Conference 7.286::atarist

    	Update:  Pagestream V 1.5 Update disk
    
    The update disk arrived last week.  Virtually all the bugs have
    been fixed. The on-screen display is easier to read than Pub. Part.
    displays. The program to import Pub. Part. files works.  Most
    everything seems to work.  They still don't have a driver for my
    Toshiba (and there's none in the CIS  Softlogik file area, either
    - the Toshiba driver there is for Pub. Part.).   I'm glad I had
    the patience to wait this out.  Now everyone else can join the fun.
     - Chris

    	The DeskJet (what DeskJet, he says with vague rememberences)
    will work with various degrees of fidelity, with any of the HP laser
    drivers, and Pagestream has one or two. I seem to remember using
    one about a year ago on a DeskJet for a graphics output from Pub.
    Part.   The file was titled HPD.PRT or HPF.PRT, one for 150 dpi
    and the other for 300 dpi.  The Pagestream manual mentions that
    both the Toshiba 321 and DeskJet will be supported with drivers.
    They'll probably appear on CIS.  They weren't on the V 1.5 update
    disk.  - Chris

    Chris,
    
    	How much is Pagestream 1.5 to buy in the US ? It has just started
    to appear over here (U.K.) for 171 pounds times 1.78 ish dollars!!.
    
    Regards
    
    Pat K.

    Just got Pagestream in this week. Looks good so far. Two things...
    
    Deskart interferes with Pagestream and the print menu includes a
    bit density function from 1 to 7. One is comparable to a draft mode
    and seven takes all day to print a single page but it prints very
    cleanly. Bet results on a Lq500 is 3 or 4.
    
    I will write more about this package as soon as I get acquainted
    with it.

         For three days now, since Thursday the 13th, I've been trying to
     get in touch with Soft Logic. Their phone line is always busy. As far
     as I'm concerned no answer means no support.
         
         Anyway I found some bugs in PageStream 1.51.
         
         1.     Intermittantly the print function drops to desktop while
     printing thumbnails. Additionally although the books says that up to
     sixteen thumbnails can be printed per page it doesn't tell you _how_ to
     get 16 thumbnails per page. I presume you reduce the copy size but
     don't know for sure.
         
         2.     Adding a nonstandard column hoses the font & size for
     importing text. Pagestream.inf may have something to do with this but
     I was too afraid that I'd hose my forty + page document to delete
     pagestream.inf. Neither is the question answered in the book.
         
         3. Inserting a page 0, for a table of contents, disables the
     usage of the "go to page" icon in the tool box. It returns you to a
     master page.
         
         4.     Inserting a page deletes the master page information for
     that page, ie, right of left pages inserted deletes that pages master
     page info.
         
         5.     Tags are NOT clear. When you go to a tag after forming a
     document it wants to change all document information OR none of it.
     The book is not clear how the "normal" switch effects tags.
         
         6.     Manual kerning, even with macros, is too damn slow. Why
     isn't there a kerning that uses highlighted text? Not in this
     package??
         
         7.     The escape code listed for macros is wrong. It should be a
     regular slash, NOT a backslash.

    Thanx Dave,
    
    I'll try to contact them through Genie when I remember to. B^)
    
    I deleted pagestream.inf, started a new document, and saved some
    generic settings.
    
    I still haven't figured out how to store and recall a tag. Only
    on one occasion have I seen a saved tag available for recall.
    
    We will probably upgrade when we get in contact with them.
    
    I also noticed that portrait mode seems to skew the document just
    a few degrees to the right. Maybe that's a problem with the lq500.

    Well I am using V1.52 and just used tags for the first time with
    no problems.  You have to select the text block (forgive me if I
    use DECwrite terminology) before you create a tag if you want that
    tag to associate only with a particular text block.  In V1.52 this
    seems to work just fine.
    
    Where did you get 1.51 anyway, I was only aware of 1.0, 1.5 and
    1.52?
    
    I did get in touch with Jack and he said you have to contact technical
    support for answers which isn't much help.
    
    						-Dave

    reply to .9,
    
    Tried calling Soft Logick this week. They seem to have sent their
    employees home for the week.

    	I've recieved version 1.8.  While I have not tried all of the
    things mentioned earlier in this note, all of the things that were on
    my problems list have been taken care of. V 1.8 seems to be solid. I
    can now recommend Pagestream to anyone who wants a good DTP program.
    	- Chris

Solid eh?

Try this:

- Draw a half-circle using the arc primitive.  Using a line to close it
off.  Make it look like	the letter "D".

- Group the two objects.

- Rotate it 180 degrees.

- Now use the handle to resize it.

* poof *, it forgot the rotation.

This is only the first of several problems I've had since I started
using PageStream 1.8, about a week ago.  I've also had it hang once, and
do weird (but not fatal) things a couple of times.

    	I think that you can make most any program do weird things if
    you try hard enough. I'm just using it for doing actual things that
    I expect others to see/read. It works fine for all I've tried. I guess
    that I just use software, not beat on it...;-)   - Chris

    Reply to .12, Jeff,
    
    I did that with v. 1.51. Drew part of a circle, an arc. Closed it up
    with a straight line. I grouped and rotated it. The first time it
    didn't appear to rotate. Then I rotated it more. It does rotate. You
    just have to use a sufficient rotation to notice the change.
    
    Now I'm not sure which drawing tool I used. I used the two that look
    like pie pieces. The one on the left worked and I didn't have time to
    check the one on the left. I don't know the difference between the two
    anyway. I don't use them.
    
    What aggrivates me is that sometimes the page size is too large for the
    physical page size. In printing I can print only four pages before it
    moves the bottom too much to use. The LQ-500 seems fine with other WPs.
    
    And the overstrike (insert key) function plays hell with everything.
    That's a real mess, nothing sizes right, random justification and it
    seems to uncondtionally use larger fonts with centered text.
    

I always start with a shape that looks like "D" and rotate by 180
degrees, which always generates a mirror image of a "D".  (Its actually
also inverted top/bottom, ut it's symmetrical that way, so you don't
notice.)

It rotates just fine, but you have to also change it's size
before the bug occurs.  When you grap the lower left handle and enlarge
it, the image snaps back to it's original rotation.  If you rotate by
something other than 180 degrees, it might do something diffrent.

    Hi,
    
    Does anyone know of a source for PageStream printer drivers - namely HP
    Deskjet II and 9 pin epson compatible??
    
    Thanks in advance....
    
    Dave