PRINTER DOLLY SUPPLEMENTAL INSTRUCTION FILE The purpose of this file is to provide information that is either in more detail or more current than the information in the manual. The organization of this file is as follows: Section 1 - How to get help from LaserScript Publishing. Section 2 - Helpful hints on Deskjet and Laserjet Configuration. Section 3 - EPSON LQ Configuration. Section 4 - Insert-Token Documentation. Section 5 - Landscape vs. Portrait with the laserjet IID, IIP, and III. Section 6 - HP Laserjet rectangles and lines tutorial. Section 7 - HP Laserjet III special effects tutorial. 1. HOW TO GET HELP FROM LASERSCRIPT PUBLISHING. The support line for registered users is (714) 282-0756. If we are not in, you can leave a message on our answering machine and we will return your call. If you are just evaluating Printer Dolly, we will try to answer your questions also. 2. HELPFUL HINTS ON DESKJET AND LASERJET CONFIGURATION. Developing .DCF printer control files for these printers entails numerous options because of the large number of cartridge and soft fonts available. To make things worse, Hewlett Packard titled their Deskjet cartridges the same as they did their Laserjet cartridges. You therefore have A, B, C, etc. for both. After selecting the top option entitled "Select Printers and Font Cartridges," and then loading of the distribution diskette, you will see a tall narrow window on the left side of your screen. Although the instructions on the screen and in the printed manual should be sufficient, there are some suggestions that may save you some time and frustration getting exactly the file that you need. If you scroll the window up and down you will likely notice that the first part of the file applies to the Laserjet line and the second part to the Deskjet line of printers. Cartridge and soft font options are indented one space in from printer choices. Generally, the logic is that after a printer is listed, you will find all of the cartridge and soft font options available for that printer. Since these products are somewhat complicated, however, this configuration becomes more complicated. We have provided Laserjet printer selections for the II, IIP, and IID printers. If you have a Laserjet, Laserjet+, or a Laserjet 500, you should select the Laserjet II. It may have some options that your printer won't be able to use, but it will allow you to take full advantage of your printer. The first complication to be explained is Symbol Sets. After the "HP LASERJET II" selection, for instance, you should find many choices, all beginning with the name "Internal Font," each with a different symbol set. If you understand what symbol sets are, simply scroll down and select the one you need. If you don't understand them, just select "ASCII" for now. If you want to gain an understanding, your printer manuals provide a good explanation of this topic. You will find that some cartridges and soft fonts offer a choice of many different symbol sets while other do not. Printer Dolly gives you a complete selection to allow you to take advantage of all features. Also, because Printer Dolly is designed to be useful in many countries, it must work with the symbol sets for different languages. You may notice that Internal Fonts appear below each printer. For instance, you see HP LASERJET II and then a list of Internal Fonts, then HP LASERJET IID, and again a list of Internal Fonts. You must be aware that THE INTERNAL FONTS FOR THE LASERJET II AND THE INTERNAL FONTS FOR THE LASERJET IID ARE DIFFERENT! If you have a Laserjet II you should select the Internal fonts for that printer and not for the Laserjet IID. After the Internal font options, you will find the cartridge options that appear as "x Laser Cart" where x is the cartridge number. Again, sometimes there are multiple symbol options. The old line of Laserjet cartridges were named by these single letters A through Z. After these options, you will find the newer line of cartridges, "Pro Collection, WordPerfect, Microsoft," etc.. After these, you will find the soft font choices. The idea is to select a printer and then your choices in any sequence you desire. The sequence you choose will be the sequence that the control file will have when you use the Printer Dolly memory resident program. For instance if you have a Laserjet II and you have the "F" Cartridge in one slot and the "Pro Collection" Cartridge in the other slot, and you frequently use the "DC Soft fonts for legal applications you would select as follows: HP LASERJET II F Laser Cart ASCII ProColl Cart ASCII ProColl Cart Legal DC Soft Laser Legal It is not necessary to select the Internal Fonts because these options have everything that is available with the Internal Fonts. Selection of the Internal Fonts would have just made your .DCF file about 700 bytes larger. This, in turn, makes the memory resident program 700 bytes larger - and this is precious memory. The above configuration will cause the Printer Dolly memory resident program to consume approximately 28K. If you are concerned about resident memory requirements, configuring the above into three separate .DCF files would save 4k of resident memory. In examining the Deskjet data in the second half of the file, the same general logic applies. Here, only two printers are offered, the DESKJET and the DESKJET+. The trial and error approach is recommended in the configuration process. If you create a .DCF file that is not useful, just delete it and create another one - its very easy. Questions that are not answered in the Printer Dolly Manual or in this README file will probably be answered in your printers manual or the manual that comes with your cartridge or soft fonts. Call us if you have any problems. 