Use this chapter to help you quickly install PackageIT and begin using it to print packages

ackageIT is a Digital Package Printing application that was engineered to meet the needs of professional Digital Photographers and Digital Photo Labs. PackageIT supports a number of image file formats that can be used to print multiple sized images on a single page. With over 35 unit types available to choose from, PackageIT offers the configurations to match your product offerings and meet your everyday printing needs. Regardless of the original image size, PackageIT will intelligently crop, orient and rotate the image, as required, to provide the best print quality for that destination unit with minimal requirements for after-print cuts. PackageIT Units are made up of common industry image sizes including

1.75x2.5

2.0x3.5

2.5x3.5

3.5x5.0

4.0x5.0

4.0x6.0

5.0x7.0

5.0x8.0

8.0x10.0

10.0x13.0

11.0x14.0

12.0x18.0

With PackageIT, and our wide assortment of built-in unit types, you can create custom Packages that fit your product model. In addition, with PackageIT you can:

Tailor your resampling requirements with interpolations such as bilinear, bicubic, etc.

Resample at any supported resolution (DPI) for full size prints

Change printers without restarting the application

Apply borders with a multitude of effects

Apply image overlays of your own design

Instantly preview the effects of your color, border, and overlay settings

~~and~~And more!

PackageIT is designed to be versatile enough to allow custom and standard development for fast delivery to your customers. From wedding, sports and school photography to custom card printing, PackageIT can be used to deliver high quality prints at an optimized cost per unit by saving time and paper.

With its unique advanced queuing technology, PackageIT implements background processing to virtually eliminate printer idle time. This allows you to benefit from a throughput rate much greater than the competition. PackageIT will intelligently queue your Jobs for resampling and downloading so that your printer continues printing while applications are busy, thus achieving printer rated speeds. Your printer no longer has to wait for an application to complete unit resampling before it receives the data---no more missed racks, no more ~~warmup~~warm-up delays. Let PackageIT drive your printer the way the printer was designed to be driven.

Additional features of PackageIT include

Adapters available for common printers such as Gretag NetPrinter, Sienna FotoPrint, Kodak 86xx, Sony UPD series, and more

Support for multiple Printers with one Application through use of PackageIT Adapter technology

Add, change, delete and rename configured Packages on-the-fly

Send Jobs to a queue automatically or individually

Tailor the supported Units to utilize only those your business requires

Rich status details provided at the Unit level of a Job while the Job travels from submit to resample to download

Unique file selection dialog provides easy sorted image selection for important print ordering

Advanced Image Preference settings at the software level such as Highlight, Shadow, Hue, Saturation, and more

Landscape mode ideally suited for 10” paper widths to optimize paper usage and reduce wasted white space

PlugIn architecture allows additional features to be added to your system when you need them

Fast, high quality overlay support. Build your own or use existing overlays and matte files to produce added-value photos for your customers. An example of a simple overlay designed in Paint Shop Pro is shown below.


Source Image	Overlay Image	Matte Image	Resulting Image

Installation

PackageIT was designed to run on Microsoft Windows 9x/NT or Windows 2000 systems. If your system is configured to automatically run CDs, then the installation process will begin when you insert the PackageIT CD into your CD drive. Otherwise, you can navigate to the CD-ROM drive using the Windows operating system. After you install PackageIT, you can begin using it by clicking on the PackageIT icon from the Windows’ Start Menu, or by navigating to the PackageIT.exe file from the Windows Explorer.

About Software Dongles

A “dongle” is a hardware component that fits onto a computer/server printer parallel port and is designed to protect the PackageIT software from illegal use. One software dongle accompanies each copy of PackageIT. It must be properly installed at all times, in order for the application to execute. The dongle can be installed at the same time as other devices (e.g., scanner) on the same parallel port.

To install the PackageIT application

1 Insert the PackageIT CD into your CD-ROM drive, and if necessary, navigate to the setup.exe program and execute it. The InstallShield Wizard will display the following dialog boxes asking you to wait until the InstallShield Wizard is loaded.

2 Once the InstallShield Wizard is loaded, you will see the following window. Click the Next button to begin the installation.

