Version 3.1 Windows 3.11 Windows 95 Windows NT 3.
PowerRIp” The Software Program That Turns Your Printer Into A True Adobe PostScript” Level 2 lmager Gila Adobe PostSaipt
Q 1995 Birmy Graphics Corporation. All Rights Reserved This manual may not, in whole, or in part, be copied, photocopied, reproduced, translated, transmitted or converted to any electronic or machine - readable form without prior written consent of Birmy Graphics Corporation. Information contained in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of Birmy Graphics Corporation.
Table of Contents Section 1 Installation System Requirements Operational Overview PANTONE Birmy Technical Support Installing the Software Windows 3.
Installation SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS HARDWARE Intel 486 or higher processor 8 MB Minimum of RAM for Windows and Windows 95, 24 MB minimum of RAM for Windows NT (See section 4 for more on RAM.) VGA or SVGA color monitor Mouse 3.5” floppy drive Hard drive with at least 40 MB free for letter size and 80 MB free for ledger size paper. Keyboard LPT printer output port SOFTWARE Windows 3.1 or higher, Windows 95, or Windows NT 3.51 or higher (Intel version) NOTE: Before installation A.
Operational Overview The following is an explanation of how a page is processed by PowerRIP. The Windows Printer Drivers supply the printer with codes that are needed to image a page. PostScript is a coding method that is the standard for high quality graphic output. When using the PowerRlP Windows printer drivers, PostScript code is sent by Windows Applications, like PageMaker, to PowerRlP which processes it into a high resolution image and sends that image to the printer.
PANTONE PANTONE professional color palette files are included in your PowerRlP package. These files can be read directly into commonly used applications so the user can have printer calibrated versions of all PANTONE Colors for the EPSON Stylus Pro and Pro XL models. The file is a self-extracting zip file. Just copy it to any desired directory and type Epalete -d from the DOS prompt and it will extract itself and make its own subdirectories.
When calling for technical assistance, be ready to identify your system and its configuration, the serial number of your copy of PowerRIP, and a description of the problems you are encountering. Please refer to the Troubleshooting Section for solutions before calling Technical Support. Birmy Graphics: Voice Fax Email Mailing address 4 407-723-2893 407-768-9669 PowerRIP-Support 8 Birmy.
Installing the Software Before installing PowerRIP, make backup copies of all the installation disks. There is no copy protection on the disks. You will be required to register PowerRlP and obtain the unlock code for your copy PoweRlP after installation. If your system does not meet the minimum hardware and software requirements, PowerRlP will not work correctly.
4. In the command line type A:\SETUP and click OK. (If you are loading from drive B type B:\SETUP.) NOTE: If you are loading from Windows 95 click on Start, select Run, then type A:\SETUP (or B:\SETUP); or use the Add software option in Windows 95. 5. The PowerRlP program will now start to load and you see a Welcome screen. Click on NEXT.
6. The program will then ask you to choose the drive and directory you want PowerRlP to be installed on. The default is C:\PowerRIP. You may leave the default directory or change it if desired and then click NEXT. Note: If you choose not to install PowerRlP at this time, click CANCEL to stop the installation. 7. The program continues installing, asking you for Disk 2, then Disk 3, and finally Disk 4. Click on OK after inserting each disk.
8. When Disk 4 has loaded, the program will automatically create the group PowerRlP and PowerRIP icons for Windows. NOTE: If you are installing under Windows 3.11 the Uninstaller icon will not appear. 9. This completes the loading of the PowerRlP application. Remove Disk 4 from the floppy drive. 10. You must now install the Printer Driver using Windows Print Manager. See the next section on how to do this. Note: PowerRlP needs your screen saver turned off. It may interfere with the print process.
PowerRlP Windows 3.11 Printer Driver Installation For Windows 95 or Windows NT see the appropriate section. 1. For Windows 3.11 put the PowerRlP Windows 3.11 Printers Drivers Disk into drive A or B. Then from Program Manager go to File, Run, then type A:\Setup or B if your drive is B. ammand Line: A:\SETUP.EXE 0 Run Minimized 2. Click on OK, then the Adobe Printer Installer will ask if you would like to read the Read Me file. This file contains useful information about printing.
