Aargh? What happened? Netscape just refreshed the window and
I lost the last 20 minutes of typing in the egroups window??
Oh well, here goes again....

I just installed r8c of Pagestream Windows. Here is a quick
update of the problems that were still in r8b.

First, a review of the outstanding bugs I had found, then after
that the r8c results:

1: Printouts come out sideways on my HP Deskjet 942C.
i.e. like this: instead of this:
.------------------. .------------.
| XXXXXXXXXX | | XXXXXXXXXX |
| XXXXXXXXXX | | XXXXXXXXXX |
| XXXXXXXXXX | | XXXXXXXXXX |
| XXXXXXXXXX | | XXXXXXXXXX |
| XXXXXXXXXX | | XXXXXXXXXX |
'----XXXXXXXXXX----' | XXXXXXXXXX |
xxxxxxxxxx | XXXXXXXXXX |
xxxxxxxxxx | XXXXXXXXXX |
'------------'

2: Some postscript fonts - I think those that were batch
converted by TypeSmith to postscript format from
Pagestream or Compugraphic formats come out with bad
character widths in Pagestream under ATM support but
the same fonts look okay IN atm and also in other windows
apps. (I haven't had a chance to check this out thoroughly
but the pagestream format font Revued is one of these)
3: BME document windows do not render correctly, especially
when they are resized. Yecch!
4: styles, like Bold and Italic, do not work. They
don't render on the screen or even export to PDF. They do
not even work when the font has bold and italic versions
installed. This is a biggie for me.
5: For some reason (it is almost like some sort of focus
problem) the first time I try to drag out a text frame
in a newly opened document, the mouse "lets go" of the
object after a split second, usually leaving it as a tiny
line which I then can grab and re-size correctly.
This only happens the first time after opening a doc. The
window looks active when the drag starts.
6: Windows open sometimes under the tool bar. This always
happens when re-sizing or minimizing and maximizing the
main Pagestream window.
7: Font substitution in PDF documents saved without warning.
8: Gradients not saved in PDF files.
9: I couldn't place a dr2d picture in a document with place
graphic.
10: Outline fonts did not render or print (but do export to PDF
okay...)

Results of initial r8c testing for above items:
1: Can't test this. Windows has decided that it does not like
my HP Deskjet 842C. HP blames it on my motherboard. Wintel
Users: Beware the wonderful claims about the usefulness of
USB!!! It is not ready for prime time it seems!
2: Still a problem. I can email an example if you
want, Deron.
3: Not fixed. Still no change from r7 I think.
4: Not fixed.
5: Not fixed.
6: Not fixed. Now I have the problem that windows open
completely hidden outside the main window frame and I have
to use the scroll bars to find them.
7: This one seems to be fixed. Some fonts show up better in
PDF export than on the screen. Hmmm....
8: Not fixed.
9: Not fixed. This seems to be a focus problem. I do a place
graphic and the place dialog with the "leave external" switch
comes up. I say place and the pagestream window becomes inactive
and the placed graphic is thrown away.
10: Not fixed.

Well, there was not a lot in this revision for me. I'm sure that
there were a lot of hidden bugs fixed, though. I have not had a
crash in a while. I will add one more wierd thing, though.
Sometimes it seems like Pagestream is forcing some other apps to
refresh their own windows. I think this is what caused me to lose
the previous incarnation of this message. Now that I have all of
this text typed I don't want to try it again. Also, I will try to
test to see if #1 is fixed if I can ever get this USB printer to
install correctly.

Well, keep up the good work! If the font problems (2,4,&10)
were fixed I could begin to use this version for my actual work
finally. If 3 & 6 were fixed the user interface would have a
much better look and feel (especially for first time users).

Hope this was helpful!

Steve Meloche

[P.S. Deron, I did not really respond to your questions to me
when you responded to my r8a review - sorry. I figured you would
find the answers in my couple of r8b posts from the weeks after
that. Hopefully with this post I haven't left anything hanging
from my r8b posts.]

