Frequently Asked Questions

This FAQ covers most of the questions that come up with the installation and use of ArcPress for ArcView. If you cannot find the answer you are looking for here, visit the online discussion forum.

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How does the ArcPress for ArcView extension work?

The ArcPress for ArcView extension has a built-in graphics metafile rasterizer, converting maps produced in ArcView (including images) into specific raster formats for your printers or image programs.

Your maps are sent to the extension using a Postscript file. This file is then transformed into the specified printer or image format. The output files created by the ArcPress extension can be directly read by the printer without any conversion, allowing users to send large, complex maps without running out of memory on the printer.

This conversion also allows the print times to be much faster. The extension allows page management tools such as cropping of output, scaling of output, banner creation, and tiling output across many pages.

Do I need the ArcPress for ArcView extension?

The ArcPress extension provides an enhanced interface to a set of printers and image formats. In many cases, the printer drivers are not optimized for the quantity and variety of data used in producing maps. Some printers require the purchase of additional memory or printer options (Postscript cards) to be able to work with the complex features from maps. The ArcPress extension allows you to use your existing hardware.

In addition, ArcPress for ArcView provides advanced page management such as tiling, banners, cropping, or scaling of your plot files and image files.

Can I use the default Windows printer drivers if I'm running Microsoft Windows?

Yes. The Windows printer drivers provide an excellent printing solution. Many people do not need to go beyond the default printer drivers, but some users need more enhanced printer and formatting control.

In particular, some printer drivers do not allow enough customization of the printed image and control of page size and placement, or they may not be able to handle the large file sizes when producing maps or the variety of data being plotted on a map. The ArcPress for ArcView extension was created to address these concerns.

What does the ArcPress for ArcView extension create?

Output from the ArcPress extension is in a variety of specified formats. These formats are either in printer language or an image file for use with other applications.

Supported output printer formats are

• Canon BubbleJet (CBJ) — color and monochrome
• Hewlett–Packard Deskjets and Laserjets (PCL 3 and PCL 5)
• EPSON Stylus Pro series (ESC/P2) — color and monochrome
• Hewlett–Packard Raster Transfer Language (RTL) — color and monochrome
• CalComp TechJet Format (CCRF-IL) — color and monochrome
• CalComp Electrostatic Format (CCRF) — color and monochrome
• Versatec Raster Format (VRF) — color and monochrome
• Raster Graphics Input (RGI) — color and monochrome

Supported output image formats

• TIFF
• JPEG
• PNG
• PCX
• BMP
• BIP, BIL, BSQ
• PBM, PGM, PPM

How do I use the ArcPress for ArcView extension in ArcView?

The ArcPress for ArcView extension adds a menu and a button to the ArcView interface, allowing ArcView users to print the current View or Layout to any of the supported devices using the ArcView EPS file format as the basis of the translation.

What other advantages are there to using this extension?

In addition to creating printer and image format files, the extension has a number of other page layout and adjustment options such as

• Page size
• Page units
• Page margins
• Page cropping
• Scale
• Rotation
• Color mode (CMYK, CMK, RGB, b/w, grayscale)
• Pixel depth
• DPI
• Dithering algorithm
• Paneling to multiple pages
• Tile page across multiple paper width
• Addition of trim lines
• Adjust CMYK color range
• Adjust total color saturation