Used the HP 'print to file' option, 12 Mb asci file ... now what ?

[Graham]

Used the HP 'print to file' option .. produced a 12 Mb asci file ... now
what ?

According to 'HP' , It says you can import the file to a word
processor, however the saved file doesn't appeared to have a
recognised (by windows) extension. Notepad will open the file and
display the asci code , but that's as far as I've got ..

If I wanted to open this file with say 'photo shop' so I can work on
it , how can I get the likes of photo shop to import it ?

Tnx - G ..

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Used the HP 'print to file' option .. produced a 12 Mb asci file
... now what ?

According to 'HP' , It says you can import the file to a word
processor, however the saved file doesn't appeared to have a
recognised (by windows) extension. Notepad will open the file and
display the asci code , but that's as far as I've got ..

If I wanted to open this file with say 'photo shop' so I can work on
it , how can I get the likes of photo shop to import it ?

How about you tell us exactly what you are trying to accomplish...?

What are you printing?
If you are printing it - why would you need to 'print it to file'?
(I mean - if you are printing it - you have it in a digital format
already...)

 

[Graham]

What are you printing?
If you are printing it - why would you need to 'print it to file'?
(I mean - if you are printing it - you have it in a digital format
already...)

But the (I presume post-script) file that the HP DJ500 printer driver
has produced cannot be opend by the packages i have , word or adobi ,
only notpad but this simply ,as expected, displays the asci text ...

I a foxit adobi reader, but that will not copy the data either . any
ideas ?

G ..

 

[HeyBub]

Used the HP 'print to file' option .. produced a 12 Mb asci file ...
now what ?

According to 'HP' , It says you can import the file to a word
processor, however the saved file doesn't appeared to have a
recognised (by windows) extension. Notepad will open the file and
display the asci code , but that's as far as I've got ..

If I wanted to open this file with say 'photo shop' so I can work on
it , how can I get the likes of photo shop to import it ?

If you "print to a file" you can generally only send the resulting file to
the original printer. This is because the OS and/or printer drivers include
all the magic codes that are appropriate to the particular device - control
codes such as underline, bold, set page widths, margins, stroke weight,
font, blah-blah-blah.

 

[Lem]

Used the HP 'print to file' option .. produced a 12 Mb asci file ... now
what ?

According to 'HP' , It says you can import the file to a word
processor, however the saved file doesn't appeared to have a
recognised (by windows) extension. Notepad will open the file and
display the asci code , but that's as far as I've got ..

If I wanted to open this file with say 'photo shop' so I can work on
it , how can I get the likes of photo shop to import it ?

Tnx - G ..

To amplify the responses from Shenan and HeyBub, the purpose of the
"print to file" option is to produce a file, generally with a *.prn
extension, that can be later printed on the type of printer (and only on
that type of printer) corresponding to the printer driver used to make
the file. One might use this feature to create a *.prn file on a
computer that does not have a printer, copy the file to a floppy, and
then carry the floppy to a computer that does have a printer where it
can be printed. Other than that, there isn't much point in using "print
to file." And these days, when home networks are more common than
floppy drives, it's simpler just to share the printer over the network.

So, as Shenan asked, what is it that you are trying to do?

If you used "print to file" to print straight text, you might be able to
open it in a word processor and see the text, but because, as HeyBub
wrote, *.prn files have printer-specific codes, if you printed a graphic
image, I doubt you would see anything intelligible.

 

[Graham]

To amplify the responses from Shenan and HeyBub, the purpose of the
"print to file" option is to produce a file, generally with a *.prn
extension, that can be later printed on the type of printer (and only on
that type of printer) corresponding to the printer driver used to make
the file. One might use this feature to create a *.prn file on a
computer that does not have a printer, copy the file to a floppy, and
then carry the floppy to a computer that does have a printer where it
can be printed. Other than that, there isn't much point in using "print
to file." And these days, when home networks are more common than
floppy drives, it's simpler just to share the printer over the network.

So, as Shenan asked, what is it that you are trying to do?

If you used "print to file" to print straight text, you might be able to
open it in a word processor and see the text, but because, as HeyBub
wrote, *.prn files have printer-specific codes, if you printed a graphic
image, I doubt you would see anything intelligible.

Ok that expalins the import into a wodr processor bit .. if there is
some basic similartity in the text handling ..

Looks like the only way to get a big print of these two pdf 'locked'
pages joined is to print them , cut and sellotape them together ,
screen capture might work but with loss of res ..

 

[Guest]

Sorry to reply 2 months after the query - but maybe it will help future
searchers.

Assuming you live near a modern city, To get bigger prints I use a
commercial shop - simply sending the file online or carrying (disk/jumpdrive
or laptop) it to a, say, Kinkos where for a fee they print my file nearly any
size I want. Admittedly huge can get expensive, but to print a, say, 8.5x11
at 4 times or only 17x22 is not all that expensive and comes out very
professional and nice.

A desktop or laptop can certainly print to these services online (see their
websites for procedure) - so you dont have to "save" a copy to take.

As for unsavability, if you have to take it to a shop and are doing this on
a desktop instead of a laptop which you can easily hibernate and take to
Kinkos - let me point out you can also hibernate most desktops - and tedious
that it may be - you can take it too to Kinkos and plug into their onsite
network.

There are also hacks available online to the knowledgeable enabling saving
the unsavable you seek if you look hard enough...