1Pbmtoppa User Manual(0)                                Pbmtoppa User Manual(0)
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NAME

6       pbmtoppa  -  convert  PBM  image to HP Printer Performance Architecture
7       (PPA)
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9

SYNOPSIS

11       pbmtoppa [pbm_file [ppa_file]]
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DESCRIPTION

15       This program is part of Netpbm(1).
16
17       pbmtoppa converts page images in PBM format to  Hewlett  Packard's  PPA
18       (Printer  Performance  Architecture)  format,  which is the data stream
19       format expected by some HP "Windows-only"  printers  including  the  HP
20       Deskjet 820C series, the HP DeskJet 720 series, and the HP DeskJet 1000
21       series.
22
23       pbm_file is the file specification of the input file or - for  Standard
24       Input.  The default is Standard Input.
25
26       The  input  file contains one or more PBM images, with each one being a
27       single page.  Each image must have the exact dimensions of a  page  (at
28       600  pixels  per  inch in both directions).  Significantly, this is the
29       format that Ghostscript produces.
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31       ppa_file is the file specification of the output file or - for Standard
32       Output.  The default is Standard Output.
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34       To print Postscript on an HP PPA printer, just use Ghostscript with the
35       pbmraw (or pbm) device driver.
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37       You can generate a test page for use with this program with pbmpage.
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39       You can also set up a printer filter so you can submit  PBM  input  di‐
40       rectly  to  your  print  queue.   See  the documentation for your print
41       spooler for information on how to do that, or look in  hp820install.doc
42       for an example lpd print filter for Postscript and text files.
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44       Sometimes,  pbmtoppa  generates a file which the printer will not print
45       (because pbmtoppa's input is  unprintable).   When  this  happens,  all
46       three  lights blink to signal the error.  This is usually because there
47       is material outside of the printer's printable area.  To make the  file
48       print,  increase  the  margins  via pbmtoppa options or a configuration
49       file.  See the section on calibration ⟨#calibration⟩  below.
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51
52   About PPA
53       The PPA printer language is a far lower level language than most.  When
54       you  use  a  PPA  printer,  most  of the processing that a conventional
55       printer does is done instead on the computer end of the wire.  In  par‐
56       ticular,  pbmtoppa  has  to do "swath cutting," and "sweep formatting,"
57       which other printers do themselves.  There is very little  intelligence
58       inside  a  PPA  printer;  pbmtoppa  generates  direct  controls for the
59       printer's hardware.
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61       The design goal of PPA was to reduce the cost of a printer by  exploit‐
62       ing  computing  resources already present in the computer that requests
63       the printing.  CPU power, ROM, and RAM requirements inside the  printer
64       are all reduced compared to a conventional printer.
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66       PPA was new in 1997.  It was preceded by Hewlett Packard's PCL (Printer
67       Control Language) language.  HP manufactured PPA printers  for  only  a
68       few years, and no one else ever did.
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OPTIONS

72       In  addition  to  the options common to all programs based on libnetpbm
73       (most notably -quiet, see
74        Common Options ⟨index.html#commonoptions⟩ ), pbmtoppa  recognizes  the
75       following command line options:
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79       -v version
80              printer version (720, 820, or 1000)
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82
83       -x xoff
84              horizontal offset adjustment in 1/600 inches.
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87       -y yoff
88              vertical offset adjustment in 1/600 inches.
89
90
91       -t topmarg
92              top margin in 1/600 inches    (default: 150 = 0.25 inch)
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95       -l leftmarg
96              left margin in 1/600 inches   (default: 150 = 0.25 inch)
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98
99       -r rightmarg
100              right margin in 1/600 inches (default: 150 = 0.25 inch)
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103       -b botmarg
104              bottom margin in 1/600 inches (default: 150 = 0.25 inch)
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107       -s paper
108              paper size: us or a4.  Default is us.
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111       -d dpi Print resolution in dots per inch.
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114       -f cfgfile
115              Read  parameters from the configuration file named cfgfile.  See
116              CONFIGURATION FILES ⟨#configfile⟩
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120       The offset adjustments you specify with -x and -y accumulate.  I.e.  if
121       you specify them multiple times, the total offset adjustment is the sum
122       of the adjustments you specify.  -x 60 -x 120 is the same as -x 180.
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124       The -v option undoes any preceding -x and -y options, leaving the hori‐
125       zontal and vertical adjustments their default values.
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CONFIGURATION FILES

130       You  can use a configuration file to specify parameters rather than use
131       invocation options.  pbmtoppa processes the file /etc/pbmtoppa.conf, if
132       it  exists, before processing any options.  It then processes each con‐
133       figuration file named by a -f option in order, applying the  parameters
134       from  the configuration file as if they were invocation options used in
135       the place of the -f option.
136
137       Configuration files have the following format:
138
139       #Comment
140       key1 value1
141       key2 value2
142       [etc.]
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144
145       Valid keys are version, xoffset, yoffset, topmargin, leftmargin, right‐
146       margin, bottommargin, papersize, or any non-null prefix of these words.
147       Valid values are the same as with the corresponding invocation  parame‐
148       ters.
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150

