Frequently
Asked Questions |
GRAPHICS and SCANNING (import/export, etc.):
OPENING (LOADING or IMPORTING or INSERTING).
Q: What is the difference between POSTER & DRAWIT. Which should I get?
A: POSTER and DRAWIT are similar programs, but have differences reflecting their respective audiences. POSTER is designed specifically for creating and printing large posters and banners. DRAWIT is designed for general-purpose vector graphics art-work. The differences are:
POSTER has a quick-start wizard for quick banners and posters. DRAWIT does not.
POSTER supports a flow of text on the page similar to a word processor, as well as supporting text in separate text boxes. DRAWIT requires that all text be in text boxes. This makes POSTER easier to use for simple text-based posters and banners.
DRAWIT supports layers.
DRAWIT has a different image processing library than POSTER. This gives it more flexibility:
DRAWIT can import more image file types, such as PCX and TGA.
DRAWIT can save a picture directly to a GIF, JPEG, TIFF, PCX etc. POSTER can only save a picture to a BMP (bitmap) or WMF (windows metafile) or EMF (enhanced metafile) file.
DRAWIT supports sharpen and blur for bitmap pictures. POSTER does not.
Q: How do I save a poster so other programs can read it?
Q: How do I save a drawing as a GIF, JPEG, or TIFF file?
A: Select File->Save As, and set "Save as Type" to a BMP file (a bitmap) or an EMF file (enhanced metafile). This will save your poster or banner as a xxxxx.bmp or xxxxx.emf. Then import the .BMP or .EMF into another program, like WORD, Corel Draw, etc. Use the BMP file for a simple graphic. Use the EMF file if you want to smoothly scale the poster to any size.
To save as JPEG, GIF, TIFF, etc:
From POSTER/PRESENT-iT/PUBLISH-iT: save as a BMP file, then import into a program like Paint Shop Pro, and convert it to the format you want.
From DRAWIT: set "Save as Type" to JPEG, GIF, TIFF, etc.
NOTE: The BMP and EMF files do NOT preserve all the information that Poster saves in a .POS file. If you are going to work on your poster or banner at a later time, be sure to also save it (and reload it) as a .POS file.
Q: How do I save only a part of my picture or drawing as a GIF or JPEG?
A: Select the item that you want to save, and then click on File->Save. You will be asked if you want to save the entire page, or only the selected items. Make sure you ask for only the selected items.
Q: How do I use DRAWIT to make navigation buttons and save them as a GIF?
A: Make your buttons using the drawing tools. Then select a button, click on File->Save, enter the file name, select GIF as the type, and click on OK. You will be asked if you want to save the entire page, or only the selected items. Make sure you ask for only the selected items. Also specify the size in pixels if you want a different size from what you created on your screen.
Q: How do I save a picture at a specific bit size, such as 500 pixels x 700 pixels ?
A: When you save as BMP (or for DRAWIT, JPG, GIF, or TIFF), you will be asked to enter the number of pixels that you want.
Q: How do I create a GIF or JPG (JPEG) file?
A: 1. From POSTER/PRESENT-iT/PUBLISH-iT: To create a GIF, select File->Save As a BMP file, then import the BMP file into a program like Paint Shop Pro (shareware), Corel PhotoPaint, MS Image Composer, etc., and save it as a GIF file.
or download and install DRAWIT, which can create GIFs, JPEGs, TIFFs, etc. directly.
3. From DRAWIT: Select File->Save As, then select the file type as GIF, JPG, etc.
Q: I scanned a picture at 300 dpi. How do I force POSTER to print it at that resolution?
A: 1. Insert the picture into POSTER. 2. Select the picture. 3. Click on Edit->Set Picture Size. 4. Enter the DPI at which you scanned the picture. 5. Click on OK.
Q: I scanned a 5x7 inch picture. How do I force POSTER to print it at exactly that size?
A: 1. Insert the picture into POSTER (Insert->Picture). 2. Select the picture. 3. Click on Edit->Set Picture Size. 4. Enter the size of the scanned picture. 5. Click on OK.
Q: I have a picture that I want to print at 12 inches by 17 inches (or a specific size that I need to specify). How do I do that?
A:
1. Select New
2. The "Welcome to Poster" dialog box will appear. Push the Custom Size Wizzard Button
3. The "Paper Size Wizard" dialog box will appear. Select Yes to 'use current paper size'
4. The "Custom Size Wizard" dialog box will appear. Enter the final size you want for the picture, both width and height, plus 1 inch for margins (So if you want the picture to be 12 by 17, enter a width of 13 and a height of 18). Select Landscape mode. Then click OK.
