printdm - print .3d files on a dot-matrix printer

printdm [options] .3d file ...

Printdm produces output suitable for most dot-matrix printers, and also for Canon BJ inkjet printers. It supports 8, 9, and 24 pin Epson-compatible dot-matrix printers. The 9 pin dump is about 10% faster than the 8 pin, but some old printers will not support it. Printdm supports printers which support Epson's ESC/P codes, and also those which support IBM's ProPrinter codes.

The configuration file print.ini, which sets various features for each printer. See the 'Printer Settings' section for details. Even if your printer is not standard you should be able get it to work by customising one of the supplied definitions.

The command line options are:

--survey=SURVEY

Only load the sub-survey SURVEY

-e, --elevation

select elevation

-p, --plan

select plan view

-b, --bearing=BEARING

set bearing

-t, --tilt=TILT

set tilt

-s, --scale=SCALE

set scale

-n, --station-names

display station names

-c, --crosses

display crosses at stations

-B, --no-border

turn off the solid border around the edge of the survey. Printing to dot-matrix and inkjet printers can be significantly faster without this border as the printhead usually doesn't need to move all the way to the edge of the paper.

-C, --no-cutlines

If a printout takes more than one page, alignment ticks are printed where the page corners need to be joined. By default dash lines are also drawn along internal edges to facilitate trimming down the page with scissors. If you have a guillotine, the alignment ticks are sufficient for trimming the page and this option allows you to turn off the dashed lines.

-l, --no-legs

turn off display of survey legs

-S, --surface

turn on display of surface survey legs. By default only underground survey legs are shown.

-k, --skip-blanks

don't output blank pages With this option pages which are blank (apart from alignment marks and borders) will not be printed.

-o, --output=OUTPUT

set output file

--calibrate

print out calibration page

When you run the printer driver you will be asked if you want a plan or elevation (enter <P>, or <E>) - the default is plan. Then enter values for the desired plot view. These values correspond to those displayed in the bottom right hand corner when using Aven (or the top right when using caverot). You would usually use Aven or caverot to pick the best view and then note the angles before running the Printer Driver. This will be integrated soon.

For a plan enter bearing up the page, in degrees, 0 indicating North at the top of the page (the default).

For an elevation enter the angle of view (i.e. the compass bearing from which the scene is viewed), and angle of tilt, where 0 is horizontal, - is looking down from above, and + is looking up from below, so -90 is the same as plan view.

For an extended elevation, no viewing angles are needed.

You'll be told the scale needed to fit the plot on one page, and be asked what scale you want to use. The you're told how many pages this will take (and the arrangement of those pages (e.g. 6 pages (2x3)) and have the opportunity to print, quit, or change the scale (so you can repeat this process until you have a scale and number of pages you are happy with).

You can then print all the pages, a range of pages, or any arbitrary list of pages and ranges (handy for when your printer mangles a page).

Dot Matrix printers do not print to an accurate size - you need to do to calibrate your printer in order to get correctly-scaled plots. Print out a calibration plot using printdm --calibrate and measure the width and height of the page border.

Then create an entry in /etc/print.ini or .survex/print.ini in your home directory (Unix) or myprint.ini in the installation directory (other platforms) with entries mm_across_page and mm_down_page containing your values. The entry should look something like this:

[dm] 
like=dm_8pin_a4 
mm_across_page=204.5 
mm_down_page=278 

Then run printdm --calibrate again, and check that the square is now 10cm wide and high. This calibration is particularly necessary for older dot-matrix printers as they vary significantly in scaling - even between two printers of the same make and model.

3dtopos(1), aven(1), cad3d(1), cavern(1), diffpos(1), extend(1), printhpgl(1), printpcl(1), printps(1), sorterr(1), svxedit(1), xcaverot(1), print.ini(5)