EXAMPLES

152       Print a test pattern:
153       pbmpage | pbmppa >/dev/lp1
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155
156       Print three pages:
157       cat page1.pbm page2.pbm page3.pbm | pbmppa >/dev/lp1
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159
160       Print the Postscript file myfile.ps:
161       gs -sDEVICE=rawpbm -q -dNOPAUSE -r600 \
162          -sOutputFile=- myfile.ps ;\
163       | pbmtoppa | lpr
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166

CALIBRATION

168       To  be  able  to print successfully and properly, you need to tell pbm‐
169       toppa an X and a Y offset appropriate for your printer to use when gen‐
170       erating the page.  You can specify these offsets with the -x and -y in‐
171       vocation options or with the xoff and yoff  parameters  in  a  pbmtoppa
172       configuration file.
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174       To determine the correct offsets, use the pbmpage program.
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176       If  while trying to do this calibration, the printer refuses to print a
177       page, but just blinks all three lights, specify large margins (e.g. 600
178       pixels -- one inch) via pbmpage invocation options while doing the cal‐
179       ibration.
180
181       For example:
182       pbmpage | pbmtoppa >/dev/lp1
183
184       or
185       pbmpage | pbmtoppa | lpr -l
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187
188       (if your printer filter recognizes the '-l' (direct output) parameter).
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190       In the test pattern, the grid is marked off in  pixel  coordinate  num‐
191       bers.  Unfortunately, these coordinates are probably cut off before the
192       edge of the paper.  You'll have to use a ruler to  estimate  the  pixel
193       coordinate  of  the  left  and  top  edges of the actual sheet of paper
194       (should be within +/- 300, may be negative; there are  600  pixels  per
195       inch).
196
197       Add these coordinates to the X and Y offsets by either editing the con‐
198       figuration file or using the -x  and -y command-line parameters.
199
200       When pbmtoppa is properly calibrated, the center mark should be in  the
201       center  of  the paper.  Also, the margins should be able to be as small
202       as 1/4 inch without causing the printer to choke with 'blinking  lights
203       syndrome'.
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205

RED HAT LINUX INSTALLATION

207       RedHat  users  may  find the following tip from Panayotis Vryonis <vry‐
208       pan@hol.gr> helpful.  The same should work for the 820 and 1000, but it
209       hasn't been tested.  Also, use the pbmraw GSDriver if you have it; it's
210       faster.
211
212       Here is a tip to integrate HP720C capability in RedHat's printtool:
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214       Install pbmtoppa. Copy pbmtoppa to /usr/bin.
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216       Edit "printerdb" (in my system it is found  in  /usr/lib/rhs/rhs-print‐
217       filters ) and append the following lines:
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219
220       ----------------------Cut here-----------------------
221
222       StartEntry: DeskJet720C
223         GSDriver: pbm
224         Description: {HP DeskJet 720C}
225         About: { \
226               This driver drives the HP DeskJet 720C \
227               inkjet printer. \
228               It cannot do color printing. \
229               IMPORTANT! Insert \
230                  "- | pbm2ppa -" \
231               in the "Extra GS Options " field.\
232             }
233
234         Resolution: {600} {600} {}
235
236       EndEntry
237       ----------------------------------------------------
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240
241       Now you can add an HP720C printer just like any other, using printtool.
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243

SEE ALSO

245       pbmpage(1), pstopnm(1), pbm(1)
246
247       This  program  was  derived  from pbm2ppa.  pbm2ppa is obsolete and has
248       been replaced by pnm2ppa, which does the same things as pbmtoppa except
249       it   also   works   with   color  and  has  lots  more  features.   See
250       http://pnm2ppa.sourceforge.nethttp://pnm2ppa.sourceforge.net⟩    for
251       more  information about the PPA protocol and the separately distributed
252       pnm2ppa program.
253
254       The file INSTALL-MORE in the pbmtoppa directory of  the  Netpbm  source
255       code  contains detailed instructions on setting up a system to use pbm‐
256       toppa to allow convenient printing on HP PPA printers.  It was  written
257       by Michael Buehlmann.
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259

AUTHOR

261       Tim Norman.  Copyright (C) 1998.  Licensed under GNU Public License
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263       Manual page by Bryan Henderson, May 2000.
264

DOCUMENT SOURCE

266       This  manual  page was generated by the Netpbm tool 'makeman' from HTML
267       source.  The master documentation is at
268
269              http://netpbm.sourceforge.net/doc/pbmtoppa.html
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271netpbm documentation              01 May 2005          Pbmtoppa User Manual(0)
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