3 The PackageIT License Agreement window now appears. Click the Yes button to accept the terms of the agreement and to continue the installation.

4 The Customer Information window appears next. Enter your information, and click Next to continue.

5 The Choose Destination window appears next. Either accept the default location, or enter a different location, and click Next to continue.

6 On the next window, you can select the type of installation you would like to perform. For most users, you should select Typical, then click Next to continue.

7 The next window will summarize your installation selections. If these appear correct, then click Next to begin copying the files to your system.

8 The next window will show you the progress of the file copy and program registration process.

9 When the installation has completed, you will see the following screen. Click the Finish button to close the installation program.

10 Install the PackageIT dongle into the parallel port on your computer. Note: if you need to unplug an existing parallel port cable in order to attach the PackageIT dongle, you should first shutdown and power off your system. After attaching the dongle and cable, restart your system.

Quick Start

This section will give you instructions on getting started right away with PackageIT. It will show you the most basic steps required to select an image to print, specify a unit type and count, and print the image. Detailed information on PackageIT’s extensive options can be found in the Reference section of this document.

Note that this section makes the following assumptions:

You have properly installed the PackageIT software according to the Installation instructions in the previous section.

You have properly installed the PackageIT dongle, thereby allowing PackageIT to verify that this is a licensed installation.

This system is attached to one of the printers supported by a PackageIT adapter (all adapters are automatically installed with PackageIT).

Starting PackageIT

Start PackageIT by double-clicking on the PackageIT icon, or selecting the PackageIT item from your Windows Start Menu.

PackageIT icon

The PackageIT window will appear as below. The first thing you will see is the PackageIT “sidebar,” which has large buttons that you can use to navigate to various screens in order to customize and operate PackageIT.

1. Specify your printer adapter

Before you can print with PackageIT, you must first tell PackageIT which printer you have installed. Click on the Adapters button on the sidebar to display the Adapters configuration screen.

Click the Adapters button to configure PackageIT for the correct adapter for your printer.

PackageIT main window

On the Adapters screen (below), select the appropriate adapter by double-clicking on one of the items in the listbox.

From this screen, you can specify most of the general options concerning your adapter. However, certain adapters supply additional specific settings. You can access these via the Options button near the bottom of the screen.

Additional, adapter-specific settings can be found here

Double-click to select your adapter

Adapter selection and configuration screen

2. Select a Unit type and count

Next, you will select the type and number of prints. First, navigate to the main Operation window by clicking the Operation button on the sidebar.

Then, display the available Layout Units by clicking on the Layout Units group button on the sidebar.

Click this group button to display the Layout Units

Select the prints to be produced by clicking on the ‘-’ or ‘+’ buttons under each of the desired print format icons. For example, if you want to produce sixteen 2.5x3.5 prints, you will need two (8x) 2.5x3.5 print sheets (since each sheet contains eight prints). Click the ‘+’ button under the 2.5x3.5 format twice until a two (2) appears under the format icon (see picture below).

Drag/drop files here to print, or use the File/Select menu item

Two sheets of 2.5x3.5 have been selected

3. Select an image file to print

Next, you will select one or more image files for which to print a package. You can accomplish this either by dragging and dropping image file(s) from Microsoft Windows Explorer directly onto the Preview picture, or you can use the Select Files menu item from the main File menu.

4. Print the package

If you have the “Autosend to Print Queue” option enabled, then the files will be sent to the print queue immediately after you have selected them. If the Autosend option is not enabled, then you can click the Print button to send the files to the print queue.

Once the job(s) are sent to the print queue, you may continue to perform other tasks with PackageIT, while the images are processed and printed in the background. You do not have to wait for jobs to complete before creating and sending additional jobs to the printer.

The status area of the Operation window will provide you with a summary of the status of image processing and print jobs.

Status area shows pending jobs, and resampling information

In addition, PackageIT has a detailed print job status window, which shows additional information including any failed jobs, printer status, etc.

PackageIT print queue server status window

Summary

This should give you enough information to get started with PackageIT. The remaining sections of this document will provide you with details of all of the application’s rich features, in order to help you maximize your productivity and make the most out of your experience with PackageIT.

