Selecting this menu item pops up a window that allows you to set various printer options, like the printer to which you want to print, the kind of output you want to produce, and whether or not to invert the foreground and background when you print.
The
Set print options
window might look like
Set print options window
, if you are using MeshTV's defaults. If you aren't, the values might be different.
This window allows you to set the options which govern the output when you print a plot. The options include things like the name of the printer, the type of output generated, and whether or not to print a banner at the top and bottom of the picture.
These radio buttons allow you to select UNIX commands to print files. If you are uncertain which one to use, check with your system administrator. If you are running MeshTV on a non-UNIX platform, save the image and then manually send it to the printer.
This text field takes the name of the printer to which you want to print. If you don't know what this is, you should see your system administrator for help. This name selects a specific printer on your network. That printer must also be able to handle the type specified by the Printer type option pulldown.
These options determine which output type MeshTV will produce. Different printers require different output types, though some support many types. The available options are
Raster postscript
and
Postscript
.
This option produces PostScript output in raster (pixel) form rather than the "normal" PostScript form, which details actual lines to draw. Because we are drawing pixels rather than lines, raster files can be smaller than conventional PostScript files in some circumstances, and therefore can take less time to print or move across a network. Raster PostScript files can be handled by PostScript printers.
When choosing between the two PostScript formats you should keep in mind the following trade-offs:
PostScript files produce the highest quality images in 2D.
Raster PostScript files are often large, take a long time to print, and can cause problems with most color PostScript printers when the image size is above 900 by 900. They can be smaller than PostScript files in certain situations, however.
MeshTV automatically switches from PostScript to Raster Postscript when printing 3D images, since PostScript only gives wireframe images without hidden lines removed.
This option produces standard PostScript output, which can be handled by PostScript printers. Because this output type includes information as descriptions of lines to draw, files containing large amounts of information can become quite large, possibly even too large for a printer's buffer. If this occurs, you might want to try the raster PostScript type.
When choosing between the two PostScript formats you should keep in mind the following trade-offs:
PostScript files produce the highest quality images in 2D.
Raster PostScript files are often large, take a long time to print, and can cause problems with most color PostScript printers when the image size is above 900 by 900, They can be smaller than PostScript files in certain situations, however.
MeshTV automatically switches from PostScript to Raster Postscript when printing 3D images, since PostScript only gives wireframe images without hidden lines removed.
This toggle button allows you to print all open visualization windows to a single sheet of paper.
This toggle button indicates whether the picture should be "grabbed" from the computer screen or taken from memory. If the picture is grabbed from the screen, the visualization windows will come to the front of the screen so that no other windows obscure them. Though grabbing the picture from memory yields a higher resolution image, grabbing via screen capture is faster, which is why it is the MeshTV default. If you turn off the screen capture, the image is rendered in software at 24 bits at the resolution specified by the X/Y resolution text field . Screen capture is supported for Raster PostScript only.
If you turn off screen capture via the Screen capture toggle button , the image is taken from memory at a specified resolution, which you can set by typing an integer number into this text field. Setting the X/Y resolution is supported for Raster PostScript only. Note that while higher resolutions produce nicer-looking pictures, they also increase file size.
Text entered into this text field will be printed at the top and the bottom of the image when it is printed.
Pressing the Apply button applies changes you made in the window containing the button. If you don't want your changes applied, press the Dismiss button without pressing Apply .
When you wish to close a window, press the Dismiss button. You should press the Apply button before you press the Dismiss button if you want your changes applied. If you don't want to apply your changes, pressing only the Dismiss button (without pressing Apply ) will return you to previously applied values.