Windows BLL Generator User Guide Windows BLL Generator User Guide V1.
Copyright © 1988-1998 Lasergraphics, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 20 Ada Irvine, California 92618 +1-949-753-8282 Technical Support Department: +1-949-753-8292 Monday through Friday 7:30 A.M. to 5:30 P.M., US Pacific Time Zone Lasergraphics BBS (949) 727-9429 Internet: http://www.lasergraphics.
Acknowledgements The combined effort of many people is required to make a quality software product. This is an undoubtedly incomplete list of dealers, customers, coworkers and friends who have been helpful in one way or another in making Windows BLL Generator into what it is today. Hanspeter Andermatt, Wolfgang Beaugrand, Xavier Bengoechea, Tim Bochnak, Murray Bowman, Dr. Ralf Brandes, Tony Brown, Falah Chebbo, Larry Cole, David Davies, Mike DeLucca, Dr. Stefan Demetrescu, Jo Elliot, Jon Elion, LtCol Dr.
Contents Chapter 1: Introduction ........................................................................................9 What You Need ............................................................................................... 10 Required Hardware ............................................................................... 10 Required Software................................................................................. 10 About this Guide ........................................................
Running setup..................................................................................................18 Adding a BLL-Generator..................................................................................19 Chapter 4: Printing your first image ................................................................... 21 Printing from an Application.............................................................................22 Viewing a BLL.............................................................
Printer settings in Windows 95/98......................................................... 41 Color balance and gamma correction ................................................... 44 Miscellaneous options ........................................................................... 45 Changing the Default Printer Settings in Windows 95/98 ..................... 47 Using the Windows NT driver .......................................................................... 48 Printer settings in Windows NT ..........
Appendix A: Specifications .................................................................................
Chapter 1: Introduction This is the user manual for the Windows BLL Generator. This product is used to generate platform and application independent BLL files that can be used for imaging on remote Lasergraphics film recorders. Windows BLL Generator supports PCs running Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT 4.0 and Windows NT 5.0. This chapter explains the features of the Windows BLL Generator.
What You Need You need the following hardware and software to run Windows BLL Generator: Required Hardware • Any IBM® PC compatible machine with a 486 processor or better, Pentium or better recommended. • 16 MB of memory when running Windows 95/98 and 32 MB when running Windows NT. More memory may be required for complex images or images that contain large bitmaps. • Minimum 4 megabytes of disk space for Windows BLL Generator programs plus additional storage for images.
About this Guide This guide explains how to set up and use Windows BLL Generator. This guide assumes that you already know how to use Microsoft Windows. If you are new to Windows, review your Microsoft Windows User’s Guide before proceeding. Screen illustrations in this guide are meant to be representative, not necessarily exact duplicates of screens that appear on your display.
What’s new Windows BLL Generator replaces Windows BLL Generator 3.15 for Windows 95 and WinRascol 3.15 for Windows NT. Major parts of Windows BLL Generator 3.15 were rewritten to increase performance, simplify its use, and take advantage of new features of Windows 95 and Windows NT. Windows BLL Generator offers these advantages over previous versions: • One package supports Windows 95/98 and Windows NT 4.0/5.
Windows BLL Generator Features Windows BLL Generator adds a new dimension to all of your visual communications by letting you produce professional-quality presentation graphics—right at your desk. Various Output Types Windows BLL Generator takes images produced by any Windows application and prints the images on a Lasergraphics LFR series film recorder to make 35mm slides, 35mm prints (negatives), Polaroid prints, 6x7 cm or 4x5 film transparencies or prints (negatives).
True Color Windows BLL Generator supports 24-bit color, which enables you to produce life-like pictures with any of over 16.7 million colors. 24-bit color refers to the way color information is stored in the image. 24-bit color is sometimes called “true-color” because it reproduces the full range of color visible to the human eye. Easy to Use and Highly Compatible Windows BLL Generator is compatible with all Microsoft Windows 95, Windows 98 and Windows NT applications that provide the Print command.
Chapter 2: Express Setup This section explains how users with previous WinRascol experience can get Windows BLL Generator up and running quickly. If you are new the Windows BLL Generator or don’t consider yourself a seasoned computer user, please take the time to study the chapters beginning with “Chapter 3: Software Installation” on page 17.