3. EPSON LQ CONFIGURATION Epson is very easy to configure, you have only one choice: "EPSON LQ Printers." You should know, however, that this choice will give you a control file for the highest function printer in the LQ line which is the LQ2550. If you have a lesser EPSON LQ printer, you printer may not have some of the features in this control file. You should consult your printer manual to learn your printers features. 4. INSERT-TOKEN DOCUMENTATION Insert-tokens are the character strings that immediately follow the ~| characters when the DOCUMENT INSERT FEATURE is used. They are designed to be as recognizable as possible in the few characters that are allowed (usually six). For instance, the code to eject to the next page, regardless of printer, is ~|EJECT_ (The underline is included because no blanks can exist in the code). When implementing font control, the code becomes more complex. The key to understanding the insert-tokens for font control is as follows: 1. The first two characters represent the typeface used - AV = AVANT GARDE LD = LINE DRAW BC = BAR CODE LN = PCLINE BD = BONDI LP = LINE PRINTER BG = BENQUIAT BOOK LU = LUBALIN BO = BOOKMAN MI = MICROSTYLE BH = BRUSH OC = OCRA BR = BROADWAY PA = PARK AVENUE CG = CG TIMES PG = PRESTIGE CN = CORONET PR = PRESENTATION CP = COOPER SF = SERIFA CR = COURIER SV = SOUVENIR CS = CENTURY SCHOOLBOOK TR = TIMES RMN DO = DOM CASUAL TV = TRIUMVIRATE FT = FUTURA UC = UNIVERS COND GR = GARAMOND UL = UNCIAL GT = GOTHIC UN = UNIVERS HC = HELVETICA COND UP = EAM / UPC HD = HEADLINE XX = EPSON TYPE HO = HELVETICA OUTLINE ZH = ZAPF HUMANIST HV = HELVETICA ZP = USPS ZIP 2. The second two digits are numeric and represent the point size. i.e. 10 point, 12 point, 16 point. 3. The fifth character is B for Bold, I for Italic, X for both bold and italic, or just an underline character (_) if the font is neither Bold or Italic. 4. The sixth character is P for Portrait or L for Landscape. This, however, is complicated if more than one multiple symbol font file was chosen for a single .DCF file. The P can be replaced by a 2, 3, 4, or 5. The L can be replaced by a 6, 7, 8, or 9. If you keep your .DCF files small and simple, you will not need to be concerned with this. For instance: 12 point Courier upright in landscape mode = ~|CR12_L 14 point Helvecta Italic in Portrait mode = ~|HV14IP 10 point Gothic Bold Italic Portrait mode = ~|GT10XP This standard holds for all "normal looking fonts." Dot Matrix printers and the HP Deskjet printer have many more options than the Laserjet. Most of these options are either very stretched out characters or characters that are squeezed. Insert tokens for these fonts deviate from this standard. The purpose of this standard is to provide two advantages: 1. The token should be recognizable. This makes Printer Dolly easy to work with. 2. Future versions of Printer Dolly will provide printer interchange capability. To do this, all printer files must follow the same standard. (1) With this 1.0 version, the typeface is selected separately from the point size and pitch. This allows complete flexibility in a relatively small file for Epson users. 5. LANDSCAPE vs. PORTRAIT WITH THE LASERJET IID, IIP, AND III. The following discussion only applies to use of the DOCUMENT INSERT MODE. Laserjet IID and IIP allow fonts to be printed in either orientation but not on the same page. The laserjet III allows fonts to be printed either of four ways on the same page. This can lead to some confusion. For the older cartridge and soft fonts, (other than the very latest scalable and laserjet III internal fonts) fonts are tagged either portrait or landscape in the Printer Dolly window. If you are using a IID, IIP, or III and you want to force the opposite orientation for a font YOU MUST SELECT THE FORCED ORIENTATION SELECTION AFTER EACH FONT SELECTION! Beginning with the Laserjet III internal fonts and the scalable fonts, fonts are no longer tagged portrait or landscape. For these fonts you no longer need to select the forced orientation after each font - you just need to do it once. This is because, with these newer fonts, the printer command does not specify either landscape or portrait orientation - you must specify it separately or let it default to portrait. 