - Override Aspect Ratio Option ................................. 16
/U - Image Gamma Correction Option 16
/X - User Interface Option ........................................ 16
/Y - Gray Balance Correction Option 16
/Z - Output Gamma Correction Option ............................... 17
Menu 18
Menu Specific Functions ........................................... 18
Menu Input and Picture Quality Options 19
Menu Output Options ............................................... 19
Menu Window and Margins 19
Large Paper ....................................................... 20
Answers 20
Useful Prefix and Suffix Codes .................................... 21
Dithering 22
Blurring and Sharpening ........................................... 23
Output Gamma Color Correction 23
Color Processing .................................................. 24
Output Devices 25
Compatibility and Technical Information ........................... 32
User Support 32
p-3
Introduction ---------------------------------------------------------
PrintGF is a shareware GIF printer for DOS and Windows systems. It
includes a DOS program that can be run from the command line and BAT
files or via menu (PrintGF/D) and an equivalent Windows program
(PrintGF/W). It prints GIF files on Epson and IBM 9 pin printers,
Epson, Fujitsu, IBM, NEC, and Toshiba 24 pin printers, Epson Stylus,
HP LaserJet, DeskJet, PaintJet, and RTL plotters, HI JetPro, IBM
ExecJet, LaserPrinter, Canon LBP, BJ, and BJC printers, Kodak Color
4, Fargo Primera, PostScript printers, Tektronix ColorQuick, and
others. It will also display on a CGA, EGA, VGA, VESA SVGA, or HGC.
PrintGF includes an overlay (PRINTGF.OVR) and DLL (PRINTGF.DLL) that
contain the AccuSoft Image Format Library image interpreter for DOS
and Windows. These let PrintGF read a number of image formats beyond
GIF, including BMP, JPEG, PCX, TARGA, and TIFF. These files are not
needed for reading GIF images. PRINTGF.DLL is not included in the
shareware version of PrintGF.
PrintGF transforms the bit map size and resolution to match the user
specified size and the native resolution of the output device. It
outputs 240 level dithered gray on black/white devices and 240 level
per plane dithered color on three plane (CMY or RGB) color devices
(giving 13 million colors). The dither pattern size and error
diffusion filter can be set to trade speed verses print quality.
The user options include picture area, print area and margins,
processing resolution, brightness and contrast, gamma and gray
balance color correction, blurring and sharpening, edge smoothing,
printer type, output destination, etc.
GIF stands for Graphics Interchange Format. It is a widely used
format for storing bit mapped images. The images are defined with a
palette of up to 256 colors each defined at 256 levels per plane.
GIF files are compressed via LZW compression and may contain
multiple images so they are an efficient way of handling images.
The Graphics Interchange Format (c) is the Copyright property of
CompuServe Incorporated. GIF (sm) is a Service Mark property of
CompuServe Incorporated. For further information, please contact:
CompuServe Incorporated
Graphics Technology Department
5000 Arlington Center Blvd
Columbus, OH 43220
USA
This program is produced by a member of the Association of Shareware
Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware
principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a
shareware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the
member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help
you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not
provide technical support for members' products. Please write to the
ASP Ombudsman at 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI 49442 or send a
CompuServe message via CompuServe Mail to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536.
p-4
License and Registration ---------------------------------------------
PrintGF (including PrintGF/D and PrintGF/W) is provided as is. There
are no warranties expressed or implied.
PrintGF is copyrighted by Ravitz Software Inc. PRINTGF.OVR and
PRINTGF.DLL are copyrighted by AccuSoft Corporation. PRINTGF.FPR is
copyrighted by Fargo Electronics, Inc. You may copy PrintGF only for
use under this license agreement.
PrintGF is distributed as shareware. You may use PrintGF without
charge on a trial basis to determine its suitability for you. If you
continue to use it after your evaluation, you MUST purchase a
registered copy for $34 (US$). The PrintGF shareware package does
not include PRINTGF.DLL. Registration covers use by a single person
(on multiple computers) or installation on a single computer (may be
used by a group of people). There is no cost to use a later 1.**
version after registering any 1.** version.
You may distribute PrintGF without PRINTGF.DLL as a stand alone
product if you keep the entire package together, unchanged, clearly
label the disk as shareware, and do not charge more than $10. You
may not distribute PrintGF as part of another product or on the same
disk with any commercial software.
See Order Form in PRINTGF.TXT for ordering information.
PrintGF Printer Driver is the graphics engine used in these
programs. It may be licensed for use in commercial programs. Send a
note to request more information on this.
What Is New ----------------------------------------------------------
Version 1.20 has improved mouse handling and input gamma correction.
The PRINTGF.FP? files have been merged into PRINTGF.FPR. The
PrimeraPro and Epson Stylus Color drivers are improved. The color
dithering algorithm is improved by favoring dot overprinting,
yielding better use of true black on printers that support this.
Version 1.18 adds PrimeraPro PR 300x600 mode, repetition counts on
GIF files, input level blur and sharpen, and 12 point edge smoothing
(/QE). Dither pattern size 2 and 4 are improved.
The latest version of PrintGF is available from the support bulletin
board at 606-268-0577 (1200..14400, N,8,1, 24 hours/day, XMODEM, 1K
XMODEM, or ZMODEM download), packed in ZIP format.
p-5
Installation ---------------------------------------------------------
The PrintGF package includes these files:
FILE_ID.DIZ standard description of package
PRINTGF.DLL AccuSoft Windows interpreter (registered copies only)
PRINTGF.DOC documentation
PRINTGF.FPR Fargo Primera ROM code
PRINTGF.OVR AccuSoft DOS interpreter
PRINTGF.TXT initial information
PRINTGFD.EXE DOS program
PRINTGFW.EXE Windows program
README.BAT displays the initial information file
To install PrintGF create a directory called PRINTGF, and copy or
unpack the distribution files into this directory. It is preferred
that the PRINTGF directory be in your DOS PATH.
To install PrintGF/W as an icon in the Windows Program Manager,
select File, then New, then program item to bring up the Program
Item Properties menu. Enter the item name - PrintGF/W, the command
line - C:\PRINTGF\PRINTGFW, and the working directory - wherever you
keep your GIF files. You can choose from three icons designed for
two, sixteen, and 32K color setups.
PRINTGF.TXT is initial information. You can view it from DOS by
running README.BAT or from PrintGF by pressing F1. While viewing it,
you can print pages or the entire file. Press T repeatedly until the
correct setup is displayed and then press P. Or from DOS, "COPY
PRINTGF.TXT PRN" to print the entire file.
PRINTGF.DOC is the documentation. This is viewed and printed just
like PRINTGF.TXT.
p-6
Operation ------------------------------------------------------------
When working with flat GIF files (most of them), printed in portrait
orientation, PrintGF reads a GIF file and prints simultaneously.
Interlaced GIF files, landscape prints, and images read by the
AccuSoft IFL image interpreter require PrintGF to read the entire
file into XMS memory and then print it, so there is a delay between
startup and printing.
Esc stops PrintGF at the next good break point, leaving the printer
ready for new data. Ctrl-B stops PrintGF as quickly as possible. You
generally need to do a printer reset after a Ctrl-B.
When you display a plot, press Enter or Esc to return to the DOS
text screen, any of the four cursor movement keys to scroll across
the plot, PgDn to magnify, PgUp to reduce, or S to cycle between
full, half (the default), quarter, and eighth page scrolling.
