path: root/support/poster/poster.txt

POSTER(1)                                               POSTER(1)


NAME
       poster  -  Scale  and  tile a postscript image to print on
       multiple pages

SYNOPSIS
       poster <options> infile

DESCRIPTION
       Poster can be used to create a large poster by building it
       from multiple pages and/or printing it on large media.  It
       expects as input a generic (encapsulated) postscript file,
       normally printing on a single page.  The output is again a
       postscript file, maybe containing multiple pages  together
       building  the  poster.  The output pages bear cutmarks and
       have slightly overlapping images  for  easier  assembling.
       The  input  picture  will  be scaled to obtain the desired
       size.

       The program uses  a  brute-force  method:  it  copies  the
       entire  input  file for each output page, hence the output
       file can be very large.  Since the program does not really
       bother about the input file contents, it clearly works for
       both black-and-white and color postscript.

       To control its operation, you need to specify  either  the
       size  of  the  desired  poster  or  a scale factor for the
       image:

       - Given the poster size, it calculates the required number
         of  sheets  to print on, and from that a scale factor to
         fill these sheets optimally with the input image.

       - Given a scale factor, it derives the required number  of
         pages  from  the  input  image  size,  and positions the
         scaled image centered on this area.

       Its  input  file  should  best  be  a  real  `Encapsulated
       Postscript' file (often denoted with the extension .eps or
       .epsf).  Such files can be generated from about  all  cur­
       rent  drawing applications, and text processors like Word,
       Interleaf and Framemaker.
       However poster tries  to  behave  properly  also  on  more
       relaxed, general postscript files containing a single page
       definition.  Proper operation is obtained for instance  on
       pages generated by (La)TeX and (g)troff.

       The  media  to print on can be selected independently from
       the input image size and/or the poster size.  Poster  will
       determine by itself whether it is beneficial to rotate the
       output image on the media.

       To  preview  the  output  results  of  poster  and/or   to
       (re-)print  individual  output  pages,  you  should  use a
       postscript previewer like ghostview(1).



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POSTER(1)                                               POSTER(1)


OPTIONS
       -v Be verbose. Tell about scaling, rotation and number  of
          pages.
          Default is silent operation.

       -f Ask  manual media feed on the plotting/printing device,
          instead of using its standard paper tray.
          Default is adhering to the device settings.

       -i <box>
          Specify the size of the input image.
          Default is reading the image size from the `%%Bounding­
          Box' specification in the input file header.

       -m <box>
          Specify  the  desired media size to print on. See below
          for <box>.
          The default is set at compile time,  being  A4  in  the
          standard package.

       -p <box>
          Specify  the  poster  size. See below for <box>.  Since
          poster will autonomously choose  for  rotation,  always
          specify  a  `portrait'  poster  size  (i.e. higher then
          wide).
          If you don't give the -s  option,  the  default  poster
          size is identical to the media size.

       -s <number>
          Specify  a linear scaling factor to produce the poster.
          Together with the input image size  and  optional  mar­
          gins,  this  induces  an  output  poster size. So don't
          specify both -s and -p.
          Default is deriving the scale factor  to  fit  a  given
          poster size.

       -c <box> or -c <number>%
          Specify  the  cut  margin. This is the distance between
          the cutmarks and the  paper  edge.  If  the  output  is
          really tiled on multiple sheets, the cut marks indicate
          where to cut the paper for assembly.  This margin  must
          be  big  enough to cover the non-printable margin which
          almost all printers have. For <box> see below.
          Default is 5%. Only when you specify  identical  poster
          and  media  sizes,  the  default  cut margin becomes 0,
          effectively removing the cutmarks.

       -w <box> or -w <number>%
          Specify a white margin around the output image.
          In the `ideal' situation  (when  an  input  `eps'  file
          specifies an exact BoundingBox in its header), the out­
          put image will be scaled exactly to the  edges  of  the
          resulting  poster  (minus  cut margin). If you desire a
          certain margin  to  remain  around  the  picture  after



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POSTER(1)                                               POSTER(1)


          poster assembly, you can specify this with `-w'.
          (This  option  is  actually  redundant,  since  you can
          obtain the same result using -s  or  -i.  However  some
          might find this more convenient.)
          Default is 0.

       -o <outputfile>
          Specify  the name of the file to write the output into.
          (Only added for those poor people  who  cannot  specify
          output  redirection  from  their  command line due to a
          silly OS.)
          Default is writing to standard output.

       The <box> mentioned above is a specification of horizontal
       and  vertical  size.   Only  in  combination with the `-i'
       option, the program also understands the offset specifica­
       tion in the <box>.
       In general:
            <box> = [<multiplier>][<offset>]<unit>
       with multipier and offset being specified optionally.
            <multiplier> = <number>*<number>
            <offset> = +<number>,<number>
            <unit> = <medianame> or <distancename>

       Many  international media names are recognised by the pro­
       gram, in upper and lower case, and  can  be  shortened  to
       their  first  few  characters,  as  long  as  unique.  For
       instance `A0', `Let'.
       Distance names are like `cm', `i', `ft'.


