Some specific features of TDEPrint depend on the chosen print subsystem. This dependency might exist because those features are only implemented there; remember, TDEPrint is an intermediate layer between TDE applications, and the print subsystem, but it's no replacement for any print subsystem by itself. Such dependency may exist for another reason: that TDEPrint has not yet implemented an interface to all the features of all the subsystems.
Other features include benefits from TDEPrint that are independent of the chosen print subsystem, and are available with all of them. At present there are “special” or “virtual” printers, and some generic “pre-filters”.
From the Print Dialog, you can select to look at a preview. For this, the print file is passed through filters which make it suitable for displaying on screen using KGhostView.
Amongst these additional TDEPrint features are a few “special” or “virtual” printers:
These special printers may:
Convert your document into a PDF file with the help of an external program.
Send your document as an email attached PDF file.
Save your document as a PostScript® file.
Send it through an available backend, such as Hylafax as a fax.
These “special” printers appear in the user print dialog just like “normal” printers. They are entirely configurable on a per-user basis.
TDEPrint provides you with a framework to define and configure your own “pre-filters”. These pre-filters may take effect before they are passed to your print subsystem for further processing, but after the (PostScript®, plain text or other) print files have been generated by your application.
There are a few useful filters already predefined. These are:
The “multiple pages per sheet” filter,
the “enscript” text filter,
and three filters to help print pamphlets.
You may create your own filters based on any third party program that is able to process PostScript®, plain text or image files, and output any one of those formats.
These filters are configured through XML files. This makes an extension of the concept very easy for experienced developers, but end-user configuration is also done through an intuitive graphical user interface. So, fear not, you don't need to learn XML because of TDEPrint!
This is a predefined filter that installs with TDEPrint. It allows you to create a modified PostScript® output, from PostScript® input, that prints 1, 2, or 4 logical pages on a single sheet of paper.
This is a predefined filter that installs with TDEPrint. It allows you to create PostScript® output from any text file input, that includes syntax highlighting for program listings, pretty-printing, and nice configurable page frames and headers.
If your printer is able to produce duplex output, using either one-pass or two-pass technology, you may be able to use one, or a combination, of the “pamphlet” filters.
For duplexing printers, make sure you use the duplex option that “turns” the output along the short paper edge. Folding the printed paper along the middle turns your document into a nice pamphlet.
If you are stuck with using a simplex-only device, you can do the same, using two different filters and a few additional steps.
Depending on your model, first use the filter for printing the “odd” pages, then insert the paper in the correct order back into the paper tray to get the even pages printed on the reverse side. These can then be folded to make a pamphlet.
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