Drobe :: The archives
About Drobe | Contact | RSS | Twitter | Tech docs | Downloads | BBC Micro

RISC OS printing systems advance

By Chris Williams. Published: 5th Feb 2004, 02:10:55 | Permalink | Printable

Gimp-Print first release, new Printers+ out

RISC OS printing motifThis past week or so has seen the following two developments in the printing quarter of RISC OS - an area of our market which up until recently has been partially neglected.

Gimp-Print logoGimp-Print first release
MW-Software's Gimp-Print project has reached another milestone with the online availability of the first version of the project's printing software. Users who have donated cash to the project can enjoy this first release although anyone can download the source code to the GPDriver, which is derived from the GPLed gimp-print library.

The GPDriver, of course, isn't much use to you unless you have the rest of the front end software, of which there "may be a public release... at a later date", according to MW Software. Last month, MW Software asked users to donate cash to the project, which uses the popular open source gimp-print library to enable printing on a range of modern printers.

Gimp-Print for RISC OS downloads


Printers+ 1.91a released
The open source Printers+ software, released mid-2003 by RISCOS Ltd. and maintained by Dave Marston, has reached version 1.91a. According to Dave: "The Printers+ 1.91a release fixes a number of bugs in the 1.91 release, and extends the support for external printer configuration applications allowing a greater level of integration." Prebuilt and source distributions are available under the Mozilla License. Bug reports, suggestions and source patches are welcome.

Printers+ home page on sourceforge.net


Previous: Inaugural Qercus issue delayed
Next: Why so quiet?

Discussion

Viewing threaded comments | View comments unthreaded, listed by date | Skip to the end

I think the word "revolution" rather than advance would be more appropriate. Would Martin like to write us a web browser next ;-)

is a RISC OS Usermarkee174 on 5/2/04 9:06AM
[ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

To Markee174:

He doesn't have time as I've asked him to take over the MD Omega...

Geoff P

is a RISC OS UserGeoffP on 5/2/04 9:49AM
[ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

markee: see netsurf.sf.net for a web browser being written for RO.

is a RISC OS Userjohn on 5/2/04 10:23AM
[ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

Now if we can get Firebird, OpenOffice, Realplayer,Java and Flash ported we might not have so many RISC OS leaving the building. ;-)

is a RISC OS Userquatermass on 5/2/04 5:07PM
[ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

They'd work so nicely on a 200Mhz ARM with slow RAM and disk. Oh yes.

is a RISC OS Userimj on 5/2/04 5:10PM
[ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

I see your smiley, but there's nowhere to port Realplayer from (or flash AFAIK) we'd be better off if people used Ogg Vorbis for streaming and didn't bother with the abomination that is flash (at least on the web). However if anoyne wants to (finish) porting [link] to RISC OS no-one would complain. :)

is a RISC OS Userjohn on 5/2/04 5:24PM
[ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

Like I've said many times before in the newsgroups, RealPlayer could be ported if someone was prepared to put in the time and effort. Flash is a different kettle of fish, but the fileformat info is freely available, so again if someone could be bothered.

is a RISC OS Useraardvark on 5/2/04 8:46PM
[ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

GimpPrint aka GemPrint is even *better* that Martin thought - and knowing Martins applications quality that's a real surprise:

I have an Canon i550 which is *not* supported by Gimp-Print and thus due to Marin having ported and adapted Gimp-Print to RISC OS printers it supports the same list of printers as the original piece of software.

But using the S800 driver of Gimp Print for RISC OS I got stunning results, that is with 600 dpi the same rendering quality as I get with the original Windows driver and better than 1440 dpi with the Windows driver (due to the amount of data in that high resolution the printer has to pause thus the beginning of ink being dryer results in horizontal stripes).