Installing Windows BLL Generator Windows BLL Generator is freely available on the Lasergraphics web site www.lasergraphics.com. It is also part of the WinRascol 4 distribution disks for convenience. Note that you may not distribute the WinRascol 4 distribution disks or their contents. The Windows BLL Generator downloadable from Lasergraphics' web site (www.lasergraphics.com) can be freely distributed. If you don’t have access to the Internet, please ask your dealer for a copy.
Chapter 3: Software Installation This section explains how to install Windows BLL Generator on your computer. The installation is performed in two steps, the initial installation and running BLLConf.
Running setup These steps perform the initial installation of the Windows BLL Generator package. • Close all programs currently running. • Insert disk 1 of the Windows BLL Generator installation disk set, skip this step if you’ve downloaded the Windows BLL Generator from the web site. • Press Start on the Windows tool bar, then select Run.
Adding a BLL-Generator Start BLLConf in Start->WinRascol32. Select Add/Manage BLL Generators. This dialog will appear: • Select Add generator.
The following dialog is displayed: • Select the destination film recorder type in Film recorder type. • Enter the serial number of the target film recorder in the Serial number edit box. • Windows BLL Generator will select a default name for you. You can modify the name of the printer driver in the edit box Driver name. • Select the destination directory into which the BLL files will be placed. Windows BLL Generator will select the default temporary file path as default.
Chapter 4: Printing your first image This guided tour will show you how to print from an application. You must have completed the software installation successfully to follow this tour.
Printing from an Application This section will show you how to print an image using Microsoft Wordpad. Wordpad is included in both Windows 95/98 and Windows NT. But you can use any other Windows application instead. Start Microsoft Wordpad. You will find it in Start->Programs->Accessories->Wordpad. Punch in a few letters.
Now open the Wordpad print dialog by selecting Print... from the File menu. Select the BLL Generator in the Name field. Note: You should never check the “Print to file” check box.
Now select Properties. This will open a dialog that allows you to set film recorder print settings: This is the Windows 95 film recorder settings dialog. The Windows NT dialog is shown in “Printer settings in Windows NT” on page 48. • Select the film type you intend to use in Film Type. • Select Standard Slide as the page size in Output Size. • Select White as Background Color. Wordpad assumes white background but doesn’t fully paint it. • Press OK.
• Now press OK in the Print dialog. A BLL will be created in the directory you designated at installation time.
Viewing a BLL You can preview the BLL you just created by using Windows Explorer to locate the file in the directory you designated during installation and double clicking on it. The BLL Viewer will show you the rastered file: Note that the printer driver has automatically rotated the image because the film recorder only images in landscape orientation.
Chapter 5: Principle of Operation This section explains how the Windows BLL Generator and WinRascol work together to produce film output. Introduction WinRascol consists of two software components: • WinRascol32: The queue and print manager. It queues print jobs and sends them to the film recorder. WinRascol32 is the same program on Windows 95, Windows 98 and Windows NT.
BLLs and other image files should be placed into dropbox directories that are serviced automatically by a PC with WinRascol. If dropbox directories are not accessible, BLL and other image files can be copied to a disk and later added to WinRascol on the PC with a film recorder. NOTE: Image files in dropbox directories will be automatically deleted after they are printed.
Printing from Windows on a PC without Film Recorder Producing slides from Windows applications on a PC without film recorder is a simple four-step process. • Select a BLL-generator Driver as the output device for the Windows application on the PC. • Create the images with the application. • Print the images using the Print command from within the application on the client PC.
Here is a diagram showing how this works: ! NOTE: The dropbox directory can be located on a network server or on the server PC.
Important Concepts This section explains resolution, color fidelity, and the differences between bitmaps and objects. Resolution Resolution can be defined in many ways. Dots per inch (DPI) is a common definition, but an impractical one for slides and overhead transparencies because the DPI changes significantly when the image is projected. The most practical definition of resolution is the total number of dots (or pixels) in the image.
When discussing film recorder resolution, the terms 2000-line slide, 4000-line slide and 8000-line slide are commonly used. The number of lines refers to the number of dots across the image. Examples: 2000-Line Slide 4000-Line Slide 8000-Line Slide NOTE: High end Lasergraphics film recorders can image up to 16384x13448 dots. This is called 16000-line resolution. Some camera backs have a different aspect ratio that enables the film recorder to output at higher vertical resolution like 4096x3362.
