Subject: comp.periphs.printers - FAQ - Part 9 of 11
Version: 3.09
Last-Modified: 1997/01/05
Summary: This posting contains a list of Frequently Asked
         Questions (and their answers) about printers and
         should be read by anyone wishing to post to the
         comp.periphs.printers newsgroup.
Posting-Frequency: monthly
Date: Sun, 5 Jan 1997 05:29:12 GMT
Archive-Name: comp-periphs-printers-faq

Subject: 09 Miscellaneous Information

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Subject: 09.01 GhostScript

GhostScript is a PostScript interpreter written by Peter L.
Deutsch from Aladdin Enterprises. There are different license
conditions for the different existing GhostScript versions:
version 2 (current is 2.6.1) is under the GNU General Public
License (GPL), whereas version 3 is under Aladdin GhostScript
Free Public License (this means in short terms that you may use
both versions for private use as free, but the conditions differ
when it comes to use it commercially - see the relevant license
and copying conditions).

GhostScript version 2.6.1 (or later) and all related files are
available via FTP: <ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu> or
any GNU mirror around the world, version 3.01 (or later) is also
available via FTP: <ftp://ftp.cs.wisc.edu/pub/ghost/aladdin>.

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Subject: 09.02 Converting between Emulations

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Subject: 09.02.01 Converting PostScript to other emulations

This is a typical task for GhostScript (if there is a driver
for the emulation you're looking for). By calling gs with
the -help option you can get information about the available
devices. Here's a non- complete list of emulations supported:
epson, epsonc, necp6, laserjet, ljetplus, ljet2p, ljet3,
paintjet, bj10e, djet500, djet500c, pjetxl, lbp8 (these are
the names used in GhostScript).

It's possible to add new drivers to GhostScript if there
isn't one available yet.

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Subject: 09.02.02 Converting other emulations to PostScript

As long as you only have plain ASCII text to print this is
easy to do.  There are some public domain tools available
for this purpose, the simplest one is called a2ps.

But when it comes to non-ASCII text (ISO 8859-1 or PC 437)
or even printer specific control sequences (or raster
graphics etc.) things may become difficult.

For converting HP PCL into PostScript there is a tool
available (look for lj2ps), but as far as I know it only
handles non-proportional fonts (as for HP LaserJet II) and
no graphics. There is also a convertor available for HPGL
(its name is hpgl2ps), but I don't know more about it.
Likewise there exists a filter for Epson to PostScript
conversion (epson2ps).

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Subject 09.02.03 Other Conversions

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Subject: 09.03 Printing T-shirts

It is, indeed possible to create iron-on transfers for t-shirts
on laser printers. There's at least one company selling the
necessary toner cartridges for most standard B&W laser printers.
See the Vendor Contact section for more information on
BlackLightning. According to them: "The toners come in 15 colors
and use a sublimation dye process to produce permanent designs on
surfaces containing polyester or similar molecules. Because of
the toner cartridge design you can switch colors from one page to
the next without any residue problems. You can even print
multiple colors on the same page doing multiple passes. Most
laser printers have excellent registration for doing this if you
follow a few tricks. The print on the page is B&W - the color
does not appear until it is transferred to the destination
surface. Cartridges cost $140 to $270 depending on the make of
the laser printer."

| From Bob Zeiss:
| I think your section on T-shirt printing needs to be updated.
| The Canon T-shirt paper for inkjets has made t-shirt printing
| a lot easier.
| [Anyone have experience with the Canon product they'd like to
| share?]
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Subject 09.04 Miscellaneous Internet Resources

Here's some pertinent Internet URL's I've found available
in recent months:

From Hubert van Dongen
   The inkjet printer homepage. Good, non-commercial site
   with pointers to lots of stuff.
|  World Wide Web site previously listed failed 03 Jan 1997.
From Kevin Green
  Penguin's Printer Page - pointers to printer drivers on the net.
  <http://www.primenet.com/~penguink/printers.html>

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Subject 09.05 Paper Sizes

From Terje Trane:

  "In Europe we use this system:

  "Take a sheet of paper with an area of one square meter
  cut so that the length of the short side is the long side
  divided by the square root of 2 . (That's approximately
  1.41). Call this size A0. Divide each side with the square
  root of two and call this A1, continue dividing and you
  get A2, A3, A4 and A5. Another way of doing this is to cut
  the A0 in two along the short middle line, then you have
  two A1 size sheets. Cut them the same way and you have 4
  A2-sheets and so on.