When you first start the PackageIT application, the Operation screen is visible. You can use the Operation screen to manage your own Package definitions, initiate print jobs via drag/drop, preview the images being sent to the print queue, and view the status of the print queue server.

What is a Package?

A package defines what a print job will look like. It specifies which layout units are part of a print job, and how many of each unit should be printed. Also, you can specify various types of borders to be printed around your image. For example, you may wish to have a Package that consists of one sheet of 8x10’s, two sheets of 5x7’s and two sheets of wallet-sized images. Furthermore, you may want the 5x7 prints to have a small blue border around them. All of these settings are stored per package.

You can define any number of packages. You can also delete and rename existing packages. You can modify the definition of a given package at any time, and either save or discard the changes you make to a package definition.

When you initiate print jobs, all images will be printed using the currently selected package definition.

Below is a sample Operation screen, with Package A as the current package.

Package Management controls: add, delete, rename

Creating a Package definition

To create a new package definition, simply click on the New Package button on the Operation screen. PackageIT will provide a default unique name for the package. Either accept the new name, or enter a name of your choice, and click Okay.

Selecting a Package to be the current definition

To make an existing package the “current” package, either select it from the dropdown list on this screen, or select it from the Package menu on the menu bar. When you start PackageIT, it will remember the last package you used, and make it the initial current package.

Modifying a Package

To make changes to a package definition, simply add or remove units from the total count, and/or change any definitions of borders (on the Package Image Borders tab of the Unit Preferences screen.

Deleting a Package definition

To remove an existing package definition, simply select it, and click the Delete button. You will be prompted for confirmation to delete the package definition.

FTIP

You can enable or disable this confirmation, via the View/Options dialog.

Renaming a Package

To rename a package, simply select it, and click the Rename button. You will be prompted for a new name, which must be unique. When you click okay, the package will be renamed.

The Preview image

If you have the Image Preview option enabled (on the toolbar or the View/Preview menu), then as images are loaded from disk in preparation for being sent to the queue server, they will be displayed in the image preview area of this screen.

FTIP

Large images will take longer to load into the preview area, so if you are printing many very large images, you may want to disable the Image Preview option.

Clearing the Status area

The status area displays a running status of all resampling and download activity. You can scroll back through this display to view entries that have been made earlier. If you would like to clear the area, you can click the Clear button, which is just above the status area.

Adapters

The Image Preferences screen gives you a high degree of control over precisely how the prints will look when they are ultimately printed. You can specify many color management options, such as Brightness, Contrast, RGB levels, and HSV levels. You can also apply any of several “special effects” filters, such as embossing, pixellation, etc. Finally, you can enable image “overlays,” including an automatic overlay mechanism provided by PackageIT.

The Image Preferences screen also provides a preview image, where you can alter settings, and then apply them to a test image, in order to help evaluate the effect of the change, before actually printing the package. Below is a screenshot of this screen.

Modifying brightness/contrast settings

PackageIT allows you to modify the following contrast-related settings: brightness, contrast, black level, white level, highlight detail, and shadow detail. You will notice that each “slider” control displays its minimum and maximum values, as well as its current value.

To modify a value, you can either click on a position on the slider to reposition to that point; you can drag the slider knob left or right; you can use the up/right or down/left arrow keys; or you can simply type a number into the box to the right of the slider.

Modifying color settings

PackageIT allows you to modify the following color-related settings: gamma, hue, saturation, value, cyan-red, magenta-green, and yellow-blue.

Modifying special effects filters

PackageIT allows you to modify the following special effects filters: emboss, pixellize, smooth, solarize, as well as oilpaint, watercolor, and sharpen filters.

Previewing your modifications

You can make a modification to any setting, and immediately see how the change will look on a test image. To apply all current settings to the test image, click the Preview button. To reset the image and to reset all modifications to their default values, click the Reset button.

FTIP

You can change the image used in the preview window in one of two ways. You can overwrite the image file PackageIT uses on the disk for the preview image (called “ImagePrefs-Preview.jpg”). Or, you can simply drag/drop an image file onto the preview area. This will load your image, and store the filename as the new preview image. You can also select an image file to use on the PackageIT Options form (View/Options from the main menu).