Bitmaps and Objects Images can contain bitmaps, objects, or both. Bitmaps consist of dots or pixels. Objects consist of mathematical descriptions of a shape, such as a polygon or line. Applications that create bitmaps are often called “paint” programs and those that create objects are often called “draw” or “illustration” programs. Both graphics and text can be bitmaps or objects.
Which Applications Create Bitmaps or Objects Most images contain either bitmaps or objects, but some images can contain both. Here are some of the more popular applications: Bitmaps • Adobe® Photoshop TM • Aldus® PhotoStyler TM • Microsoft® Paint • ZSoft Corp. Publisher's Paintbrush® Objects • Aldus® PageMaker® • Aldus® Persuasion® • Computer Support Corp.
Chapter 6: Reference This chapter provides detailed information about how to use Windows BLL Generator. Printer Settings Many Windows BLL Generator components will let you modify a wide variety of imaging options. This section explains these options in detail. Later sections will explain where these options apply and how to access them.
Note that the time it takes to image a slide will increase with the resolution setting approximately as follows: Resolution 2k 4k 8k 16k Relative resolution 0.25 1 4 16 Relative imaging time 0.75 1 4 16 Approximate imaging time 30s 40s 150s 600s Relative resolution is the total number of pixels relative to a 4k slide. Relative imaging time is the time it takes to image relative to a 4k slide, on a theoretical basis.
Film Type Film Type specifies the type of film in the camera back connected to the film recorder. Windows BLL Generator supports two types of film, LFC-based and non-LFC based. LFC based film choices rely on so-called LFC files that reside in the LGDATA\LFC directory. These LFC files contain transfer functions for specific film/film recorder combinations. The transfer functions of non-LFC based films have been pre-programmed into the film recorders.
• Polaroid 691 Overhead Transparency film, which produces 3 3/4"x 2 7/8" instant transparencies • All film recorders except the Personal LFR and the Personal LFR PLUS Use Kodacolor 100 with: • 35mm camera back • ISO daylight balanced print film • All film recorders except Digital Photography Models Use Ektachrome 100 (4x5) with: • 4x5 camera back • Ektachrome 100 4x5 film • All film recorders except the Personal LFR.
Background Color Background Color specifies the background color of the image. This setting is ignored if the application explicitly sets the background color in the image. Use Background Color to set the color of unpainted regions to white for text applications like Word. Otherwise, you might end up with black text on black background! Scaling Scaling controls how the image is scaled for output. 100% keeps the image size unchanged. To shrink the image, set the value to less than 100%.
Contrast Gamma Contrast Gamma allows for very fine contrast adjustment. The range of valid gamma contrast values is 0.14 to 7.0. However, values between 0.25 and 2.0 are usually more practical. By adjusting the gamma contrast value you can change the midtones of the image without affecting the highlights. As the gamma contrast value decreases, output midtones become darker. As the gamma contrast value increases, output midtones become lighter.
Using the Windows 95/98 driver Printing a document or image to a film recorder from an application is just like printing to any ordinary printer. This process will vary slightly from application to application, but generally the Print command in the application’s File menu will do the trick. Printer settings in Windows 95/98 The printer driver allows changing a number of print settings.
This is the printer settings dialog in Windows 95. • Choose the desired resolution in the Resolution box. Note that not all film recorders and film types support all resolutions.
• Orientation selects the image orientation. • Output Size selects the “paper” format to use. This should match the paper format selected in your application. You will generally get best results with the default “Standard Slide”. You can also select a user defined paper size NOTE: Make sure to match the paper size and orientation settings of the printer driver with those of your application. Some applications will ignore paper dimensions returned by the printer driver.
Color balance and gamma correction • Color Balance controls the brightness of the three color channels. • Gamma Correction controls the gamma correction. It is used to brighten or darken mid tones of an image without changing the very dark and very bright pixels.
Miscellaneous options • Compression selects a compression type for the BLL. Medium compression optimizes for speed, while high compression optimizes for file size. Use high compression when you want to send BLLs to a service provider using removable media or the Internet. • Scale scales your image. The range is 25% to 400%. Note that scaling your image may result in non-optimal use of film. • Minimum Exposure Time is used to lengthen the imaging time in rare cases of slice marking.
• Background Color selects the color that is used to paint the background. This color is used in cases where the application does not specify a background color and when the aspect ratio of the paper selected in the application doesn’t match the aspect ratio of the film. The options Aspect Ratio, Raster Options and AntiAlias don’t apply for non-raster operations.