Print quality and print speed are predominantly affected by the
output format (/F) and quality option (/Q). Color and gray level are
predominantly affected by the brightness (/B), contrast (/C), image
gamma (/U), gamma correction (/Z), and gray balance (/Y). Look at
these options to correct any such problems.
PrintGF works within a printer's current margins and starts at the
current vertical print position. If you decline the form feed
suboption of the /L option then PrintGF leaves the printer at the
start of the line directly below the plot.
PrintGF will not automatically change a printer's operating mode. On
multimode printers, the right operating mode must be set before
running PrintGF or with the prefix code (/J) option.
p-7
Syntax ---------------------------------------------------------------
PrintGF can be run from the command line (DOS or Windows) using
various options to tell it what to do. And it can be started with no
options to bring up a menu system. The menu options have
corresponding command line options, so the two forms of options will
be described together. The menu options are noted by the menu name
in quotes followed by the menu choice in quotes, for example
"page/area" "GIF page number:".
From the command line, the calling syntax is:
PRINTGFD giffile /option1 /option2 ...
PRINTGFW giffile /option1 /option2 ...
Spaces between parameters are not required. The GIF file may be
specified with the /G option if it is inconvenient to make it the
first parameter.
If a given option is entered more than once, only the last entry is
used. And if an option is invalid (but not incorrect), it is
ignored.
When run from the command line, PrintGF uses the current menu
options as the default, so if you have the menu set up as desired,
you can run PRINTGFW giffile from the command line and avoid going
through the menu to select the giffile.
Below, [ and ] enclose optional suboptions and | separates mutually
exclusive suboptions. The options and suboptions may be in any order
except that multiple numeric suboptions are ordered and numeric
suboptions must follow character suboptions where the characters may
be digits. "c" refers to a suboption character, "w", "x", "y", and
"z" to suboption numbers, "i", "j", "k", and "l" to suboption
integers, "b" to a suboption byte, and "f" to a DOS file or device
name.
For numbers (w, x, y, z), a decimal point is allowed but is not
required, and scientific notation is not allowed. "-" is allowed but
not "+". For integer input (i, j, k, l), only base ten integers from
-32768 to 32767 are allowed. "+" is not allowed. A byte (b) must be
a base ten integer from 0 to 255 or a hexadecimal number prefixed
with $ from $00 to $FF. Further range checking is done for most
options to flag unreasonable input. If an option has multiple
numeric suboptions, these may be separated with commas or blanks.
p-8
Overview of Options --------------------------------------------------
PrintGF's options fall into four categories. The first is input and
output choices. The input is chosen with /G, the GIF file, /N, the
page number, and /A, the area of the GIF file to be printed. Output
options are /F, the output format (printer model), and /D, the
destination port, device, or file.
The second category is the page layout. /L controls the size and
location of the print window and the option to not send a form feed.
The third category defines how the image is processed. /B and /C set
the brightness and contrast. /Q sets the dither type, edge
smoothing, and blur level. /Y sets the gray balance and /U and /Z
set gamma color correction. /E specifies the image interpreter.
/X sets all of the user interface options and /1, /2, /3, /4, and /5
choose one of the menu setups as the command line default.
/1, /2, /3, /4, /5 - Default Options ---------------------------------
These command line options select a configuration from the menu to
be used as the default. This option must match the first character
of the title of one of the five menu configurations.
/A - Area Option -----------------------------------------------------
/A[L][M][S]i,j,k[,l] - area to be printed - default /A50,50,100
"page/area" "picture area:"
"page/area" "landscape:"
"page/area" "mirror:"
"page/area" "stretch to fit window:"
/A defines the area of the GIF file that is to be printed and offers
several options to modify the printed image. This can be any
rectangular area, defined by the center point of the rectangle, its
width, and optionally its height. The center point is set as the
percent distance from the left and top of the picture to the center
of the area (0..100). The width is set as a percentage of the
picture width, from 1 to 100. The height may be set as a percentage
of the picture height (1..100) or defaulted to the same percentage
as the width. The center point will be adjusted to insure that the
entire width and height are on the picture.
The L suboption specifies landscape orientation. M says to mirror
the image. S says to stretch the picture to fill the print window.
This can distort the aspect ratio, which may be desirable if PrintGF
has misinterpreted the true aspect ratio. This often happens when
there is no information in the bit map that lets PrintGF determine
the correct value. S is ineffective if you have set the print window
height to 0.
/A50,50,100 the default, prints the entire picture
/A25,25,50 prints the upper left hand quarter of the picture
/A25,75,50 prints the lower left hand quarter of the picture
/A25,90,20 is adjusted to 25,80,20 so the area fits
p-9
/B, /C - Brightness, Contrast Options --------------------------------
/Bi[,j[,k]] - brightness - default /B50
/Ci[,j[,k]] - contrast - default /C50
"color correction" "brightness:"
"color correction" "contrast:"
PrintGF modifies each GIF color based on the /B and /C options.
These numbers can be specified overall or for each color plane
(RGB). They are applied before any conversion to black/white.
The brightness number specifies the output level (%) at an input
level of 50%. 50, the default, leaves the brightness unchanged.
The contrast number specifies the difference in output level at
input level 100% verses input level 50%. 50 is the default and it
leaves the contrast unchanged.
Output levels clip at 0% and 100%. If the brightness plus contrast
total 100 or less then you will not clip any colors at the top. If
the brightness minus the contrast is 0 or above then you will not
clip any colors at the bottom.
Nominal output/input curve
o 100 | *--- contrast = output level at 100
u | * . - brightness
t | * .
p | * .
u | * .
t 50 | *------------- brightness = output level at 50
| *
| * gamma = 1
| *
| *
0 *---------+---------+
input 0 50 100
Contrast output/input curves
.------- contrast = 100
. .
. .
. .
. .
o 100 | ****** .
u | * .
t | * +-------- contrast = 30
p | * + . .
u | * + . .
t 50 | *-----------------
| + *
| + *
|+ *
| *
0 ******----+---------+
input 0 50 100 continued
p-10
Brightness output/input curves
o 100 | *****
u | *
t | * +
p | *------ + --- brightness = 70
u | * +
t 50 | * +
| * +
| * +------------ brightness = 30
* +
| +
0 +++++-----+---------+
input 0 50 100
/D - Output Destination Option ---------------------------------------
/D[*][+]f - destination - default /D1
"destination"
The D option specifies the output printer port, device, or file. The
+ suboption causes files to be appended rather than overwritten. 1,
2, and 3 select the BIOS printer routines. P1..P3 select direct
parallel port drive - add extension 001 to 999 (for example P1.010)
to slow the function of the port for compatibility with older
printers. X1..X4 select xon/xoff serial port drive. H1..H4 select
hardware (RTS/CTS) serial port drive. W selects the Windows print
manager (PrintGF/W only). You can also use the DOS devices LPT1,
COM1, etc. /D is ignored for display output.
P1, P2, and P3 are generally the fastest way to drive a printer.
If you choose a three digit number for the file extension (for
example .000) and use the * suboption then the extension is
incremented to avoid overwriting existing files.
PrintGF cannot set up the serial ports. This is usually done in the
AUTOEXEC.BAT with MODE (probably MODE COM1:9600,N,8,1,P).
