Information About LaserWriter 8 Printer Driver Version 8.2
This document contains some important reminders and some information that is not in the manual that comes with your printer. You may want to print this document and keep it for future reference.
The software on this disk includes version 8.2 of the Apple LaserWriter 8 printer driver, which works with many Apple LaserWriter printers. This document includes information about the software, as well as about several of the printers.
Installing the Printer Driver Software
The manual that comes with your printer contains detailed installation instructions. You cannot install the software by dragging their icons; you must use the Installer program as described in the printer manual.
Please note: before installing the printer software, you should restart your system with all Extensions turned off. To do this, hold down the Shift key while you restart your computer.
The Installer does not remove versions of the LaserWriter printer driver that are older than version 8.0. You may remove these files from your System Folder if you no longer need them.
The Installer does remove older versions of the LaserWriter 8 driver (for example, LaserWriter 8.0) and replaces the PPD files for Apple LaserWriter printers with the latest versions.
When you choose Easy Install, the Installer places the following files in the System Folder on your hard disk. LaserWriter 8 is placed in the Extensions folder. The PPD files which are used by LaserWriter 8 are in a folder called Printer Descriptions also located in the Extensions folder. The Apple Printer Utility and LaserWriter Utility are placed in the System Folder.
Please note: if the Installer is unable to remove old files from your hard disk, it will terminate the installation procedure. If this happens, please remove old copies of the LaserWriter 8 driver and the PPD files. Run the installer again.
About PPD Files
The LaserWriter 8 driver uses PostScript Printer Description (PPD) files to determine the characteristics of the printers it uses. PPD files contain information about individual PostScript printers. For example, PPD files describe the paper-handling capabilities of printers: the number of paper trays, their capacity, and the paper sizes they handle.
To take full advantage of your printer's features, click the Setup button in the Chooser when selecting your printer for the first time, or after installing an additional option. This procedure causes the LaserWriter driver to query the printer for its characteristics and associate a particular PPD file with the printer.
About Creating EPS Files
You can create an Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) file in many application programs by clicking File in the Print dialog box, then clicking Save. When you create an EPS file, note the following:
* Creating EPS files with the All option selected in the Font Inclusion pop-up menu in the EPS dialog box can result in very large files. If you include all fonts in an EPS file and save the file with the Unlimited Downloadable Fonts option selected, an extremely large file may be created.
* If you create an EPS file with no fonts included and open the document, fonts in the document appear on your screen, but Courier may be substituted when you print.
* When you create EPS files with preview information included, other applications that create their own PostScript code may not display the EPS file accurately on the screen.
About the LaserWriter Utility and the Apple Printer Utility
Installing the LaserWriter 8 driver and printer software places the Apple Printer Utility program in your System Folder. The Apple Printer Utility program is designed to work with the LaserWriter 16/600 PS printer and succeeding releases of new printers.
To configure and work with previously released LaserWriter models, use the LaserWriter Utility that came with your printer. The LaserWriter Utility is also provided on your printer software disks. You can install the LaserWriter Utility on your computer's hard disk by using the Custom install option of the Installer.
Using the LaserWriter 8 Driver With LaserWriter Printers
When using the LaserWriter 8 driver, you should be aware of the following situations. Some happen with all LaserWriter printers, and others happen only with specific models.
All LaserWriter Printers
* The LaserWriter 8 driver allows some printers to print using a larger imageable print area on the page. If your printer does so, you may find that text in some documents reflows or is clipped to fit the new imageable area. To maintain your document format when printing to different printer models, deselect the Larger Print Area option in the Page Setup Options dialog box.
* Some older printers with small amounts of memory will not print documents containing large numbers of fonts unless the Unlimited Downloadable Fonts option is selected in the Page Setup Options dialog box. If a document using multiple fonts doesn't print using the LaserWriter 8 driver, try selecting Unlimited Downloadable Fonts in the Page Setup Options dialog box and print again.
* Printing multiple documents with the Finder may not work if the documents have been created by different application programs.
* If you encounter a time-out (PostScript error -8993) when printing multiple copies of large and complex documents in the background, print the documents one at a time or select foreground printing to avoid this problem.
LaserWriter IIg and IIf
* When you select paper sources from the First From and Remaining From pop-up menus in the Print dialog box, selecting Manual Feed for either source sets the driver to print the first page from the manual feed tray.
* The US Legal paper size has been changed on some LaserWriter IIf/IIg printers to be more compatible with other Apple LaserWriter printers. If your legal-sized documents no longer fit on the page, select Larger Print Area in the Page Setup Options dialog box.
* Some form-printing applications cannot print forms using the Layout settings in the Page Setup dialog box.
LaserWriter IINT and IINTX
* If you select both the Smooth Graphics and the Invert Image options in the Page Setup Options dialog box, a PostScript error results.
* Do not use the B5 tray to print envelopes on a LaserWriter IINT. Use the letter tray instead.
