PSF/AIX: Concerns about print quality with pcl2afp to a 240-dpi printer
ITEM: RTA000095522
Q:
ABSTRACT: Concerns about print quality when performing a PCL
transformation via PSF/AIX and printing through a 3900DW
SEARCH ARG: psf/aix
TOPIC THREAD: PRINT
PSF/AIX
..
We are using PSF/AIX to do a PCL transform and print. When we
print (and let the resolution default to -r240), the resulting
output looks "OK" except that the capital T is missing the top
bar. When we specify -R300, the bar is back on the T, but the
rest of the text looks much poorer. We are trying to print to
a 3900DW with contrast at C5.
Given the current print quality, we are unlikely to convince the
customer to move this application off of a PCL Printronix continuous
form printer.
Do we have any knobs to tweak to improve the print quality?
Thanks.
Q:
I'll verify with Development, but if the customer has on the latest
PTFs (which fixed some problems with the pcl2afp transform), I think
there's nothing else you can do. As you have found, and as we state
in the Limitations section of the PSF/AIX announcement letter, the
output from the PCL transform on 240-pel printers may not be
satisfactory. The reason is that PCL was written by HP as a 300-pel
resolution dependent data stream. To convert to a 240-pel image through algori
hms, some bits are necessarily lost, like the top of the upper-case "T".
And, as you've found, creating a 300-pel image but printing it on a
240-pel printer leads to degraded quality (i.e., "jaggies").
Leaving open pending confirmation or additional information from
Development.
A:
I have confirmed with the developer that there's no way to adjust the
quality of the output in this situation. During the development and
testing process, they did experiment with various algorithms to optimize
the quality, and selected what was the best available, even though as
you've found, it's not perfect.
I know this following piece of information won't help you now, but in
the longer term, the 3900-DR1 will probably be a good solution since
it's a 600dpi printer (a nice multiple of 300), and will accept
compressed IOCA image, such as the output of the pcl2afp transform.
However, that doesn't help you in your current dilemma. I'm sorry I
don't have a better answer for you today.
Q:
Thanks for your response. One other thing to feel like I have
sufficiently dotted i's and crossed (capital) T's, please verify
there is no way to use PSF/AIX fonts instead of rasterizing.
Thank you for your help and the thoroughness of your previous
investigation.
A:
You're correct. The output of the PostScript and PCL transforms is
rasterized image only (albeit several types of image); the transforms
do not/cannot use the PSF/AIX fonts to produce AFPDS text rather than
image.
(Reviewed 2/1999: Information also applies to Infoprint Manager for AIX)
S e a r c h - k e y w o r d s:
AIX PSF/6000 PSF/AIX PCL 240 3900 QUALITY PRINT TRANSFORM
300 dpi pel pcl2afp limitation
WWQA: ITEM: RTA000095522 ITEM: RTA000095522
Dated: 02/1999 Category: XPSF6000
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