4. With the PowerRIP Windows 3.11 Drivers disk in drive A or B click on Drives and select that drive. Then select your EPSON printer and click on install. 5. Your printer should successfully install. Now close and go to Control Panel and select Printers and select PowerRIP as your default printer. 6. Now select PowerRlP and click on Connect.
7. Select FILE. PowerRIP Fen Stylus Cdor ‘I r,rw:rai.: :kr, Ewtrv Fast Printina Direct to Port 8. Then select OK. The program installation is now complete. PowerRIP must be registered before you can use it. Go to the section Registering your Software. 9. When you print from an application it will ask you for a file name. You can use almost any name but you must print to C:\BIRMY directory or the drive letter where PowerRlP was installed.
PowerRlP Windows 95 Printer Driver Installation 1. 2. 12 Click on Start, Settings, Printers section of Windows 95. Click on Add Printer, then Next.
3. 4. Click on Local Printer, then Next. Note: You may not see this screen if you are not on a network. Click on Have Disk.
5. Put the PowerRlP Windows 95 Printer Driver disk in drive A or B. If drive B, you must change to that drive designation. Click OK. Note: You may need your Windows 95 CD or master diskette #1 0 to install the Windows 95 PostScript drivers. 6. Select your printer and click Next. 7. Then select print to “File: Creates a file on disk” Click Next.
8. You may change the printer name if you prefer. Make PowerRIP P your default printer and click OK. 9. Do not print a test page. PowerRlP will not print at this stage. After selecting Finished you may be asked to install your Windows 95 CD or master diskette # 10 for the Windows Drivers. 10. The program installation is now complete. PowerRlP must be registered before you can use it. Go to the section Registering your Software.
11. When you print from an application it will ask you for a file name. You can use almost any name but you must print to C:\BIRMY directory or the drive letter where PowerRlP was installed. Output File Name: C:\BIRMYUOB 12. 16 If you would like to share your printer on a network, you just have to share on your computer the C:\BIRMM directory or the drive letter where PowerRIP is installed. You should refer to your Windows user manual on how to do this.
PowerRlP Windows NT 3.5.1 Printer Drivers Installation 1. Click on Print Manager in the Main Folder. Select Printer and Create Printer. 2. Enter PowerRlP under printer name and go to driver and select Other. Printer tima: PWWRIP Qtir: Glher.. D~miplian: hint ,o: 3. I I I LPTl ad! You will then be prompted to put the PowerRlP Windows NT drivers disk into drive A. Insert it into drive A or B; if your drive is B. I Please put the disk in the drive indicated or selacl a new path name.
4. Select your printer and click OK. Prinlar Drivw: 5. Now go to Print to and select Other. 6. Select Local Port. &ailablm Print Moniton: Digknl Nelvork Poll I cnher. I 7. 18 I Type C:\BIRMY\IN.PS and click OK. If your drive is different than C, type that drive letter.
8 If you want to share the printer, select Share. Click OK. If share is selected then see the section on Printing from Workstations on a Network. 9. Now go back to Print Manager and create another printer. 10. Name it LPT. Select the PowerRlP driver that is now in the system under printers. Select the Print to as LPTl port or the LPT port that your EPSON is connected to and click OK. Do not share this printer.
11. This LPT Print queue is where PowerRlP sends the job after it is ripped. Here is where you can cancel, pause, or purge the jobs before they are sent to the printer. Note: PowerRIP sends a small 30 byte file before each print job. This 30 byte file contains information for the printer to setup resolution and other options. This 30 byte file does not print a page. _r . - .- _ .- _. .- 12. 20 The program installation is now complete. PowerRIP must be registered before you can use it.
Operating PowerRIP To operate PowerRlP just click on the PowerRlP icon. PowerRlP will minimize itself at the bottom of the screen. This is the mode in which PowerRlP runs. If you double click on the Birmy PowerRlP icon at the bottom of the screen it will maximize itself. From this screen you can configure PowerRlP for resolution, microweave, etc. PowerRlP will not pick up the jobs or files to print from in this maximize mode. You must minimize PowerRlP to run automatically.