5. The "Create a NEW Poster" dialog box will appear. Select Photo Enlarger.
6. The "Choose Picture Source" dialog box will appear. Select your picture source, and follow through until your picture is in Poster.
7. Print the picture by selecting File->Print.
Q: What resolution should I scan at ?
The thing to remember about scanning and printing is that your printer resolution is at least 300 DPI (Dots per inch, also known as pixels per inch), so for perfect reproduction, the final picture should have a resolution of 150 to 300 DPI AFTER IT IS ENLARGED. If you scan a picture at 300 DPI, and then print it at 5x, its final resolution is going to be 300/5, or just 60 DPI, so it will look blocky or pixelated.
Our general guideline for resolution is: try to achieve a resolution of at least 150 DPI after the picture is enlarged. So, if you print at 5x, you should scan at 150x5=750 DPI. Note that this can create a really big scanner image, but there are no other good options.
If you use Edit->Smooth Picture, POSTER/DRAWIT/PRESENT-iT/PUBLISH-iT increases the number of pixels in the picture, but in order to do that, it must guess at the proper value for the new pixels by averaging the surrounding pixels. Hence the final picture is less blocky, but also is less sharp. So, in general, the higher the scanned resolution, the better.
Q: I create a BMP file, but when other programs print it, the text and graphics are rough and jagged.
A: Bitmaps, including BMP, (and for DRAWIT, JPG, TIF, GIF) files are saved at the resolution of your display, which is usually 72 dpi. When these are enlarged to printer size (usually 300dpi), they become jagged. To save at a higher resolution than your display, you must have DRAWIT 2.2 or POSTER 6.3n or newer. Then, when you save the file, you can specify a resolution.
NOTE: If you save a single bitmap as a bitmap, it will be saved at its full resolution, which is usually greater than the display resolution of 72dpi.
To find the size of the bitmap, select the bitmap, then click on Edit->Properties.
Q. I can I insert logos at the beginning and end of banners like my old DOS Banner program?
A: You can insert a logo anywhere in a banner. For a banner, the easiest way is:
1. Position the text cursor at where you want the logo to go in the text. To insert at the beginning of the banner, position the cursor before the first character. To insert at the end of the banner, position the cursor at the end of the text.
2. Select Insert->Picture, select the file, and then click on 'In Text'. The picture will be inserted where the cursor is, and the text will be moved out of the way.
3. If the picture makes the text go to 2 lines, select the text, and then make the font smaller with the 'decrease font size' button.
4. Alternatively, in step 2, Select Insert->Picture, select the file, and then click on "Stand Alone". Position the picture where you want it to go. You will then have to change to text mode and insert spaces in the text to keep it from covering the picture.
Q: How do I make patterns for wood signs. These letters must be joined slightly so they don't fall apart when cut out. I think BannerMania called it "Blended"?
A: This is done easily in POSTER or DRAWiT:
1. Create your poster or banner.
2. Select the text, and click on Text->Spacing->Compress Characters. This will
move the characters closer together. Do this several times until you get the effect
you want. Usually doing this 2 times will result in 'joined' characters.
Q: How do I insert a symbol?
1. You will need POSTER 7.9f (5/24/03) or a later version. If you have an earlier version, download and install the latest version of Publish-iT from www.postersw.com/poster7.exe.
2. From POSTER, select Insert -> Symbol. The Symbol dialog box will appear.
3. Find the symbol that you want (you can change the font using the font name in the drop down box on the Symbol dialog box.)
4. Click on the symbol to see a large version of the symbol.
5. Click on the INSERT button.
6. You can insert as many symbols as you wish. When you are done, click on the CLOSE button.
Q. How can I use the HP Large Format Printers (650, 760, etc.).
A: There are 2 ways to print on large format printers:
1. Create a poster or banner for standard 8.5x11 paper, and then enlarge it when you print
it (or when you send it to the Kinko's File Prep tool for printing at Kinkos).
OR
2. Create the poster or banner specifically for a large sheet of paper (for example, 36 x
24).
Method 1 (use this method if you have an existing poster created for 8.5x11 inch
paper, or if you want to proof your poster on 8.5x11 inch paper before you print it on
large paper).
a. Create the poster for a standard 8.5x11 inch page for a standard letter-size printer
(usually your default printer).
b. Change your printer to a large format printer, or to the Kinko's File Prep tool, and
select the page size you want (such as 36x24):
1. Select File->Printer Setup.
2. Click on the large format printer you want to use, and click Properties.
3. In the Printer Properties, set the paper size you want, including a custom size such as
24x36.
4. Click on OK in the Printer Properties, and Click on OK in the Printer Setup screen.
5. Because you changed the page size, the custom page size will show up. Check the
button marked 1 page wide x 1 page high, and click landscape or
portrait as you wish. Then click OK.