LaserWriter Pro 600 and 630
* You cannot use Auto Select as the Paper Source in the Print dialog box to print envelopes from the optional envelope feeder.
* When you print at a resolution of 600 dots per inch (dpi), bitmapped images may appear with lines across the image.
LaserWriter Pro 810
* With some graphics applications, bitmapped graphics will be reduced by 25% in size when printed with the Precision Bitmap Alignment option in the Page Setup Options dialog box.
* When you create a PostScript file with a LaserWriter Pro 810 selected as the printer and send the file to a printer that uses PostScript Level 1, a PostScript error will occur.
LaserWriter 16/600 PS
* If Tray Switching is turned on and you have installed the optional 500-sheet feeder, and it contains the same paper size as the 250-sheet feeder, you should set up the driver to use the 500-sheet feeder as the preferred paper source for optimal printing performance. See Chapter 5 in the manual that came with your printer for instructions on selecting the 500-sheet feeder as the preferred paper source.
Using the LaserWriter 8 Driver With the Kanji System
To print Japanese characters using KanjiTalk or the Japanese Language Kit, your system must have WorldScript II version 7.1.1 or later.
Using the LaserWriter 8 Driver With Application Programs
Some application programs do not yet take advantage of the new features of the LaserWriter 8 driver or have small incompatibilities that result in printing problems. If you experience problems with a program, contact the publisher of the program. In some cases a newer version of the program may be available.
The following list describes some special cases that you should be aware of when working with some application programs. (There may be other problems with these programs, or with other programs, not mentioned in this document.)
* With many applications, you cannot use the Flip Horizontal, Flip Vertical, landscape page orientation, and Layout option in the Page Setup dialog box in combination.
Aldus Freehand 4.0
* Documents do not print correctly when you choose a page layout from the Layout pop-up menu in the Page Setup dialog box.
* EPS files created using the LaserWriter 8 driver from within Freehand cannot be used in other programs.
Aldus PageMaker 5.0
* Rotated graphics may not print correctly when you hold down the Option key and click Print in the Print dialog box.
* You cannot print legal-size documents from the paper cassette of the Personal LaserWriter 320; print such documents by selecting Manual Feed or by holding down the Option key and clicking Print in the Print dialog box.
Aldus SuperPaint 3.5
* Rotated or filled polygons print as solid gray objects.
* Gradient fills may not print when copied into other programs.
Canvas 3.5
* When you select the Substitute Fonts option in the Page Setup Options dialog box, text may be incorrectly spaced if fonts Geneva, New York or Monaco are used.
CricketDraw III 2.01
* When you choose a page layout from the Layout pop-up menu in the Page Setup dialog box, underlined TrueType fonts may not print.
CricketPresents 2.1
* You cannot import an EPS file created with the LaserWriter 8 driver when it has been saved without preview information.
FileMaker Pro 2.1
* When you choose a page layout from the Layout pop-up menu in the Page Setup dialog box, documents that contain EPS graphics may appear clipped when printed.
Informed Manager 1.4
* When you select the Unlimited Downloadable Fonts option, some graphic elements may shift or disappear when printed.
Lotus 1-2-3 1.1
* Text printed with the Outline or Shadow text style appears filled with gray.
MacDraft 3.01 and earlier versions
* When you print using the Cut Marks option, a PostScript error results.
Microsoft PowerPoint 3.0
* Polygons and ovals filled with gradients and without a border line may shift locations on the page when printed.
Microsoft Works 3.0
* Printing documents that have rotated objects with rounded corners results in a PostScript error.
Painter 2.0
* When you print using the Invert option, images do not print inverted correctly.
PixelPaint Pro 3.0
* When printing using the Invert option, images do not print inverted correctly.
QuarkXPress 3.3
* Be sure to use the PPDs provided with QuarkXPress when you choose a page layout from the Layout pop-up menu in the Page Setup dialog box.
RagTime 3.2
* You cannot print documents that contain PICT or TIFF files.
ReadySetGo! 6.0
* Use ReadySetGo! version 6.0 with the LaserWriter 8 printer driver; earlier versions will not work.
* You cannot print documents that use pen patterns.
Studio/8 & Studio/32
* When creating an EPS file with these programs and the LaserWriter 8
driver, you must select the QuickDraw Printer option.
WordPerfect 3.0
* When you select the Unlimited Downloadable Fonts option and print rotated text in Watermark, the entire document rotates when printed.
How to Get Updated Printer Software
If you need to update your printer software and you have an AppleLink account, you can obtain the latest versions of the LaserWriter 8 software from AppleLink.
Follow this path to locate the LaserWriter 8 software:
Apple Products
Apple Software Updates
Macintosh
Printing Software
The latest LaserWriter 8 software is also available from Apple's ftp site on the Internet. The path is:
/ftp/dts/mac/sys.soft/laserwriter.8.2.
Article Change History:
22 Aug 1995 - Made minor corrections.
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