Saving your modifications

You can send your current settings to the adapter, by clicking the Send button. If you would like to reset your settings to the current printer’s values, click the Refresh button.

Working with Overlays

The Overlay tab of this screen allows you to specify that an image will overlay each image as it is printed. You specify an overlay using two images. The first image is the overlay image itself. The second image is a “matte.” The matte essentially defines which areas of the overlay should be transparent, thus allowing the underlying image to show through.

The image overlay feature can be used to create a wide variety of special effects on the final prints. This includes special holiday or sports themes (e.g., trading cards), brochure or magazine cover images, corporate templates for photo business cards, and countless other situations where graphical overlays are desired. PackageIT installs several sample overlay files, to help get you started.

To enable overlay support, simply click the Use Single Overlay option, or the Use Overlay Template Folder option. If you select a single overlay, then you will identify the image and the matte files to PackageIT.

If you select the overlay template option, then during the resampling phase, PackageIT will automatically search the directory you specify, for overlay images that match the unit image specifications. This allows you to mix overlays within a package, because each unit image type (e.g., 3x5, 5x7) can have its own unique overlay, or even have no overlay.

You can create your own designs for overlays using off-the-shelf imaging tools (e.g., PhotoShop, PaintShop Pro), or download free or purchased overlays packs from the Internet.

The image and matte files

Both the overlay and matte files are required to process an overlay in PackageIT. The overlay file is a 24-bit RGB file, and the matte file is an 8-bit grayscale TIFF file. Both files must have the same pixel dimensions.

To build the final image to be printed, PackageIT essentially combines the pixels from the original image and the overlay image. The matte file is used to determine whether a given pixel comes from the original or overlay. For each pixel, if it is black in the matte file (pixel value of 0), then the source image pixel is used. If the pixel in the matte file is white (255), then the overlay image pixel is used. For example, to make a simple border overlay, the matte file will be black except for a border of white.

PackageIT supports 8-bit grayscale matte files in order to allow gradient transparency. For example, a pixel value of 127 in the matte file will use equal amounts of the associated pixels in both the original and overlay files. Essentially, the darker the pixel in the matte file, the more data will be used from the original image. This is useful for creating overlays with faded-edge borders, drop shadows, and graphics that appear to float over the image.

Overlay Template folder

In addition to specifying a single overlay to be used for a package, you may also instruct PackageIT to dynamically select overlay files based on the unit image types that are being printed. To enable this feature, you specify a “template” folder for PackageIT to look into while it is resampling your job.

In order for PackageIT to process the correct overlay files during the template folder processing, you must name these files according to a specific format. The filenames must also be in the same folder. You can have several completely different template folders. PackageIT supports the same naming convention that other package printing applications use. This will make it easier for you to migrate from other applications to PackageIT, or allow you to share these folders between different applications. Following is the supported naming convention:

Filename:

FaObRcd

Where:

F, O, R:constants

a : unit type number, starting from the top, i.e., 1 = 1.75 X 2.5, 2 = 2 X 3.5, 3 = 2.5 X 3.5, etc.

b : orientation, i.e., “l” (lower case L) = landscape, “p” = portrait

c : resolution, i.e., 200, 300, etc.

d : image type, i.e., “m” = matte file, “o” = overlay file

Please note that this naming convention does not include any file extension. PackageIT will automatically detect the image format. You must simply ensure that the overlay image is 24bpp and the matte image is 8bpp (grayscale).

A sample template pair might be files named F3OpR300o and F3OpR300m. These files represent the overlay and matte files, respectively, for format #3 (2.5x3.5), in portrait orientation and 300 dpi. For mixed sized formats such as 5x7+2.5x3.5, use a template designed for the larger of the images (i.e. 5 X 7).

The orientation that PackageIT will use for overlay templates is determined by the original source image’s orientation. Landscape images have a width that exceeds height while Portrait images have a height that exceeds the width.

