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Windows BLL Generator

User Guide

Windows BLL Generator User Guide V1.10, last modification January 26, 1999

Summary of Contents for Windows BLL Generator

Page 1: ...Windows BLL Generator User Guide Windows BLL Generator User Guide V1 10 last modification January 26 1999...

Page 2: ...d Kodacolor are registered trademarks of Eastman Kodak Company All other brand names and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies While great care was taken...

Page 3: ...Brown Falah Chebbo Larry Cole David Davies Mike DeLucca Dr Stefan Demetrescu Jo Elliot Jon Elion LtCol Dr Doug Erickson David Hard Wenxin He Ron Herman Jack Hobbs Andreas H lling Thomas Hofmeister Gen...

Page 4: ...BLL Generator Features 13 Various Output Types 13 High Resolution 13 True Color 14 Easy to Use and Highly Compatible 14 Chapter 2 Express Setup 15 Installing Windows BLL Generator 16 Installing BLL Ge...

Page 5: ...m Recorder 29 Important Concepts 31 Resolution 31 Color Fidelity 32 Bitmaps and Objects 33 Graphics 33 Text 33 Which Applications Create Bitmaps or Objects 34 Chapter 6 Reference 35 Printer Settings 3...

Page 6: ...ngs in Windows NT 52 Managing BLL Generators 53 Adding a BLL Generator 53 Changing Destination Path 54 Deleting a BLL Generator 54 Modifying Driver Options 55 Chapter 7 Uninstalling 57 When to use the...

Page 7: ...8 Contents Appendix A Specifications 63 Glossary 67 Index 71...

Page 8: ...uct is used to generate platform and application independent BLL files that can be used for imaging on remote Lasergraphics film recorders Windows BLL Generator supports PCs running Windows 95 Windows...

Page 9: ...tes of disk space for Windows BLL Generator programs plus additional storage for images The amount of additional storage required depends on the type of images Simple presentation slides will take bet...

Page 10: ...or This guide assumes that you already know how to use Microsoft Windows If you are new to Windows review your Microsoft Windows User s Guide before proceeding Screen illustrations in this guide are m...

Page 11: ...ns One package supports Windows 95 98 and Windows NT 4 0 5 0 Simple installation Same installation and interface on Windows NT and Windows 95 98 Installation from hard drive or network Long filenames...

Page 12: ...d prints 6x7 cm or 4x5 film transparencies or prints negatives Slides Transparencies High Resolution With the Lasergraphics Film Recorder LFR Windows BLL Generator in combination with WinRascol or Mac...

Page 13: ...es called true color because it reproduces the full range of color visible to the human eye Easy to Use and Highly Compatible Windows BLL Generator is compatible with all Microsoft Windows 95 Windows...

Page 14: ...previous WinRascol experience can get Windows BLL Generator up and running quickly If you are new the Windows BLL Generator or don t consider yourself a seasoned computer user please take the time to...

Page 15: ...graphics com can be freely distributed If you don t have access to the Internet please ask your dealer for a copy Installing BLL Generator from the Web Site Run WinBLL exe Follow the prompts of the se...

Page 16: ...nstallation 17 Chapter 3 Software Installation This section explains how to install Windows BLL Generator on your computer The installation is performed in two steps the initial installation and runni...

Page 17: ...it from another source use the Browse button to point to it Press OK Setup now prepares the installation Press Next after reading the introductory screen Press Next after reading the readme file You...

Page 18: ...Adding a BLL generator 19 Adding a BLL Generator Start BLLConf in Start WinRascol32 Select Add Manage BLL Generators This dialog will appear Select Add generator...

Page 19: ...y file path as default You should select the network path of a WinRascol drop box if you intend to use a film recorder that is connected to your network Contact your network administrator for details...

Page 20: ...ng your first Image 21 Chapter 4 Printing your first image This guided tour will show you how to print from an application You must have completed the software installation successfully to follow this...

Page 21: ...Microsoft Wordpad Wordpad is included in both Windows 95 98 and Windows NT But you can use any other Windows application instead Start Microsoft Wordpad You will find it in Start Programs Accessories...

