Hi Phil et al--
2 problems made using .prn files useful to me: 1- my acrobat program crashed
one time and has never been the same (new version should be here today!),
and some of the programs I use don't have print to PDF capability. Distiller
still works fine, so here's the scoop:
On my PC I print to an Apple LaserWriterII NTX driver with a .prn suffix (I
use the Apple driver because I wanted capability to go to either PC or Mac
for tweaking the files after concatenating- is that the right word?!). I
use prn because I don't have postscript-compatible printers (also to be
taken care of this week!)
Distiller has a feature that allows one to print all prn (or .ps) files in a
folder as a single PDF. Create a txt file that points to the folder with the
distill code and it all automatic when you drop the file on Distiller.
If Acrobat were working properly I'd have no problems or need to go this
route- it's been a kludge, but a workable one.
Below is the txt file I drag onto Distiller: (you'd alter it to point to
your own folder, of course......):
%!
% PostScript program for distilling and combining an entire folder or
% directory of PostScript files.
% When embedding font subsets, it is highly recommended you use this
technique
% to distill multiple PS files so only one font subset is used for each
font.
/PathName (c:/My Documents/PUT FOLDER NAME HERE/*.prn) def % Edit this to
point to the folder
% containing the PS files. (in
my case I use PRN files)
/RunDir { % Uses PathName variable on the operand
stack
{ /mysave save def % Performs a save before running the PS file
dup = flush % Shows name of PS file being run
RunFile % Calls built in Distiller procedure
clear cleardictstack % Cleans up after PS file
mysave restore % Restores save level
}
255 string
filenameforall
} def
PathName RunDir
% INSTRUCTIONS
%
% 1. Place all PostScript files to be distilled and concatenated in a single
% directory. For example, here are example names of PS files that might
% be used to distill a book:
%
% ac001.ps Cover (or, as I use it, ac001.prn)
% bt001.ps Table of Contents
% ch001.ps Chapter 1
% ch002.ps Chapter 2
% ch003.ps Chapter 3
% in001.ps Index
%
% 2. Make a copy of this file and give it the name you want to have as the
prefix
% for the resulting file. For example, you could name this file
MyBook.txt.
%
% IMPORTANT: Don't use the .ps suffix if this file is in the same folder as
the
% rest of your .ps files. The RunDir command will execute all files that
end in
% .ps and this file will be distilled twice!
%
% 3. Redefine the variable "PathName" above to point to the folder/directory
which
% contains your PS files.
%
% Macintosh pathname syntax: /PathName (Macintosh HD:Folder:*.ps) def
% Windows pathname syntax: /PathName (c:/mydir/*.ps) def
% UNIX pathname syntax: /PathName (.\\/mydir\\/*.ps) def
%
% Note: The syntax for Windows may look strange, but double escaping
the
% backslash character is required when using filenameforall.
%
% 4. Distill the file on the machine running Acrobat Distiller.
Hope this helps......
Cecil RIgby
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
----- Original Message -----
From: "Phil Shaw" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Howard Rigby" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Cc: "Finale list" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Wednesday, October 09, 2002 12:17 AM
Subject: Re: [Finale] Re: PDF manipulation
>
> Hi Howard,
>
> Can you explain a bit more about what you do?
> I'm puzzled about what .txt and .prn files
> have to do with the process.
>
_______________________________________________
Finale mailing list
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://mail.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