Printing from Workstations on a Network After you have installed PowerRlP on the computer connected to the EPSON Stylus, all networked workstations running Windows for Workgroups, Windows 95 or Windows NT can print to PowerRlP providing the printer or directory is shared as shown on the previous pages. The computer running PowerRlP under Windows NT can have application print sharing properties activated as shown on the previous section.
Windows NT PowerRIP Setup On Windows NT Network print sharing with PowerRlP can have only one person print to a queue at a time, so if you want several people to print simultaneously you need to set up different print queues with unique file names and share names. This is done the same way as setting up a regular printer queue. Set up a print queue as described in the previous section but type: C:\BIRMY\IN2.PS instead of IN.ps in step 7. If your drive is different than C, type that drive letter.
Registering Your Software You must register your copy of PowerRlP before you can use it. Follow these steps. 1. Click on the registration icon. 2. When you see the prompt, insert Disk 1 into Drive A or B and click OK.
3. Call the registration number (800) 613-3031. You will need your Serial Number and Printer Code found on the Registration Screen. Do not call this phone number for technical support. Call the numbers listed on page 3 for technical support. 4. When given the unlock code, type it in the Unlock Code box and click OK. Your PowerRlP is now ready to use. See Section 2 for instructions on customizing PowerRIP.
Customizing PowerRIP 1. If you haven’t rebooted your system, and you are running Windows 3.1, do so now. If you are running Windows 95 or Windows NT proceed without rebooting. 2. Double click on the PowerRlP icon in the PowerRlP window. The program will take a few seconds to load. When the cursor returns, the program has loaded. 3. Minimize the Program Manager window by clicking on the down button in the upper right side of the window. The Birmy icon should now be visible along with Program Manager.
Printer Menu When you click on Printer, The following pull down menu will appear. Select Allows you to select different EPSON Stylus printers. NOTE: The display shows only the printer for which you purchased PowerRIP. If you want to purchase support for additional printers, call Birmy Graphics Corporation at 407-723-2893 Options Allows you to select: A. Media Type B. Optional Printer Features C. Resolution D. RIP Options E.
Printer Options Definitions: Media Type Select the paper or other media you are printing on. PowerRlP has color rendering Dictionaries to produce the maximum image quality for the individual Epson special paper stocks. Microweave A printing method in which images are printed in finer increments to reduce the possibility of banding (white lines) and produce laser-like images. Bi-directional When this option is selected, the printer prints one line from right to left and the next line from left to right.
Uni-directional The printer prints right to left on all lines. This mode reduces the possibility of banding (white lines). Resolution Resolution is a measure of the amount of detail that can be represented. Resolution of printed images is measured in the number of dots per inch (dpi). The higher the number, the finer the resolution.
File Menu When you click on File, you see the following pulldown menu: Open log and Close log allows you to keep track of PostScript messages that occur during a print job. When you select Open, an open window will appear. In this window, you can select a file name for the log, as well as a drive and a directory. pirectories: File Name: c:\powerrip\progfam I r D rixeer List Filer d lupe: lOutput Log Fik(‘.LOG] u IWc: bob Print opens a PostScript File box.
Fife Name: ‘.PI 1 c:\powerrip\examples 0 Bead Only hiyes: List Fifes of Jjpe: Postscript File[‘.PS ) Gid c: bob About gives you information about PowerRIP. The product version and revision should be included on all information sent to Birmy Graphics Corporation with support questions. Exit quits the program.
Testing PowerRlP 1. Set up your EPSON Stylus printer using the instructions in your EPSON User’s Guide. 2. Turn on the computer and start Windows. 3. Turn on your Stylus printer. 4. Double click on the Birmy icon in the PowerRlP window. When the program has finished loading and the cursor returns to the screen, minimize the Program Manager window by clicking on the down arrow in the upper left of the screen. 5. Double click on the Birmy icon. This will maximize the Power-RIP window. 6. Click on Printer.
8. Click OK. 9. To open a PostScript file box, click on File click on Print.
10. In the PostScript File box, click on PowerRIP. Then select examples. You should see the PostScript example cgolfer.ps in the left box. File Name: ‘.PS Qirectorier: I List Filer d Jjpe: Porttcript Filel’.PS I c:\pow&p\emmpter ID riyat: mc:bob 11. Click on cgolfer.ps, then click OK. 12. 34 The program will now process the PostScript file cgolfer.ps. The program will take a few seconds to a couple of minutes, depending on the speed of your computer and the amount of memory it has.
