For the first time I am able to print to my Canon laser under OS X
10.5.8 using PGS 5.05.1a

There are still some niggling problems but I have been in contact with
Deron and he is working hard to fix these and the odds are that he will
get this done quickly,

This may not work for your laser - it works for my Canon LBP 1610
(Japanese domestic) non-postscript A4 ~ A3 model.

Procedure

1. Make sure that you have the latest OS X driver for your printer and

that it is turned ON.

2. Go to OS X System Preferences - Printer and Fax and make sure that
your preferred paper size is showing.

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The important steps follow.

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3. if you have PGS 5.05.1a installed in OS X 10.5.8 go to

Users / Library / Application Support / PageStream5 / PageStream5.prefs
-

DELETE THIS FILE.

3. Now start up PGS 6.05.1a and enter your product key.

4. Now go to PGS File Menu / Print Setup

You "should" see that PGS is showing the correct PPD for your laser
printer.

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NOTE

If at this point you cannot see your printer model showing in the PPD
menu then stop now as this procedure will probably not work for you.

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5. Select your preferred paper size - the default is "US Letter" I use
A4 manily.

6. Still in PGS Print Setup -SAVE.

7. Now setup your remaining PGS preferences in Pagestream / Preferences
and SAVE.

8. There appears to be a bug in the PGS general prefs / "Use System
Printing" - at least with my Canon - I specify 1 print and the printer
spits out 2 copies - always.

I advise that for the present - leave "Use System printing "OFF".

9. Now go back again to Users / Library / Application Support /
Pagestream5 / Pagestream5.prefs DRAG a COPY of this file to your
desktop to a folder perhaps named "Working PGS Prefs".

THE PPD BUG :

(A PPD file is a description of your laser printers make, model and
capabilities.)

Using the above procedure I can happily print everything I throw at PGS
5.05.1a and my Canon laser BUT . . upon the next reboot I often/almost
always find that the "Canon LBP - 1610" PPD and paper sizes have
disappeared and then I have printing problems.

Deron is currently working on a way to 'catch' the correct PPD when it
first appears and then on a way to keep it in the system.

10. If you find that your laser's PPD does appear along with paper sizes
option BUT is gone on next reboot of the system then look again at Step
9. You can shut down PGS and open the folder shown in Step 9 and
overwrite it with the Pagestream5.prefs file which you saved to your
desktop "Working PGS Prefs" folder.

(Hold the OPTION key while you copy your preferred "Pagestream5.prefs"
file or you may lose it).

The Adobe OpenType font problem (maybe)

I created a custom OpenType font using FontLab Studio5 and there is a
lot of evidence to show that PGS still has problems with OTF fonts - at
least in my setup,

The only thing I am certain of is that when I converted the font to
TrueType and implemented the above setup procedure my printing problems
largely went away.

The IllustratorEPS.gfl problem:

This only applies to users who wish to import drawings made in other
versions of PGS (Mac OS 9 version in my case).

After importing a drawing and then UN-GROUPING the drawing there
appeared to be upwards of 30 layers in some drawings - the originals had
4 or 5 at most.

Deron sent me a new IllustratorEPS.gfl file and the problem went away
instantly.

I feel confident that the next OS X PageStream release will have fixed
most if not all laser printing problems. In the DTP world a stable,
working Pagestream OSX with it's pro functions, small footprint and
intuitiveness of use will most definitely be noticed.

I have moaned and whinged on occasion but this due to having been
forced to turn to InDesign and Illustrator which while stable and
competent lack the sheer ease of use of PageStream. I also strongly feel
that for Deron's own livelihood that the Mac and Windows versions need
the most attention for a while. More income means more development for
all platforms in the long run

Congrats to Deron thus far, it has been a long road but worth waiting
for..

Michael Wilkins

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

It appears that I spoke a little too soon !

While I can indeed print to my hearts content in OSX 10.5.8 under PGS 5.05.1a replacing the SAVED "Pagestream5.prefs" from Users / library / Application Support / Pagestream5/ . . is no longer working. It may have worked once - I have been so busy I can't be sure.

In any case if you follow steps 1 ~ 8 you will probably be able to see your laser printer's PPD showing in "Print Setup" and as long as you don't quit Pagestream you will be able to print.

Don't forget to set your preferred paper size.

I am pretty sure that Deron will nail this "disappearing PPD" bug very soon.

Apologies for any confusion.

Please do post here if the 1 ~ 8 steps work for your laser.

Michael