STARTUP.PS The Ultimate Mac-to-UltraScript¿ PostScript driver Brought to you by Bugbasher Software Version 1.1 - March 19, 1990 (c) 1989, 1990 Hubert Nooijen ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Introduction ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ As we all know, UltraScript has BIG trouble printing PostScript files from the Macintosh or Spectre. That is, until now! With STARTUP.PS, a little PostScript program with a GREAT effect, those compatibility problems are a thing of the past! UltraScript will now print virtually everything from the Mac, including those famous programs as Aldus FreeHand, Adobe Illustrator, Microsoft Word and Aldus PageMaker. You can choose landscape or portrait, reduced or enlarged, and all the stuff from the Print and Page Setup dialog boxes on the Mac. Your printer will never be the same again... Usage ÿÿÿÿÿ STARTUP.PS should be placed in the same folder as UltraScript. It will be automatically executed by UltraScript before any print job (that's why it's called STARTUP.PS); thus it should not be selected for printing (or the print job will be aborted). To print to a file on the Mac, immediately hold down COMMAND-K (NOT COMMAND-F!) after clicking OK or pressing RETURN at the Print dialog box, until the message "Creating PostScript¾ file..." (or whatever) appears. A file named POSTSCRIPTx (x = 0 - 9) will be created. Transfer the file to the Atari as text-only (WITHOUT linefeeds!); it is then ready to be printed by UltraScript. With STARTUP.PS installed, nothing else has to be done, no patching, no hassle! Compatibility ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ STARTUP.PS has been thoroughly tested and amended over a period of eight months before this release; it has found to be extremely robust and did not even cause a single breakdown! It has been tested with the LaserWriter driver versions 4.0, 5.1, 5.2 (who said that version 5.2 does "definitely not work"?) and 6.0 (the newest and the one I use). Tested software include: Cricket Paint 1.0, Digital Darkroom 1.0, FileMaker II 1.0, Fontographer 2.3 & 3.0, FreeHand 1.0, 2.0 & 2.02, FullWrite Professional 1.0, HyperCard 1.0, 1.1, 1.2.2 & 1.2.5, Illustrator 88 1.6, 1.8.3 & 1.9.3, ImageStudio 1.5, MacDraw II 1.0 & 1.1, MacPaint II 1.0, MacWrite 5.0, MacWrite II 1.0, MS Excel 2.2, MS Word 4.0, Nisus 1.01, PageMaker 3.0 & 3.5, ReadySetGo! 4.5, Streamline 1.1, SuperPaint 2.0, System 4.2, 4.3, 6.0.2, 6.0.3 & 6.0.4, The Art Importer 2.0, Wingz 1.0, WriteNow 1.0 & 2.0, Xpress 2.00, 2.11 & 2.12, and the MonoType Gill Sans font family. Everything printed through UltraScript without any problems found, when STARTUP.PS is installed. In version 1.1 of STARTUP.PS, code has been added to make UltraScript compatible with download fonts created with Fontographer (and others). Notes ÿÿÿÿÿ * When transferring PostScript files from the Mac to the Atari (e.g. with Transverter), they should be transferred as text-only WITHOUT linefeeds! This is very important, because a Mac PostScript file with linefeeds cannot be interpreted correctly by any PostScript interpreter (this is not my fault, but due to the way Apple writes its PostScript dictionary). * Use STARTUP.PS only with Mac files; rename it to something else (like STARTUP.PS0) when printing files from Atari applications, ESPECIALLY DYNACADD. Otherwise you could get a funny picture (this is NOT a bug in STARTUP.PS!). * UltraScript can't use true Adobe Type 1 fonts (not yet...), because Adobe uses a - previously secret - encryption scheme for their fonts. The same is true for other font vendors which market Type 1 fonts. So, be sure not to leave any Adobe downloadable fonts in the system folder or any folder open to SuitCase II (a Font/DA-installer). This is a compatibility problem common to all PostScript clones which are not licensed from Adobe Systems Inc.; but I'm working on it... (no, I'm NOT kidding, folks!) * Be sure to use the screen fonts for the LaserWriter, not for the ImageWriter: the difference is the correct naming of printer fonts. E.g.: if you select Times with a laser font, the printer font name will be 'Times-Roman', which is correct; with an ImageWriter font, it will be 'Times'. But 'Times' does not exist, so a bigger size of the screen font will be used (ImageWriter method)... * UltraScript has a bug concerning the page size: if you select A4 size paper on the Mac and A4 (or bigger) in UltraScript, the top of the page gets truncated. A3 doesn't work even correctly... Solution: keep A4 (or US Letter) as the default page size in UltraScript and use US Letter on the Mac. This ensures printing the entire page under UltraScript. * For best results, use always the newest versions of the LaserWriter driver; some Mac programs even require it. Currently, you could at best use version 5.2; version 6.0 is only of significance for people who have a colour PostScript printer or software interpreter (Freedom of Press!). For us UltraScript users, it doesn't make a whit of a difference... In general, whatever version you use, they all work without any problems. Problems ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ If you experience any compatibility problems with STARTUP.PS (should be surprising...), please do not hesitate to contact me at the address at the end of this documentation. Obviously, I cannot guarantee 100% compatibility with all Mac applications... Copyrights ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Due to its nature - a little text file containing just the PostScript source code - STARTUP.PS is placed in the public domain. You may wish to copy and distribute it to your heart's content, but with ONE restriction: I do own the copyright of the PostScript source and thus STARTUP.PS may not be distributed in modified form by anyone without my permission. If you have suggestions for source code modifications, please contact me first (my address is found at the end of this documentation); I will incorporate it into the next version of STARTUP.PS. This is in order to prevent a bewildering number of different STARTUP.PS versions floating all around the world. I believe that my program, STARTUP.PS, is an indispensable tool for every UltraScript user, thus you could do me a great favour if you like to pay a small amount (I suggest minimum Hfl10,-, DM10 or $8) for it as a credit of my work. You are absolutely free to do so, because STARTUP.PS is in the public domain; but I hope to gain enough money this way to buy a genuine PostScript laser printer! I'm just one of those hobbyists who try to make a living out of writing programs... Hubert Nooijen Diamantpad 18 2628 SC Delft The Netherlands Giro account nr. 1884895 (PostBank) LAST NOTE: ========== It is still possible to create artwork in Aldus FreeHand which UltraScript won't print when using STARTUP.PS: those files contain text which follows an arbitrary path (normal text placement is O.K.). The cause is the range checks performed by STARTUP.PS (for the same reason, Canvas files don't appear to work). Unless I've made a completely rewritten STARTUP.PS version which circumvents this problem, the best you can do is export the file as Encapsulated PostScript, add a 'showpage' at the end, and print it through UltraScript without the STARTUP.PS file (rename it to something else).