EXAMPLES
       The following command prints an A4  input  file  on  8  A3
       pages, forming an A0 poster:
                poster -v -iA4 -mA3 -pA0 infile >outfile

       The  next command prints an eps input image on a poster of
       3x3 Letter pages:
                poster -v -mLet -p3x3Let  image.eps > outfile

       The next command enlarges an eps input image to print on a
       large-media A0 capable device, maintaining 2 inch margins:
                poster -v -mA0 -w2x2i image.eps > outfile

       Enlarge a postscript image exactly 4 times, print  on  the
       default  A4  media, and let poster determine the number of
       pages required:
                poster -v -s4 image.eps > outfile









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POSTER(1)                                               POSTER(1)


       Scale a postscript image to a poster  of  about  1  square
       meter,  printing  on  `Legal'  media, maintaining a 10% of
       `Legal' size as white margin around the poster.
                poster -v -mLegal -p1x1m -w10% infile.ps >outfile


PROBLEMS & QUESTIONS
   I get a blurry image and/or interference patterns
       If  your input file contains -or consists of- pixel images
       (as opposed to just vector data which is essentially reso­
       lution  independent),  you  might have this problem.  Such
       pixel images are normally made to fit well to standard 300
       (or  600)  dpi  devices.   Scaling  such a picture with an
       uncarefully chosen factor, can easily lead to  hazy  edges
       and  interference patterns on the output.  The solution is
       to provide poster with an exact scaling factor  (with  the
       -s  option),  chosen  as an integer. If integer scaling is
       unpractical for your purpose, choose a  fractional  number
       made from a small integer denominator (2, 3, 4).

   Can I select only a small part of a given input picture?
       Yes,  for this purpose you can define both the size (width
       and height) and offset (from left and bottom) of a  window
       on  the input image.  Specify these numbers as argument to
       a `-i' command line option.
       One way to obtain such numbers is previewing the  original
       image with ghostview, and observing the coordinate numbers
       which it  continually  displays.   These  numbers  are  in
       postscript units (points), named by poster as just `p'.

   Poster doesn't seem to work properly, output pages are empty
       The  major cause for poster not to work correctly, is giv­
       ing it postscript files  which  don't  conform  to  proper
       'eps' behaviour.  Try whether your application (or printer
       driver) cannot generate real 'encapsulated postscript'.

   If I ask for a 50x50cm poster, it always  generates  something
       bigger
       Yes,  probably. When specifying a desired output size with
       the `-p' option,  poster  first  determines  an  array  of
       sheets  to cover such an area.  Then it determines a scale
       factor for the picture to fill  these  sheets  upto  their
       edge. As result your requested size is used as rough guess
       only.  If you want an exact output size, specify the scal­
       ing  factor  yourself  with  the `-s' option (and omit the
       `-p').

   I want to keep the white space around  the  poster  as  in  my
       original
       Poster  will  as default use the input image bounding box,
       and scale/translate that to the edges of your poster.   If
       the  program  which generated your input file specifies an
       exact and tight %%BoundingBox, you will indeed loose  your
       white margin.  To keep the original margin, specify a `-i'



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POSTER(1)                                               POSTER(1)


       option with as argument the papersize on which the  origi­
       nal  document  was  formatted  (such as `-iA4').  Alterna­
       tively specify a smaller scale  factor  (with  -s)  or  an
       explicit new margin (with -w).


POSTER ASSEMBLY
       Our  preferred  method  for  the assembly of a poster from
       multiple sheets is as follows:

       - Arrange the sheets in the proper order on a large  table
         or on the floor.

       - Remove  from  all sheets, except from those in the left­
         most column or bottom row, their left and bottom cutmar­
         gin.

       - In left-to-right and bottom-to-top order, glue the right
         (and top) cutmargin and  stick  the  right  (and  upper)
         neighbouring page on top of that.

       - Turn  the  glued-together  poster  face  bottom, and put
         adhesive tape on the sheet edges (on the backside of the
         poster) for more strength.

       - Remove the remaining cutmargin around the poster.


DEVICE SETTINGS
       For postscript level-2 capable printers/plotters, which is
       about all modern postscript  devices  today,  poster  will
       send device settings in its output file.  This consists of
       a `setpagedevice' call, setting:

       - the media size.
         This is required for all printers I know to get  correct
         behaviour on different media/picture sizes.

       - duplexing off.
         Some  printers will otherwise perform double-side print­
         ing by default.  Clearly that is not what  you  want  to
         print a poster.

       - manual media feed.
         This  is  given  only  when poster was executed with the
         `-f' command line option. This is a  convenient  feature
         if  you  want  to print your job on different media than
         normally installed in the paper tray, and you  are  sub­
         mitting  your  job  through  a multi-user networking and
         spooling environment.

       These settings cause proper device behaviour, without  the
       need  to  manually interact with the printer settings, and
       has been here locally tested to work on devices  like  the



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POSTER(1)                                               POSTER(1)


       HP300XL and HP650C.

       The  settings  thus  passed  in  the postscript file, will
       affect the device for this job only.


DSC CONFORMANCE
       Poster will generate its own  DSC  header  and  other  DSC
       lines  in  the output file, according the `Document Struc­
       turing Conventions - version 3.0', as written down in  the
       `Postscript Language Reference Manual, 2nd ed.' from Adobe
       Systems Inc, Addison Wesley Publ comp., 1990.

       It will copy any `%%Document...' line from the input  file
       DSC  header to its own header output. This is used here in
       particular for required nonresident fonts.

       However the copy(s) of the input file included in the out­
       put,  are  stripped  from  all  lines starting with a `%',
       since they tend to disturb our `ghostview'  previewer  and
       take useless space anyhow.


SEE ALSO
       ghostview(1)


CONTRIBUTED BY
       Jos van Eijndhoven (email: J.T.J.v.Eijndhoven@ele.tue.nl)
       Design Automation Section (http://www.ics.ele.tue.nl)
       Dept. of Elec. Eng.
       Eindhoven Univ of Technology
       The Netherlands
       24 August, 1995























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