Tray Switching

[michaelw1978]

I have a job that consists of a simplex page and a duplex page using different types of stationery.

Is it possible to send a postscript file (or preferably a PDF) to a printer with instructions to switch the paper trays accordingly and set the duplex on/off?

If so, can someone point me in the right direction as to how this is accomplished?

Many thanks,

Michael

 

[Guest_imported]

Michael,

In PostScript there is a command setpagedevice. Its description in the Adobe Red Book is somewhat arcane, as one of my colleagues put it. (But he's an attorney- he uses words like that!)

The setpagedevice command is used in conjunction with other commands, and these other commands dictate for instance the MediaType or MediaColor. The parameters allowed as values for say MediaType may depend on the implementation of PS on your actual printer.

The syntax would look something like this, at the appropriate point in the PS code. You would have another one with a different value later on to change it to something else.

%
% some PS up to here
% and here comes the media selection...

<<//MediaType(letterhead)>> setpagedevice

% and more PS to follow.

My personal knowledge is of Xerox DocuTech printers, where from the console you tell the printer that the medium 'letterhead' is in tray 2 say, and maybe there's some 'plain' in tray 4. I daresay that varies across makes, so you'll need to find out how to associate the media type with a physical tray.

Duplex is another setpagedevice command, and is boolean, true or false thus:

<</Duplex(true)>> setpagedevice

Check with your vendor about the wisdom of switching too often between simplex and duplex. Depending on the design of the printer's paper path, it may flush the path between each switch, thus losing opportunities to print on each 'heartbeat' so to speak, and you may suffer throughput degradation. You may have to weigh up those throughput considerations with the penalty incurred with printing some blank back pages.

If you don't have the RedBook you can get it at Adobe's site, you can get it here:

http://partners.adobe.com/asn/developer/technotes/postscript.html

You should check with your vendor to see if there's a "PS Language Printer Addendum" for your printer, assuming it uses a genuine Adobe RIP not a clone.

Hope that gives you a start..... Jim Brown,
Johannesburg,
South Africa.
My time is GMT+2

 

[Guest_imported]

Oops... typo!

<<//Media...

should be

<</Media...

Jim Brown,
Johannesburg,
South Africa.
My time is GMT+2

 

[michaelw1978]

Jim,

Many thanks for your help - if you were a woman i'd kiss ya

Michael

 

[tomte]

Michael,

Also be aware that many printer rips and/or engines do not support switching between duplex and simplex or between media drawers. I have run into this numerous times in non-production engines, and MFP(MultiFunctional Printers) Many of the low end Xerox, Canon, Ricoh and other printers either duplex all or simplex all, the accomplish the effect of multiplexing by either generating a blank page or do not support it at all. EFI who makes many of the rips going into these type of engines has just recently picked up limited support for this functionality, but the calls are not Redbook compliant. Again as Jim stated check with your hardware vendor for a postscript supplement.