WOW!

is a RISC OS Userhzn on 5/2/04 9:24PM
[ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

I went out to get some ink cartridges for my HP DJ400 and came back with (first checking the Gimp-Print drivers) an Epson Stylus C63 as it was roughly the same price. Selected the appropriate driver and printed with no problems. Haven't tried all the available settings yet, but I can still say that supporting Martin's Gimp-Print project was a good thing.

is a RISC OS Usergazza_fp on 6/2/04 5:13AM
[ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

aardvark> you can only expect things to appear on RO if they already exist on linux, especially if they are simpler ports. I didn't think you could get realplayer codecs (and it was all patented or similar?)

is a RISC OS Userjohn on 6/2/04 12:18PM
[ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

john: According to this page:

https://www.helixcommunity.org/realcodecs/

You can licence the RealAudio/RealVideo codecs for commercial or research & development use. Commercial costs money, but R&D (e.g. porting the decoders to another platform) is free. There are also projects under way (linked to from that page) to port the codecs to ARM7, 9, StrongARM, and XScale, running various OS's (including ARM Linux).

is a RISC OS UserPhlamethrower on 6/2/04 2:02PM
[ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

Gem-Print seems to work dandy fine here on an Epson C84 via USB on an Iyonix. Very pleased well worth the donation!

is a RISC OS Userblahsnr on 6/2/04 8:33PM
[ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

Oh I had a look at the above site. So if someone ports RealAudio/Video they only have to pay 25 USA cents per copy? Hardly a lot is it? So do we need aonther similar donation project like Gimp-print to get the ball rolling?

is a RISC OS Userquatermass on 6/2/04 9:52PM
[ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

phlamethrower: not bad, but I don't want to sign permenent NDAs just for porting something. As for flash if the specs are available there must be a GPL linux one surely?

is a RISC OS Userjohn on 6/2/04 10:20PM
[ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

Apparently not. Damn those lazy linux people, hurry up so we can nick your work

is a RISC OS Usermavhc on 6/2/04 11:41PM
[ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

s/nick/use it in the way intended/ assuming it's GPL or similar.

is a RISC OS Userjohn on 7/2/04 10:27AM
[ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

I think since there's a free Flash player provided by Macromedia for Linux, there's not much incentive there for anyone to develop one (other than the Flash 3 one which already existed, and we already have a port of).

is a RISC OS Useraardvark on 8/2/04 2:52PM
[ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

A bit of a shame, really - you'd think that some group out there would object to a pre-compiled binary and do it themselves.

LINUX PEOPLE ARE RUBBISH, obviously.

is a RISC OS Usermoss on 8/2/04 3:14PM
[ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

aardvark> free as in beer, not freedom though, the incentive will surely be strong on principle plus I expect the precompiled one only works on x86 linux machines. moss> I assume you missed a smiley off your last sentence.

is a RISC OS Userjohn on 8/2/04 3:23PM
[ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

Nope. A smiley would have ruined the joke; the capitals and the "obviously" indicated it enough.

Erm, ;).

is a RISC OS Usermoss on 8/2/04 3:42PM
[ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

Having had a BJC7100 was awful with the GP project. Have posted comments to the group. Went out and bought an Epson C84 Photo. Using the C84 driver though I think this is the non photo driver as the 5760 dpi or DURABrite isnt listed in any options. However the results I got are pretty good. Just hard to know what seetings/media/DPI settings etc to use. But Im glad a paid my contribution. Thanks for your hard work Martin Just waiting for the RiscOS Printing email to arrive with everybodys comments and tips !

is a RISC OS UserFuzzie on 8/2/04 9:49PM
[ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

Just another post ! But playing with Gamma setting made a difference to the image quality. But its fast and I printed off a page I was viewing on Oregano2.360 dpi, plain paper was exactly like it was on the screen. Thats the first time Ive ever had any success with printing and Oregano.

is a RISC OS UserFuzzie on 9/2/04 12:08AM
[ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

Fuzzie, The gamma setting (as mentioned in the Gem-Print manual) makes a really big difference with the C84.

After a couple of smaller test prints I printed a evening scene at 1440x720dpi. Very dark sections that just looked black on the screen are rendered with detail (a brick paved street for instance), which was a great surprise! The C84 isn't even an expensive printer.

