The Epson 1200 photo printer
============================

The are directions for printing super good quality color pictures from the
Epson photo printer.

There are seperate directions here for files with just images ( starting as
a .bmp, .gif, .jpg, ... file ) and files that include images and text ( .ps,
.eps, .pdf ).  For both, at least for now, you will have to ftp
your file over to one of the PC's in the front lab.  
They are different because the .ps, .eps, and .pdf formats store information
about the fonts that you don't get out of other image formats.  You will get
mediocre quality fonts out of your print if you don't follow these
directions.
There are a few printing options you should know about, too, which I will 
summarize at the end.

Files that are all image
========================

For files that only contain image data the directions are pretty simple. 
First make sure your file is in a common image format, eg. .gif, .jpg, .bmp. 
If it isn't you can use the convert program on one of the unices.  It works
like this:

convert blah.jpg blah.bmp

As easy as that, and you've converted a jpeg to a bitmap.

Then ftp your file to ilsa or emerald ( the PC's ), open your image in an
image viewing program like picture viewer or photoshop.

Files that are both image and text
==================================


First ftp your file to one of the PC's.  If your file is .pdf already skip
the next step, otherwise you now need to convert your .ps or .eps file into
a .pdf.  To convert, start Acrobat distiller ( there is a shortcut to
acrodist.exe on the desktop ).  There are many options you can set in this
program, the only one that you may have to worry about is in Distiller->Job
Options->Advanced.  Make sure "convert CMYK to RGB" is NOT set, otherwise
your color palette may be shifted.  Use File->Open to open your file.  It'll
ask you where you save your .pdf, and you're all set.

Now open your .pdf with Acrobat Exchange.  

Print Options
=============

Once you've opened your image with the program you are going to use to print
it, choose File->Print and select the epson stylus 1200 printer.  There 
should be a "Properties" button in the print window ( well, for Acrobat, 
you press the "Setup" button first then the "Properties" button ).  There 
are a couple of settings here you may want to change.

Paper Type:  select plain paper or photo paper (I'm not sure if this option
 		really makes a difference)

Speed-Quality:  You'll probably want to slide this all the way to Quality.


You should as a result end up with a beautiful image which you would be
proud to publish.

I encourage you all to try this process a couple times with a picture of mom
or something else to work out confusion kinks before it comes time to print
out the thesis or poster project.  It only takes a couple minutes.

I'm working on a way to automate all of this somehow so people can print
from their Solaris desktops, but that will take a good amount of time.
If, in the meantime, you find this process annoying, all I can say is
"remember nell".


Other things
============

Paper Choice
============
For normal paper, it is preferred that you choose from  the epson papers 
which reside next to the printer itself.

For transparencies, be sure to use the epson transparencies.  Other
transparencies don't seem to work as well.


Computer
--------

At the moment only ilsa can print to the epson printer.  Ilsa is the
computer which the printer is attached to.