Send Images to Printer

The Send Images to Printer Action task is used to send images to a printer so they can be used as resources by PlanetPress Suite (Design) documents run on the printer. It is comparable to the Download to Printer Action task (see Download to Printer), but includes image specific options. Furthermore, this task can be used to send images not only to printers, but also to the virtual drive of other computers running PlanetPress Workflow applications. Note that each Sent Images to Printer Action task must be followed by a Printer Queue Output task set to 'pass-through' (No document), in order for the images to be actually sent to that printer.

Images sent to a printer are stored in the root folder of the printer’s hard disk, while images sent to the virtual drive of another computer are stored in a sub-folder of the PlanetPress Workflow folder.

Input

Any image file that you wish to upload to the printer.

Processing

The currently active image data file converted to PostScript. The image's resolution, scan orientation, and quality can be modified, depending on the selected option. All files are converted into PostScript format for storage on the printer. If a virtual drive, the file is automatically sent to it.

Output

A PostScript file containing the necessary code to save the data file on the hard drive.

Task properties

General Tab
  • Scan orientation: Select Side to side for images that will be printed in their original orientation on a portrait oriented page, or in a rotated orientation on a landscape page. Select Top to bottom for images that will be printed in a rotated orientation on a portrait oriented page, or in a rotated orientation on a portrait oriented page. Note that images that are meant to be printed in various ways can be stored twice on the printer as two identical copies of the same file that bear different names (Image_Original.tif and Image_Rotated.tif, for example). The first copy can be processed using a Send Images to Printer action task with the scan orientation set to Side to side, the second one with a different Send Images to Printer action task with the scan orientation set to Top to bottom, each one typically being included on two different branches of the same process.
  • Color conversion: Select As is to keep the color information included in the images. Select Grayscale to convert color images to gray scale.
  • Naming convention: Select ’File name, original’ to store the file under its original file name. Select ’File name, no extension’ to store the file without its original file name extension. Note that all characters are converted to uppercase and that extended characters (characters, such as é, for example) are not recommended in image file names.
  • Image quality: Select the same image quality chosen in the PlanetPress Design documents that reference the image files you are sending. In PlanetPress Design, this setting is included in the document’s resource options.
  • Image compression level: Select the level at which you want images to be compressed. Values can range from 1 (compress up to 1% of the image’s original size) to 100 (do not compress). For example if you set this box to 75, the Image Downloader compresses all images by 75% when it converts those image to PostScript. The default compression level is 70%.
  • Send to Virtual Drive of: Select the computers and / or printers to which the images are to be sent.
  • Refresh: Click to prompt PlanetPress Workflow to look again for available printers and computers.
  • Hard disk name and path: You may enter the name and path of the hard disk to which you want to send the images. Needless to say that this option is used if the device to which you are sending the images has multiple hard drives.
  • Print confirmation page: Select to print a confirmation page on each one of the selected printers after an image has been successfully received.
On Error Tab

For a description of the options on the On Error tab see Using the On Error tab.

Miscellaneous Tab

The Miscellaneous tab is common to all tasks.

It contains a text area (Task comments) that lets you write comments about the task. These comments are saved when the dialog is closed with the OK button and are displayed in the Task Comments Pane.

Check the option Use as step description to display the text next to the icon of the plugin in the Process area.

The tab also provides an option to highlight the task in The Process area with the default color, set in the Preferences (see General appearance preferences), or the color selected or defined under Highlight color on this tab.
To revert the selected highlight color to the default color, open this tab, turn the Highlight option off and close the dialog with the OK button; then turn highlighting back on.
Highlighting can also be turned on and off via the task's contextual menu and with the Highlight button on the View ribbon.