A user has an IBM PC with LocalTalk PC Card and is running WordStar
Professional 4.0. He wants to emulate an Epson printer using the
LaserWriter program, without having to modify existing documents. He has
run up against four problems:
- page width differences
- page length differences
- inability to print overstrikes
- lack of a ".sr" dot command
He prints through the LaserWriter program, using the WordStar option. The
results are not good. Text is cropped about 3/8 inch from the right edge of
page. Thus, many lines lose a few characters on right.
Second, the LaserWriter prints fewer lines per page than a dot-matrix
printer (like an Epson) does. Thus, for each logical page printed, he gets
one printed page full of text and a second page either blank or with a
single line of text at the top of the page.
The improper cropping of text 3/8 inch from the right edge of the page
(causing some characters to be "lost" off of the side of the page) may be
caused by margin settings. More than likely, it is caused by switching font
sizes within the document.
For example, if a 10-point Courier is chosen and Bold text is selected, the
larger bold text may run off the side of the page. This is because the
LaserWriter utility assumes that the 10-point Courier size is the size of
ALL text within the document and will not take into account a larger text
size, whether from bolding or simply using a different font size within the
document.
If a line of text is typed, but due to the size of the actual printed
text, it will not fit on the printed line, the rest of the characters
will be cut as they print off of the right side of the page. The
LaserWriter utility will position the text on the line and attempt to
print it on the line in which the text appeared, regardless of whether
or not the text actually fits on the line when scaled to the user's
selected size. The only recourse is to limit the number of characters
for those lines where the problem appears or, if the entire document is
affected, to print with smaller text sizes.
Text cropped off of the bottom of the page is due to the same reasons as
cropping lines.
The LaserWriter program does not implement the WordStar "overstrike"
command. This command, basically, puts a backspace in the text. Neither is
the ".sr" dot command present.