/D2 sends output to the second parallel port via BIOS
/DLPT3 sends output to the DOS device LPT3
/D+TEMP.PRN appends output to file TEMP.PRN
p-11
/E - AccuSoft IFL Option ---------------------------------------------
/E[-] - read image via AccuSoft IFL interpreter - default /E-
"interpreter"
The /E option specifies to read the image file via the AccuSoft
Image Format Library interpreter contained in PRINTGF.OVR (DOS) or
PRINTGF.DLL (Windows, registered copies only). This interpreter
reads a number of file types including BMP, GIF, JPEG, PCX, TARGA,
and TIFF. The images are loaded directly into memory before
processing, so XMS is required for any use of this interpreter. 24
bit images require three bytes per pixel for the entire original
image. For a 1024x768 image this is 2.25 Meg. /E- or the absence of
any /E option specifies to use the PrintGF GIF interpreter.
/F - Output Format Option --------------------------------------------
/Fc[-|+|*|^][%][!|¡][~|`][}][x,y] - output format - default /FV
"output format"
"print quality" "CMY (3) or CMYK (4) color:"
"print quality" "interleave bands:"
"print quality" "Primera heat (1..96):"
The F option specifies the output format. -, +, *, and ^ are
resolution modifiers, ! and ¡ select compression levels, ~ turns off
color processing, ` switches to or from four plane color, and }
selects interleave mode. % uses Windows modes instead of full screen
displays. These suboptions are allowed even if they have no effect.
For PCX and PostScript (/FZ, /FS) you can append the resolution. For
the Primeras (/F8, /FY) you can append the heat setting (1..96).
Each printer driver has a default level of data compression, chosen
for best compatibility among the printers that the driver supports.
Many drivers have an optional enhanced level of compression, chosen
with !. This will be incompatible with some printers. Some drivers
let you turn compression off with ¡ (ASCII 173).
Where effective, the }, !, ¡, `, and ~ modifiers are listed below.
/F0[i] ~ HP-RTL ................................ 300x300, ixi
/F1 IBM 9 pin 120x72
/F2 IBM Quietwriter 2 .......................... 240x240
/F3 IBM Quietwriter 3 240x240
/F4- !¡ IBM LaserPrinter (PPDS mode) ............... 150x150
/F4 !¡ IBM LaserPrinter (PPDS mode) 300x300
/F4+ !¡ IBM LaserPrinter (PPDS mode) ............... 600x600
/F5 }!`~ IBM 24 pin alternate 1 180x180
/F6 ! IBM Proprinter X24 ......................... 180x182
/F7- } ¡ Canon BJ IBM mode, IBM ExecJet 180x180
/F7 } ¡ Canon BJ IBM mode, IBM ExecJet ............. 360x360
/F8[i] `~ Fargo Primera, heat i 203x200
/F8+[i] ~ Fargo Primera Photo-Realistic, heat i ...... 203x200
continued
p-12
/F9 }!`~ NEC 24 pin ................................. 180x180
/F#- }¡ JRL J bubblejet Epson mode 180x180
/F# ¡ JRL J bubblejet Epson mode ................. 360x360
/F$- }~ Epson Esc/P2 180x180
/F$ }~ Epson Esc/P2 ............................... 360x360
/F$+ }`~ Epson Esc/P2 720x720
/F&- `~ Canon BJ/BJC native mode ................... 180x180
/F& `~ Canon BJ/BJC native mode 360x360
/F: }`~ Star Micronics SJ-144 ...................... 360x360
/F:+ `~ Star Micronics SJ-144 two pass 360x360
/F@- ~ Canon BJC CaPSL mode ....................... 180x180
/F@ ~ Canon BJC CaPSL mode 360x360
/FA- !`~ HP DeskJet 500C, Mannesmann Tally MT92C .... 150x150
/FA !`~ HP DeskJet 500C, Mannesmann Tally MT92C 300x300
/FB- }`¡~ Canon BJ/BJC Epson mode .................... 180x180
/FB }`¡~ Canon BJ/BJC Epson mode 360x360
/FC CGA display .................................. 80x33
/FD- !¡ Canon LBP (ISO/CaPSL mode) 150x150
/FD !¡ Canon LBP (ISO/CaPSL mode) ................. 300x300
/FD+ !¡ Canon LBP (ISO/CaPSL mode) 600x600
/FE `~ 128K EGA color display ....................... 80x58
/FF }!`~ Fujitsu 24 pin 180x180
/FG ¡ PDP Protracer (IBM mode) ................... 360x360
/FH Hercules graphics card display 90x58
/FI- HP LaserJet 3, DeskJet ..................... 150x150
/FI } HP LaserJet 3, DeskJet 300x300
/FI+ HP LaserJet 4 .............................. 600x600
/FJ- } Canon BJ BJ130 mode 180x180
/FJ } Canon BJ BJ130 mode ........................ 360x360
/FK ~ Kodak Diconix Color 4 192x192
/FL- !¡ HP LaserJet ................................ 150x150
/FL !¡ HP LaserJet 300x300
/FM 128K EGA monochrome display ................ 80x58
/FN `~ Epson 9 pin 120x72
/FO !`~ Toshiba 24 pin ............................. 180x180
/FP !~ HP PaintJet 180x180
/FQ HP QuietJet (PCL mode) ..................... 192x192
/FR `~ Tektronix ColorQuick 216x216
/FS-[i[,j]] ~ PostScript 1 bit/plane ............. 72x72, ixi, ixj
/FS[i[,j]] ~ PostScript 8 bits/plane native, ixi, ixj
/FT }!`~ Epson 24 pin ............................... 180x180
/FU- ~ 320x200 256+ color VGA or VESA SVGA display 40x33
/FU ~ 640x480 256+ color VESA SVGA display ......... 80x80
/FU+ ~ 800x600 256+ color VESA SVGA display 100x100
/FU* ~ 1024x768 256+ color VESA SVGA display ...... 128x128
/FU^ ~ 1280x1024 256+ color VESA SVGA display 160x170
/FV `~ 640x480 VGA display .......................... 80x80
/FV+ `~ 800x600 VESA SVGA display 100x100
/FV* `~ 1024x768 VESA SVGA display ................. 128x128
/FV^ `~ 1280x1024 VESA SVGA display 160x170
/FW `~ Epson 9 pin alternate ....................... 120x72
/FX }!`~ IBM 24 pin alternate 2 180x180
/FY[i] `~ Fargo PrimeraPro, heat i ................... 300x300
/FY+[i] ~ Fargo PrimeraPro Photo-Realistic, heat i 300x300
/FY*[i] ~ Fargo PrimeraPro Photo-Realistic, heat i ... 300x600
/FZ[i[,j]] `~ ZSoft PCX 100x100, ixi, ixj
p-13
/G - GIF File Option -------------------------------------------------
/Gf - GIF file - no default
"gif file"
The GIF file may be specified as the first parameter with no prefix,
or it may be specified anywhere in the option list with /G.
When the GIF file name is SHADE4 to SHADE256 (with no path or
extension), PrintGF generates data internally giving a color scale
with 4 to 256 steps. This is useful for setting the gamma color
correction and gray balance correction.
/I - Intermediate File Option ----------------------------------------
/I[f] intermediate output file - default /I
"other output" "intermediate file:"
/I lets you specify an intermediate file for data output. During
processing all print data is sent to this file. Then the file is
copied to the destination. This is only effective for destinations
1..3, H1..H4, P1..P3, and X1..X4 (direct drive devices). It is
useful when the device requires continuous, fast data flow.
