Very Computer

Hi,

I've been trying out WordPerfect 7 for Linux recently, and mostly it's
working well.  I've just got one lingering problem:  Under certain
circumstances, its PostScript output causes Ghostscript (version 5.10) to
crash.

Specifically, I've installed a number of PostScript Type 1 fonts, setting
them up as both "graphics" and "printer" fonts because if I do them only
as "graphics" fonts, they print at only 300 dpi; and if I do them only as
"printer" fonts I don't get the right font displayed on-screen.  (If
somebody knows of a more elegant way to do this, I'd love to hear it,
too.)  Anyhow, I can print fine like this if I don't have many fonts on a
page -- but as soon as I pass some threshold, which seems to vary a bit,
but is in the 3-8 fonts range, Ghostscript crashes rather than print the
file.  Although 3-8 fonts sounds like a lot, it can be exceeded on a page
that uses attributes like bold and italic with even just one or two font
families.  Here's some of what gets printed when this happens:

Error: /typecheck in --restore--
Operand stack:
  --nostringval--  5319.77  10928.0  0  13200  10200  --nostringval--
Execution stack:
  $interp_exit  .runexec2  --nostringval--
Dictionary stack:
  --dict:777/809--  --dict:0/20--  --dict:59/200--  --dict:279/300--
Current allocation mode is local
Current file position is 213956

I've noticed that the neccolor.prs WordPerfect printer driver (for the
NEC Color PostScript printer; I chose this for use with my Epson Stylus
Color 400 via Ghostscript) seems to have a lower threshold for the number
of fonts before it starts to crash than does the aplw2nt.prs driver (for
the Apple LaserWriter II NT, which I chose for use with my Brother HL-660
laser printer via Ghostscript).  If somebody has a suggestion for a driver
to try that might even just up the limit on number of fonts before a
crash, that would be helpful.  I may try a few, but there are A LOT of
WordPerfect PostScript drivers, and setting them up with all my fonts
takes a few minutes, so I can't just try them all.

If I select the "graphics" versions of the fonts rather than the "printer"
versions (both get listed in the fonts dialogs), I can print pages with
lots of fonts with no problem, but the output isn't as good (WordPerfect
seems to be rasterizing the fonts itself, at 300 dpi, rather than letting
Ghostscript do the rasterization at the resolution limit of the device).

I can print fine with lots of fonts using Applix Words, so I know this
isn't a problem ONLY with Ghostscript.  OTOH, I've got Applix configured
so that it doesn't embed the Type 1 fonts in the PostScript output;
instead, I've got the fonts listed in the Ghostscript Fontmap file.  If
this is the key, I'd love to know how to do the same with WordPerfect, but
at the moment I haven't any clues on this one.

So:  Any ideas about what's going on, or how to fix it?

--
Rod Smith                                 Author of:

http://www.users.fast.net/~rodsmith       "OS/2 Soundcard Summary"
NOTE: Remove the digit and following word from my address to mail me

In short, go into the printer font configuration
(File/Print/Select/[Create/Edit]/Setup/[Cartridges/Fonts]). Select "Soft
Fonts" for the Font Source and "WPFI Type 1 (Soft Fonts)" for Font Groups.
For all the fonts that you have installed with Ghostscript, select them and
check the box marked "* Present When Printer Initialized". (You may need to
up the amount of memory that WP thinks your printer has in order to do this).
With any luck this will convince WP to not attempt to download the fonts to
the printer since they're already installed with Ghostscript, and this should
hopefully avoid overwhelming and crashing Ghostscript.

Also, try the generic Passthru Postscript driver instead of a
printer-specific one.

[Posted and mailed]

Quote:> In short, go into the printer font configuration
> (File/Print/Select/[Create/Edit]/Setup/[Cartridges/Fonts]). Select "Soft
> Fonts" for the Font Source and "WPFI Type 1 (Soft Fonts)" for Font Groups.
> For all the fonts that you have installed with Ghostscript, select them and
> check the box marked "* Present When Printer Initialized". (You may need to
> up the amount of memory that WP thinks your printer has in order to do this).
> With any luck this will convince WP to not attempt to download the fonts to
> the printer since they're already installed with Ghostscript, and this should
> hopefully avoid overwhelming and crashing Ghostscript.

1) Use a 600 dpi PostScript printer driver.  (I've selected the Apple
   LaserWriter Pro 630 for monochrome, and the QMS Magicolor Laser Printer
   does the trick for color.)  This gets WordPerfect to use 600 dpi
   bitmaps for the fonts.  I'd still prefer that Ghostscript do the
   rasterization, simply because that's more flexible (particularly for my
   720 dpi Epson Stylus Color), but this is an acceptable hack for me.  I
   just wish I didn't have to try so many drivers before finding these
   two.
2) Increase the amount of memory WordPerfect thinks is in the printer.
   This can be done in the same dialog you refer to (and you allude to
   doing precisely the same thing).  I've maxed these values out at 65535,
   and this lets files with even dozens of "soft fonts" to print
   correctly.

Quote:> Also, try the generic Passthru Postscript driver instead of a
> printer-specific one.

--
Rod Smith                                 Author of:

http://www.users.fast.net/~rodsmith       "OS/2 Soundcard Summary"
NOTE: Remove the digit and following word from my address to mail me