pbmtoppa

pbmtoppa(1)                 General Commands Manual                pbmtoppa(1)

NAME
       pbmtoppa  -  convert  PBM  image to HP Printer Performance Architecture
       (PPA)

SYNOPSIS
       pbmtoppa

       [pbm_file [ppa_file]]

DESCRIPTION
       pbmtoppa 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 "Windows-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  di-
       rectly  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 filter 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 configuration
       file.  See the CALIBRATION section below.

OPTIONS
       -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 adjustments to an  in-
       ternal 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 processing any options.  It then processes each con-
       figuration file named by a -f option in order, applying the  parameters
       from  the configuration file as if they were invocation 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, leftmargin, right-
       margin, bottommargin, papersize, or any non-null prefix of these words.
       Valid values are the same as with the corresponding invocation  parame-
       ters.

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 pbm-
       toppa an X and a Y offset appropriate for your printer to use when gen-
       erating the page.  You can specify these offsets with the -x and -y in-
       vocation options or with the xoff and yoff  parameters  in  a  pbmtoppa
       configuration 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 cal-
       ibration.

       For example:

       pbmpage | pbmtoppa >/dev/lp1
       or
       pbmpage | pbmtoppa | lpr -l
       (if your printer filter recognizes the '-l' (direct output) parameter).

       In the test pattern, the grid is marked off in  pixel  coordinate  num-
       bers.  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 con-
       figuration file or using the -x and -y command-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 <vry-
       pan@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-print-
       filters ) 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 ALSO
       pbmpage(1), pstopnm(1), pbm(5)

       pnm2ppa is not part of Netpbm, but does the same things as pbmtoppa ex-
       cept it also  works  with  color  and  has  lots  more  features.   See
       <http://sourceforge.net/project/?group_id=1322>.

       The  file  INSTALL-MORE  in the pbmtoppa directory of the Netpbm source
       code contains detailed instructions on setting up a system to use  pbm-
       toppa  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 Public License

       Manual page by Bryan Henderson, May 2000.

                                  01 May 2000                      pbmtoppa(1)