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TICKET ARCHIVE -> Postscripting Over a Win2003 Network

postscripter - Oct 17, 2005 - 11:39 am

i work in a print shop, printing via postscript, using quark, indesign, pagemaker (gak), and whatever else customers come up with.

we have as a file server a pc running win2003server, and manage to pass information between it and some RIP (raster image processing) software, whose job it is to image separations on film or plate for presses. even unix machines are involved in that process.

all i need to do now is get a spaceship to do cross-country competition. i have a lexmark E232 supposedly postscript-level-3-ready and a netgear PS121 usb mini print server, and postscript layout software needs to get valid output to it -- from a PC, two macs running OS9, and one mac running OSX.

only the PC has succeeded: it was given netgear's print server setup software, and seems to communicate well enough with the printer. this includes Quark6, InDesignCS1, PageMaker7, ... so far.

the OSX does nothing. can't even connect, however i try to configure things -- have an IP address from the server for the printer and everything.

the OS9 machines scare me: they actually manage to print a postscript error, from Quark, or if i use InDesign, i'm told the lexmark is only a postscript level 1 (one) printer and therefore not supported. the error quark gets is your typical postscript gobbledygook: "%%[Error: syntaxerror; OffendingCommand: --nostringval-- ]%%" and then "%%[Flushing: rest of job (to end-of-file) will be ignored ]%%" -- which means that postscript commands have actually been processed by a postscript printer, and that something is amiss, though no manual is likely to find a description of what exactly the error means. doesn't even seem to matter what the quark document contains; it's exactly the same error every time.

i'm lost. don't know nothin' about birthin' no networks. would a pc- AND mac-compatible "mini print server" help? will exchange today if at all possible but am not hopeful. i have enough trouble fighting postscript and rasterizers, never mind conducting world peace talks between operating systems.

sorry to impose .. just grasping at straws. IT department? what's that??
yours
l.

Natobasso - Oct 17, 2005 - 12:49 pm

Howdy!

Your safest and best bet is to create PDF/X-1a files and send them over to your pc computer for printing.

You'll need to subscribe to Lexmark's printer driver site and make sure the E232 printer you have has a driver for OS X and 9:
http://www.lexmark.com/US/support/drivers/notify/

Let me know how this goes.
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*Nathaniel
Bass. Design. Junior IT.

postscripter - Oct 17, 2005 - 1:00 pm

i do indeed have a PPD (postscript printer driver) installed on all machines for the E232. i even updated beyond the one that came with the printer. no luck.

as for creating .PDFs, believe it or not, that takes forever with most of this stuff. 'portable document format' is just plain lying; i don't care what adobe says. 'poison dart frog,' more like. it's an option, but in this business, slow is not an option. besides, they're not always accurate, even if they're perfectly postscripted.

is a different postscript printer likely to be more successful? we had a lexmark optra s 1250, and though it had the occasional burp, it'd at least print something similar to the original.

the communication with the fileserver is the biggest problem, far as i can tell. i'm using a static DHCP IP, as advised, and have tried no end of other "ports." should i be bothering a different forum?

thanks very much
l.
(p.s. what's the "Bass." part of "Bass. Design. Junior IT." mean?)

Natobasso - Oct 17, 2005 - 1:10 pm

It's not PPD's you need but printer drivers, they are both necessary but both are different pieces of software that allow you to print.

There isn't a Lexmark printer driver (not PPD) listed for OS X for your E232:
http://www.lexmark.com/US/products/i.../mac_home.html


Your pdfs take forever. How are you creating your files? I know that Quark 6 makes BLOATED pdfs so that would explain your slow printing. How large are your placed graphics? In general, pdfs are great if you build them correctly.

Your best printer is going to be one that's on their printer driver list for OS X (why are you printing to OS 9?)

IP printing is also extremely slow. You need to invest in a print server (I assume you've got multiple computers printing to one printer?) in order to "serve" and RIP your print jobs faster.

Bass=bass guitar.




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*Nathaniel
Bass. Design. Junior IT.

