🚀 go-pugleaf

Under Windows 2000 / XP / Server 2003, there is no such beastie as "AdobePS." The only PostScript driver is the standard Windows PSCRIPT5.DLL driver that ships as part of Windows. AdobePS 4.x is for Windows'9x/Me and AdobePS 5.x is for Windows NT 4.

The next question is whether the problem manifests itself in any other applications such as Microsoft Word or any Adobe application.

You might also try lowering the resolution value for the printer driver. There are many applications that have problems of arithmetic fixed point overflow when multiplying the resolution in dots per inch by page size in inches. If that "product" exceeds 32768 or 65535 and 16-bit variables are being used by the program, you have a (literally) big problem! If the driver is set to the default 1200 dpi and the size is 150 inches, you end up with values up to 180000, three times the size possible with 16-bit unsigned variables. At 300 dpi, the product is 60000, etc.

If for some reason you must use Notepad, try lowering the resolution. It should not cause any problems for your purpose. Otherwise, if the problem does not occur with other applications, use one of those in lieu of Notepad.

- Dov

Bah, semantics. :) I am referring to the PS driver installed by using the AdobePS 1.0.6 installer available from Adobe's web site (winsteng.exe).

As far as other applications are concerned:

* MS Word won't let you go past a certain page size (I think 22"?) even if the printer supports it, so that's a no-go.
* I can somewhat reproduce using Illustrator CS:

1. I change the paper size within the print driver using Printing Preferences. More specifically:
* Click Start > settings > printers
* right-click the Adobe PDF printer and select Printing Preferences
* click on Paper/Quality tab and click Advanced
* change the paper size to the form I made 2. I click File > Print in Illustrator CS and choose the Acrobat driver.
3. If I leave the paper size set to "Specified by driver" I notice that the greyed-out dimensions show width: 0" and height: 175.24 or something goofy like that (i.e. not the height I specified in Server Properties).
4. If I go ahead and print, the resulting PDF is 8.5 x 11, meaning that Distiller probably used the default page size specified in the job options.

* I have tried lowering the resolution to 300 dpi and it does not affect the maximum size I can successfully use.
* For grins, I have also tried increasing the PS memory value from 4096 to 16384.

I used a registry monitor, and I can predict whether or not it will work based on whether or not the Spooler service queries the following registry key:

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Print\Printers\Adobe PDF\PrinterDriverData\TrayFormSize

(or for Acrobat Distiller, replace "Adobe PDF" in that path with "Acrobat Distiller")

Nathan

Nathan,

Thanks for the quick response. I'll see whether our people within Adobe that are familiar with the driver can shed some light on the problem, although these days, Microsoft is the official guardian and maintainer of that driver.

- Dov

> Under Windows 2000 / XP / Server 2003, there is no such beastie as "AdobePS."
> The only PostScript driver is the standard Windows PSCRIPT5.DLL driver that
> ships as part of Windows.

Dov, just to make sure I (we) got it right:
When we use the Universal Installer 1.0.6, it installs AdobePS 4.x on a
Windows'9x/Me system, AdobePS 5.x on Windows NT 4, and PSCRIPT5 on Windows
2000/XP. For Windows 2000/XP, the installed PS driver itself is identical
whether you use the Adobe Universal Installer or the MS Add Printer wizard
to add a printer instance to your system.

However, the Universal Installer allows you to use any existing PPD file
during the install process, whereas the Add Printer wizard only allows
you to select a predetermined list of printers (INF files), unless you
got one on a diskette. I recall you once reffered to those MS INF files
as "crippled" versions of the more complete PPD files.

Apparently, the difference in setup files sometimes result in a different
Printer Setup dialog with different print options available. On my system,
adding a Lexmark printer using Add Printer gives a different and much
more complete dialog when printing, compared to the same Lexmark printer
added using the Universal Installer. Is this to be expected?

Are there any other technical differences in the way you install the
PSCRIPT5 dirver?


--
/Thomas Michanek, FrameMaker/UNIX/MIF expert
Technical Communicator, Uppsala, Sweden
http://go.to/framers/

Actually, you are almost right ... (8^)>

Under Windows 2000 and XP, the Adobe Universal Installer 1.0.6 installs a copy of PSCRIPT5.DLL if and only if the copy of PSCRIPT5.DLL currently installed on the system is older than that provided by the installer. Thus, if your system has a new version of PSCRIPT5.DLL due to application of a Windows Service Pack, the Adobe Universal Installer does not attempt to use its own version.

The Add Printer Wizard does not necessarily use a crippled version of a PPD. The .inf file is not a crippled PPD file. It is a configuration file that associates a printer model with a particular printer driver, PPD file, and possibly, custom driver plug-ins. Thus, when you may have installed Lexmark's software at some point, it may have modified the .inf files to reference different PPD files and/or driver plug-ins to add functionality that is not otherwise available via the Universal Installer. For example, the "Adobe PDF" or "Acrobat Distiller" printer instance are setup to use a special plug-in to provide the plumbing to interface the driver directly to the Distiller.

- Dov

> Under Windows 2000 and XP, the Adobe Universal Installer 1.0.6 installs
> a copy of PSCRIPT5.DLL if and only if the copy of PSCRIPT5.DLL currently
> installed on the system is older than that provided by the installer.

Yes, that makes sense. I actually meant something like that :-)

> The .inf file is not a crippled PPD file.

OK, maybe you were referring to Microsoft's "abbreviated" PPD files,
or something like that. Maybe things have changed; there was some sort
of difference between Adobe printer setup files and Microsoft ones.

> Thus, when you may have installed Lexmark's software at some point, it may
> have modified the .inf files to reference different PPD files and/or driver
> plug-ins to add functionality that is not otherwise available via the
> Universal Installer.

I never installed any separate Lexmark software on my computer.
I just installed the printer through the Add Printer wizard, and
the Print (Setup) dialog I get when I print using that printer
is very different from the "AdobePS" version (many more settings
and a nicer layout). Admittedly, I've never got the "AdobePS"
version to work correctly with the physical printer...

There are lots of LEX*.* files in my system32\spool\drivers\w32x86\3
directory. Maybe the INF file makes the wizard copy all of them so
that the GUI changes when you select the Lexmark printer.

Thanks,

--
/Thomas Michanek, FrameMaker/UNIX/MIF expert
Technical Communicator, Uppsala, Sweden
http://go.to/framers/

I think you pretty much sum up what is really going on.

I suspect that Lexmark was able to get Microsoft to bundle its driver plug-ins as well as its PPD with the .inf file information for its printers. And that is the source of the LEX*.* files.

Nice and simple, huh?

- Dov