/J, /K - Printer Code Prefix, Suffix Options -------------------------
/J[b,b,..] - printer code prefix - default /J
/K[b,b,..] - printer code suffix - default /K
"other output" "prefix codes:"
"other output" "suffix codes:"
/J lets you send codes to the printer before PrintGF's usual data is
sent and /K lets you send codes after PrintGF's usual data is sent.
This lets you set up and reset the printer for special situations.
The codes are specified with byte values (0..255 or $0..$FF)
separated with blanks or commas. All options are limited to 80
characters, so long sequences must be handled outside of PrintGF.
/J27,69 does a printer reset on HP-PCL printers
p-14
/L - Page Layout Option ----------------------------------------------
/L[N][x,y[,x,y]]] - page layout - default /L8,6,0,0
"window/margins"
"other output" "form feed:"
The L option defines the page layout.
N turns form feeds off. It is ignored for PCX and display output.
The first optional x and y are the print window width and height in
inches, which is the output image size.
The second optional x and y are the left and top margins, measured
from the printer's left margin and current vertical position to the
print window. Margins are measured from the bottom left for
PostScript. Margins are ignored for PCX output.
THE PRINT WINDOW PLUS THE MARGINS MUST FIT WITHIN THE PRINTABLE AREA
OF THE PRINTER.
/L8,4,0,1 print window 8x4, margins 0,1
/N - Page Number Option ----------------------------------------------
/Ni - page number - default /N1
"page/area" "page number:"
The /N option specifies the GIF page number to print.
/N3 prints page 3
p-15
/Q - Print Quality Options -------------------------------------------
/Q[1|2|4|8] - print quality - default /Q1R
[F|P|R|S|X]
[C|E]
[B|D]
[H|I|J|K|T|U|V|W]
"print quality" "dither pattern:"
"print quality" "error diffusion:"
"print quality" "edge smoothing:"
"print quality" "out blur level:"
"print quality" "in blur/sharpen level (-4..4):"
The 1, 2, 4, and 8 suboptions specify the dither pattern cell size.
With 1 each output dot is treated as one dot internally with shade
levels 0 or 1. With 2, 4, and 8 output dots are grouped in 2x2, 4x4,
and 8x8 cells with shade levels 0..4, 0..16, and 0..64. Larger cell
sizes are faster and smaller cell sizes gives better edge
definition. The default is 1.
For the 256+ color VGA modes (/FU), the Primera in Photo-Realistic
mode (/F8+), and PostScript 8/24 bit mode (/FS+) the output devices
are multi-level and the dither pattern cell size is always 1.
Regardless of the dither pattern, the output shade levels are
dithered to 0..240 (or 0..192, 0..170 for some drivers) via error
diffusion. Four error diffusion filters are available. The
Floyd-Steinberg filter is selected with suboption F. The Stucki
filter is selected with S. A special filter, labeled Ravitz, is
selected with R (the default). And the Ravitz filter with 50% random
noise added into the weights is selected with P (Perturbed).
You can turn off error diffusion, leaving only the pattern dither,
with the X. This might be useful with the 8x8 dither pattern.
Edge smoothing, specified with the C or E suboption, is done by
scaling the bit map by contour interpolation rather than color/area
summing. This gives improved edge smoothness, with a reduction is
color accuracy. The use of smoothing is limited to situations where
the output bit map size is at least twice the input bit map size, as
this is where it is effective. C uses four point interpolation and E
uses 12 point interpolation.
If too much digitization detail shows in the output picture, and
edge smoothing is not effective or desireable, you can reduce it
with the Blur or Double blur suboptions, which operate on the output
image. These options increase the processing time and the required
memory. You can also reduce detail by increasing the dither pattern
cell size. This is faster but may not give the same picture quality.
H, I, J, and K provide four levels of picture sharpening and T, U,
V, and W provide four levels of blurring. These operations are done
on the input image.
See Dithering for more information on PrintGF's dithering options.
p-16
/R - Override Aspect Ratio Option ------------------------------------
/R[x] - aspect ratio - default /R
"page/area" "override aspect ratio:"
This option says to ignore the aspect ratio of the bit map's pixels,
and use the value given. This can be used to stretch a bit map or to
correct a problem in the bit map or interpretation of the bit map.
Some bit maps are created with incorrect or missing information
about the aspect ratio, such as specifying 1/1 when the ratio should
be 0.83 (on 320x200 bit maps).
/R.833 sets the right aspect ratio for most 320x200 bit maps
/U - Image Gamma Correction Option -----------------------------------
/U[x] image gamma correction - default /U1
"color correction" "image gamma:"
Many images are created at a gamma of 2 to improve the color
resolution in the bright half of the color levels. Other images may
be gamma corrected for a specific output device. /U lets you
uncorrect these images by specifying the gamma that they were
created at. For example /U2 corrects an image created at gamma 2.
This correction is applied to the input image.
/X - User Interface Option -------------------------------------------
/X[B][O][P][S] - interface options - default /X
"other output" "pause to load paper:"
The X option sets various interface options. P causes a pause before
each printed page. S suppresses extra information messages. B
suppresses progress messages. O removes file overwrite prompts.
/XS gives only the most important messages
/Y - Gray Balance Correction Option ----------------------------------
/Y[H|R][x,y,z] - gray balance - default /Y1,1,1
"color correction" "gray balance (c,m,y):"
"color correction" "gray balance type (H|R):"
/Y lets you do gray balancing to compensate for printers that use a
cyan, magenta, yellow ink mix to produce an non-neutral black. The
three numbers represent the fraction of cyan, magenta, and yellow
ink to use to get a neutral black. H specifies HP's suggested
compensation for the HP DeskJet 500C printer. R specifies
compensation on the black component of each color, without regard to
the total non-black range.
/YR1,1,1 is the default and does no gray balancing
/YH.67,1,1 is HP's recommended value for the HP DeskJet 500C
p-17
/Z - Output Gamma Correction Option ----------------------------------
/Zw[,x,y[,z]] - gamma correction - default /Z.5, /Z1, or /Z1.5
"color correction" "gamma correction (r,g,b):"
This option specifies the use of the gamma shade level transfer
function that corrects for typical printer nonlinearity. The value
may be specified for overall red, green, and blue (one number), for
independent red, green, and blue (three numbers) or for independent
cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (four numbers). A value of 1.0
gives a linear response. Values from 0.1 to 1.0 increase the
brightness of the output. The default is 1 for any high color
devices (more that 1 bit per plane), 0.5 for other printers, and 1.5
for other displays.
Gamma output/input curves
o 100 | * *
u | *---- . --- gamma < 1
t | * . +
p | * .
u | . +
t 50 | * .------------ gamma = 1
| . +
| * . +---------- gamma > 1
| . +
* . +
0 *+--------+---------+
input 0 50 100
See Output Gamma Color Correction for more information.
p-18
Menu -----------------------------------------------------------------
PrintGF/D and PrintGF/W include a menu interface to let you select
options, choose a list of GIF files, and print. Run PRINTGFD or
PRINTGFW with no command line parameters to bring up the menu.
