
     This shell archive contains a program called paintps which will convert
a MacPaint file (uploaded from a Mac) to PostScript for printing on a
LaserWriter.  It reads a plain MacPaint document as input and produces 
postscript output in the same style as that produced by the 1.1 version
of the Mac LaserWriter driver.  Paintps runs on unix and will automatically
spool its output for printing if no output redirection has been done.
The advantage of paintps is that MacPaint pictures are usually less than
25K, while the resulting PostScript often exceeds 100K.  This obviously
reduces the file transfer time.

     Also included is the version 1.1 laser-prep file, which is needed
by paintps, and a shell script called maclaser, which is called by paintps
to spool its output.  Maclaser is simply a front end to lpr, and depends
on the spooler setup described in the file README.SPOOL.  
     
     This code has been used with 4.2 and 4.3BSD; vaxen, Sun and Sequent
hardware.  We use the TranScript package from Adobe to drive the LaserWriter.
If you're using some other set of PostScript drivers, the spooler hacks
are basically the same, since there are no changes to the drivers themselves.

     Paintps is distantly related to a program called paintimp, originally
written by Dave Johnson at Brown University.  It converted MacPaint pictures
to Impress for printing on Imagens.  Ron Hitchens at the University of
Texas hacked on it a bit and added some features.  When we got a LW,
Brian Powell at UT was inspired to do something similar for PostScript.
The resulting paintps is very different from paintimp, but paintimp did
provide the structure and a few subroutines.  Maclaser and the spooler hacks
were conceived by Ron Hitchens' twisted mind.

     There are several different critters in this distribution.  They 
probably won't all want to live in the same place.  A makefile is included
for paintps, mainly because it was already there.  Use your local customs
for determining where things should go.

     NOTE:  Maclaser can print PostScript generated by any Macintosh program,
not just MacPaint.  (See the man page for maclaser for details.)  For now, you
must use version 1.1 of the LaserWriter driver to generate the PostScript on
the Macintosh.
     You do not have to have the LaserWriter printer driver on the Macintosh
to use paintps.
     When Apple settles down on their Printer Drivers, I will modify this
code to support the latest 3.* LaserWriter driver.  The latest driver I have
seen is version 3.1, and I don't think it will be hard to modify paintps to
produce that driver's new format.
     And by the way, the "Chooser" desk accessory won't install the version 1.1
LaserWriter driver.  To use LaserWriter 1.1 with the new systems, simply install
and use "Choose Printer" (from Finder 4.1 days).  I have noticed no problems
using the old driver with the new ROMS or new system.

-------------------------
Brian Powell	brian@sally.utexas.edu
Ron Hitchens	hitchens@sally.utexas.edu
