Blackwell Publishing

Installing a PostScript Printer Driver

Microsoft Windows users will need to install a PostScript printer driver in order to generate PostScript and Encapsulated PostScript files. You will not need a PostScript printer. There are some differences between Windows 95/98/Me and NT/2000/XP. 

Apple Macintosh computers are already capable of producing PostScript. Instructions on setting up a Mac to produce PostScript are available. 

Installing a PostScript printer driver in Windows

You will first need to download the software for installing the PostScript drivers. This is freely available from the Adobe website  . 

The installation is automatic and will choose the correct version for your operating system. You simply need to double click the icon of the downloaded file and follow the instructions. You can either configure the options during installation or follow the instructions below. When prompted for PPD file, choose Acrobat Distiller , and when prompted for the location of the printer select FILE: . There is no need to print a test page. 

To configure the output to Encapsulated PostScript you need to select Start -> Settings -> Printers (1). 

Select Settings on the Windows start panel and choose the Printers option.

You should see a new printer called Acrobat Distiller 3.0. To access and change the 'printer' properties, select the new icon and right click. Select the Properties option at the bottom of the context menu (2). An option box similar (depending on which version of Windows) should appear.

Select the Acrobat Distiller printer icon and right click to bring up the context menu. Choose Properties.

First set the PostScript option to Encapsulated PostScript (3). Using this option, you cannot print more than one page. 

Under the PostScript tab select Encapsulated PostScript as the output format. All other options should be left as default.

PostScript uses a different font format to Windows. To preserve as accurately as possible your Windows fonts, do the following (4,5). 

Tick the Send TrueType fonts... this will ensure that common fonts are preserved. To deal with common fonts, click Send Fonts As...

Finally, ensure any other fonts in your figure are preserved in the encapsulated PostScript file (6). 

Select the Type 42 option to ensure that remaining fonts are preserved in the PostScript file.

Fonts in PostScript files can be a problem, even with the above precautions. We do advise you to use standard fonts. Using these fonts will prevent most font problems regardless of which operating system you use. 

Your computer is now configured to produce Encapsulated PostScript files from any application via the Print option. 

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