The main menu is displayed at the top of the screen, and the bottom
of the screen is used differently for each main menu item. The main
menu is divided by column into four groups, described below. The
functions of the PrintGF options are described in detail above.
When the cursor is on a main menu item, the current value of the
option is displayed in bottom of the screen. To change the value,
press Enter. The options are modified with cursor movement and
typing numbers/names. The Enter key returns you to the main menu
with the new option values. Esc returns you to the main menu with
the option values unchanged.
The PrintGF documentation (this file) can be viewed by pressing F1
from any menu that displays F1 on its key line.
If one of the first two letters of a main menu item is capitalized,
that item may be accessed immediately by pressing the letter.
When a cursor bar has a notch, the value in the notch may be edited.
Menu Specific Functions ----------------------------------------------
The first column of main menu options is dedicated to menu
functions. These include running PrintGF, alternate configurations,
exit, saving the configurations, and set menu options.
The "Alt configuration" item rotates between five configurations.
The current configuration name is on line 2.
The "save configurations" item saves the current configurations by
writing them to the EXE file. The GIF file list is not saved. You
can create multiple EXE files with different names and each can have
its own configurations.
The "menu options" item lets you set the configuration name, screen
colors, and up to five initial GIF file masks. Screen colors are
specified with the mnemonics listed here:
k black r red k+ gray r+ bright red
b blue m magenta b+ bright blue m+ bright magenta
g green y yellow/brown g+ bright green y+ bright yellow
c cyan w white c+ bright cyan w+ bright white
For PrintGF/W you can also use - and * as color modifiers. These are
only effective with 15, 16, or 24 bit color setups. To use the
default Windows colors, blank out the desired line of colors.
For PrintGF/W you can choose the screen font height, selected from
current "fixedsys" fonts, VGAFIX (15), and 8514FIX (20).
p-19
Menu Input and Picture Quality Options -------------------------------
Column two of the main menu lets you choose the GIF files to print
(the /G option in PrintGF), the GIF page number (/N) and picture
area (/A), and the picture quality (/F` - CMY or CMYK color
processing, /B - brightness, /C- contrast, /Q - quality, /Z - gamma
color correction, /Y - gray balance correction), and the image
interpreter (/E).
You may enter up to 99 GIF files in the "gif file" main menu option.
Each file may be preceded by a repetition count from 2 to 5. To
choose from a list of files, enter a mask name and press Enter (the
cursor must be on the mask). The menu will then display a list of
corresponding files. Select any number of the files by moving the
cursor to the desired file and pressing Space (or the right mouse
button). Consecutive presses increment the repetition count. If no
files have been selected, then pressing Enter selects the file under
the cursor. The selected files are added to the file list below the
cursor. Files that would overflow the 99th position on the plotfile
list are dropped.
When you "Run PrintGF", PrintGF is run for each file on the GIF file
list. Masks are ignored. For any GIF files that PrintGF does not
successfully process, an arrow is inserted in front of the GIF file
name. You can view the results from the "gif file" main menu item.
The arrow is not considered part of the file name, so you do not
need to remove it to retry PrintGF.
Menu Output Options --------------------------------------------------
The third column of options specifies the output destination (/D),
output format (/F), and other output options (/L suboption F - form
feed, /X suboption P - pause to load paper, /J prefix codes, and /K
suffix codes.
In the output format menu, printers that support color have a color
option ("clr:" on the menu). This lets you specify a black/white
output. Output formats that do not support color do not have this
option and always convert to black/ white.
Menu Window and Margins ----------------------------------------------
The fourth column of main menu options includes just
"window/margins", which lets you specify the print area and its
position on the paper.
p-20
Large Paper ----------------------------------------------------------
PrintGF can handle printing on paper larger than the usual 8.5x11,
but this takes some extra work. First you need to increase PrintGF's
print window to cover the large paper. This is done with the /L
option. The print window plus the margins must fit within the
printer's printable area.
And then you must make sure that your printer recognizes the larger
paper height. For continuous forms paper this is best done by
setting skip perforation to off, either by printer switch or with
PrintGF prefix codes. For Canon, Epson, Fujitsu, IBM, and NEC line
printers (dot matrix, ink jet, thermal) use /J27 79, or "modify
output" "prefix codes: 27 79".
For cut sheet paper, on Canon (except BJ native mode), Epson,
Fujitsu, IBM, and NEC line printers use /J27 67 0 n, where n is the
page length in inches. For the PDP ProTracer use /J27 67 n, where n
is the page length in lines, at six lines per inch.
And for some printers you need to increase the right margin. For the
Canon BJC in Epson mode use /J27 81 114. For the HI V50/100 in
printer mode use /J27 91 88 2 0 1 255.
For page printers, legal size paper may be specified with these
printer code prefixes: HP-PCL printers /J27 38 108 51 65 (/K27 38
108 50 65 to reset to letter), Canon LBP /J27 91 51 50 59 59 112
(/K27 91 51 48 59 59 112 to reset), IBM LaserPrinter /J27 91 70 5 0
3 1 2 1 (/J27 91 70 5 0 3 1 1 1 to reset).
To get a 10x16 print window on 11x17 paper with a Canon, Epson,
Fujitsu, IBM, or NEC line printer, use these options: /L10 16 0 .25
/J27 67 0 17. You will probably need to adjust the margins (0 .25)
for best centering.
The maximum width of the print window on most narrow carriage
printers is 8. The maximum print window width on most wide carriage
printers is 13.6. The horizontal margin should be set to 0 to get
this width.
Answers --------------------------------------------------------------
You must set a suitable "output format" or /F option to print.
PrintGF defaults to display an image, not print it.
Set a negative contrast (-50) to reverse the colors of an image.
For the Canon BJC-800 in Epson mode, the right margin defaults to 8
inches. Use /J27 64 27 81 114 to set it to 11.4 inches.
For the Canon BJ-330 and most wide carriage printers, the maximum
print window width is 13.57 inches. This is a printer limitation
that you cannot get around.
If your printer ejects the paper before the plot is finished, you
probably need to specify a paper length prefix code. For most line
printers use /J27 67 0 n where n is the page length in inches.
p-21
Useful Prefix and Suffix Codes ---------------------------------------
Below, n represents any number 0..255, nA represents any number in
ASCII format (1 becomes 49, 2 becomes 50, 43 becomes 52 51, etc.).