6. The Rescale dialog box will now come up. Usually, you should select the
'proportional rescale', and click on OK. This will cause
POSTER to stretch your poster to fit the new page.
c. Now click on File->Print, and print your poster at 1x.
Method 2: (use this method if you are creating a poster from scratch, and want to
always work with the full-size poster).
1. When POSTER starts, select 'Custom Size'.
2. When asked if the paper size is correct, click NO. This will cause the printer
setup dialog box to appear.
3. Click on the large format printer you want to use, and click Properties.
4. In the Printer Properties, set the paper size you want, including a custom size such as
24x36.
5. Click on OK in the Printer Properties and click on OK in the Printer Setup screen.
6. Because you changed the page size, the custom page size will show up. Check the button
marked
1 page wide x 1 page high, and click landscape or portrait as you wish.
Then click OK.
7. You can now create your poster normally.
8. To print, select File->Print, and print at 1x.
Q: How do I send my poster or banner to another company that has a large-format printer?
A: Here are 5 different methods for printing large format posters:
1. The easiest: To print at Kinko's, download and install the Kinko's File Prep Program from www.kinkos.com. Create your poster or banner, and then from within Poster or Drawit select File->Printer Setup, select Kinko's, and click on Properties to set the paper size you will use. Then just print your poster - a KDF file will be generated that you can take to any Kinko's to print. Click here for more info. OR
2. Give a copy of POSTER program to the company that prints your posters; have them install it on their machine, and ship them a .POS file. OR
3. Save it as an EMF file. Have them import the EMF file into a program they normally use for generating large format posters. OR
4. Save it as a PDF file (if you or someone else at your office has Adobe Acrobat). Most printing companies can handle PDF files. OR
5. Install a POSTSCRIPT driver. Then set the driver to print to a file. Ship that resulting file to your print company.
Q: When I print in banner mode there is a thin white line between each sheet. How do I eliminate it.
A: Try the following:
1. Select File->Print.
2. Press 'Options...'.
3. Change the Page Length from 11.00 to 11.01.
4. Press OK.
5. Press Print. This will print a slightly longer page, and should cause your printer to not print a white line.If you still get a thin white line, try changing page length to 11.03. If you still get a thin white line, then the line is a function of your printer, and there is nothing that POSTER can do about it.
Q: How do I make a poster 24"X18" horizontal and print it at Kinkos? Everytime I hit the print button it cuts several inches of the picture off.
A: 1. Start POSTER
2. Select 'Custom Size'.
3. When asked 'is this the paper size you want to use?', click NO.
4. A dialog box will appear with a list of printers. Select Kinkos File Prep.
5. Press Properties.
6. Select Custom size. Set a Custom size of 18w x 24 long (NOT 24w x 18 long).
7. Click OK.
8. Click OK on the Printer selection box.
9. The Custom size wizard will appear: Select Size in Pages of 1x1, and select Landscape. The little preview box on the right-hand side of the dialog box should show the format that you want. Then click OK.
10. The page template dialog box will appear. Click Blank page.
11. Build your POSTER. To confirm you are getting your entire Poster, select
Page ->Border -> Simple Border, and create a simple rectangular border.
12. Select File ->Print. The program will print to the Kinko's program.
The Kinkos's program does not always let POSTER tell it to rotate the poster 90 degrees and print it in landscape mode. If you were to set the Kinko's Custom Size to 24w x 18 long (which sounds perfectly logical), then KFP will insist in printing in portrait mode, hence cutting off the righthand side of the Poster.
Q: The maximum allowable printed poster size is only about 4 feet. What do I do?
A: Download and install POSTER 7. This version can print posters up to 100x100 feet.
A: Set your printer driver to print to a file:
1. Start->Settings->Printers
2. Select your printer, then RIGHT click on properties.
3. Select the DETAILS tab.
4. Change the PORT from PRT1 or your network printer, to "FILE".
5. Start POSTER/DRAWIT/PUBLISH-IT/PRESENT-IT, and print normally.
Q:I have recently purchased Windows Millenium and installed it but find that now I can no longer print the full A4 page.
A: When installing Widows Millenium the default was set on a size different than A4 in the Microsoft protocols, so even with Publish-it showing H 11.69 and W 8.27 inches as the print size, once the printer was activated the smaller default size set by Windows was overiding everything else. Fix this by resetting the default.
Q: Why can't I print clipart metafiles on my NT system. I get the message "Can't print metafile".
A: In NT the default for 'print processor actions' is to not spool RAW datatype, if you check the option to always spool RAW datatype the WMF graphics will print as you need them.
Q: How do I print my color poster in greyscale for draft work?