Steve Meloche wrote:

snip

>
> 2: Some postscript fonts - I think those that were batch
> converted by TypeSmith to postscript format from
> Pagestream or Compugraphic formats come out with bad
> character widths in Pagestream under ATM support but
> the same fonts look okay IN atm and also in other windows
> apps. (I haven't had a chance to check this out thoroughly
> but the pagestream format font Revued is one of these)

When I converted the Pagestream Fonts I needed (and which I couldn't
find equivalents for) to TTF and installed them on the PC I found I also
needed to adjust the font's UPM with a windows font program to get the
fonts to match between the Amiga Pgs and the Windows Pgs. Having done
that I can move the file backwards and forwards between the UAE emulated
PgsAmi and PgsWin versions without problems and for the last few weeks
have been producing a 4 page A5 weekly newsletter on the PgsWin and
printing from the emulator without having to adjust anything.

> 3: BME document windows do not render correctly, especially
> when they are resized. Yecch!
Same here

> 4: styles, like Bold and Italic, do not work. They
> don't render on the screen or even export to PDF. They do
> not even work when the font has bold and italic versions
> installed. This is a biggie for me.

Bold and Italic don't work from the Buttons but can be selected from the
Palette font list and work fine for me from there. Outline is a problem
the font is there as you can see if you apply Shadow to where it is.
Like the invisible man you can see the shadow but not it. The only way I
could get an outline of a font of my choosing into PgsWin was to create
it on the PgsAmi and make it a graphic. There are of course some outline
fonts available as stand alone fonts but unfortunately I have not been
able to find ones that belong to a family of fonts that it matches .
NB. The font list from the pull down menu does not scroll and I can only
access the first few fonts down to the bottom of the screen from it. No
problems with the font list from the text palette though.

snip

>
> Results of initial r8c testing for above items:
> 1: Can't test this. Windows has decided that it does not like
> my HP Deskjet 842C. HP blames it on my motherboard. Wintel
> Users: Beware the wonderful claims about the usefulness of
> USB!!! It is not ready for prime time it seems!

The HP930c has both usb and Parallel ports I installed a 2nd parallel
port and use it as Lpt2 works fine. I had to give up my second mouse
port address to get it
If the printer has the parallel option I recommend that way out.

Another problem I've come across is if I create a text box with
PgsWin4r8c and try to type in it the type goes along the top of the box
not in it and when the length of the box is reached it returns and
overprints the first line and can't be edited only way to get ride of it
is to delete the text box.
I had not come across this before as I work with templates that have
text boxes etc. already in them and which were created on PgsAmi. Now if
I take the template and load it back into PgsAmi and add the text boxes
I need, save and reload back into PgsWin they behave properly.
If you have the UAE emulator there seems to be work-arounds for most of
the problems left in PgsWindows.

Regards Graeme

+---------------------+
| Graeme McKenzie |
|email:gramac@es.co.nz|
+---------------------+

--- In PageStreamWindowsBeta@egroups.com, Graeme McKenzie
<gramac@e...> wrote:
>
> Steve Meloche wrote:
>
> > 2: Some postscript fonts - I think those that were batch
> > converted by TypeSmith to postscript format from
> > Pagestream or Compugraphic formats come out with bad
> > character widths in Pagestream under ATM support but
> > the same fonts look okay IN atm and also in other windows
> > apps. (I haven't had a chance to check this out thoroughly
> > but the pagestream format font Revued is one of these)
>
> When I converted the Pagestream Fonts I needed (and which I
> couldn't find equivalents for) to TTF and installed them on
> the PC

That was the next thing I was going to try

> I found I also needed to adjust the font's UPM with a windows
> font program to get the fonts to match between the Amiga Pgs
> and the Windows Pgs. Having done that I can move the file
> backwards and forwards between the UAE emulated PgsAmi and
> PgsWin versions without problems

Would you be willing to elaborate on this process? What is the
"windows font program" that you used? What does it mean to
"adjust the font's UPM"? It sounds like a lot of work. Also,
how did you "get the fonts to match between the Amiga Pgs and
the Windows Pgs"? Two windows side by side until the text flowed
the same? I hope that the pictures I have in my head of this
process are wrong. I have already spent a lot of time on this
problem and another long twiddling of fonts sounds daunting!

I guess my questions would be:

Why didn't the fonts come out of Typesmith correctly or why did
they work with other windows apps and NOT with pagestream?

> > 4: styles, like Bold and Italic, do not work. They
> > don't render on the screen or even export to PDF. They do
> > not even work when the font has bold and italic versions
> > installed. This is a biggie for me.