Tips and Obtaining the Best Printing Quality The Birmy Graphics PowerRIP is a true Adobe Level 2 PostScript Raster Image Processor. A true Adobe Level 2 PostScript RIP has the ability to use color rendering dictionaries when the RIP is driving a color printer. These color rendering dictionaries are automatically accessed by the Adobe Photoshop program when printing directly to the printer.
adjusting printer colors When using these files the “Treat all RGB as calibrated” option on PowerRIP should not be checked CMYK files are usually created in a device-dependant color space, where you can adjust items to the particular printing condition of an individual printer rather than accepting the automatic options in a color rendering dictionary RAM Requirements PowerRIP RAM requirements are dependent on the complexity of your printed pages.
To obtain high-quality color images, keep the following points in mind: l l l Use the manufacturer’s inks and recommended paper for your ink jet printer. Papers designed for ink jet printers have special coatings to evenly distribute the ink, and are different than uncoated bond papers used in laser printers and copiers. Birmy Graphics has balanced the stochastic halftone screening and color technology to work with Epson’s inks and recommended papers.
Cancelling a print job. Windows 3.11: To cancel a print job in Windows 3.1 you must reboot your system. Re-enter Windows and click on the Birmy Delete Pending Jobs icon or go to File Manager and go to the directory c:\Birmy and delete the files in this directory. Now restart PowerRIP. Windows 95: To cancel in Windows 95, Hold down the Control, Alt, Delete keys to get to the Close Program panel. Select the Birmy PowerRIP task and then select End Task.
Windows NT: To cancel in Windows NT, go to Print Manager. Select the LPT Queue that we created when we loaded the PowerRIP Windows NT Drivers. Then delete the files in this Queue. Then run the Birmy Delete Pending Jobs icon by click on it. Now restart PowerRIP. Also you can double click on the desktop or hold down the Control, Alt, Delete keys to get to the Close Program Panel. Select the PowerRIP task and then select End Task. It will ask you to confirm your selection, click OK.
Troubleshooting Problem Solution Printer prints out illegible type or characters. On Windows 3.11 and 95, PowerRIP needs to print to a file. In Print Manager check PowerRIP is set to file and not an LPT port. Also check that PowerRIP is minimized. PowerRIP only scans for files when minimized. On Windows NT make sure printer driver prints to the Birmy directory and not an LPT port. See Printer Driver section for more information. Problem Solution PowerRIP not registered.
Problem Solution EPS files do not print. EPS file are designed to be placed into other documents. They cannot be processed directly by PowerRIP. Place EPS files on a page using an application and print from that application. Problem Solution Bitmap images or clip art looks jagged. Bitmap images and clip art are processed for a set resolution and size. When enlarged, they look very jagged but when made smaller will look better. EPS files produce better quality.
Problem Solution PowerRIP receives a error “Cannot open C:\BIRMY\PRPCTEMP.PS” upon startup. Run Delete Pending Jobs icon before starting PowerRIP. This will delete and files in the \Birmy directory. Problem Solution Printout has misplaced images or type. PowerRIP may need more RAM. If you have other applications open, print to the \Birmy directory, close your application, then start PowerRIPor put more RAM in you system.
Glossary Several terms having special meaning within the context of this manual are listed below: Application Applications are considered the programs that run on a computer. We refer to applications in this manual as PageMaker, Photoshop, etc. Bitmap Bitmaps are images preprocessed at a fixed resolution for a certain monitor or printer. CPSI Configurable PostScript Interpreter. This Adobe Level 2 PostScript interpreter runs on a PC rather than on a hardware peripheral device.
Render The process by which PostScript language operators and operands are interpreted and a raster image is produced. RAM Random Access Memory. Almost all PCs ship with 8 megabytes of RAM today, and many with 16 MB as minimum. You can add more RAM to most computers. See your computer dealer for more information. RIP Raster Image Processor. An application or device that renders images in raster format for an imaging device. TIFF Tagged Image File Format.