A: POSTER and DRAWIT rely on your printer driver to provide the option of printing in greyscale.
To do this, go to File->Printer Setup->Properties.
If you have an HP deskjet printer, click on the COLOR tab, and check the
print-in-greyscale box.
If you have an EPSON printer, click on the MAIN tab, and check the MONO box.For bitmap pictures only, select the picture, then click on Edit->Picture, and click the GRAY button.
Q: How do I change Margins correctly?
A: Select Page->Margin and set the margins you want. The same margins apply to every page. Caution: if you set margins to zero, the edges of your poster may be lost, because most printers can not print up to the every edge - a warning message will be provided in this case.
Q: The margins on my Epson Stylus Color cut off the bottom (portrait) or side (landscape) edge.
A. Select Page->Margins, and set the top and bottom (if printing in portrait mode) or side (if printing in landscape mode) margins to .45 and .55 inches.
Q: How do I print using continuous forms.
A: Click on continuous forms in the printer dialog box (File->Print). You must have a printer that supports continuous forms, such as one of the newer HP inkjet printers that has a 'banner' mode, and you must set your printer driver into banner mode using File->Printer Setup ->Properties.
Q: How do I print a banner on my Epson inkjet.
A: To print banners correctly, you must have set the Epson Printer Driver to use
a single 44" page, and then you must create a single page Horizontal Poster (Not a
banner):
a. Before you start Poster, set the Epson Printer Driver to use a 44" page:
Select Start->Settings->Printers.
Highlight your printer, then select File->Properties.
On the MAIN or DETAILS tab, change the Paper Size setting
to User Defined.
Specify 44" in the height.
Click APPLY, then OK.
b. Now Start POSTER, and select HORIZONTAL or VERTICAL. This will create a
single page banner which will fully fill your page. DO NOT SELECT BANNER MODE.
c. When you print, print at 1x, which will give you a single 44" banner.
You can also start Poster, than select File->Printer Setup->Setup, and change the paper size to User Defined and the height to 44". Then you MUST create a new poster by selecting File-> New->Horizontal. When you print, print at 1x, which will give you a single 44" banner.
There is no need to specify Continuous Forms when you print the banner, as you are really only printing one page.
Q: My text comes out garbled (i.e., an A prints as a $). Usually on a Postscript printer or Adobe Acrobat.
A: All reported instances of this involve either printing using some of the special-effects for text (such as shadow), printing warped or stretched text. Print the test page (File->Printer Test). If the special-effects characters at the bottom of the page print as '$' instead of 'A', it is a printer driver problem. There are several available workarounds.
Q: My bitmap (bitmap, or jpeg, or gif picture) does not print correctly. Either I get the upper left corner of the bitmap on every page, or it is not scaled properly.
A: This is a problem with various Laserjet drivers. If you are using an HP Laserjet printer, the general workaround is to load and use the HP Laserjet II driver (this driver is included with Windows 95). This driver will drive all HP Laserjet printers.
If you have the HP Laserjet 6, this is a problem only with the Laserjet 6 PCL driver. Install and use the Laserjet 6 'Host Mode' driver (included with your Laserjet 6 printer).
Q: I get page ejects when printing in continuous form mode.
A: If you get a page eject between pages, do the following:
1. Select File->Print.
2. Push Options..
3. If your first page continues OK onto page 2, and then page ejects: Change "Override Paper Size" to a value smaller than 11. For example, 10.8. This will cause POSTER to page eject sooner. Experiment with this value till you get something you want. Ideally, you want POSTER to go to the very end of a page, and then page eject onto the next page, which results in a completely continuous form.
4. If your first page does a page eject before it gets to the end of page 1, then change "Override paper size, width" to something longer than 11 inches. This will cause POSTER to page eject later. Experiment with this value till you get something that works.
5. You must do this every time you print.
Q: I am having printing problems.
A: 1. Make sure you have the latest version of the printer driver. Check the printer vendor web site for this version (www.hp.com, www.microsoft,com,...).
2. Try printing method A1, A2, or B or C. (Usually this doesn't help a deskjet). These are set from File->Printer Setup.
3. Look in the Printer Setup dialog box for something that says "Print TrueType Fonts as Graphics", and select it. Also there might be a box that says something like "Print Raster Graphics".
4. If you have Adobe Type Manager (ATM) installed, try using Type 1 fonts instead of true-type fonts.
5. If you are printing complicated graphics or a big bitmap to a Laserjet, make sure you have at least 1.5MB of printer memory.
6. If you have a Laserjet 3, 4, or 5, load and use the Laserjet II driver.
Q: My Laserjet 5 prints multiple copies of page 1 of a picture or bitmap, but won't print page 2.