Canon, Reset 27 64
Epson, N inch paper 27 67 0 n
Fujitsu, 17 inch paper 27 67 0 17
IBM, NEC Right margin n columns 27 81 n (not for IBM)
dot matrix, Skip perforation off 27 79
inkjet Unidirectional printing 27 85 1
Esc/P2 N/dpi inch paper 27 40 67 2 0 lo(n) hi(n)
HP PCL, Reset 27 69
DeskJet, Portrait mode 27 38 108 48 79
LaserJet, Top margin 0 27 38 108 48 69
PaintJet Skip perforation off 27 38 108 48 76
11 inch paper 27 38 108 50 65
14 inch paper 27 38 108 51 65
11x17 inch paper 27 38 108 54 65
Manual feed 27 38 108 50 72
N copies 27 38 108 nA 88 (page printers)
RET off 255 (first code only)
HP DJ500C High quality, slow 27 42 111 49 81
No ink depletion 27 42 111 49 68
HP PJXL300 Low quality, fast 27 42 111 45 49 81
HP QJ HP-PCL mode 27 37 65
DIP switch mode 27 37 64
IBM LP 11 inch paper, tray 1, n copies 27 91 70 5 0 3 1 1 n
14 inch paper, tray 1, n copies 27 91 70 5 0 3 1 2 n
14 inch paper, manual, n copies 27 91 70 5 0 1 1 2 n
N copies 27 91 70 5 0 0 0 0 n
Can BJ nat Page length, right margin x 10 27 40 103 3 0 n 1 n
Can CaPSL Reset 27 99
11 inch paper 27 91 51 48 59 59 112
14 inch paper 27 91 51 50 59 59 112
Manual feed 27 91 49 113
Automatic feed 27 91 48 113
Full page memory mode 27 59 27 91 50 38 122
N copies 27 91 nA 118
Cursor to top of page 27 91 48 100
Diablo mode 27 58
ISO mode 27 59
PostScript N copies nA 32 88 67
Paper tray n nA 32 88 80
ProTracer N line paper 27 67 n
HI V50/100 Max margins 27,91,88,2,0,1,255
p-22
Dithering ------------------------------------------------------------
Dithering is the process of reducing the 0..255 shade per plane
color or the input bit map to the 0..1 shade per plane color of the
output. There is no exact way to do this - edge or color definition
will be lost and artifacts of the dithering process will be visible
in the output. Because of this, PrintGF offers a wide range of
dithering options, specified by the /Q option.
PrintGF starts the dithering process using a pattern dither. The
output dots are divided into groups and each group is set from a
pattern that gives various levels of color. The pattern can be 8x8
dots giving 0..64 shades per plane (chosen with the 8 suboption),
4x4 dots giving 0..16 shades (4), 2x2 giving 0..4 shades (2), and
1x1 giving shades 0 and 1 (1, the default).
Only the 8x8 dither pattern is sufficient by itself to produce
acceptable color output, so each of the pattern dithers is enhanced
by error diffusion dithering (see Bit-Mapped Graphics by Steve
Rimmer) that extends the color levels to 240 levels per plane. The
error diffusion can be done via the Floyd-Steinberg filter (F
suboption), the Stucki filter (S), a special filter labeled Ravitz
(R - the default), or the Ravitz filter with 50% random perturbation
of the weights (suboption P) (as suggested by Robert Ulichney in
Digital Halftoning), or it can be turned off (X). The Ravitz filter
diffuses error only to immediate neighbors, like Floyd-Steinberg,
but has directional properties close to Stucki's.
Ravitz x 6 Floyd-Steinberg x 7 Stucki x 8 4
3 6 1 3 5 1 2 4 8 4 2
1 2 4 2 1
There are some exceptions to the above. 256+ color display modes are
treated as 0..5, 0..30, or 0..240 level color or 0..30 level
monochrome devices and the pattern dither is not done. The Fargo
Pimera in Photo-Realistic mode and PostScript in 8/24 bit mode are
multi-level devices so no pattern dither is done. And the 8x8
pattern dither is extended via error diffusion to 192 levels rather
than 240.
The 8x8 pattern dither gives the best color, the fewest unexpected
dithering artifacts (the pattern is always visible but is not
obtrusive), the fastest processing, and the worst edge definition.
This is likely to be the best choice for high resolution devices.
The 1x1 pattern dither gives the best edge definition and the
slowest processing. The error diffusion does all of the dithering in
this case so the choice of filter is important. The order of fastest
to slowest filters is F-S, Ravitz, Stucki, and Perturbed. The order
of fewest to most visual artifacts is the reverse. The 1x1 pattern
is generally the best choice for low resolution devices and for
pictures that require sharp edges such as text and line drawings.
The 2x2 and 4x4 patterns are in the middle of the 1x1 and 8x8
patterns on all of the attributes and should be tried to determine
their usefulness.
p-23
Blurring and Sharpening ----------------------------------------------
When the output size of a bitmap is significantly larger than the
input, the rectangular nature of the input may become apparent. This
can be reduced by reducing the dither pattern size. If this is not
desirable, you can use blurring on the output image to reduce the
effect. PrintGF has two output image blur filters, chosen with the B
and D suboptions of /Q. B blurs to 8 neighbors and D blurs to 20
neighbors. This process is slow.
Image enhancement may be done with the H..K and T..W suboptions of
/Q. These process add (sharpen) or subtract (blur) the noted filter
mulitplied by .25, .5, .75, or 1. Sharpening may be very useful in
combination with edge smoothing.
B 1 2 1 D 1 1 1 H..K,T..W -3 -5 -3
filter 2 4 2 filter 1 2 2 2 1 filter -5 32 -5
1 2 1 1 2 4 2 1 -3 -5 -3
1 2 2 2 1
1 1 1
Output Gamma Color Correction ----------------------------------------
Printers typically overprint the area of a dot, for example a
nominal 1/300 inch square dot might be printed as a 1.2/300 inch
diameter circle, giving an additional area of 13%. So dithered shade
levels composed of single dots will be 13% too dark. Shade levels
composed of multiple connected dots will also be too dark, but by
less than 13%. Solid white and solid black will exact.
The gamma function is a general correction for this behavior. The
function is g(x,gamma)=255*((x/255)^gamma) for 0..255 level additive
color. For gamma above 1 the function describes an overprinting
situation. Using 1/gamma exactly reverses the function, so if a
printer's gamma is 1.5 then it is corrected by using 1/1.5 = .67.
The preferred gamma correction will be different for the different
dither pattern sizes. The 8x8 pattern will likely need much less
gamma correction that the 1x1 pattern.
When specifying gamma independently for cyan, magenta, yellow, and
black PrintGF uses g(x,gamma)=255-255*(((255-x)/255)^gamma). This is
so that cyan, magenta, yellow correction is the same as red, green,
blue correction if black gamma is 1 (/Z.6,.7,.8 is the same as
/Z.6,.7,.8,1)
When the GIF file name is SHADE4 to SHADE256 (no path or extension),
PrintGF generates data internally giving a color scale with 4 to 256
steps. Set up the gamma correction to make this scale look best.
Watch out for precorrected images. These may requires much less
gamma correction than usual or see /U - Image Gamma Correction
Option to compensate.
p-24
Color Processing -----------------------------------------------------
Color graphics devices use a variety of color technologies. PrintGF
supports these basic types.
CMY or cyan/magenta/yellow is used by inkjet and dot matrix
printers. This uses three color planes and gives eight pure colors.
Even when black ink is available, using CMY processing may give more
consistent colors than CMYK. Good gray balance values are critical
with CMY color.
CMYK or cyan/magenta/yellow/black is used by inkjet and dot matrix
printers. This uses four color planes and gives eight pure colors.
Using black ink instead of a cyan/magenta/yellow mix gives a more
neutral and sometimes darker black color.
RGB or red/green/blue is used by displays and bit maps. This uses
three color planes and gives eight pure colors.
RGBI or red/green/blue/intensity is used by displays and bit maps.
This uses four color planes to give fifteen pure colors. PrintGF
uses only eight or these fifteen colors - dark black and intense
red, green, blue, etc.
CMY and RGBI are used by default. CMYK and RGB can be selected with
the ` suboption of /F.
p-25
Output Devices -------------------------------------------------------
Canon BJ and BJC Printers ------------------------------------------
PrintGF has five basic drivers for Canon BJ and BJC printers. /F7
is the IBM mode driver. It works with the BJ130e, BJ5,
BJ10/10e/10ex, BJ20, BJ200/230, and BJ300/330.
