PROTEL Autotrax/Easytrax printer drivers
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Version
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1.10
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Date
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22 Oct 2003
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Features
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- Suitable for Autotrax, Easytrax, Dos schematic
- Operates under OS2, win95, win98, dos
- Printer resolutions of 100,300,600 or 1200dpi
- Other resolutions with supplied Change program
- Outputs .pcx format (some issues fixed)
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Download
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pcxdrv11.zip 41,969 bytes (complete package)
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These files are printer drivers for the Protel
Autotrax, Easytrax and dos schematic products. These drivers were
developed by Matthias Hartl maze@altmuehlnet.de, modified by
Ed (Eds webpage:
http://www.alphalink.com.au/~edsa/), and
are open source. The existing protel printer drivers will only print to
postscript, HP and some epson formats. Using these drivers, it is
possible to save PCBs and Circuits as images that can then
be emailed, put on web pages, or printed using
ANY windows printer.
To use one of these drivers, copy it into your existing printer
driver directory. You will then see a new printer come up, such as
"PCX 100dpi A3/A4". Select this printer. Select "Setup"..."Printer"
set the device to file and refer to the other settings below.
After you have printed your file, you will find the image file saved
as the filename you selected.
Schematic: (use driver PCX 100.) Filename should be xxx.pcx
Select Reduced if the schematic is A3
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PCB: Plot will overwrite the file extension with .RCK
or something similar, you will need to rename to xxx.pcx
You may need to crop the resulting image, or rotate, - you
can do this at the same time as converting format using
irfanview.
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The most efficient format to use for schematic and PCB images to is
GIF format
The .GIF format is compact and can be viewed directly by most internet browsers
and email packages. These printer drivers produce PCX format images -
to translate to another image type (for instance .GIF) or change it from normal
to negative, or rotate or scale it, use any graphics package. A very good
program to use for this is the unbeatable free graphics package
irfanview.
You can also specify if the driver is to save in Positive or Negative
format (for instance, for reversing the image to make a PCB negative)
by using an environment variable:
SET PCXDRV=NEG or
SET PCXDRV=POS
Just a few important Notes:
The circuit/PCB should fit on "one sheet of paper".
Although the output is an image, it is being produced from a DOS
program printer driver - an unfortunate limitation is that the
original image must fit on one "virtual sheet of paper" or else
the image file will be corrupt.
You should scale any PCB that is larger than the A3/A4 paper size.
Output MUST be directed to a file ofcourse -
you must set the "device" in your plot program to a filename, (preferably
one ending in .pcx) and not "Serial Port 1" or "Parallel Port 1" that
is the normal default.
When Printing PCX files to paper, don't rely on windows to
correctly scale the image - use a graphics program such as irfanview
and specifically set the scaling, for example, to 300dpi, (or by experiment)
so that your PCB size is accurately reproduced.
This driver has been developed by Matthias Hartl maze@altmuehlnet.de and
is provided without cost, and you should contact him to express
your thanks for the work!
Links to other Autotrax material
US SITE · AUS SITE