Unit Preferences

The Unit Builder Plug-In will help you quickly and easily define your own Layout Units. Your new unit types will be automatically visible in PackageIT. You will be able to modify, replace, or delete any existing layout units. Also, you will be able to easily move your Layout Unit definitions between workstations.

Chapter

Frequently Asked Questions

Use this chapter to get answers to some questions you may have, including troubleshooting tips

ackageIT is a complex application, with many different aspects to its operation. For this reason, often questions come up that are best summarized in a “frequently asked questions” format. This will allow you to quickly see real-world answers to specific issues that you may encounter while using PackageIT. If you don’t find an answer here to a question you may have, please visit our website for a more up-to-date and comprehensive FAQ list.

Q. Following an install we get an error that one or more files is missing.

A. In addition to PackageIT files, there are system files also required. Due to the nature of the OLE architecture, PackageIT components require the following support files. Version numbers of the files that should automatically be installed with PackageIT should be equal to or greater than those listed here:

ASYCFILT.DLL 2.30.4261

MSVCRT.DLL 6.00.8168.0

OLEAUT32.DLL 2.30.4261

OLEPRO32.DLL 5.0.4261

STDOLE2.TLB 2.30.4261

Q. If I have a variable paper length printer, then what is the purpose of setting the paper length from the PackageIT Adapter Configuration Screen?

A. There may be instances where a fixed maximum length is to be set. Setting the Paper Length on a variable paper length printer only sets the maximum length paper to be used when printing a unit -- it does not mean every unit will be set to the new length.

*Note: to use the Landscape feature, Paper Length must be set to -1 to allow PackageIT to adjust on print length.

Q. I am trying to set Landscape mode on a fixed paper length printer, but there is no effect.

A. Landscape mode is only available on variable length paper printers.

Q. We have both an 8" printer and 10" printer and use PackageIT to print the same Package units on both. To optimize printing on 10" printer we use the Landscape option. The problem is some units do not look the same as when printed on the 8" printer. What can we do, for packaging and delivery, so that units look the same on both?

A. The Landscape feature optimizes all white space of paper to help overall processing time and eliminate the need for any post cutting prior to packaging and delivery. Traditionally, when printing on 8" paper widths, some units to not occupy the complete width of the paper and so there is white space to the left and right of images. With the Landscape feature, because the additional white space is now on the top and bottom of the unit, PackageIT will recognize the additional white space and eliminate it. Some printing situations, such as the one described in this question, require that the additional white space remain intact. To help achieve this, PackageIT installs with an undocumented registry entry that upon setting will leave all additional white space in the printed unit when utilizing the Landscape feature.

To set the entry, using the Windows utility regedit, locate the key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\VisImage PackageIT QueueServer

Expand the Key's tree and locate your Adapter. For example if using the 1.0 version of the File System Adapter this key would be:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\VisImage PackageIT QueueServer\ PIQSFileSystem\1.0

Locate the registry entry CropWhiteOnLandscape and change its value from True to False typing the values as they appear here. When the registry entry CropWhiteOnLandscape=True, all units with any white space will be cropped. When it is False, all units will be printed the same in both regular and Landscape

Q. With all the Adapter Configurations set and the PackageIT Package Information set, we would like to backup these settings to a safe place in case a re-install has to be done.

A. PackageIT and the PackageIT Adapters store their settings in the Windows Registry. Using the Windows utility RegEdit you can export the settings to a .reg file.

For restoring the settings you only need to double-click the registry file and Windows will import the settings for you automatically.

The PackageIT registry entry can be found at:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\VisImage PackageIT

For PackageIT Adapters’ registry entries can be found at:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\VisImage PackageIT QueueServer

Q. On occasion we experience a 'banding' artifact while printing units on a Sienna FotoPrint Series Digital Printer. What can we do to help prevent this?

A. There can be times where the machine attached to the Sienna FotoPrint Printer is taxed due to heavy processing by PackageIT and the addition of other applications processing images (such as Adobe PhotoShop). This taxing of the CPU can cause downloads to the FotoPrint Printer to be interrupted just enough to produce a banding artifact on the resulting printed unit.

To avoid this you should isolate the machines use for the purpose of Package Printing.