/FJ is the BJ130 mode driver. It works with all Canon BJ printers
in IBM or native mode. The printer is set to 10 pitch text.
/FB is the Epson mode driver. It works with the BJ200/230 and
BJC800/820. Color is supported. For the BJC800/820 the prefix code
27 81 114 sets the print width to 11.4 inches.
/F& is the native mode driver. It works with the BJ200/230 and
BJC800/820 in any mode. Color is supported. Epson/IBM mode prefix
codes are not compatible and are not needed. Always use form feed
with the BJ native driver unless you have previously set BJ native
mode. Interleave mode is not available with this driver.
/F@ is the CaPSL mode driver for the BJC880. Color is supported.
Some of these printers have an image density option (DIP switch
and/or front panel switch). Low density eliminates every second
dot. To get the full 360 dpi resolution, use high density.
Canon LBP Printers -------------------------------------------------
/FD works with any Canon LBP 4 and 8 printers that do not have the
SX or 30 suffix. If the printer is in Diablo mode, it is switched
to ISO mode.
The ! suboption switches to CaPSL 4 data compression. /FD+! is the
best driver for the LBP 8 Mk4 at 600 dpi.
You might need to set up the printer with /J27 59 27 91 50 38 122.
To switch back to Diablo mode on completion, use /K27 58.
Any Canon LBP printer with the SX or 30 suffix is an HP-PCL
printer and should use the /FI drivers.
p-26
Display ------------------------------------------------------------
When you display a plot, the cursor keys scroll the plot, S cycles
between full, half (the default), quarter, and eighth page
scrolling, PgDn and PgUp magnify and reduce by 1.4, and Enter or
Esc returns to DOS.
Regardless of the size of your monitor, PrintGF acts as if it were
8 inches wide.
/FC drives a CGA, but does not give color.
The EGA drivers, /FE and /FM, require a 128K or 256K EGA. /FC will
work with a 64K EGA. /FM is for an EGA card with a digital (TTL)
monochrome monitor.
/FH supports the Hercules monochrome graphics card.
/FV works with any VGA card. For MCGAs use /FV~.
/FV+ uses VESA SVGA 800x600 16 color mode. /FV* uses VESA SVGA
1024x768 16 color mode.
The /FU drivers use 256 or greater color modes to give 0..5,
0..30, or 0..240 level per plane color or 0..30 level monochrome.
The processing resolution option is ignored for these drivers.
/FU- drives any VGA at 320x200. /FU, /FU+, /FU*, and /FU^ use
640x480, 800x600, 1024x768, and 1280x1024 VESA SVGA modes. All of
these drivers first look for a 24 bit (8r,8g,8b) color mode, then
a 15 or 16 bit (5r,5g,5b or 5r,6g,5b) color mode, and then an 8
bit (256 color palette) color mode, using the best mode that it
finds at the specified resolution.
Display output cannot be redirected to a file.
Epson, IBM 9 Pin Printers ------------------------------------------
/FN, /FW, and /F1 cover a wide range of Epson/IBM compatible 9 pin
dot matrix printers. You need a cyan/magenta/yellow/black ribbon
to get color prints. /FW sets line feeds to 1/6 inch.
Epson, Fujitsu, NEC, Toshiba 24 Pin Printers -----------------------
/FT covers all Epson LQ printers and many compatible printers
(Panasonic in LQ mode and others). /FF works with Fujitsu 24 pin
printers in Fujitsu mode. /F9 works with NEC 24 pin printers. /FO
works with Toshiba 24 pin printers. /FO resets the line feed
distance to 1/6 inch on completion.
For all of these drivers, you need a cyan/magenta/yellow/black
ribbon to get color prints.
p-27
Epson Stylus and Esc/P2 printers -----------------------------------
/F$ drives Epson Stylus and other Esc/P2 printers. Note that
Esc/P2 requires a different prefix code for paper size than other
line printers. Always use the form feed option with this driver
unless you have previously set compressed graphics mode.
The /F$ color drivers are always CMYK.
/FB~ drives Epson Stylus and older Epson 48 nozzle inkjet
printers, using compressed Esc/P control codes. It does not
require a form feed or interfere with previous printer settings.
Epson Stylus Color -------------------------------------------------
The Epson Stylus Color can use any of the /F$ or /FB drivers. /F$+
give 720 dpi mode, but this is not true 720 dpi because of severe
dot area overprinting - a 50% shade level gives complete coverage
and any more ink causes pooling and bleeding. This is compensated
for automatically.
Band interleaving for 720 dpi black prints (/F$+~) imposes a
severe slowdown because the interleaving is aimed at reducing
printing on wet ink rather than reducing the visual artifacts of
indexing errors.
p-28
Fargo Primera and PrimeraPro ---------------------------------------
/F8 includes five drivers for the Primera. /F8 is the CMY driver
for standard CMY and CMYK ribbons. /F8` is the CMYK driver for the
standard CMYK ribbon. /F8~ is for standard black ribbons. /F8+ is
for Photo-Realistic CMY ribbons. /F8+~ is for Photo-Realistic
black ribbons.
/FY provides analogous drivers for the PrimeraPro at 300x300 dpi.
/FY+! is the same as /FY+ (300 dpi Photo-Realistic) except that it
assumes an A6 ribbon in the printer. There is no monochrome
version of this driver. /FY* is for the Primera Pro 300x600 dpi
Photo-Realistic mode.
The Primera heat level (1..96) may be appended to the output
format option. The default is 20.
The Primera requires fast data flow and can cause long waits in
the data flow at times. Because of this it is important to use the
direct parallel port (/DP1, ..) or BIOS printer destinations (/D1,
..) rather than the LPT destinations (/DLPT1, ..).
Depending on your computer and the ribbon type, PrintGF may not be
able to send data to the printer as fast as it needs it. In this
case the printer will still function but there will be indexing
errors or horizontal bands in the print. To fix this use the
intermediate file option (/I). This will send all output to an
intermediate file and then copy the file to the printer.
For the Primera in Photo-Realistic mode, the user specified color
correction (brightness, gamma, etc.) is done first, with the gamma
multiplied by 1.5, and then the Fargo recommended color correction
is done.
Fax/Modems ---------------------------------------------------------
PrintGF will not create data for direct use by fax/modem devices.
Most fax software will read PCX files and PrintGF can generate
such files.
Use /FZ~200,196 or "ZSoft PCX b/w h,v dpi: 200,196" to generate a
PCX at 200x196 dpi which is the native fax high resolution.
HI JetPro V50/100 --------------------------------------------------
In printer mode the HI V50/100 acts as a Canon BJ IBM mode printer
(/F7). The maximum print width is 15.25 and you need the prefix
code 27,91,88,2,0,1,255 to get beyond 13.6 inches.
p-29
HP DeskJet ---------------------------------------------------------
/FI works with any black/white DeskJet in portrait mode.
/FA has three modes for different levels of color HP-PCL. /FA uses
RGB color and works with the DeskJet 500C. /FA! uses CMY color and
works with all color DeskJets. /FA!` uses CMYK color to give give
better blacks only on the DeskJet 550C (the DJ 1200C converts from
CMY to CMYK color internally).
