pbmtoppa(1)pbmtoppa(1)NAMEpbmtoppa - convert PBM image to HP Printer Performance
Architecture (PPA)
SYNOPSISpbmtoppa
[pbm_file [ppa_file]]
DESCRIPTIONpbmtoppa converts page images in PBM format to Hewlett
Packard's PPA (Printer Performance Architecture) format,
which is the data stream format expected by some HP "Win
dows-only" printers including the HP Deskjet 820C series,
the HP DeskJet 720 series, and the HP DeskJet 1000 series.
pbm_file is the file specification of the input file or -
for Standard Input. The default is Standard Input.
The input file contains one or more PBM images, with each
one being a single page. Each image must have the exact
dimensions of a page (at 600 pixels per inch in both
directions). Significantly, this is the format the
Ghostscript produces.
ppa_file is the file specification of the output file or -
for Standard Output. The default is Standard Output.
To print Postscript on an HP PPA printer, just use
Ghostscript with the pbmraw (or pbm) device driver.
You can generate a test page for use with this program
with pbmpage.
You can also set up a printer filter so you can submit PBM
input directly to your print queue. See the documentation
for your print spooler for information on how to do that,
or look in hp820install.doc for an example lpd print fil
ter for Postscript and text files.
Sometimes, pbmtoppa generates a file which the printer
will not print (because pbmtoppa's input is unprintable).
When this happens, all three lights blink to signal the
error. This is usually because there is material outside
of the printer's printable area. To make the file print,
increase the margins via pbmtoppa options or a configura
tion file. See the CALIBRATION section below.
-v version
printer version (720, 820, or 1000)
-x xoff
vertical offset adjustment in 1"/600
-y yoff
horizontal offset adjustment in 1"/600
-t topmarg
top margin in 1"/600 (default: 150 = 0.25")
-l leftmarg
left margin in 1"/600 (default: 150 = 0.25")
-r rightmarg
right margin in 1"/600 (default: 150 = 0.25")
-b botmarg
bottom margin in 1"/600 (default: 150 = 0.25")
-s paper
paper size: us or a4. Default is us.
-f cfgfile
read parameters from configuration file cfgfile
The -x and -y options accumulate.
The -v option resets the horizontal and vertical adjust
ments to an internal default.
CONFIGURATION FILES
You can use configuration files to specify parameters
rather than use invocation options. pbmtoppa processes
the file /etc/pbmtoppa.conf, if it exists, before process
ing any options. It then processes each configuration
file named by a -f option in order, applying the parame
ters from the configuration file as if they were invoca
tion options used in the place of the -f option.
Configuration files have the following format:
#Comment
key1 value1
key2 value2
[etc.]
Valid keys are version, xoffset, yoffset, topmargin, left
margin, rightmargin, bottommargin, papersize, or any non-
null prefix of these words. Valid values are the same as
with the corresponding invocation parameters.
EXAMPLES
Print a test pattern:
pbmpage | pbmppa >/dev/lp1
Print three pages:
cat page1.pbm page2.pbm page3.pbm | pbmppa >/dev/lp1
Print the Postscript file myfile.ps:
gs -sDEVICE=rawpbm -q -dNOPAUSE -r600 \
-sOutputFile=- myfile.ps \
| pbmtoppa | lpr
CALIBRATION
To be able to print successfully and properly, you need to
tell pbmtoppa an X and a Y offset appropriate for your
printer to use when generating the page. You can specify
these offsets with the -x and -y invocation options or
with the xoff and yoff parameters in a pbmtoppa configura
tion file.
To determine the correct offsets, use the pbmpage program.
If while trying to do this calibration, the printer
refuses to print a page, but just blinks all three lights,
specify large margins (e.g. 600 pixels -- one inch) via
pbmpage invocation options while doing the calibration.
For example:
pbmpage | pbmtoppa >/dev/lp1
or
pbmpage | pbmtoppa | lpr -l
(if your printer filter recognizes the '-l' (direct out
put) parameter).
In the test pattern, the grid is marked off in pixel coor
dinate numbers. Unfortunately, these coordinates are
probably cut off before the edge of the paper. You'll
have to use a ruler to estimate the pixel coordinate of
the left and top edges of the actual sheet of paper
(should be within +/- 300, may be negative; there are 600
pixels per inch).
Add these coordinates to the X and Y offsets by either
editing the configuration file or using the -x and -y com
mand-line parameters.
When pbmtoppa is properly calibrated, the center mark
should be in the center of the paper. Also, the margins
should be able to be as small as 1/4 inch without causing
the printer to choke with 'blinking lights syndrome'.
REDHAT LINUX INSTALLATION
RedHat users may find the following tip from Panayotis
Vryonis <vrypan@hol.gr> helpful. The same should work for
the 820 and 1000, but it hasn't been tested. Also, use
the pbmraw GSDriver if you have it; it's faster.
Here is a tip to intergrate HP720C support in RedHat's
printtool:
Install pbm2ppa. Copy pbm2ppa to /usr/bin.
Edit "printerdb" (in my system it is found in
/usr/lib/rhs/rhs-printfilters ) and append the following
lines:
----------------------Cut here-----------------------
StartEntry: DeskJet720C
GSDriver: pbm
Description: {HP DeskJet 720C}
About: { \
This driver supports the HP DeskJet 720C \
inkjet printer. \
It does does not support color printing. \
IMPORTANT! Insert \
"- | pbm2ppa -" \
in the "Extra GS Otions" field.\
}
Resolution: {600} {600} {}
EndEntry
----------------------------------------------------
Now you can add an HP720C printer just like any other,
using printtool.
SEE ALSOpbmpage(1), pstopnm(1), pbm(5)
pnm2ppa is not part of Netpbm, but does the same things as
pbmtoppa except it also works with color and has lots more
features. See <http://sourceforge.net/pro
ject/?group_id=1322>.
The file INSTALL-MORE in the pbmtoppa directory of the
Netpbm source code contains detailed instructions on set
ting up a system to use pbmtoppa to allow convenient
printing on HP PPA printers. It was written by Michael
Buehlmann.
For information about the PPA protocol and the separately
distributed pbm2ppa program from which pbmtoppa was
derived, see <http://www.httptech.com/ppa>.
AUTHOR
Tim Norman. Copyright (C) 1998. Licensed under GNU Pub
lic License
Manual page by Bryan Henderson, May 2000.
01 May 2000 pbmtoppa(1)
