Print to a file & send it to another for printing?

[Sylvander]

An image in Adobe Photoshop has been resized to fit a specific paper size then printed to a file.

Is it possible to print this file, and if so, how?

Can the file then be sent to someone else and printed on their PC, and if so, how?

[shanmuga]

Sylvander, can you tell why the image was printed to a file,instead of being saved normally? and also are you able to verify the extension of the file printed this way?:confused: I think if you are able to open the file, then you will be able to print it. If you are able to print it then 'some one else' will also be able to print it. :D

[Sylvander]

Hello shanmuga.

Someone I know had a problem printing an image file so as to fit the paper size available.
She didn’t have a sophisticated program that would do this.
She sent me the file and I used Adobe Photoshop to print the file to any of a range of selected paper sizes, but it would not “Save” the file such that it would print to a selected paper size. I needed a way to send her a file so she could print it at the required size without having a program that will fit it to the paper size.
I found when I was printing that the option to “Print to a file” was available and I assumed that it would be a simple matter to select the required page size, then “Print to a file”, then send her the file and she would send it to her printer.
Not so, it seems.
I saw some instructions on the web that showed you how to do this [for Windows NT] by installing a “Generic/Text Only” printer driver [installed and configured just right] and adding some settings to the Registry, but It didn’t explain a method for our O.S’s.
See this http://www.jsiinc.com/SUBA/tip0100/rh0117.htm
And this http://www.bu.edu/pcsc/ftp/psprinting/
And this http://www.jwwalker.com/pages/pdf.html

The resulting file has a “.prn” extension and I have seen a suggestion to change it to “.ps” but both of these produce the warning:
“This file does not have a Program associated with it for performing this action. Create an association in My Computer by clicking View and then clicking Folder Options.”
The problem is that I don’t know which Program would handle the Print job.

[Paul Komski]

It's a few years since I have done this - but the method used to be to have the correct printer "installed on the pc" as one of the available printers to choose from. One would need to install the printer software which one was going to use for the print job. For example I once had no printer of my own but there was one at work that I could use - so I installed it on my pc even though it was never physically attached to my pc.

Printing to file produced the relevant *.prn file which was then bought to where the physical printer was installed and then used to print the output correctly. It could be moved using a floppy, cd, eMail, etc.

Graphic designers often use similar methodology to produce large high quality posters printed by a specialised publishing company - having designed the stuff on their own computers first.

I think that you can either drag and drop the .prn file onto the correct printer icon in windows - or have tha correct printer as default and then copy to LPT1 (from dos or from the run command if I remember) for example. USB printer might be more tricky.

[shanmuga]

Found some relevant info and links from searching teoma,

"When creating PRN files on one computer but you intend to print the PRN files on another computer , you MUST use the same printer on both computers . This will require the installation of the same printer driver on the originating computer. This is to insure proper printing. Prn files are simply an image of the printer data for a specified printer . All printer settings are also saved in the prn files ie paper type , resolution etc..

For Example

The "Printing" computer
OS = Windows 98
Installed Printer = Canon BJC-6000

The Originating computer ( the computer that creates the PRN file)
OS = Windows XP
Printer driver required to be installed : Canon BJC-6000 ( XP driver not Windows 98 )
Must have a postscript printer to print postscript"

------------------------------------------------------------------------

How to print PRN files (If you print thro parallel port)
If you print from a Windows program and choose to save the print output as a file, most likely you'll end-up with a *.PRN (created using a PCL printer driver) or a *.PS file (created using a PostScript printer driver).
Once you have this *.PRN (or *.PS) file, it's very easy to send them to the printer to finally get a print out:
Go to the "DOS Prompt" or the "Command Prompt"
Assuming that the file you're about to print is called my_chart.prn and your printer is connected to LPT1: (parallel port number one), type:

COPY my_chart.prn LPT1 /B

and press ENTER

Check this link (http://www.expertsexchange.com/Applications/Q_20672908.html) for printing in USB printer

What is Free Raw Print (http://www.fileheaven.com/Free-Raw-Print/download/2574.htm)
"Send raw PRN files directly to a printer"

How to print .prn, .ps files in Win 9x (http://www-ee.eng.hawaii.edu/~msmith/XCoNET/Demonstation/printprn.htm)

Hope this helps.

[Sylvander]

Many thanks.

I have now managed to send the ".prn" file to my own printer using both MS-DOS and by dragging & dropping it onto the shortcut to the batch file.

Both printed perfectly.

I'll have to wait and see if the other person wants to give this method a try or install a sophisticated image manipulation program instead.

Did you notice there was a small error in step 10?

It should advise the reader to highlight [select] the "Print" action and click "Set as Default".