HP LaserJet --------------------------------------------------------
/FL works with any LaserJet compatible printer. /FL! works with LJ
2 (PCL 4) printers. /FI works with LJ 3 (PCL 5) printers. /FI+ is
a 600 dpi driver for the LaserJet 4.
All of these drivers work in portrait mode, which may be set with
/J 27 38 108 48 79 or you can reset the printer with /J 27 69.
Resolution enhancement (RET) may adversely affect PrintGF's
shading patterns. This can be turned off with the prefix code 255,
which is converted to the required PJL commands. This must be the
first prefix code.
HP PaintJet --------------------------------------------------------
/FP drives 180 dpi PaintJet printers. The compression mode driver
(/FP!) uses transfer mode 2 and works only with a PaintJet XL.
/FA! (the DeskJet 500C CMY driver) works with the PaintJet XL300.
HP QuietJet --------------------------------------------------------
/FQ works with QuietJets in HP-PCL mode.
HP-RTL Plotters ----------------------------------------------------
/F0[i] works with HP-RTL plotters. For large prints a dither
pattern of 8 is generally preferable. Always use form feed with
driver unless you have previously set HP-RTL mode.
IBM Inkjets - ExecJet 4072, ExecJet II, Color Jetprinter 4079 ------
These are three completely different printers. The ExecJet 4072 is
Canon BJ330 compatible. Put the printer in IBM mode and use /F7.
The ExecJet II and IIc are DeskJet and DeskJet 500C compatible
printers and should be used with /FI and /FA!.
The 4079 is basically a PostScript printer and you can drive it
with /FS. However you can get faster printing by using it as a
raster printer. Newer versions of the printer can be set to ASCII
text mode and driven with /F& (Canon BJ native). Older printers
can be turned on with the two leftmost buttons held down until
startup is complete and then put in ASCII dump mode to use /F&.
Always use form feed with the BJ native driver unless you have
previously set BJ native mode.
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IBM LaserPrinter 4019, 4029, 4037, 4039 ----------------------------
/F4 drives any LaserPrinter 4019, 4029, or 4037 in PPDS (native)
mode. /FL will work for HP LaserJet mode.
The ! suboption or "modify output" "compression mode: Y" switches
to 4029 data compression. /F4+! works with the 4029 with 600 dpi
PPDS upgrade.
All 4039s are HP-PCL printers and should be driven with /FI or
/FI+ (the printer menu must be set to 600 dpi in this case). These
printers do not support PPDS mode (/F4).
IBM 24 Pin Printers ------------------------------------------------
PrintGF has three drivers for Proprinter X24 compatible printers.
Use native mode, not AGM. /F6 is for all IBM X24s and the 24P.
These printers do 1/144 inch indexing and using them at 180 dpi
gives horizontal white streaks every 2/3 inch. The /F6 drivers
compensate for this by indexing 19/144 per line, giving 182 dpi.
To work properly the printer must start on a 1/72 boundary so it
is best to keep line feeds at a multiple of 1/72 (1/6, 1/8, 1/9).
/F5 is referred to as X24 alternate 1 and is for printers that are
X24 compatible except for 1/180 inch indexing. This is the case
with most X24 compatible printers, including the IBM Quickwriter
and IBM 2390 and 2391. /F5* works only with printers that do 1/360
indexing, including the 2390 and 2391 but not the Quickwriter.
/FX is referred to as X24 alternate 2 and is the same as /F5
except for the vertical units command. /FX works with Panasonic
printers in X24 mode.
IBM Quietwriter 2 and 3 --------------------------------------------
/F2 and /F3 drive the Quietwriter 2 and 3. Line feeds are set to
1/6 inch on completion.
JRL J bubblejet ----------------------------------------------------
/F# drives the JRL J bubblejet in Epson LQ mode.
Kodak Diconix Color 4 ----------------------------------------------
/FK drives the Color 4.
Mannesmann Tally MT92C ---------------------------------------------
/FA (the DeskJet 500C RGB driver) drives the MT92C.
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Pacific Data Products ProTracer ------------------------------------
/FG drives the ProTracer (base model) in IBM Proprinter mode. The
maximum print window width is 15.
PostScript Printers ------------------------------------------------
/FS sends 8 bit black/white or 24 bit color data. Unless
overridden, the output resolution matches the GIF file. This lets
the PostScript device handle all of the dithering.
/FS- drives PostScript printers with 1 bit black/white or 3 bit
color. It is important to match the resolution of the driver to
the resolution of the printer for good results. Some PostScript
printers cannot handle this data.
The vertical margin is from the bottom of the page with
PostScript.
Star Micronics SJ-144 ----------------------------------------------
/F: drives the SJ-144. Always use the form feed option with this
driver unless you have previously set CDM mode. The two pass
version of this driver, /F:+, may be needed for dark prints. If
you are having problems with the ribbon sticking to the paper, try
this driver, but don't use it unnecessarily as it uses twice the
usual ribbon.
Tektronix ColorQuick -----------------------------------------------
/FR drives the ColorQuick.
ZSoft PCX Bit Map --------------------------------------------------
Use /FZ or /FZ~ to output an eight or two color ZSoft PCX bit map.
The horizontal and vertical dots/inch may be appended to override
the default 100x100, for example /FZ80,90. PCX should generally be
directed to a file with the /D option.
Since most fax software can take PCX files as input, this is
useful for faxing images. Use /FZ~200,196 to match the fax
resolution.
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Compatibility and Technical Information ------------------------------
PrintGF will run on any IBM compatible system with MS-DOS 3.0 or
above. MS-DOS 3.3 or later is recommended. It requires up to 384K of
free memory. XMS memory, available from HIMEM, QEMM, 386MAX or other
memory managers, is required for interlaced GIF files, landscape
mode printing, and AccuSoft IFL use.
PrintGF/W is an MS Windows 3.1 program. It uses its own printer
drivers, not Windows printer drivers.
These programs should not be compressed by any EXE file compressors,
as they rewrite the EXE when saving configurations.
PrintGF was written by Cary Ravitz and compiled with Borland Pascal
7.0. PRINTGF.OVR is compiled with Borland's Turbo C++ 3.0 and
contains AccuSoft's Image Format Library 4.0 low level image
interpreter. PRINTGF.DLL is AccuSofts's IFL 4.0 Windows DLL.
PRINTGF.FPR is Fargo's Primera and PrimeraPro Photo-Realistic ROM
code.
User Support ---------------------------------------------------------
Correspondence about this program may be sent via the support
bulletin board, fax, Compuserve, or mail.
BBS: 606-268-0577 1200..14400,N,8,1 24 hours/day
To ask a question, prepare an ASCII text file with the details of
your question. Then call the bulletin board and choose the upload
question option. XMODEM, 1K XMODEM, or ZMODEM file transfer
protocol is required for this. Your question will be assigned a
number (such as 1015) - remember this number. An answer file (with
the assigned number) will be posted, usually within 24 hours on
weekdays. To get an answer, call the bulletin board, choose the
download option, then the answer option, and then enter the answer
number.
Compuserve: Cary Ravitz [70431,32]
Fax: 606-268-0577
If your fax machine does not send the fax calling signal, the BBS
will answer and hang up (about 30 seconds), then the call is
routed to the fax. Faxes from outside the USA may be answered via
letter.
Mail: Ravitz Software Inc.
P.O. Box 25068
Lexington, KY 40524-5068
USA