Natobasso - Oct 17, 2005 - 1:22 pm

Also, since you're running Windows Server 2003 (it's a good, stable server platform, by the way!) you'll need to set up your OS X computer to print through it, which means you need to "Add Printer" and search for the E232 (probably won't see it but it's worth a shot ) in the "Windows Printing" choice in "Print and Fax" when you set up the printer.

What OS X are you using?
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*Nathaniel
Bass. Design. Junior IT.

postscripter - Oct 17, 2005 - 1:29 pm

printer drivers: looking. should have been on installer CD, but will see if i can find updates for OS9 and PC.

creating good .pdfs takes forever. graphics in prepress need to be 300dpi at 100%; that is, if a graphic is placed in a layout document at an enlargement of 125%, the original graphic (preferably a CMYK or grayscale .tif) would need to be 125% of 300dpi, or 375dpi. fonts need to be embedded completely (works better than a subset). computers need more memory than i have. slower by quite a few minutes than IP printing.

print server: see original message. netgear ps121 usb mini print server. definitely different computers printing to one printer; again see original message for DNA of said balky machines.

i have set up the OSX's connection to the E232 (via network) by doing as you say. it does see it. tried IP, LPR. will try "Windows Printing" next.

why OS9? people can spew all day about how well OSX works, but not in prepress. i have yet to work on a job on the OSX machine here without it crashing, losing contact with the server and reality, needing a kick from Font Finagler (beautiful little fix), or forgetting what fonts are. this includes telling me that fonts i've just installed (suitcase 11) don't exist, and showing me that others it believes exist are actually chinese. OS9 just plain prints, and postscript, to boot.

what i can't figure is how the original printer worked. appleshare, i think it was, that allowed that connection, but i can't seem to replicate the printer port (on the server).

OSX version 10.3.5. i was told never to update this particular machine (G5 in stainless steel carrot-grater box) to 10.3.6 or it'd never work again. can't find base to that warning since then.

postscript bites. bass rocks.
thanks! hope this helps someone else some day too ..
l.

Natobasso - Oct 17, 2005 - 5:55 pm

He he. Bass rocks!

It sounds like you have a lot more problems than just OS X. I always remind my clients that everything has to be sized to 100% in mechanicals so the RIPper doesn't have to work so hard, Then files are smaller and print quicker.

OS X is actually a really stable platform so I'm surprised you're having crashes. Are you sending your files from OS X to a PC RIP station? I have to admit I'm having a hard time following your posts because they are so long…

You just need a printer that OS X has drivers for, hence my suggestion in my previous post…as for your other network issues you might call a contractor to come in and assess the situation. Might be something simple like connecting to the 2003 server a little differently. There's AFP and other protocols for file sharing that can change things a lot.
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*Nathaniel
Bass. Design. Junior IT.

postscripter - Oct 20, 2005 - 11:12 am

... changed printserver to a linksys, had same problems. got an actual IT guy to come in, and his idea worked: use a lexmark non-E232 but postscript-ready driver. weird, but it works.

dunno if i'll ever understand what makes postscript or networks run. doesn't seem like they obey physics or logic.

thanks bunches nat ...
lisa
(but p.s. what's the "Design." part mean??

Natobasso - Oct 20, 2005 - 12:39 pm

Ironically my step-dad was one of the team leaders for postscript when it was created by Adobe back in the early 80's. It's a description language for fonts and printers have to translate it in order to print.

It started a printing revolution, but since there are so many printers out there now it's hard to support all of them, and some companies just don't support all printers on all platforms.

Glad the IT guy knew how to get the postscript driver to work, though I was correct in saying Lexmark doesn't have a mac driver for your printer, the IT guy must be utilizing the printer as a pc printer through the server and connecting your macs to it so you can use it.

Computers aren't logical because humans built them. They just do exactly what we tell them to do, and they get mixed messages.

Design=graphic design. Check out my site at http://www.flikworld.com/portfolio. It's in dire need of an update, however.
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*Nathaniel
Bass. Design. Junior IT.