> > Results of initial r8c testing for above items:
> > 1: Can't test this. Windows has decided that it does not like
> > my HP Deskjet 842C. HP blames it on my motherboard. Wintel
> > Users: Beware the wonderful claims about the usefulness of
> > USB!!! It is not ready for prime time it seems!
>
> The HP930c has both usb and Parallel ports I installed a 2nd
> parallel port and use it as Lpt2 works fine. I had to give up
> my second mouse port address to get it If the printer has the
> parallel option I recommend that way out.

So does HP. Unfortunately I have the parallel port connected
to my Amiga and I am not ready to give up on that yet. Having
the par port on the Amiga 3000 and the USB port on my PC has
given me a nice sharing system for the last few months. It
worked great until I tried to install a new driver on the PC
for the printer from HP. Now it won't even install with the
original disk. Sigh...

> Another problem I've come across is if I create a text box with
> PgsWin4r8c and try to type in it the type goes along the top
> of the box not in it and when the length of the box is reached
> it returns and overprints the first line and can't be edited
> only way to get ride of it is to delete the text box.

I can't duplicate this but it does sound reminiscent of problems
I have occasionally had with earlier versions of pagestream. I
wonder if it is related to certain fonts? I don't think it is an
r8c problem specifically, though.

> If you have the UAE emulator there seems to be work-arounds
> for most of the problems left in PgsWindows.

Unfortunately UAE won't work on my computer. I just get a flashing
yellow window and I don't know why.

> Regards Graeme

Deron,

I found another bug today. Open a new document. Make a text
frame (it takes two tries). Type some text - it looks like
Arial. The edit pallete doesn't show the correct font, showing
the first font in the system instead. If I select the text and
change to a font (including the first one in the list) then after
that the edit pallete correctly reports the font where the cursor
is. It is like the initial text has no font defined so it just
renders in Arial and doesn't affect value shown in the edit pallete.

Steve

>I found another bug today. Open a new document. Make a text
>frame (it takes two tries). Type some text - it looks like
>Arial. The edit pallete doesn't show the correct font, showing
>the first font in the system instead. If I select the text and
>change to a font (including the first one in the list) then after
>that the edit pallete correctly reports the font where the cursor
>is. It is like the initial text has no font defined so it just
>renders in Arial and doesn't affect value shown in the edit pallete.

Check your prefs and see what your default font is. I am guessing it will
say "Helvetica". The reason is because I found I was setting that as the
default in prior versions. I've fixed it, but if you saved your prefs you
would be overridding it.

This of course lends an intersting font sub problem. What to do if the
default font isn't installed on the system...

Always something to worry about. Good thing I'm pretty easy going. Someone
could loose their mind in this

>Steve

Deron Kazmaier - support@softlogik.com
Grasshopper Publishing LLC -http://www.softlogik.com
listhelp@softlogik.com for mailing list directions
PageStream DTP for Amiga, Macintosh, and Windows

Steve Meloche wrote:
>
> --- In PageStreamWindowsBeta@egroups.com, Graeme McKenzie
> <gramac@e...> wrote:
> >
> > Steve Meloche wrote:
> >
> > > 2: Some postscript fonts - I think those that were batch
> > > converted by TypeSmith to postscript format from
> > > Pagestream or Compugraphic formats come out with bad
> > > character widths in Pagestream under ATM support but
> > > the same fonts look okay IN atm and also in other windows
> > > apps. (I haven't had a chance to check this out thoroughly
> > > but the pagestream format font Revued is one of these)
> >
> > When I converted the Pagestream Fonts I needed (and which I
> > couldn't find equivalents for) to TTF and installed them on
> > the PC
>
> That was the next thing I was going to try
>
> > I found I also needed to adjust the font's UPM with a windows
> > font program to get the fonts to match between the Amiga Pgs
> > and the Windows Pgs. Having done that I can move the file
> > backwards and forwards between the UAE emulated PgsAmi and
> > PgsWin versions without problems
>
> Would you be willing to elaborate on this process? What is the
> "windows font program" that you used? What does it mean to
> "adjust the font's UPM"? It sounds like a lot of work. Also,
> how did you "get the fonts to match between the Amiga Pgs and
> the Windows Pgs"? Two windows side by side until the text flowed
> the same? I hope that the pictures I have in my head of this
> process are wrong. I have already spent a lot of time on this
> problem and another long twiddling of fonts sounds daunting!
>