  "I have not seen smaller sizes than A5 used, but the system
  could of course be extended if you need to. I have also seen
  used A00 for a size twice the area of A0, and A000 for 4
  times the area.

  "There is also a B-size range that is larger than the A of
  the same number but smaller than the A of a smaller number
  (ex. B4 is a size between A4 and A3) that occasionally is used.

  "Finally there is a  C range for envelopes."
  
Metric ISO Paper Sizes - Primarily used outside North America

From: The Macmillan Dictionary of Measurement. By Mike Darton
and John Clark. Macmillan Publishing, New York, NY. 1994.
ISBN 0-02-525750-1 LC 93-47005

        Width  x Height   Width    x Height
  Name  inch     inch     mm         mm

  A0    33 1/8 x 46 3/4     841    x 1,189
  A1    23 3/8 x 33 3/8     594    x   841
  A2    16 1/2 x 23 3/8     420    x   594
  A3    11 3/4 x 16 1/2     297    x   420
  A4     8 1/4 x 11 3/4     210    x   297
  A5     5 7/8 x  8 1/4     148    x   210
  A6     4 1/8 x  5 7/8     105    x   148
  A7     2 7/8 x  4 1/8      74    x   105
  A8     2     x  2 7/8      52    x    74
  A9     1 1/2 x  2          37    x    52
  A10    1     x  1 1/2      26    x    37
  
  B0    39 3/8 x 55 5/8   1,000    x 1,414
  B1    27 7/8 x 39 3/8     707    x 1,000
  B2    19 5/8 x 27 7/8     500    x   707
  B3    13 7/8 x 19 5/8     353    x   500
  B4     9 7/8 x 13 7/8     250    x   353
  B5     7     x  9 7/8     176    x   250
  B6     4 7/8 x  7         125    x   176
  B7     3 1/2 x  4 7/8      88    x   125
  B8     2 1/2 x  3 1/2      62    x    88
  B9     1 3/4 x  2 1/2      44    x    62
  B10    1 1/4 x  1 3/4      31    x    44
  
  C4     9     x 12 3/4     229    x 1,414  holds A4 flat
  C5     6 3/8 x  9         162    x   229  holds A5 flat or
                                            A4 folded in half
  C6     4 1/2 x  6 3/8     114    x   162  holds A6 flat,
                                            A5 folded in half, or
                                            A4 folded in four

  DL     4 1/4 x  8 5/8     108    x   219  holds A4 folded twice,
                                            into thirds

  "DL was not an original ISO designation, but had to be
  introduced because people insisted on folding their A4
  letters in three - and why not!"

A Partial List of North American Paper Sizes

From: Aldus PageMaker (Windows Version 5.0a), [Computer
Program]. Available Distributor: CDW Computer Centers,
Inc., Buffalo Grove, Illinois.

  Common     Width  x Height     Width  x Height
  Name       inch     inch       mm       mm

  Letter      8.5   x 11         215.9  x 279.4
  Legal       8.5   x 14         215.9  x 355.6
  Tabloid    11     x 17         279.4  x 431.8
  
From: HP DeskJet 520 User's Guide, Manual Part Number
C2170-90010. Hewlett-Packard Company, 1993.

  Envelopes

  Common     Width  x Height     Width  x Height
  Name       inch     inch       mm       mm

  US No. 10   4.12  x  9.5       104.7  x 241.3

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End of Part 9 of 11