A: This is a Laserjet 5 driver problem. Try the latest version of the driver. If that doesn't work, load and use the Laserjet II driver.
Q: When I print on my Epson Color Stylus, it is not centered on the page.
A: Select Page->Margins, and adjust the top and left margins to properly center the printing. Or select Printer->Setup, click on Properties, and check the box labeled Center Printing.
Q: When I print a banner with my HP1218, there are gaps. What can I do?
A: This is a bug in the HP1218 driver. Try and use another HP printer; all printers in the 7xx and 8xx lines work fine. If you can't get hold of one of these, try downloading the latest driver from the HP web site: www.hp.com.
Q: The very bottom (or side) of my Poster does not print. What can I do?
A: Sometime the very bottom or the bottom border prints outside the range of the printer's printable area.
Select Page->Margins and set the bottom margin to 1 inch. This should shift the bottom up enough for the line to show up.
OPENING (LOADING or IMPORTING or INSERTING):
Q: How do a print an excel spreadsheet using Poster.
A: Create your spreadsheet in Excel. Then:
1. Highlight the cells you want to print, and do a COPY. Switch
to POSTER and do a PASTE.
OR
2. From Poster, select Edit->Insert OLE. Select EXCEL
Spreadsheet. EXCEL will start. Edit your spreadsheet. Then terminate EXCEL.
The spreadsheet will appear in POSTER.
NOTE: Method 1 will not work for spreadsheets that are more than one page wide.
Only the page visible on the screen will be pasted.
HELP by Printer Brand and/or type.
Canon
Epson
Hewlett Packard (HP) Laser Jet
Hewlett Packard (HP) Ink Jet
Hewlett Packard (HP) Design Jet (Large Format
plotter)
Kinko’s
Lexmark
PDF file
Postscript
Poster aborts or crashes when I try to
print.
Other Printing Problems
Help for Printing Banners – click on your printer brand (above) for
help.
Help for Printing to the Edge of the paper (no margins).
Some Epson and Canon printers will print to the very edge. Click on
your printer brand (above) for help.
CANON
Banners on Continuous-forms (banner) paper.
Limitations: Banners printed on CANON printers using continuous-forms (banner)
paper can be at most 7 pages long. This is a limitation imposed by the CANON printer
driver, not by POSTER.
To print banners longer than 7 pages on continuous-forms (banner) paper, you must print in
7 page sections, and then connect these sections together:
1.Create the banner normally by pushing the Banner button, and specify the number of pages
for the finished banner (this can be any number up to 100).
2. Select YES when asked if you will be using continuous forms.
3. Set the printer driver into banner mode: Select File->Printer Setup. Select the
CANON printer and push '‘Properties”. Set banner mode in your printer driver,
then click on OK and OK again to get you back to the main POSTER screen.
4. Create your banner.
5. Select File ->Print to print the banner.
6. Load 7 pages of continuous-forms paper into the printer.
7. Push the button labeled ‘Page Range’, and enter Start Page 1 and End Page 7.
Click on OK, then on Print.
8. This will print pages 1-7.
9. Repeat steps 5-7, but enter start page 8 and end page 14.
10. Repeat steps 5-7 as necessary, each time selecting the next 7 page section.
Some CANON printers limit your banners to 6-page sections.
Printing to the edge of the paper (no margins).
Many CANON printers will print to the very edge of the paper. This allows you to
print a multisheet poster and butt the sheets together, with no trimming.
1. Select File->Printer Setup.
2. Select your printer and click on Properties.
3. Select BORDERLESS PRINTING, and set the ‘Amount of Extension’ slider to the
left, meaning ‘the least amount of extension. (If you do not set the slider to the
‘least amount of extension, you will still have an overlap and will not be able to
butt pages together.) If you cannot find BORDERLESS PRINTING in your printer properties,
then your printer does not support it.
4. Click on OK, and then on OK.
5. Select Page ->Margins. Set all 4 margins to 0 if they are not already set to 0. Then
click on OK.
6. The page that is displayed should show the entire page, with no margins.
Banners on Continuous-forms (banner) paper.
Limitations: Banners printed on EPSON printers using continuous-forms (banner)
paper can be at most 44 inches long. This is a limitation imposed by the EPSON printer
driver, not by POSTER.
To print banners longer than 44 inches (4 pages) on continuous-forms (banner) paper, you
must print in 44 inch (4 page) sections, and then connect these sections together. The
EPSON treats each 44 inch section as one page of length 44 inches, so the actual number of
‘pages’ that you print will be the total length of your banner divided by 44.
Example, for an 88 inch banner, you must pretend that you are printing 2 44-inch pages
(even though it will require 8 sheets of paper):
1.Start POSTER and push the button labeled “Custom Size Wizard”.
