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To avoid problems, we always recommend to use the EtherShare Admin program for configuration purposes. Particularly in the case of printer queue settings, the Admin only accepts meaningful parameter values and always generates syntactically correct entries in the EtherShare main configuration file "atalk.conf".

However, some seldom used parameters and switches can only be set by adding them to "atalk.conf" manually. Print Preview also comes with a few parameters of that kind.

On a UNIX platform, you can use a UNIX editor such as "vi" to open and edit "atalk.conf". (The file is located in your EtherShare conf directory. By default, this is /usr/local/es/conf.). On a Macintosh, you may start the Admin program, then press the OPTION key, open the Lists menu, and select item Edit atalk.conf. Keep the OPTION key pressed until the editor window has opened.

Important: Make it a habit to close the "Printers" list and all other list windows before editing "atalk.conf". Otherwise, it may happen that the parameters you have entered in the configuration file get lost the next time you change e.g. a queue's configuration using the Printer > Settings dialog.

All parameter and flag names must be given in lower-case writing, just as shown in the "List of parameters" below and in the example in figure 28 at the end of this chapter. Values can be either string or integer values. Integer values do not require the unit.

The first six parameters in the list are also available in EtherShare Admin's Printer - Settings dialog. They are described in paragraph Parameters for the preview files in chapter 5.1.2 Setting up a preview queue.

The parameter lets you decide whether or not you want to have previews of the separation plates of your document. noseparation is the default.

The parameter controls whether or not the composite impression of your document is included in the preview file. combine is the default.

wait will induce Print Preview to keep the preview file in the preview queue instead of forwarding it to a hold queue - it is the equivalent to Suppress Forward .... wait is the default. nowait must be set if you want to activate automatic forwarding of print jobs.

The parameter controls whether or not smoothing of contours should be applied to the preview files. antialias is the default. It should only be switched off if you intend to print the preview files again, e.g. send them to a non-PostScript printer (compare chapter 5.4.3).

Here, you can enter the resolution you want to have for your preview files. The default is 72 which is the standard monitor resolution. You may enter a higher value if you intend to print the preview files again, e.g. send them to a non-PostScript printer (compare chapter 5.4.3).

Allowed strings for defining the compression of preview files are "none", "zip", and "jpeg". "none" is the default. "zip" is best-suited, because it guarantees lossless compression. "jpeg" stands for JPEG (quality of compression depends on jpegquality=int, see below).

The JPEG compression quality of preview files can be
selected in the range of 1...100 in the configuration file "atalk.conf".

Other than Acrobat Exchange, the Reader software is not able to create thumbnails on its own. Therefore, Print Preview generates thumbnails of all pages you have printed to allow you to make use of the View - Thumbnails and Page option in Acrobat Reader when you check the preview files. thumbnails is the default. nothumbnails will switch off the generation of thumbnails.

Print Preview uses for PostScript interpretation the PostScript level that is stated in the queue's PPD file. In case no PPD file has been assigned, the default language level is Level 1. The option noppdlanguagelevel induces Print Preview to ignore the PPD file entry and to use the default PostScript Level 1. See also option languagelevel=int below.

With this option, you can force Print Preview to use a specific PostScript language level. Possible values are "1" and "2". If you set a languagelevel, this will override the PPD file setting, and the option noppdlanguagelevel - if it is specified at all - will be ignored as well.

Usually, PostScript errors - if there are any - are added to the log file (logpserrors is the default). You can switch off the recording of PostScript errors by setting nologpserrors.

A preview queue can be regarded as a RGB or CMYK PostScript device. When rendering a job on a preview queue, a so-called "Color Rendering Dictionary" (CRD) is required for the transformation of PostScript CIE-based colors in a job. Two CRDs are initialized by default - one for the transformation of CIE-based colors into RGB and one for the transformation of CIE-based colors into CMYK. The RGB CRD corresponds to EBU-RGB, the CMYK CRD corresponds to Euroscale CMYK. The swopcrd flag can be used to change the CMYK standard and select SWOP instead of Euroscale. Particularly, American customers should set this flag.

This parameter controls Print Preview's virtual RIP memory. The default value is 10 MB. You should use the parameter to enter a value higher than 10 MB - smaller values are not recommended. To guarantee minimum performance of Print Preview, do never define less than 5 MB.

This parameter controls Print Preview's global virtual RIP memory. The default value is 2.5 MB. You should use the parameter to enter a value higher than 2.5 MB - smaller values are not recommended. To guarantee minimum performance of Print Preview, do never define less than 1 MB.

By default, Print Preview generates an info page for each job on a preview queue and adds it to the preview file. noinfopage can be used to switch off the insertion of the info page.

This parameter may be used to save new preview files automatically into the "$pdfdir" directory on the server. "string" must be a full UNIX path name, e.g. pdfdir="/helios/views". The option Suppress Forward to Hold Queue (or the wait parameter, respectively) will be ignored if pdfdir is specified. The hold queue contains a symbolic link to the preview file in the "$pdfdir" directory.

Note: If the print job is renamed or removed from its original location the link does not work anymore and an error message may appear.

If a file is sent to a preview queue, with the option nopdfresolve set, the print job remains "untouched"
and is proceeded without any changes.

This parameter will only be recognized if pdfdir is specified as well. With "string", you can define a file name prefix for all preview files that are sent to the selected directory. This can help you classify your previews if you have several preview queues and save all preview files into the same directory.

This parameter will only be recognized if pdfdir is specified as well. pdfnotifyprog lets you enter a path that leads to a UNIX program. This program will be started automatically after printing has been finished successfully. "string" must be a full UNIX path name.

Note: Preview files that are saved into a UNIX directory (using the pdfdir parameter) will automatically be assigned a file name extension, namely ".pdf". On a PCShare volume, existing extensions will be removed and replaced by ".pdf".

The example in figure 28 shows an "atalk.conf" file that has been opened on a Macintosh. The last two lines in that file contain all parameters and flags that have been set for the preview queue "viewRIP1" on the server "ibm".

Fig. 28: Setting preview queue parameters in "atalk.conf"


HELIOS Print Preview 1.1 User manual

HELIOS Print Preview 1.1 User manual