1 / 23

Presented by Allen Miglore

Synergetic Data Systems, Inc. Session 6 PostScript ® vs. PCL Printing. PostScript is a registered trademark of Adobe Systems Incorporated. Presented by Allen Miglore. Through version 6, UnForm supported PCL5 and PDF output formats. PCL5 was the language standard for laser printers.

kagami
Télécharger la présentation

Presented by Allen Miglore

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Synergetic Data Systems, Inc. Session 6 PostScript® vs. PCL Printing PostScript is a registered trademark of Adobe Systems Incorporated Presented by Allen Miglore

  2. Through version 6, UnForm supported PCL5 and PDF output formats. PCL5 was the language standard for laser printers. Starting in 2005, HP reduced support for PCL5 by eliminating scalable PCL fonts from some new printer models. All PCL text was rendered in Courier. SDSI chose to develop a PostScript driver. Why PostScript?

  3. PostScript was developed in the 1980’s by Adobe, for use in the printing and typesetting industry. The Apple Laserwriter was an early consumer printer with PostScript. PostScript 2 and 3 were released in the 1990’s. PostScript is widely supported on laser printers today – often PostScript 2. PostScript History

  4. PostScript is a programming language PCL5 is a page description language PostScript is verbose, large print streams PCL5 is concise, smaller print streams PostScript is extendable to support any device capability PCL5 has a defined specification of device capabilities PostScript vs. PCL5

  5. Print stream size increase means longer transmission times to printer Device capabilities are controlled by commands that differ by printer (duplex, tray, and bin control) Image support differs (eps and jpeg) Base fonts are similar, but UnForm also supports Type1 soft fonts Key UnForm Differences

  6. In PCL5, a tray selection command was always ESC +”&l#H”. The UnForm tray 1 command always sent ESC+”&l1H”. In PostScript, trays are given names, which vary by printer, and a tray name is given PostScript code, which varies by printer. *InputSlot Upper/ Tray 1: "<</ManualFeed false /MediaPosition 3>> setpagedevice" Device Capability Example

  7. Since printer control varies by model, a configuration file is necessary. Vendors publish Postscript Printer Definition (PPD) files for their printers. A PPD file is simply a map of capability names to the code sequences that are sent to the print stream. PPD Files

  8. Vendor PPD files give capabilities names rather than codes. Upper or HighCapacity rather than 1 or 5 For UnForm, PPD files describe: Trays as *InputSlot name: code Bins as *OutputBin name: code Duplex as *Duplex name: code PPD Files Contain Code

  9. Example: a tray command will cause UnForm to lookup the code associated with the *InputSlot definition of that tray. Any two PPD files will likely have different names for the same capability None will have codes like PCL (1,4,5,etc.) PPD files can be customized to match rule file names for tray, bin, and duplex. UnForm Reads PPD Files

  10. Locating a PPD - Internet • Look in the drivers or software sections of the manufacturer’s web site • Look in the linixprinting.org web site: http://linuxprinting.org/download/PPD

  11. Locating a PPD - Windows • Install drivers for the printer • If there’s a choice, be sure to include Postscript drivers • Search for *.ppd • Copy/paste the ppd file for your model

  12. UnForm comes with two default PPD files pcl.ppd – traditional PCL escape sequences ps.ppd – based on hp4000.ppd, customized to show traditional tray and bin codes The pcl.ppd file supports the traditional PCL coded sequence, plus named sequences modeled on ps.ppd. The ps.ppd file supports both as well, showing how customization can be used. PPD Files are Always Used

  13. UnForm supports PPD files with the –m model command line option. -m hp4000 uses ppd/hp4000.ppd Without a –m option, UnForm uses pcl.ppd or ps.ppd, depending on the driver in use. Rule sets can have model-specific sections: if uf.model$="hp4000" … end if PPD File Selection

  14. UnForm loads the specified (-m model) or default ppd file at the start of the job. When UnForm encounters a tray, bin, or duplex command, it looks up the code: tray upper looks for the pattern “*InputSlot *upper*:” and inserts the related code. tray 5 looks for the pattern “*InputSlot *5*:” During Printing…

  15. UnForm rule files traditionally use PCL code numbers for printer control. PPD files use names rather than PCL codes to identify printer control features. To solve, edit PPD file to provide PCL codes as synonyms, or change commands to use PPD names. See ps.ppd. Correcting the Mismatch

  16. Color PostScript printers support EPS and JPEG files. Monochrome PostScript printers support only EPS, and error on JPEG files. Scaling is supported by the printer. The attach command is implemented as an image command scaled to the full page. Image Differences

  17. If an image has a .pcl or .prn extension, and the image mode is not color, UnForm will automatically look for a .eps file. If an image command has a .rtl extension, or the image mode is color, UnForm will automatically look for a .jpg file. Color image mode is indicated by -ci or -color command line options, or a “color” image command option. Image Name Substitutions

  18. Image Magick can produce EPS or JPEG if eps= and jpeg= [images] lines are configured. The Windows Support Server can produce EPS or JPEG images as well. The web site image conversion utility can produce EPS and JPEG images, if you want pre-created files. Image Conversion

  19. There are three standard built-in fonts, plus two symbol fonts, in every PostScript device. The three standard fonts come in normal, bold, italic, and bold-italic. Courier, Helvetica, Times-Roman Other fonts can be provided using Type1 soft font files. PostScript Fonts

  20. UnForm is designed to select fonts by a PCL font number. In ufparam.txt, names are mapped to numbers in the [fonts] section. For PostScript, font numbers are mapped in the [psmap] section to a font name found in the psfont directory: 4101=Times-Roman,Times-Bold,Times-Italic,Times-BoldItalic Internal Font Mapping

  21. Each PostScript font has a .afm file, and non-internal fonts have a .pfa or .pfb file. The .afm file stores character size metrics The .pfa/.pfb files are soft fonts that can be downloaded with jobs that use them. A Type1 font will provide the above files. The psfont Directory

  22. In ufparam.txt, in the [psmap], is this line: MICR=15002 In the psfont directory are these files: MICR.afm MICR.pfa MICR.pfb A text command using font 15002 will produce MICR output. Type1 Font Example: MICR

  23. Answers Questions

More Related