Changing the Default Printer Settings in Windows 95/98 The document default printer settings are used automatically when an application initializes the printer settings of a document, usually when a document is created and when the selected printer is changed. By setting the document defaults to the settings you normally use, you can simplify using the printer driver.
Using the Windows NT driver Printer settings in Windows NT Printing a document or image to a film recorder from an application is just like printing to any ordinary printer. This process will vary slightly from application to application, but generally the Print command in the application’s File menu will do the trick. The printer driver allows changing a number of print settings.
The printer settings dialog looks like this: • Selecting Paper Size: Select 'Paper Size' in the upper window, then choose a form in the lower window. Default is 'LFR Standard Slide 7.33x11in'. • Selecting Orientation: Select 'Orientation' in the upper window, then choose 'Portrait' or 'Landscape' in the lower window. The driver will rotate the rasterized image to fit the form on the film using as much film as possible. Default is 'Portrait'.
• Selecting Background Color: Select 'Background Color' in the upper window, then choose 'black' or 'white'. The background color determines the color imaged on film for areas that the application decides not to rasterize on. The background color is also applied to areas that are not imaged by the application due to the fit of the form on the film. Options are black and white. Default is black. Select ‘White’ for text applications like Word that expect white paper.
• Selecting Gamma Correction: Select 'Gamma Correction' in the upper window, then choose a gamma value between 0.144 and 7. Default is 0.500. • Selecting Color Balance: Select 'Red', 'Green' or 'Blue' in the upper window, then set a balance value between 25 and 400. Default is 100 for red, green and blue. • Compression selects a compression type for the BLL. Medium compression optimizes for speed, while high compression optimizes for file size.
Changing the Default Printer Settings in Windows NT The default document settings are used automatically when an application initializes the printer settings of a document, usually when a document is created and when the selected printer is changed. By setting the document defaults to the settings you normally use, you can make your life easier.
Managing BLL-Generators Open the BLL management dialog by selecting Start->WinRascol32->BLLConf and pressing Add/Manage BLL Generators. The dialog looks like this: This is the dialog: Adding a BLL-Generator • Select Add generator. The following dialog is displayed: • Select the destination film recorder type in Film recorder type. • Enter the serial number of your film recorder in the Serial number edit box. • You can modify the name of the printer driver in the edit box Driver name.
• Press OK to create the BLL driver. The BLL driver will now appear in the BLL-generator Administration dialog. Changing Destination Path Select Change Path in the BLL-generator administration dialog. A dialog will appear to allow you to change the destination path. The destination path points to the directory in which generated BLLs are placed. Deleting a BLL-Generator Select a BLL driver in the BLL-generator Administration dialog by clicking on it. Press Delete generator.
Modifying Driver Options Open the Global driver settings dialog by selecting Start->WinRascol32->BLLConf and pressing Configure Drivers. The dialog looks like this: • Disk space usage sets the amount of free disk space the driver leaves minimally before reporting Disk Full. • Enable Power Smoothing Technology: This option enables a post processing feature that attempts to correct a gradient fill problem of PowerPoint 97.
Chapter 7: Uninstalling When to use the Uninstaller The uninstaller is used to remove all components of the Windows BLL Generator from your computer. You will want to do this when • You do not intend to use Windows BLL Generator on your computer any longer. • The Windows BLL Generator installation has been corrupted. While you can reinstall Windows BLL Generator over a corrupted installation of Windows BLL Generator, this is not recommended.
How to use the Uninstaller You can uninstall the Windows BLL Generator package by selecting Uninstall in the WinRascol32 program group. Uninstall will do the following: • Remove all Windows BLL Generator printer drivers • Remove all Windows BLL Generator system drivers (NT only) • Remove all Windows BLL Generator program and data files • Remove all Windows BLL Generator related entries in the WIN.
Chapter 8: Tips and Tricks Tips and Tricks 59
This section gives tips and tricks on particular image types and applications. Specific Applications Adobe Type Manager (ATM) Windows BLL Generator is fully compatible with Adobe Type Manager (ATM) fonts, version 1.15 or newer. These fonts produce smooth text at any size and match text layout in your output with your image on screen. In ATM Control Panel, make sure the Print ATM fonts as graphics option is checked; otherwise, very large ATM text may be missing in your output.