6. HP LASERJET RECTANGLES AND LINES TUTORIAL: Laserjet II, IIP, IID, and III all have the ability to print rectangles of various shades and patterns. The Laserjet III has the additional ability of printing lighter shades on top of darker shades which yields a very impressive capability. Before starting this process, it would be helpful if you could review the rectangle fill section in the appropriate laserjet technical reference manual. This manual does not come with your printer but it is very useful. If you don't have this manual, just continue to follow this tutorial, it is sufficient by itself. You will find a basic "Laserjet Rectangles / lines" selection for the II, IIP, and IID in your Pconfig menu. Also, if you have a Laserjet III, you can make use of the "Laserjet III Rectangle" selection. This tutorial will guide you through the use of both of these powerful capabilities. BASICS - ENOUGH TO GET YOU GOING: Rectangles are used in the "DOCUMENT INSERT MODE." This tutorial assumes a complete knowledge of this mode of operation. If you are not familiar with this, see your Printer Dolly manual. There are six steps to printing a rectangle (or a line, which is a flat rectangle). This method may initially seem difficult, but it will become very easy after you catch on. It will take a little practice to become really effective. The process of drawing rectangles on your page requires you to: - Bring up your ASCII text editor or, if you don't have one, perhaps a word processor. Start at the top of a clean page. - Pop up Printer Dolly and page down to the rectangles and lines section (if it's not there, you must not have configured it in the "PCONFIG" step). - Enter the desired values in lines 1 through 6. - Insert all six tokens into your document. - Insert a "Move to the top left of form" token after your rectangle tokens. - Turn on COMMAND PROCESSING and send your document to the printer. Your rectangle will print according to the values you put into the six variables. Now, you might be better off not reading any further right now and just playing around with this until you feel comfortable. BUT THEN DO COME BACK AND READ ON, we have some handy suggestions in the remainder of this tutorial. DETAIL INSTRUCTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS: A page on the laserjet is addressed by dots. There are 300 dots to an inch either across or up and down. All specifications are given in dots - this can make your rectangles very accurate. To print a rectangle you must go through the six (sometimes only five) steps listed in the rectangles section. Right now you should have this section ready to pop up so you can see the window as you read this tutorial. All rectangles (or lines) are addressed by their upper left dot. The first two specifications are for defining where the upper left corner of your rectangle will be placed on the paper. STEP 1. The "Horizontal Position=" is for setting the left position across the page. If, for instance, you specified 900 (300 dots per inch times 3) in this field, the left side of your rectangle would be three inches from the left margin. STEP 2. The "Vertical Position =" is for setting the top position down the page. If, for instance, you specified 1800 (300 dots per inch times 6) in this field, the top side of your rectangle would be six inches from the top margin. STEP 3 and STEP 4. The "Width of Rectangle =" and "Height of Rectangle=" allows you to set the dimensions of your rectangle. Again, you must remember that there are 300 dots per inch and the specification is given in dots for the purpose of accuracy. If you want to draw a line, you simply make either the width or height very small - say two to ten dots. STEP 5. The "Shade or Pattern ? =" specification is only needed if you are going to use one of the optional shades or patterns. If you just want to print a solid black (or white with the Laserjet III) rectangle, you can bypass this insert token. If you want a shade, simply specify the percent dark. 2% would be barely noticeable where 99% would look like solid black. If you want a pattern, specify 1,2,3,4,5, or 6 which is the number of possible patterns that can be printed. Don't worry, the next insert token tells the printer if you mean shade or pattern. STEP 6. The "Type of Fill =" allows you to specify: "0" for solid black - For this, it was not necessary to use the "Shade or Pattern" specification at all. "1" for solid white - This only works for Laserjet III printers. "2" for shaded fill - This means that the number in the previous insert token means shade. "3" for pattern - This means that the number in the previous insert token means one of the six patterns. TIPS AND SUGGESTIONS: A useful technique for drawing rectangles on a document is to either put all of the insert tokens at the beginning of the document or at the end. If you put them at the beginning, your text will show through the shaded rectangles. If you put them at the end, the rectangles will cover up your text (because they were printed