I'm posting this with a request for comment from A4 users.
I would especially like to hear from those who own dedicated
PostScript printers, because I do not have one. This method
was developed by following the instructions below, then
issuing "TYF/NV ,TEST.PS" against a TEST.TXT document
with JUstified right margin (embed ), and then viewing
the output (TEST.PS) with GSview. Please print a test
document to *paper*, and measure the margins -- do you get
accurate results? If not, tinker with the TINY(!) 1 or 2
millimeter adjustments to the first and third values of
"NA=left,right,top,bottom". For best results, set WiDow and
OrPhan controls to zero and do not use
headers/footers. If you use GSview, be sure to set the "Media"
tab to "A4" (default="Letter"), and adjust Options ==> Units to
"mm" (default="inch") and "Fine Resolution".
===============================================================
A4 Paper Size and PostScript Printing
-------------------------------------
The following are guidelines for printing to A4 paper under
XyWrite 4, using a PostScript PRiNter file.
All factory-issue PostScript [a.k.a. "PS"] PRNs written by
XyQuest and TTG are set up to print to "U.S. Letter" size
paper. Only the U.S. and Canada use Letter size paper (81/2 x
11 inch, or approximately 215.9 x 279.4mm); 94% of the world
uses the A4 size (210.2mm x 297.3mm). Nonetheless, most
printer manufacturers seem also to use inches internally
(for example, they denominate resolution in dots/inch).
Dedicated PostScript printers probably calculate internally
in Points (72/inch).
Because the A4 world corresponds generally to the metric
world, it is desirable to use metric rather than English
measure and XyWrite "LInes" (which are fixed in inches) when
printing to A4 paper. Note that when you use metric values,
you may NOT mix English with metric
measures -- your values must be consistently metric in EVERY
horizontal/vertical respect! In particular, do not use
"LI"ne commands. DeFaults to change to metric that are not
mentioned below include TS, IP, FT, etc.
Establish the following DeFaults in SETTINGS.DFL:
DF UH=CM
DF UV=CM
DF FD=29.73CM
DF PW=21.02CM
For 3cm margins on all four sides of the paper, you might
use these DeFaults:
DF OF=3CM,3CM
DF TP=1.5CM,3CM (the second value represents blank space
before the first line of text)
DF BT=1.5CM,3CM,1.5CM,15CM (the second value represents
blank space after the "nominal" position of the last
line of text)
DF IP=xCM,xCM (*you* should determine "x"!)
Do NOT use LM and RM! PW and OF supersede them both.
If your DeFault SiZe is 12 point text (DF SZ=12PT), note
that with AutoLeading enabled (DF AL=1), XyWrite prints 2
lines/centimeter. Therefore, for documents printed without
AutoLeading , you may want to specify the following
Line Spacing:
DF LS=.493CM
The reason is that with 297mm of FormDepth, minus 60mm of
margin top and bottom, you have 237mm of text area.
LineSpacing of .493CM will permit 48 lines to be printed in
this space, with no leftover space at the bottom.
It is NECESSARY to make certain adjustments to your
PostScript PRN file to enable A4 permanently. POSTGHST.PRN
within POST47.ZIP, at
http://users.datarealm.com/xywwweb/POST47.ZIP
is now fully capable of implementing A4 (it wasn't until
today, so if you downloaded it in the last few days, you'll
need to fetch it again). Instructions are included within
the PRN, but to manually adjust other PRNs (or
POSTGHST.PRN), do the following:
1) Add a line with the command "DF JB=82" (by itself,
on a separate line)
2) Disable the line that says:
PG<) s showpage restore save /x 18 def /y 3187 def l (
by putting a semicolor in front of it, thus:
;PG<) s showpage restore save /x 18 def /y 3187 def l (
Add a new line that says:
PG<) s showpage restore save /x 18 def /y 3460 def l (
NOTE that in POSTGHST.PRN (which adds Document
Structuring Conventions to PostScript output), the
lines above read slightly differently, e.g.:
PG<) s showpage {13}%%Page: {13} restore save /x 18 def /y 3460 def l (
The "{13}"s above must be REPLACED by a three-byte
Ascii-13 (which looks like a quarter-note -- it does
not display in Email such as this, so I cannot reproduce
it in these instructions)! Copy this character from
the POSTGHST.PRN line that you just disabled, above!
3) Disable the line that says:
NA=.2IN,.3IN,.35IN,.3IN
by putting a semicolor in front of it, thus:
;NA=.2IN,.3IN,.35IN,.3IN
Add a new line that says:
NA=.6CM,.762CM,.49CM,.762CM
NOTE that in POSTGHST.PRN, the "NA=" line using INches
has ALSO been CHANGED, to:
NA=.26IN,.3IN,.38IN,.3IN
which is more accurate for Ghostscript
4) REMOVE, from all documents designed to be printed
with PostScript, any embedded ≪PB82≫ commands.
They are superseded by the "DF JB=82" DeFault command,
and they CONFLICT with it!
Result:
------
Permanent, consistent A4 printing, page after page.
Good luck.
-----------------------------
Robert Holmgren
holmgren@xxxxxxxx
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