3.703 HP printer, cont. (174)
Willard McCarty (MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca)
Sun, 5 Nov 89 17:19:40 EST
Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 3, No. 703. Sunday, 5 Nov 1989.
(1) Date: Fri, 3 Nov 89 23:42:31 EST (137 lines)
From: gall@Nexus.YorkU.CA
Subject: Re: 3.694 the HP printer; fonts (181)
(2) Date: Sat, 4 Nov 89 00:07:00 EST (18 lines)
From: <HALPORNJ@IUBACS>
Subject: HP DESKWRITER: Thanks
(1) --------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 3 Nov 89 23:42:31 EST
From: gall@Nexus.YorkU.CA
Subject: Re: 3.694 the HP printer; fonts (181)
I will respond to all of these articles. All have at least one
mistake in them...
> Subject: 3.694 the HP printer; fonts (181)
| Date: Thu, 2 Nov 89 23:35:06 EST
| From: Geoffrey Rockwell <Geoffrey_Rockwell@poczta.utcs.utoronto.ca>
| Subject: 3.687 HP printer and M-I
|
| I saw the HP Deskwriter (HP 2278A) at MacWorld and was impressed. It is
| not, however, a PostScript printer. Nor is it a 300 dpi printer of the
| quality of traditional lasers.
It is exactly 300 dpi...
| The dots are not uniform in size, so the
| effect, compared to a laser is speckly.
This is not the case with my printer. I printed identical documents
with Adobe Times at 5, 9, 10, 12, 14, 24, 48, 72, and 127 pt sizes.
It was only after about 48 that you noticed a difference. With ATM,
even the hinting is preserved on the DW.
| Fonts is an interesting question. I was under the impression that they
| have their own font outline technology for the printer, but I may have
| not heard correctly.
AGFA Compugraphic fonts are supplied in Times, Courier, and Helvetica.
Adobe Type Manager allows the use, at 300 dpi, *ALL* Adobe faces. You
simply purchase the downloadables from Adobe, stick 'em in your System
folder and go.
| It could be that they use large size fonts and
| scale them down, as the LQ does.
Given that it is a QuickDraw printer, it can do this...
| In that case the question is whether
| there is a SMK Greek keys 72 point font. Here is what the pamphlet says
| (in quotations): "Laser-quality means 300 dots-per-inch resolution.
| Jet black text and graphics. Sharp, crisp edges. And a library of
| scalable fonts that you thought were available only on PostScript
| printers..."
|
| Sounds to me like, yet another font technology. How does it handle
| fonts for which it has no outline?
It sends the largest (4X, if you've got 'em) to the printer... just
like the IW II, LQ, and the LWSC.
| A screen dump of the "DeskWriter
| Page Setup" has the following switchable Printer Effects: Font
| substitution?, Use High-Quality Printer Fonts?, and Precision Bitmaps?
| I suspect with Font Substitution off, you can get SMK as if it were on
| an imagewriter. (Jet black and crisp.) The high-quality printer fonts
| will be their outline fonts. One possibility is that it is like the
| BitStream fonts on the PC, you have to generate 300dpi fonts from the
| outline that then sit on your hard drive. You generate a different font
| for each point size you think you want. How will this work with the
| Royal technology when that comes out with system 7. (Beware of system
| seven.) How about Adobe's font outline technology?
|
Same way.
| (3) --------------------------------------------------------------53----
| Date: 03 Nov 89 12:47 -0330
| From: dgraham@kean.ucs.mun.ca
| Subject: HP DeskWriter
|
| I've had a DeskWriter working in my office only for the last few days
| so I'm not the best person to comment on the request for information
| about it, but here goes anyway:
|
| The DeskWriter is basically an edition of the DeskJet with a
| new driver from Palomar Software specifically designed to work with
| the Macintosh.
Not quite... the firmware in the printer has also been opimised for
the Mac.... graphics compression and the like...
|
| As regards the question of non-Roman fonts, as far as I can
| see there is not yet a proper Greek font, or for that matter any other
| non-Roman font, available for the DeskWriter. Those who have seen the
| standard Mac Symbol font will be aware that it is no substitute. Any
| good bitmapped font would work of course, but at 72 dpi. If the
| DeskWriter catches on (as it may, given its low price in relation to
| the quality of output), companies like Linguists' Software may well
| produce fonts for it.
ATM will work with any Type 1 Adboe encrypted font... Bitstream just
broke the code, so we'll see those working with ATM presently...
|
| Bottom line at the moment: it's a joy to use, but if your
| first priority is non-Roman fonts at 300 dpi, you should find out more
| before buying. This is not a PostScript printer, by the way, and does
| not use Adobe fonts. I think it comes with fonts from Agfa
| Compugraphic, but I'm not sure.
AS I have ranted... with ATM, the DeskWriter loves Adobe faces.
|
| David Graham dgraham@kean.ucs.mun.ca
|
>-- End of excerpt
*** Begin unsolicted advert ***
Adobe Type Manager is availbale, in Canada, right this second, from
SaltSpring Software in London, Ontario, for the low, low, proce of $79
CDN!!!!
UPS overnight within ON costs and extra $6--other places in Canada
$10.
Their toll-free number is 1-800-265-3492.
*** end advert ***
I don't work for these guys... I just thought you'd like to know where
to get it cheap and fast.
Norm Gall
--
"One age misunderstands another; and a _petty_ age misunderstands all
the others in its own nasty way" - L. Wittgenstein
(2) --------------------------------------------------------------25----
Date: Sat, 4 Nov 89 00:07:00 EST
From: <HALPORNJ@IUBACS>
Subject: HP DESKWRITER: Thanks
I want to thank those who sent me information directly or through HUMANIST
concerning the HP DeskWriter for the MAC. It will take a little time for
an ignoramus about printers for the MAC like myself to digest all of it,
but at least there are some out there who have tried and tested this
printer. I have had an "academic price" for the DeskWriter of c. US$624.
Thanks, then, to:
Pete Smith <SVAF524@UTXVM.BITNET>
Paul Brians <HRC$04@WSUVM1>
Geoffrey Rockwell <rockwell@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca>
Norm Gall <gall@Nexus.YorkU.CA>
David Graham <dgraham@kean.ucs.mun.ca>
Elli Mylonas <elli@harvunxw.BITNET>
All the best, Jim Halporn (HALPORNJ@IUBACS)