Printing prn files

  • Thread starter Thread starter Gerry Cornell
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Gerry Cornell

I have a situation with HP LaserJet 1200 printers at two locations, 17 miles apart. I have been using these printers primarily in association with Microsoft Word and Microsoft Word. I have been exploring ways to get completed reports from one location to the other. Faxing with Norton Winfax Pro v10 using an HP Scanjet 4300C works but the print quality the other end is less than ideal. Emailing files as attachments works but if any "pictures" are enclosed it results in very large files being stored both ends. However, it overcomes the print quality problem.

Looking for a better way I discovered an option to print to file option. Testing I discovered that using this option deposits a prn files on the hard disk. However, I cannot work out how you then open these files and print them. Can someone please point me in the right direction.


~~~~

Gerry
 
I have a situation with HP LaserJet 1200 printers at two locations, 17 miles
apart. I have been using these printers primarily in association with
Microsoft Word and Microsoft Word. I have been exploring ways to get
completed reports from one location to the other. Faxing with Norton Winfax
Pro v10 using an HP Scanjet 4300C works but the print quality the other end
is less than ideal. Emailing files as attachments works but if any
"pictures" are enclosed it results in very large files being stored both
ends. However, it overcomes the print quality problem.

Looking for a better way I discovered an option to print to file option.
Testing I discovered that using this option deposits a prn files on the hard
disk. However, I cannot work out how you then open these files and print
them. Can someone please point me in the right direction.


~~~~

Gerry

Surprisingly, Windows does not provide a way to do this directly. One method
is to use a command issued from a command processor prompt. To do this:

For printers connected by parallel cable to parallel port:

Open a command window by typing cmd in the slot in Start Run. Then,
type

copy /b filename lpt1

where filename is the fully-qualified DOS path for the file. e.g.
c:\printerfiles\letter.prn

Notes: The /b switch is necessary so that the file will be copied as binary
data rather than ASCII. If the latter, the copy will terminate if certain
ASCII printer control characters are encountered. Change LPT1 to the name of
the printer port to which the printer connects.

If you plan to do this regularly, you might prefer something somewhat more
elegant. Try the link immediately below. It was written for Windows 9x
systems but still applicable.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;158081

Tom
MSMVP DTS
 
Thanks Tom.

Whilst I could work with your solutions they look way too complicated for my colleague at the present time. I think I may overcome my underlying problem by setting a Print Area in Excel.


~~~~~~

Regards.

Gerry

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FCA

Stourport, Worcs, England
Enquire, plan and execute.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
What?

I have no idea how setting a print area in Excel could relate to the problem
of printing files created on one computer on another separated from it by 17
miles.

It's like falling asleep during a basketball game only to wake up during the
3rd period of a hockey game.

Tom Ferguson


Thanks Tom.

Whilst I could work with your solutions they look way too complicated for my
colleague at the present time. I think I may overcome my underlying problem
by setting a Print Area in Excel.


~~~~~~

Regards.

Gerry

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FCA

Stourport, Worcs, England
Enquire, plan and execute.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
Tom

If you set a Print Area in Excel it only prints the area selected and ignores the remainder of the worksheet. Thus with Charts it will print the Charts and disregard the data inputs used to create the Charts. It means that a saved file sent to my colleague can be selected by just selecting File, Print.


~~~~~~

Regards.

Gerry

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FCA

Stourport, Worcs, England
Enquire, plan and execute.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
Yes that does make sense. :-))

But you see, you only mentioned Word in the post to which I replied but, in
fairness, you did say _mostly_.

I hope you find a satisfactory solution to the underlying problem; however,
I doubt if a printer file is "it". While it can be printed on a target
printer on the colleague's machine, the file size would be no reduction over
the original Word file. As a test, I created a printer file for a complex
142 KB Word document. The printer file is 12,45 KB.

Depending on the operating system on the remote machine, it might be
possible to print the file to that printer as if it were attached to yours.
Have a look at
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;323428 .
A VPN is another possibility.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;323441

Tom
MSMVP DTS




Tom

If you set a Print Area in Excel it only prints the area selected and
ignores the remainder of the worksheet. Thus with Charts it will print the
Charts and disregard the data inputs used to create the Charts. It means
that a saved file sent to my colleague can be selected by just selecting
File, Print.


~~~~~~

Regards.

Gerry

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FCA

Stourport, Worcs, England
Enquire, plan and execute.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
Tom

Ah. A mistake in my first post where I intended to say "Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel". Sorry for the mental aberration.

The machine at the office is Windows 98SE and we do not have any version of Windows Server. Norton PC Anywhere is a possibility. I was using it several years ago and intend to reactivate it for other reasons.

Thanks for your continued interest.

--

~~~~~~

Regards.

Gerry

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FCA

Stourport, Worcs, England
Enquire, plan and execute.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
If your thought is PC Anywhere, do check XP's "Remote Desktop" and "Remote
Assistance" as well.

Tom
MSMVP-DTS
PS The printer file size should have been stated as 12,458 KB,
TF

Tom

Ah. A mistake in my first post where I intended to say "Microsoft Word and
Microsoft Excel". Sorry for the mental aberration.

The machine at the office is Windows 98SE and we do not have any version of
Windows Server. Norton PC Anywhere is a possibility. I was using it several
years ago and intend to reactivate it for other reasons.

Thanks for your continued interest.

--

~~~~~~

Regards.

Gerry

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FCA

Stourport, Worcs, England
Enquire, plan and execute.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
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