CorelDRAW 8 CorelDRAW 8 will generate erroneous output when you choose a value higher than 256 for the number of fountain steps in the miscellaneous printer options. CorelDRAW 8 will even crash while printing gradient fills if the number is very high, like 2000. Freelance Graphics for Windows Ver 1.0 If the text and/or objects on your slides are printed with a different color than those on your screen, do the following: 1. In the Page Setup window of Freelance, click on Color Map. 2.
where your_Windows BLL Generator_printer_name is the name of the Windows BLL Generator printer as shown in the Installed Printer List of the Control Panel. For example, if you have an LFR, the lines you should add are: [LFR] NoPatternOnlySolidFill=0 ROPtype=0 StretchImage=0 If you have a Personal LFR, the lines you should add are: [Personal LFR] NoPatternOnlySolidFill=0 ROPtype=0 StretchImage=0 After you have changed the ALDUS.INI file, restart Windows.
Appendix A: Specifications Specifications are subject to change without notice. Supported PCs Supported Output Devices Any IBM PC compatible with a 486 processor or better and at least 16 MB of memory. Note that this represents the absolute minimum. You will need more memory if you intend to use Windows NT or have graphics intensive images.
Supported Operating Environment Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT 4.0 and Windows NT 5.0 Image Enhancements Color balance Gamma contrast Fonts TrueType ATM (Adobe Type Manager) ver 1.5 or later Software Selectable Resolution (Film Recorder) 4000 lines (4096 x 2730 pixels) 2000 lines (2048 x 1366 pixels) On LFR Mark III, LFR Mark III - Digital Photography Model, LFR Mark III – Digital Photography Model and LFR Mark V – Digital Photography model 8000 lines (8192 x 5461 pixels) are available.
Output Problems 65
Glossary antialiasing Assigning pixels at the edges of objects a graduated gray scale of values. This dramatically reduces the appearance of jaggies. Binary Lasergraphics Language (BLL) A proprietary print job format. bitmap A type of graphic composed of a rectangular group of colored dots. Bitmaps have jagged edges when output at high-resolution. BLL An abbreviation for Binary Lasergraphics Language. camera back A film recorder's camera. client computer A computer without a film recorder.
Lasergraphics Language A powerful graphics language that is common in the mainframe and minicomputer environments. Lasergraphics Film Calibration file A file that provides calibration data of a film type for a specific LFR model. Therefore, the LFC file of 35mm Vericolor for LFR Mark III is different from the one for LFR Mark III - Digital Photography Model. LFC file See Lasergraphics Film Calibration file. LFR Lasergraphics Film Recorder.
RISCRascol A Rascol model that offers dramatic speed increase for the Lasergraphics film recorders. For complex images, the RISCRascol is 15 times faster than the Rascol II/IV. server PC A PC connected to a film recorder . The PC can run WinRascol Network Version to share the film recorder with other network users via dropboxes. TARGA A popular bitmap file format for PCs. TIFF A popular bitmap file format for PCs.
Index Add, 53 CorelDRAW, 34, 60 24-bit color, 14 Adding, 19 Designer, 34 35mm prints, 13 Change path, 54 dropbox, 28 35mm slides, 13 Delete, 54 Excel, 34 Adobe Type Manager, 33, 60 Manage, 53 Exposure Speed, 50 Application Printing from, 22 applications draw, 33 illustration, 33 paint, 33 Arts & Letters, 34, 60 ATM, 33, 60 auto deletion, 28 Background Color, 39, 50 Bitmap, 33 Canvas, 34 Exposure Time, 39, 45 Charisma, 34 Film Client Computers printing on, 27 Color Background, 39, 50 fidel
slide LFC files, 38 PageMaker, 34 Polachrome, 37 Paper Size, 36, 43, 49 2000-line, 32 Polaroid 339, 37 Persuasion, 34, 61 4000-line, 32 Polaroid 669, 37 Photoshop, 34 8000-line, 32 Polaroid 691, 37 PhotoStyler, 34, 62 Specifications, 63 Film Types, 64 Polaroid prints, 13 text font PowerPoint, 34 bitmap, 33 Printer Driver, 27 object, 33 ATM, 33, 60 Freelance, 34, 61 Windows 95/98, 41 Uninstalling WinRascol, 57 Freelance Graphics for Windows, 61 Windows NT, 48 What’s new, 12 Gamma