last). Assuming that you put them at the beginning, you will find that the lines containing the insert tokens to draw the rectangles take up actual lines on your page! To take care of this problem, simply move the cursor back up to the top of the page after all the drawing is done. This is the "Move to top left of form" command in the "PAGE MOVEMENT / CONTROL" section. Many of you, especially those of you with Laserjet III printers, will find that you are drawing many rectangles and are going through the process over and over inserting all six (or five) tokens. For instance, on the Laserjet III printer, an outline box is drawn by first drawing a black box and then a slightly smaller white box inside of it. A technique to save you some time is to first insert all six tokens for your first rectangle on a line, then use your text editor to copy that line several times below. You can then easily use your test editor to put different values directly into the tokens. A point of frustration you may experience in the beginning is that getting the rectangle to highlight just the right portion of your document is somewhat of a trial and error process. This is true as Printer Dolly does not have a "What You See Is What You Get" graphical interface. However, if you can take a few minutes to become familiar with the relationship between lines per inch and dots you will amaze yourself with how accurate you can be the first time. Remember, six lines per inch is exactly 50 dots per line. Type at 10 cpi would be exactly 30 dots per character(300 / 10). Drawing a highlight rectangle over characters 10 - 20 on line 42 would require you to first multiply 50 x 42 to recognize that you need a displacement of 2100 vertical dots. To get the horizontal starting point you would multiply 9 x 30 dots for each character if you were using fixed 10 cpi type. END OF RECTANGLE TUTORIAL 7. HP LASERJET III SPECIAL EFFECTS TUTORIAL: STOP !! Before reading this tutorial, you must read and practice the HP LASERJET RECTANGLES AND LINES TUTORIAL. That data is a prerequisite for this section. The rectangles feature, as you are aware, is geared to plot all necessary rectangles and shades either before any of the text occurs in a document or after. Unlike that feature, this feature is meant to be used immediately ahead and around the text you want to be affected - just like most other Printer Dolly features. You should notice in the window (have it ready to pop up while you read this), this section is divided into two distinct parts: "RECTANGLE SPECS......." and "TYPE APPEARANCE SPECS...." These two sections can be used either together or independently. 1. RECTANGLE SPECS. Since you read the rectangle section you know generally how to use this feature. This section is missing the first two steps "Horizontal position" and "Vertical Position" because they are not needed - the assumption is that you want to start the rectangle right where these insert tokens are. The length you specify must be long enough to highlight your desired text and the height must also be sufficient. With a little trial and error you will should get very good at this. Now, a word about the height - Printer Dolly must address any rectangle by the upper right corner. It is therefore necessary for Printer Dolly to space up one line, draw the rectangle to your specifications, and then space back down. THE CURRENT VMI OR LPI SETTING IS VERY IMPORTANT HERE. You can use the VMI and rectangle height settings to get just about any effect you want. Steps 3 and 4 work exactly the same as in the rectangle section. 2. TYPE APPEARANCE SPECS. Right before your text you can insert (1) a shade or pattern for your text (this is optional if you want your text printed in solid white), (2) specify black, white, shade or pattern, and (3) after the text is printed, return the print mode back to black type. For instance, printing the following lightly shaded text in a darker shaded rectangle in CG Times Bold Italic at 40 point would require the following insert tokens: Line one sets the font to 40 point CG times Bold Italic. Line two sets the lines per inch large enough to space for this size font. Line three sets the rectangle 3 inches wide. Line four sets the rectangle high enough for this size font. Line five shades the rectangle at 80 percent. Line six draws the rectangle, specifies 10 shade type and prints the type along with going back to black print. Line seven resets the printer to the default font. ~|CG99_500040 ~|VMI__=00030 ~|1WIDE_00900 ~|2HIGH_00150 ~|3SHADE80 ~|4DRAW_2~|1SHPT_10~|2TYPE=2 Printer Dolly ...~|3BLACK ~|RESET_ If you copy this file to your printer and would like to see the effect, be sure to have COMMAND PROCESSING on and also to have the proper .DCF file active. Otherwise you will get an ESCAPE MISMATCH. As in the rectangle section, you should understand the printers capabilities and practice this for awhile. We think you will find it easy to use. END HP LASERJET III SPECIAL EFFECTS TUTORIAL END OF README FILE.