2. When asked if your paper size is correct, click on NO.
3. The Printer Setup dialog box will appear. Select the EPSON printer and push
'Properties”. Set the page size to User Defined, and set the length to 44".,
then click on OK and OK again to get you back to the main POSTER screen.
4. A dialog box will appear asking you how big to make the banner. Select the radio button
labeled “Size in Pages”, and set 1 page high and 1 to 100 pages wide, where each
‘page’ is really 44 inches (4 sheets of paper). (So if you set 2 pages wide, you
will really be creating an 88 inch wide banner.) Also select the “Landscape”
radio button. The click on OK.
5. Create your banner.
6. Select File ->Print to print the banner.
7. Load 4 pages of continuous-forms paper into the printer.
8. Push the button labeled ‘Page Range’, and enter Start Page 1 and End Page 1.
Click on OK, then on Print.
9. This will print page 1, which is really 44 inches wide (4 sheets).
10. Repeat steps 5-7, but enter start page 2 and end page 2.
11. Repeat steps 5-7 as necessary, each time selecting the next page.
Printing to the edge of the paper (no margins).
Many EPSON printers will print to the very edge of the paper. This allows you to
print a multisheet poster and butt the sheets together, with no trimming.
To print to the end of the paper:
1. Select File->Printer Setup.
2. Select your printer and click on Properties.
3. Select NO MARGINS and click on OK, and then on OK.
4. Select Page -> Margins, and set the left and right margins to 0.12 inches (3mm) and
the top and bottom margins to 0.15 inches (4 mm).
5. Print normally.
NOTE: your poster sheets may not line up properly, because Epson printers enlarge the
image slightly when NO MARGINS is selected in Printer Properties. Be sure to set your
POSTER margins to: left & right=0.12in (3 mm), top & bottom=0.15in. (4 mm). You
may need to change these values slightly for the pages to butt together perfectly.
HEWLETT PACKARD LASER JET
These printers will NOT print to the edge of the paper; there will
always be a white space that you will need to trim to attach pages together.
These printers will NOT print on continuous-forms (banner) paper. You will need to create
multisheet banners or posters and tape them together.
Laserjet 6 at 300 DPI:
If you are printing at 300 DPI (NOT 600 DPI) with the PCL driver, (NOT the host-based
driver), then some special effects or warp characters will not print correctly.
The workarounds are:
1. Install and use the host-based driver. (This will not work over a network). OR
2. Print at 600 DPI (the default). OR
3. Select File->Printer Setup->Text Special Effects Printing Method->Alternate.
Note: This will only work for upper case letters.
Laserjet III
If the posters you print are missing characters at page edges, then do the following:
1. Select "Method A1" in the Poster Print Dialog box. Also, be sure your printer
is set to 300 dpi.
2. If this doesn't work, or it is too slow for you, install and use the Laserjet II
driver.
Laserjet 4.
If you cannot successfully print posters, configure your printer as follows:
1. Select "File->Printer Setup", and select the Laserjet 4 printer, and click
on Properties.
2. Select "options".
3. Select "Graphics Mode" = "raster", "Graphics
Quality"="high", and check "print true-type as graphics".
NOTE: As a general rule, if you have an HP Laserjet or Laserjet compatible printer, and
you are having printing problems: Load and use the Laserjet II driver which is supplied
with Windows.
HEWLETT PACKARD INK JET and DESK
JET.
Q: When I print a banner with my HP1218, there are gaps. What can I do? Answer
Printing Banners on Continuous-forms (banner) paper.
Most HP Inkjet printers will print a banner on continuous-forms paper up to 100
sheets long.
Note: The HP890 will NOT print on continuous forms.
The HP720 will print banners on Win95/98/ME, but it will NOT print on banner paper on
Windows 2000/XP.
1. Start POSTER. Select Banner. Then sent the banner length in pages.
2. Physically set the lever on the printer to banner mode. On most HP printers you must
slide a lever UP to set the printer to banner mode. During the printer install an HP
ToolBox icon was be placed on your desktop. Opening this will display several launchable
HELP bullets, one of which is PRINT BANNERS. Launching this will give you the 7 steps to
setup your printer physically to print banners
3. Set the driver to banner mode: Select File->Printer Setup, select the HP printer,
and then click on Properties. Then Click on Continuous Forms or Paper->banner. Then
click OK and OK.
4. When you print, select File->Print and in the PRINT dialog box, click
"Continuous Forms".
5. Load banner paper into your printer, and click the PRINT button in the PRINT dialog
box.
Printing to the Edge of the Paper.
1. You cannot print to the edge of the left and right sides of a sheet of
paper (when you hold the paper vertically).