Page 22: ...Printing your first Image 23 Now open the Wordpad print dialog by selecting Print from the File menu Select the BLL Generator in the Name field Note You should never check the Print to file check box...

Page 23: ...is the Windows 95 film recorder settings dialog The Windows NT dialog is shown in Printer settings in Windows NT on page 48 Select the film type you intend to use in Film Type Select Standard Slide as...

Page 24: ...Printing your first Image 25 Now press OK in the Print dialog A BLL will be created in the directory you designated at installation time...

Page 25: ...g Windows Explorer to locate the file in the directory you designated during installation and double clicking on it The BLL Viewer will show you the rastered file Note that the printer driver has auto...

Page 26: ...used when you invoke the Print command from within a Windows application Due to architectural differences between Windows 95 98 and Windows NT there need to be separate printer drivers for each type o...

Page 27: ...at are serviced automatically by a PC with WinRascol If dropbox directories are not accessible BLL and other image files can be copied to a disk and later added to WinRascol on the PC with a film reco...

Page 28: ...ndows applications on a PC without film recorder is a simple four step process Select a BLL generator Driver as the output device for the Windows application on the PC Create the images with the appli...

Page 29: ...30 Principle of Operation Here is a diagram showing how this works NOTE The dropbox directory can be located on a network server or on the server PC...

Page 30: ...l definition of resolution is the total number of dots or pixels in the image The following table compares the image resolution of several graphics output devices Device Dots Image Resolution approx D...

Page 31: ...ct ratio that enables the film recorder to output at higher vertical resolution like 4096x3362 This is still called 4000 line resolution Color Fidelity Color fidelity refers to the range of colors tha...

Page 32: ...itmap but objects get sharper You can usually tell bitmaps from objects by watching how the image is created when it is first displayed on the screen Bitmaps are usually drawn on the screen from top t...

Page 33: ...PhotoStyler TM Microsoft Paint ZSoft Corp Publisher s Paintbrush Objects Aldus PageMaker Aldus Persuasion Computer Support Corp Arts Letters CorelDRAW Harvard Draw Harvard Graphics Lotus Freelance Gr...

Page 34: ...is section explains these options in detail Later sections will explain where these options apply and how to access them Resolution Resolution controls the number of dots in the image according to the...

Page 35: ...basis Approximate imaging time is the time it minimally takes to image a slide in real life Orientation and Paper Size Orientation specifies whether the output should be in Landscape or Portrait mode...

Page 36: ...as Ektachrome 100 Fujichrome 100 or Agfachrome 100 All film recorders except the Digital Photography Models Use Polachrome with 35mm camera back Polachrome instant 35mm slide film You process the slid...

Page 37: ...PLUS LFR X and the Digital Photography Models Use Ektachrome 100 120 220 with 120 or 220 camera back Ektachrome 100 film LFR Mark II and LFR Mark III standard film recorders only LFC based Film Types...

Page 38: ...he range of valid scaling values is 20 to 400 Minimum Exposure Time This setting applies mostly to very old film recorders that have no internal slice mark control mechanisms Minimum Exposure Time con...

Page 39: ...hout affecting the highlights As the gamma contrast value decreases output midtones become darker As the gamma contrast value increases output midtones become lighter The graph under the scroll bar fo...

Page 40: ...the Print command in the application s File menu will do the trick Printer settings in Windows 95 98 The printer driver allows changing a number of print settings Most of these settings don t need to...

Page 41: ...8k Extra fine resolution up to 8192 x 6719 pixels 16k Ultra fine resolution up to 16384 x 13438 pixels Note that the higher the resolution the longer it will take to print the image on the film record...

Page 42: ...nerally get best results with the default Standard Slide You can also select a user defined paper size NOTE Make sure to match the paper size and orientation settings of the printer driver with those...

Page 43: ...a correction Color Balance controls the brightness of the three color channels Gamma Correction controls the gamma correction It is used to brighten or darken mid tones of an image without changing th...

Page 44: ...high compression optimizes for file size Use high compression when you want to send BLLs to a service provider using removable media or the Internet Scale scales your image The range is 25 to 400 Note...

Page 45: ...his color is used in cases where the application does not specify a background color and when the aspect ratio of the paper selected in the application doesn t match the aspect ratio of the film The o...

