postscript

Thanks all for important info. This is the first clear response to the postscript inkjet discussion I've found.
I'm setting up a home studio and as a graphic designer I need, well you know... the usual application-through from Quark and Illustrator.
I've read and reread the answers and am still just a teeny bit unclear. I'm on MAC OS X 10.3.9 Panther. Ghostscript comes with Panther so no need to dowload the RIP.
From the discussion it sounds like I can use a non-postscript inkjet printer hooked up to a ghostscript RIP and run it on a Printfab driver, (that would be added third party software)?
Does non-postscript mean totally unsupported. Or is there really such a thing as a "postscript supported" or a "postscript-capable" inkjet? A salesman for a $500.00 inkjet was postscript capable however the company denied it
I assume it does not mean embedded as in the Ep 7800 + 9800 or HP 800 + 4000 inkjets. As that would be a postscript printer and I would have no worries out of the box? Some lower end models say than can bundle it. Does that mean they give you a disc with third party RIP that's supports the printer? oops, did I answer my own question?
Thank you!! Deborah

Whether or not you need PrintFab drivers depends on whether or not the printer you have is included in the GIMP package and whether or not the control that the CUPS manager gives you over the printer will suffice (it does for me).

CUPS was part of Jaguar and GIMP was added to Panther. To find if your printer is supported in the base installation of Panther, plug in your printer, select the interface (usb, ip, whatever), select the maker of the printer, and look for the description in the drivers. It will say something like

"Epson Stylus Color 850,CUPS+GIMP Printv4.2.5"

If you can find your printer you have everything you need to get started.

Argh.
I have been thwarted again in my effort to output high quality Postscript.

I upgraded to Tiger* to make sure I got the most current PPD (I installed Gimp-Print v5.0.0-beta2) for my Epson Stylus Photo 1280. But I am still not getting acceptable Postscript output from Quark 6.5. I have a pretty simple test document - just an EPS logo and an address. The logo comes out bitmapped.

Sadly, my old Epson Stylus Rip isn't functioning in Tiger now; it worked inconsistently in Panther's classic mode but it won't even open in Tiger. Using this old Epson PS RIP (they aren't supporting anymore) has been my usual way to get PS output.

Do I need to go to "printfab" now for help? I am a graphic designer lost in this OSX world.


*maybe this should be posted to 10.4 discussion?

When you went to the selection of the driver did it say;

"CUPS + Ghostscript" ? If not then it will bitmap.

Ghostscript is the RIP for X. You may have selected a driver without the Ghostscript RIP.

Try deleting the printer and re select it using the old CUPS and Ghostscript that came with the Tiger install.

When you went to the selection of the driver did it
say;

"CUPS + Ghostscript" ? If not then it will bitmap.

No, it didn't. I don't see that driver as a selection; only a bunch of Gimp-Print drivers appear to have been installed.

Ghostscript is the RIP for X. You may have selected a
driver without the Ghostscript RIP.

Try deleting the printer and re select it using the
old CUPS and Ghostscript that came with the Tiger
install.

Am I missing something obvious? The "Printer Browser" within the Printer Setup Utility only gives me two options of printer drivers - Epson's own, v 1.91, or the Gimp-Print v5.0.0-beta2 I described before.

I am confused still, sorry!

I think that when you installed gimp over the standard installation you lost the ghostscript package.

You could try installing ghostscript over what you have now and hopefully it will get you back to where you were before you installed the beta.

You may have to reinstall but let's try other things first.

read this for some background

http://www.danka.de/apple-cups-en/

Many thanks.. I will tackle this a bit later today and report back.

PS do some of you smart people get paid by Apple? You should!

My payment for these services is finding out if I really helped someone and learning from others on the forum.

I make chocolates for a living and don't think that Apple has any plans to pay any of the members.

Thanks for the thoughts though.

Carl- Your earlier referral led me to this Web site.. this software worked great.

http://www.easysw.com/index.php

There's a free 21-day trial period. It worked like a charm. It isn't the prettiest interface but at least it is all in OSX.

Wow- chocolate-making and esoteric OSX postscript issues! Some combo!
Thanks!

Well,

If it works then I guess all is well. From what I can see, the stock install should have given you this ability without all the fuss.

For 10.0 to 10.5.5 printing was pretty horrible. Fortunately my 16/600 worked seemlessly in 9, Classic, and X so I got by. I had an ImageWriter that did well in 9 and Classic but in X it was more work than it was worth. In Jag, CUPS was included but you had to install GIMP and Ghostscript plus some other tidbits. In Panther Apple included the whole package and the drivers coupled with Ghostscript. I don't use Tiger but it seems incredible that the printing services would have been changed that much. I really think that it was installing the beta of GIMP that caused the issues you had. Now all is well.

I end up printing a lot of stuff for my customers so that is how I got to know some of the ropes in X and printing .

Happy printing.