2. You can print to the very bottom of the paper. If you want to print to the very bottom,
set your bottom margin to zero: Page -> Margins, and set the margin at the bottom of
the page to 0. Then click on OK.
HEWLETT PACKARD DESIGN-JET LARGE
FORMAT PLOTTER.
To use this printer, follow these instructions.
1. After you start POSTER, select "Custom Size Wizard".
2. When asked if you want to change your paper size, reply YES.
3. Printer Setup will appear. Select your large format printer, and click on PROPERTIES.
4. You may now have to click on "Advanced". Then select the final page
size you want, such as 22 x 44, or even 36x105. Then click on OK and OK.
5. The 'Custom Size' Dialog box will appear. Set the poster to be 1 page wide by 1 page
high. Then click on OK. (Or, if you want to create a poster out of multiple sheets of
design-jet paper, just enter the number of pages wide and pages high, keeping in mind that
each page will be a large design-jet sheet).
6. Create your poster, and print it at 1x.
If you have already created a poster or banner for 8 ˝ by 11 inch paper, and now want to
print it on a large design-jet sheets:
1. Select File->Printer Setup. Select your large format printer, and click on
PROPERTIES.
2. Select the final page size you want, such as 22 x 44. Then click on OK and OK.
3. The 'Custom Size' Dialog box will appear. Set the poster to be 1 page wide by 1 page
high. Then click on OK.
4. A ‘rescale’ dialog box will appear. Select the default option, which is to
rescale your poster to fit the new page size.
5. Print the poster normally at 1X.
To create a very long banner as a single long continuous sheet of paper, such as 105
inches long, you must instruct the Design-Jet Printer Driver to create a single page that
is 105 inches long. To do this, follow the steps above. In step 4, make sure you set
a very long page size, such as 105 inches long.
LEXMARK INK JET.
Printing Banners on Continuous-forms (banner) paper.
NOTE: If you have upgraded to Windows XP and you can no longer print banners,
check the Lexmark web site and download the XP versions of the drivers. This is
especially true for the Lexmark 53.
Most Lexmark Inkjet printers will print a banner on continuous-forms paper up to 100
sheets long.
1. Start POSTER. Select Banner. Then sent the banner length in pages.
2. Set the driver to banner mode: File->Printer Setup->Properties. Click on
Continuous Forms or Paper->banner.
3. When you print, select File->Print and in the PRINT dialog box, click
"Continuous Forms".
4. Load banner paper into your printer, and click the PRINT button in the PRINT dialog
box.
Printing to the Edge of the Paper.
1. You cannot print to the edge of the left and right sides of a sheet of paper
(when you hold the paper vertically).
2. You can print to the very bottom of the paper. If you want to print to the very bottom,
set your bottom margin to zero: Page -> Margins, and set the margin at the bottom of
the page to 0. Then click on OK.
PDF FILES.
To create PDF files, you will need a PDF converter. These
converters are installed like printers. You print to a PDF converter exactly like you
would print to a printer – except that the converter creates a PDF file, rather than
printing to a physical printer.
We recommend that you purchase Publish-iT PRO from us. This product includes a full PDF converter. Publish-iT PRO costs only $35, and saves you the cost of more expensive converters.
PDF converters are also available form:
ADOBE. (www.adobe.com). Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Distiller are PDF converters that both
work well with Poster. These products typically cost about $220.
AMYUNI (www.amyuni.com). A shareware converter is available from Amyuni. The evaluation
version can be downloaded and installed for free. It will print a message or watermark on
each page. The full version can be purchased for about $70.
For more converters, do an internet search for “PDF CONVERTER”.
PRINTING AT Kinko’s.
When you are satisfied with your poster or banner, you can bring it or send it to
Kinko’s to print on one of their large-format, poster-size printers. In this way you
can print a professional-quality poster without having to piece together individual sheets
from a standard letter-size printer.
The easiest way to print at Kinko’s is to use the Kinko’s File Prep Tool, which
is available FREE.
1.Download and install the Kinko’s File Prep tool from
http://www.kinkos.com/kfp/index.html.
2.After you install the software on your computer, start POSTER, select File->Printer
Setup, and choose Kinko’s File Prep Tool -- just as if you were printing to a
physical printer.
3. Click on ‘Properties’. Then select the page size you want for your poster.
4. Click OK, then OK.
5. POSTER will ask you to confirm the page size you want. Then it will automatically
rescale your poster to fit the page size you have selected.
6. When you are satisfied with your poster, just select Print, select 1x, and press Print.
7. The Kinko’s File Prep Tool will run and create an onscreen proof or preview to
show you exactly what your document will look like when it's printed.
