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web page last updated Sunday 27th March 2003 930pm
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At the moment all work is on -sDEVICE=turboprint which
is undergoing "modernisation" work. This modernisation involves splitting
it up into multiple devices.
tp24, tp16, tp8, tp8g, tp1 this is the modern GS8 method
used eg by -sDEVICE=png. The original approach with
just one device to cover all methods simply will not function with GS8.
It was adequate for GNU GS's but not for this AFPL GS.
The flagship turboprint subdevices: tp24, tp8g,
and tp1 are all now correctly functioning without any
known problems. tp24 is 24 bit rgb print method,
tp8g is 8 bit gray (256 shades of gray) and
tp1 is 1 bit b/w. Colours are coming out correctly +
no known crashes or shell problems. For FinalWriter PS documents you
have to use the noixemul version. For some reason the ixemul version
will crash on FinalWriter docs! Currently the noixemul + ixemul
use identical source code, the only difference is that ixemul uses
a whole collection of run time libraries, whereas noixemul
uses compile time libraries. So there could be a bug in ixemul.library.
The remaining turboprint sub-devices are a bit pointless, eg
tester DarkAngel tells me he does all his printing at 1200x1200dpi
in turboprint 24 bit rgb without any probs.
So using a non-standard 16 bit 5 + 6 + 5 bits per
component print method seems pointless. There is no memory overhead
problem either as GS8 subdivides the page into sub pages according to
memory availability and renders 1 sub page at a time.
It does this sort of thing much faster + more efficiently than gs510 I am told.
That is an unoptimised no FPU 68020 recompile of GS8 turboprint is
way way faster than the official GS510. And so it should be.
The 16 bit print method has been tested and is functioning correctly
but I dont want to waste too much precious time on it.
As a result of debugging -sDEVICE=turboprint I now have
a much deeper understanding of how GS8 and turboprint function,
:I now know how to create my own fully fledged device! I have begun this
-sDEVICE=whoosh which has an inbuilt fast viewer option
and will print via AmigaOS printer or Turboprint. 3 methods are available:
1 bit b/w, 256 shades of gray and 24 bit rgb. The viewer part now
will view in all 3 methods: 24 bit rgb done via HAM8 viewer, fully functioning
already. I will do the cybergraphics 24 bit viewer next. The Turboprint
part will print 24 bit rgb (still being tested by turboprint testers).
-sDEVICE=whoosh will currently print asynchronously eg
via Turboprint or AmigaOS: Turboprint printing and GS8 rendering happening in
parallel via asynchronous double buffering. You can also halt it via
control-C at one lines notice! :already tested for AmigaOS, being
tested for Turboprint. It will also view + print
in parallel, (without needing to multitask!). This device needs a lot
of fine tuning but it has the potential to be very efficient + flexible.
It will also cope with arbitrarily sized bitmaps provided you have
enough ram to fit 2 lines. (1 for each double buffer).
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eg it already more or less supercedes the following list of devices,
-sDEVICE=amiga, amiga_printer, amiga_custom it also
is done in the correct modern GS8 method. :I only learnt how to do this
from debugging turboprint.
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-sDEVICE=amiga_ilbm was rendered obsolete by
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-sDEVICE=jpeg coupled with jpeg_to_iff
available from this website enabling you to create eg HAM8
pseudo 24 bit IFF's from ps docs.
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I am interested to extend -sDEVICE=whoosh to communicate
with Print Studio, however I have zero info on Print Studio API at the
moment.