Another alternative is to bump the thread priority of the PackageIT Download Thread from Normal to Highest. This can be accomplished from the Adapter Configuration screen of the FotoPrint Adapter. Bumping the thread priority to highest will guarantee, at the OS level, that during the download of a unit no other application thread can interrupt the download thread. In testing, we have found this to be a workable solution to preventing the banding artifact when working in more than one application while downloading.

Q. How do we setup PackageIT to utilize the Gretag CrewSystem HotFolder for use with NetPrinter?

A. By default, the PackageIT NetPrinter Adapter will attempt to find the HotFolder. If the HotFolder is not found, a message will appear in the status window regarding the unavailability of the Gretag NetPrinter Printer. If the CrewSystem Hotfolder is installed on a separate machine, then you can enter the UNC name of the folder in the PackageIT Adapter Configuration 'Destination Folder' field. Once set, the NetPrinter Adapter will verify it is a valid CrewSystem HotFolder and begin using the new settings. An example of a typical UNC name would be: \\servername\pathdirs\SharedFolderName\

It is important to note that the designated CrewSystem Hotfolder is required to be a Shared folder on your network for both the Crew System Software and PackageIT NetPrinter Adapter Software to function properly.

Q. When selecting the NetPrinter Adapter the following message appears in the Status Window: “Crew System HotFolder Location could not be found. Please shutdown PackageIT and ensure Gretag Crew HotFolder Client is installed.”

A. This indicates an incorrect setup of the CrewSystem Hotfolder. Please follow the instructions regarding installing Gretag Crew HotFolder Client.

In addition, the folder must be a Shared Folder with appropriate User Permissions assigned. Refer to your Windows documentation for both Sharing and assigning Permissions to the Users requiring access to the HotFolder.

Q. We want to utilize our low-end inkjet printers with PackageIT. Is there a way to do this?

A. Although inkjet printers were never intended for photographic use, recent innovations and the advancements of paper have yielded some satisfying prints at a low cost. To support an inkjet printer from PackageIT you need to select the WinPrinter Adapter and ensure your inkjet printer is set as the default printer in your Windows Printer Folder. The PackageIT WinPrinter Adapter has no facility for selecting a Windows Printer and so it can only rely on using the available selected Default Printer.

To generate better photographic quality prints with your inkjet printer, we recommend the following inkjet paper products from Kodak.

- KODAK Ultimate Picture Paper for borderless InkJet Prints (available with gloss and matte finishes)

Q. There are times we find .tga image files and .xml files in the CrewSystem HotFolder. What are these and should we do anything with them?

A. There exists the condition where a PackageIT Job may orphan a Unit. For communication with NetPrinter, a Job's Unit is made up of an .xml file and a .tga file. These files are placed in the CrewSystem Hotfolder to be read by NetPrinter. When NetPrinter has completed processing the request, PackageIT will clean the file out of the HotFolder. If for some reason NetPrinter fails, PackageIT will leave the Job in the HotFolder so that when NetPrinter comes back online it can resume where it left off. In that situation if PackageIT has been shut down and restarted, then the .xml and .tga files will be orphaned because PackageIT no longer is aware of their existence. If the print has been completed and PackageIT is shut down then, then it is safe to remove these files from the CrewSystem HotFolder.

Q. We print using a Sienna FotoPrint and on Half Page prints the separation between pages is too small. How can we increase the distance between the pages?

A. Both the NetPrinter and FotoPrinter Adapters provide four registry entries to tweak the printing offset of the Left and Top Border Margins. These settings are not available on the PackageIT user interface, and so can only be modified through regedit.

We can only recommend a set of values with which we know existing customers have has success. The following values have been used successfully with Sienna FotoPrint in conjunction with PackageIT. The following registry entries are in mils and can be found in:

For NetPrinter:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\VisImage PackageIT QueueServer\PIQSNetPrinter\1.0

For FotoPrint:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\VisImage PackageIT QueueServer\PIQSFotoPrint\1.0

left border 0

left borderhalf page 0

top border 0

top border halfpage 72

The following values are settable from the FotoPrint system panel. If you are unsure about setting these values you should contact your Sienna FotoPrint representative.