8. After you're finished checking the preview, use the SAVE command in the Kinko’s
File Prep Tool to save your converted file in Kinko’s Document Format (KDF). (NOTE:
POSTER will not save directly in KDF format – you must use the SAVE command from
within the Kinkos File Prep Tool). You can put the file on your hard drive or on any kind
of removable media, from floppy disk to Jaz® disk. Now take your KDF file to your nearest
participating Kinko's location to place an order. You can also send an order online using
Kinko’s Web Order system. Visit the Kinko’s website at www.kinkos.com for more
information.
POSTSCRIPT PRINTERS.
Certain text special-effects will not print correctly on Postscript printers
(including PDF files) under Windows 95/98/ME. (The problem does not exist in Windows
2000/XP). Generally, POSTER will recognize this problem and correct for it – but all
lower case special effects characters will print in upper-case only.
If you get postscript errors, or you are loosing characters at page boundaries:
1. Select File->Printer Setup. Select your printer and click on Properties.
2. Select “options”, then select “advanced”.
3. Select “print true type fonts as” “Bitmap (type 3)”.
4. Click on OK, and OK.
OTHER PRINTING PROBLEMS.
1.Text characters that cross page boundaries are dropped (not printed), rather than being
split across the pages.
Workarounds:
a. Select File->Printer Setup. Check printing method A1. Click OK. Then try printing.
If that doesn’t work, Select File->Printer Setup, and try method B, or C. One of
these should work.
b. Alternative workaround. If you have an HP Laserjet printer (or compatible), load and
use the HP Laserjet II driver. (see instructions below).
2. Some special effects text print the wrong characters(the ones marked with an asterisk
in the Text->Special Effects dialog box) (for example, an ‘A’ prints as a
‘$’).
Workaround: If you are printing only Upper Case characters, and numbers, select
File->Printer Setup. Under Text Special Effects, check ‘Alternate’. Then try
printing. This workaround will not work on lower case characters.
3. Page ejects when printing in continuous form (banner mode).
If you get a page eject between pages, do the following:
1. Select File->Print.
2. Select Options.
3. If your first page continues ok onto page 2, and then page ejects: Change
“Override Paper Size, Width” to a value smaller than 11 inches. For example,
10.8. This will cause POSTER to page eject sooner. Experiment with this value till you get
something you want. Ideally, you want POSTER to go to the very end of a page, and then
page eject onto the next page, which results in a completely continuous form.
4. If your first page does a page eject before it gets to the end of page 1, then change
“Override paper size, width” to something longer than 11 inches. This will cause
POSTER to page eject later. Experiment with this value till you get something that works.
4. Other printing problems.
Try each of the following, one at a time. These have all corrected various printing
problems for Poster users.
1. Uncheck the box “Print Each Page Immediately” under
File->Print->Options.
2. Reprint just the pages that didn’t print the first time. See
File->Print->Options.
3. Print only a range of pages at a time. See File->Print-> Options.
4. Make sure you have enough disk space. A BIG bitmap at 300dpi could take up a
lot of space. (A full-page, full color bitmap could require 8x300x10x300x4=28.8MB for each
page!).
5. Make sure you have the latest version of your printer driver (check the
manufacturer’s web site).
If these don’t work, send email to support@postersw.com..
DOT-MATRIX Printers.
To print banners and posters in continuous strips, from File->Print, select
‘continuous forms’.
If you get a page eject between pages, do the following:
1. Select File->Print.
2. Select Options.
3. If your first page continues onto page 2, and then page ejects: Change “Override
Paper Size,Width” to a value less than 11 inches. For example, 10.8. This will cause
POSTER to skip to the top of page sooner. Experiment with this value till you get
something you want.
4. If your first page does a page eject before it gets to the edge, then change
“Override paper size, width” to something longer than 11 inches. Experiment with
this value till you get something that works.
POSTER ABORTS or CRASHES WHEN I TRY TO PRINT.
1. Make sure you are using Poster 7.9s (03/03/2005) or newer. This version fixes aborts that occur with very long printer names, especially for network-connected printers. To find your version of Poster, click on Help->About. If your version is older than 7.9s, click HERE to download this version of Poster. Then install it.
2. If Poster still aborts, then make sure you do not have any text where you
have used a special effect of 3D-(true). This causes problems for some
printer drivers, especially on Windows 98Please change the
special effect on your text from: 3D (True) to 3D (Simulated)
1. Select all your text that has a 3D effect.
2. Click on the 'S' toolbar button.
3. Change the special effect setting to '3D-3'.
4. Click OK.
Now go ahead and print. Your document should now print fine.
To report problems, or ask for support, click here to mail a message.
You can also email us at
Internet: Support@PosterSW.com
Telephone support is available evenings and weekends at 253-848-0467.