Page 46: ...reated and when the selected printer is changed By setting the document defaults to the settings you normally use you can simplify using the printer driver You can find the default document settings b...

Page 47: ...ation but generally the Print command in the application s File menu will do the trick The printer driver allows changing a number of print settings Most of these settings don t need to be changed in...

Page 48: ...n choose Portrait or Landscape in the lower window The driver will rotate the rasterized image to fit the form on the film using as much film as possible Default is Portrait Selecting Copy Count Selec...

Page 49: ...areas that are not imaged by the application due to the fit of the form on the film Options are black and white Default is black Select White for text applications like Word that expect white paper S...

Page 50: ...r window then set a balance value between 25 and 400 Default is 100 for red green and blue Compression selects a compression type for the BLL Medium compression optimizes for speed while high compress...

Page 51: ...anged By setting the document defaults to the settings you normally use you can make your life easier You can find the default document settings by Selecting Start Settings Printers right clicking on...

Page 52: ...rder type in Film recorder type Enter the serial number of your film recorder in the Serial number edit box You can modify the name of the printer driver in the edit box Driver name Windows BLL Genera...

Page 53: ...ge Path in the BLL generator administration dialog A dialog will appear to allow you to change the destination path The destination path points to the directory in which generated BLLs are placed Dele...

Page 54: ...f PowerPoint 97 Gradient fills printed from PowerPoint 97 have very coarse steps and exhibit visible banding on high quality film recorders This option interpolates between bands to ease the effect En...

Page 55: ...longer The Windows BLL Generator installation has been corrupted While you can reinstall Windows BLL Generator over a corrupted installation of Windows BLL Generator this is not recommended You do not...

Page 56: ...vers Remove all Windows BLL Generator system drivers NT only Remove all Windows BLL Generator program and data files Remove all Windows BLL Generator related entries in the WIN INI Remove all Windows...

Page 57: ...Tips and Tricks 59 Chapter 8 Tips and Tricks...

Page 58: ...ent be sure that the color selected as the Paper Color in CorelDRAW s Page Setup window matches with the Background Color in Windows BLL Generator Driver s setup window For example when printing to th...

Page 59: ...ith Windows BLL Generator This problem is fixed in Freelance Graphics for Windows ver 2 0 Freelance Graphics 97 Freelance Graphics 97 has a bug that makes it preview and print in black and white to tr...

Page 60: ...ersuasion to ignore these lines with no warning PhotoStyler You must check the Halftone by Printer box in PhotoStyler s Page Setup window Otherwise PhotoStyler will limit the bitmaps to 16 colors when...

Page 61: ...olute minimum You will need more memory if you intend to use Windows NT or have graphics intensive images Supported Output Devices All film recorders in the Lasergraphics LFR family are supported Pers...

Page 62: ...el 8000 lines 8192 x 5461 pixels are available On the LFR Mark VI Digital Photography Model 16000 lines are available Film Types Ektachrome 100 color slides Kodacolor 100 color prints Other ISO 100 fi...

Page 63: ...Output Problems 65...

Page 64: ...shades between light and dark Black and white is high contrast whereas two similar shades of gray is low contrast crop To trim an image prior to output DPI Dots per inch Commonly used to specify prin...

Page 65: ...to landscape printer driver Software that knows how to communicate with a printer device queue A directory on your hard disk for storing temporary Windows BLL Generator print job files Rascol Refers t...

Page 66: ...For complex images the RISCRascol is 15 times faster than the Rascol II IV server PC A PC connected to a film recorder The PC can run WinRascol Network Version to share the film recorder with other ne...

Page 67: ...g 19 Change path 54 Delete 54 Manage 53 Canvas 34 Charisma 34 Client Computers printing on 27 Color Background 39 50 fidelity 32 true color 14 Color Balance 39 44 51 Contrast Gamma 40 44 Copy count 49...

Page 68: ...34 PhotoStyler 34 62 Polaroid prints 13 PowerPoint 34 Printer Driver 27 Windows 95 98 41 Windows NT 48 Printing From application 22 Reference 35 Resolution 35 42 49 defined 31 image resolution 13 Scal...

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