I bought a good digital camera last year (Olympus C-730) which works great with the Iyonix USB, now that Gem-Print is a reality and it works fine on the Iyonix I doubt I will ever use film again!

Wonderful to be able to do all of this with RISC OS!

is a RISC OS Userblahsnr on 9/2/04 12:17PM
[ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

I had to really push up the gamma setting. I have the C84 Photo Printer is the C84 driver for that printer or ordinary C84. Im pleased with the results so far even on plain paper at 360 dpi. Takes time to get used to all the settings. Yes a cheap printer with my discount at John Lewis was only about £78 but great progress isnt it !!!!!

is a RISC OS UserFuzzie on 9/2/04 12:23PM
[ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

how do you get a copy? Are they only for beta testers or can anybody who made a donation get a copy?

is a RISC OS Userpmcd on 9/2/04 11:29PM
[ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

'how do you get a copy' I donated and I have a great print set up at last ;-) Do you need any more hints? Using a Epson ST 460 with great results.

is a RISC OS UserMart on 10/2/04 12:02AM
[ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

I did make a donation! but do u get emailed a password to access the site or what?

is a RISC OS Userpmcd on 10/2/04 12:33AM
[ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

pmcd - Martin sends you an email with the URL, username and password.

is a RISC OS Usergazza_fp on 10/2/04 3:21AM
[ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

In reply to Fuzzie:

AFAICT the only dfifference between the ordinary Epson C84 and the Photo Edition is that the latter incorporates a memory card reader. The specification on Epson's website does not list any other differences, so I would expect the same gimp-print driver to be used interchangeably with either.

Pity the Epson R300 isn't yet supported. The card reader on that one will handle the xD format memory cards (which my camera uses), unlike the C84.

is a RISC OS Usermrtd on 10/2/04 8:52AM
[ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

mrtd There is a xD->CF card adaptor from Olympus so in theory you only need CF supported. Don't know how well this works but it might be worthwhile investigating.

The Photo Edition printers were all a lot more expensive than the C84 and as I have no need for printing direct from the card it didn't seem worth paying the extra.

is a RISC OS Userblahsnr on 10/2/04 9:49AM
[ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

Please login before posting a comment. Use the form on the right to do so or create a free account.

Search the archives

Today's featured article

  • Prototype affordable Braille display in development
    A low-cost computer-controlled Braille board has been prototyped by a RISC OS-using university student. Undergraduate Edward Rogers hopes to sell his completed units for as little as 200 quid each to schools and families to allow more blind children to continue learning Braille. And he said he wanted to launch his venture using RISC OS-powered kit before offering a package for other platforms.
     10 comments, latest by epokh on 27/6/09 12:49PM. Published: 22 Nov 2008

    • Random article

  • RISC OS Ltd. in search of a new software engineer

     Discuss this. Published: 11 Jan 2001

    • Useful links

    News and media:
    Iconbar • MyRISCOS • ArcSite • RISCOScode • ANS • C.S.A.Announce • Archive • Qercus • RiscWorld • Drag'n'Drop • GAG-News

    Top developers:
    RISCOS Ltd • RISC OS Open • MW Software • R-Comp • Advantage Six • VirtualAcorn

    Dealers:
    CJE Micros • APDL • Castle • a4 • X-Ample • Liquid Silicon • Webmonster

    Usergroups:
    WROCC • RONE • NKACC • IRUG • SASAUG • ROUGOL • RONWUG • MUG • WAUG • GAG • RISCOS.be

    Useful:
    RISCOS.org.uk • RISCOS.org • RISCOS.info • Filebase • Chris Why's Acorn/RISC OS collection • NetSurf

    Non-RISC OS:
    The Register • The Inquirer • Apple Insider • BBC News • Sky News • Google News • xkcd • diodesign

    © 1999-2009 The Drobe Team. Some rights reserved, click here for more information
    Powered by MiniDrobeCMS, based on J4U | Statistics
    "'Only the truly memorable stunts are worth a write up'. So, what sort of memorable 'stunt' might be worth a write up?"
    Page generated in 0.0735 seconds.