CO IMAGE SIZE TRIM 1004/1000

CO pagesize trim 1016/1000

CO TOP MARGIN TRIM 140mils

Q. In working with PackageIT and NetPrinter we found that the units of a Job are not sent to NetPrinter until all the units of a Job are available. Is there a way to get available units of a Job printing while remaining units are being prepared?

A. By design, the NetPrinter Adapter submits NetPrinter XML Jobs to the Crew System Hotfolder using Batch Mode. This requires all units of a Job be available at the time of submitting to NetPrinter and guarantees that the units will be printed in one Batch. An alternative is to have PackageIT submit a NetPrtinter XML Job per PackageIT Unit. This would allow printing to begin immediately. However, NetPrinter does not guarantee the order in which the unit images are printed. Also, there have been reports of an XML overloading condition with the Crew System Hot Folder which results in units being dropped. If it is decided to print units upon availability and erroneous behaviors are exhibited by Crew System Hot Folder then it is advised to switch back to printing in Batch Mode.

To switch modes, use the undocumented registry entry 'Submit Job As Batch' found in the following location:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\VisImage PackageIT QueueServer\PIQSNetPrinter

When 'Submit Job As Batch' is True, then a PackageIT Job is submitted to NetPrinter in Batch Mode. When 'Submit Job As Batch' is False then a PackageIT Job is submitted upon Unit availability.

Q. How do we control the Windows Printer Driver when using the PackageIT WinPrinter Adapter?

A. By design, the PackageIT WinPrinter Adapter does not allow setting properties of the Windows Printer Driver. All attributes with respect to PackageIT are available for setting, however specific attributes regarding the Windows Printer Driver must be changed from your Desktop Printer Folder. The PackageIT WinPrinter Adapter uses the Default Printer (found in your Desktop Printer Folder) and its current settings when rendering PackageIT Job Units. To change these settings open your Printer Folder and right-click on the default printer. A popup menu will direct you to any number of items to help configure the Windows Printer Driver.

Q. We use PackageIT and the PackageIT WinPrinter Adapter with Adobe's Distiller printer Driver to allow us to generate PDF files of our customer's job at a low resolution for viewing over the Web before purchasing. The problem we are experiencing is that the PackageIT WinPrinter Adapter always submits a PackageIT Job as a ~~one~~ single Windows Printer Job. This results in the Adobe Distiller Printer Driver creating one PDF per Job. Ideally, we'd like to have each PackageIT Job Unit as its own PDF. Is there a way to have the PackageIT WinPrinter Adapter submit each unit of a Job as a single Windows Printer Job so that there is a single PDF per Unit?

A. By default, the PackageIT WinPrinter Adapter will submit PackageIT Jobs as Windows Print Jobs. You can set a registry entry to change this behavior so that each unit of a PackageIT Job is its own Windows Print Job. To switch modes use the undocumented registry entry 'Submit Job As Batch' found in the following location:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\VisImage PackageIT QueueServer\PIQSWinPrinter

When 'Submit Job As Batch' is True then a PackageIT Job is submitted to Windows as a complete Print Job. When 'Submit Job As Batch' is False then a Windows Print Job is submitted per PackageIT Job Unit.

Q. When using the PackageIT WinPrinter Adapter our Windows Printer Driver fails. Is there anything we can do to help prevent this?

A. There are two settings that can help when it comes to Windows Printer Driver problems when working with PackageIT.

If your printer driver offers a 'Print directly to Printer' then set this vs. printing to a Spooler.

If your printer drivers only offers a spooler then set the format to RAW vs. EMF.

Q. There are times when using the PackageIT WinPrinter Adapter that no prints come out. We can see the Jobs in Windows Printer Manager but it never gets printed. What could be wrong?

A. We have seen this behavior only with Printers that have a PowerSave Mode. Insure that the printer is not in PowerSave Mode when you begin printing (i.e. HPs have a Green Go button, press this to bring printer active).

Job Separator Builder

Unit Builder

Voice: 215-412-0260

Fax: 215-412-0156

Email: support@visolu.com

Website: www.visolu.com/PackageIT