I regret to inform you the picture you have in your head was all too
true for me.
I got involved because the newsletter I was producing had a Masthead
made with Old English the version that I had since about Pgs 1.8 has not
got the extra
elaborate flourishes that the present day fonts that I could find have
and which make them unsuitable for the Masthead that I use. It is a
normal plain
copy overlaying a offset outline copy of the font it photocopies better
than shadow does. (In the end I converted the heading to a Graphic and
use that )

I guess if you have them running on the PC already you know all about
reversing the rotation of the inner outlines in the letters like "O" and
the
files required for windows.
We used was Fontlab. I had Typesmith and a friend had Fontlab the PC
font
program on his machine. What the UPM actually stands for I've forgotten
(I did all this about last Christmas) but it is one of the figures
that
have to do with height width ratios of the fonts. It is a matter of
trial and error.
By the last font first try was getting pretty close but it certainly
sorted out the fonts I really needed from the ones that would be nice to
have.
The fonts I converted were Old English, Artistic, Oriental, Paintbrush,
Trellis

> I guess my questions would be:
>
> Why didn't the fonts come out of Typesmith correctly or why did
> they work with other windows apps and NOT with pagestream?
>
Deron would really have to answer that but my guess is that Pagestream
handles fonts using different criteria to windows. Windows seems to need
a separate file for each attribute of a font e.g.. For Arial I have 9
different files in PgsWin where as PgsAmi seems to get by with one or at
most three.

> > > 4: styles, like Bold and Italic, do not work. They
> > > don't render on the screen or even export to PDF. They do
> > > not even work when the font has bold and italic versions
> > > installed. This is a biggie for me.
>
> > > Results of initial r8c testing for above items:
> > > 1: Can't test this. Windows has decided that it does not like
> > > my HP Deskjet 842C. HP blames it on my motherboard. Wintel
> > > Users: Beware the wonderful claims about the usefulness of
> > > USB!!! It is not ready for prime time it seems!
> >
> > The HP930c has both usb and Parallel ports I installed a 2nd
> > parallel port and use it as Lpt2 works fine. I had to give up
> > my second mouse port address to get it If the printer has the
> > parallel option I recommend that way out.
>
> So does HP. Unfortunately I have the parallel port connected
> to my Amiga and I am not ready to give up on that yet. Having
> the par port on the Amiga 3000 and the USB port on my PC has
> given me a nice sharing system for the last few months. It
> worked great until I tried to install a new driver on the PC
> for the printer from HP. Now it won't even install with the
> original disk. Sigh...

I have 2 separate Parallel ports and a HP laserJet4L on one and the HP
930c on the other both on at the same time but I must admit I haven't
tried printing at the same time with both them. Parallel port cards
aren't all that expensive although getting a compatible one could take
time. We tried three the third worked.

> > Another problem I've come across is if I create a text box with
> > PgsWin4r8c and try to type in it the type goes along the top
> > of the box not in it and when the length of the box is reached
> > it returns and overprints the first line and can't be edited
> > only way to get ride of it is to delete the text box.
>
> I can't duplicate this but it does sound reminiscent of problems
> I have occasionally had with earlier versions of pagestream. I
> wonder if it is related to certain fonts? I don't think it is an
> r8c problem specifically, though.

Thanks for the info I reinstalled PgsWin4r8c and the problem
disappeared. I had changed preferences around to what I like and
something I did may have caused it.

>
> > If you have the UAE emulator there seems to be work-arounds
> > for most of the problems left in PgsWindows.
>
> Unfortunately UAE won't work on my computer. I just get a flashing
> yellow window and I don't know why.

THe modem won't work if the emulator is running they both use the same
resources I would think the opposite is true.

> > Regards Graeme
>
> Deron,
>
> I found another bug today. Open a new document. Make a text
> frame (it takes two tries). Type some text - it looks like
> Arial. The edit pallete doesn't show the correct font, showing
> the first font in the system instead. If I select the text and
> change to a font (including the first one in the list) then after
> that the edit pallete correctly reports the font where the cursor
> is. It is like the initial text has no font defined so it just
> renders in Arial and doesn't affect value shown in the edit pallete.

I had thought that first text box quirk was due to my erratic mouse.
The edit palette doesn't show the font at the start on my machine
either.

> Steve

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Graeme McKenzie | 6 Kirkbride St, Wallacetown, IN 9502 |
|email:gramac@es.co.nz| Invercargill, New Zealand. Ph.++64-3-2358788 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+