In earlier versions of PrintPreview, configuration settings, parameters and options were stored in ASCII files such as "atalk.conf".
With the new HELIOS product line, all settings, parameters and options are stored in one binary file, "Preferences" ("HELIOSDIR/var/conf/Preferences"). A description of how to set, change or delete preferences to that file via the HELIOS utilities "prefdump", "prefvalue", and "prefrestore" is given in the "HELIOS Base 1.1" user manual.
In the following, we list PrintPreview's new features, its specific preferences with brief descriptions, and examples where needed.
Fig. 2: Typical data for "PrintPreview" queue on host "helios"
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3.1 Changes in PrintPreview
PostScript 3 DeviceN support
DeviceN has already been supported in PrintPreview 1.1. This version (PrintPreview 2.0) supports DeviceN for images as well.
More TrueType/Type 42 font compatibility
Printing from Acrobat 5 is now supported, including incremental TrueType fonts.
More Type 0 font compatibility
Printing from Acrobat 5 is now supported, including special
Type 0 fonts.
More PostScript Level 2/PostScript 3 support
Additional PostScript compatibility with PostScript 3.
The memory garbage collector has been enhanced in order to significantly speed-up complex PostScript jobs.
Printing PostScript CIELab/CIExyz images has been accelerated significantly. The color accuracy of these images have been improved as well.
PostScript 3 shading support
PostScript 3 shadings will be displayed accurately in PrintPreview bitmap image files.
Note: PostScript 3 only supports shadings in composite printout.
- Patterns (e.g. shaded patterns) are not supported and will be printed as gray areas.
- PostScript in-RIP separation is not supported. Such jobs will be printed in device CMYK or RGB only.
3.2 PrintPreview preference keys
This chapter lists all the preferences that are pertinent to PrintPreview printer queues.
Key: Printers/<printer queue>/<preference>
Type Default (""=empty string)
(EtherShare Admin option
Include Separations)
The parameter controls whether or not you want to have previews of the separation plates of your document.
(EtherShare Admin option
Include Color Preview)
This parameter controls whether or not the composite view of your document is included in the preview file.
(EtherShare Admin option
Suppress Forward to Hold Queue)
This preference will induce PrintPreview to keep the preview file in the preview queue instead of forwarding it to a hold queue. Set this preference to
FALSE if you want to activate automatic forwarding of print jobs.
(EtherShare Admin option
Antialias)
This parameter controls whether or not smoothing of contours should be applied to the preview files. It should only be switched to
FALSE if the preview resolution (see
resolution) is 144 dpi or more.
(EtherShare Admin option
Info Page)
By default, PrintPreview generates an info page for each job on a preview queue and adds it to the preview file. Set this parameter to
FALSE to switch off the insertion of the info page.
(EtherShare Admin option
Resolution:)
This preference lets you specify the resolution you want to have for your preview files.
(EtherShare Admin option
Compression:)
Allowed strings for defining the compression of preview files are "none", "zip", and "jpeg". "none" is the default. "zip" is best-suited, because it guarantees lossless compression. "jpeg" stands for JPEG (quality of compression depends on
jpegquality, see below).
(EtherShare Admin option
Compression:)
This parameter lets you specify the JPEG compression quality of preview files in a range from 1-100.
JPEG Low Quality 20
JPEG Medium Quality 50
JPEG High Quality 75
JPEG Maximum Quality 100
If set to
TRUE, preview files will contain thumbnails of all pages you have printed.
You can define a resolution for the thumbnails. The default resolution is 8 dpi.
PrintPreview uses for PostScript interpretation the PostScript level that is stated in the queue's PPD file. In case no PPD file has been assigned, the default language level is Level 1. If this parameter is set to
FALSE it induces PrintPreview to ignore the PPD file entry and to use the default PostScript Level 1.
With this option, you can force PrintPreview to use a specific PostScript language level. Possible values are "1", "2" and "3". If you set a
languagelevel, this will override the PPD file setting, and the option
ppdlanguagelevel - if it is specified at all - will be ignored as well.
Usually, PostScript errors - if there are any - are added to the printer log file. You can switch off the recording of PostScript errors by setting the flag to
FALSE.
A preview queue can be regarded as an RGB or CMYK PostScript device. When rendering a job on a preview queue, a so-called "Color Rendering Dictionary" (CRD) is required for the transformation of PostScript CIE-based colors in a job. Two CRDs are initialized by default - one for the transformation of CIE-based colors into RGB and one for the transformation into CMYK. The RGB CRD corresponds to EBU-RGB, the CMYK CRD corresponds to Euroscale CMYK. The
swopcrd flag can be used to change the CMYK standard and select SWOP instead of Euroscale. Particularly customers with SWOP printing inks should set this flag.
This parameter controls PrintPreview's virtual RIP memory (in bytes). You should use the parameter to enter a value higher than the default - smaller values are not recommended.
This parameter controls PrintPreview's global virtual RIP memory (in bytes). You should use the parameter to enter a value higher than the default - smaller values are not recommended.
(EtherShare Admin option
Directory:)
This parameter may be used to save new preview files automatically into an already created "pdfdir" directory on the server. The value for this preference must be a full UNIX path name, e.g.
"
/data/previews". The hold queue contains a symbolic link to the preview file in the "pdfdir" directory.
Note: If the print job is renamed or removed from its original location the link does not work anymore and an error message appears if you try to access the preview from EtherShare Admin.
Note: Preview files that are saved into a UNIX directory (using the pdfdir parameter) will automatically be assigned a file name extension, namely ".pdf".
If a file is sent to a preview queue, with this option set to
FALSE,
the print job remains "untouched" and is processed without any changes.
(EtherShare Admin option
Name Prefix:)
This parameter will only be recognized if
pdfdir is specified as well. With "string", you can define a file name prefix for all preview files that are sent to the selected directory. This can help you classify your previews if you have several preview queues and save all preview files into the same directory.
(EtherShare Admin option
Notify Program:)
This parameter will only be recognized if
pdfdir is specified as well. It lets you enter the path to a UNIX program, e.g. "
/usr/local/bin/pdfnotify". This program will be started automatically after printing has been finished successfully.
"viewif" exports the following environment variables during the program call:
HELIOSDIR=
<environment variable for the HELIOS install path>
HELIOS_JOBFOR=
<user name (if available) of print job creator>
HELIOS_JOBUSER=
<user name (if available) as known to "lpd">
HELIOS_JOBHOST=
<name (if available) of server which hosts the printer queue>
HELIOS_JOBTITLE=
<print job title (if available)>
HELIOS_PRINTERNAME=
<logical (UNIX) name of the printer queue>
HELIOS_JOBPAGES=
<expected number of pages. This value may differ slightly from the actual number>
HELIOS_JOBSIZE=
<expected print job size (in bytes). The stated value is often smaller than the actual size>
HELIOS_VFFILE=
<name of created PDF file>
(EtherShare Admin option
Create folder for each user)
Specifies if the PDF files are stored in a separate folder per user.
Specifies the Acrobat compatibility level of the generated PDF files.
3=PDF 1.2 (Acrobat 3)
4=PDF 1.3 (Acrobat 4)
If the compatibility level is set to
4, and the preview queue has a printer or proof profile attached, then this ICC profile will be included in the generated PDF file, and the generated bitmaps use ICC-based color spaces.
