              File PRT_INFO.TXT for PreSort Pro 2.4

                  SPECIAL PRINTER INFORMATION
                            08/11/94

This file provides additional information on how to use special 
printers with PreSort Pro for Windows.  A "special" printer
is one of the following:

     1.  A direct impression printer (DIP) such as the Datatech, 
Rena or Bryce printer.  These printers are designed specifically
for printing mailing addresses directly on mail pieces without
a label.

     2.  A high-speed line printer or dot matrix printer that
does not have a printer driver provided by the manufacturer for
Microsoft Windows.  These printers may have a native (built-in)
Postnet barcode font.  Examples include Dataproducts LB, 
Mannesmann-Tally, Genicom, and Printronix.

     3.  A dot matrix printer that does have a Windows printer
driver available, but the driver does not support high speed
draft printing, although the printer itself has this capability.
Sometimes such a printer might have a native Postnet barcode font.
You may be able to use the Standard / Text Only driver to speed
up printing of labels with such a printer.

The first step for any of these three cases is to select and 
install an appropriate printer driver.  This is described
below.

Information for direct impression printers is provided later
in this file.

Detailed information on how to install and use the Standard / 
Text Only printer driver and how to use a printer with 
a native Postnet barcode capability is provided in file
BAR_INFO.TXT.

        SELECTING AND INSTALLING A PRINTER DRIVER
        -----------------------------------------

A printer driver is a special computer program that takes general
printing commands from an application program, through Microsoft
Windows, and outputs printer-specific commands to the printer.  
Each make and model of printer has its own driver.  For Microsoft
Windows, it is the responsibility of the printer manufacturer to
provide a printer driver.  Microsoft Windows includes drivers
for several hundred popular models.  You install the driver using
the Windows Control Panel / Printers application.  Once installed,
you may (in theory) use the printer with any application program
for Windows.

If the manufacturer provides a Windows driver, install and use
it as directed by the manufacturer's documentation.  Sometimes
the driver may not be included with the printer but may be 
available upon request, either on diskette or by downloading
by modem.

If the manufacturer does not have a Windows driver available,
first check to see if Windows provides a driver for the printer.
To do this from Microsoft Windows:

   1.  From the "Main" window of the Program Manager, double 
       click on the "Control Panel" icon.  

   2.  In the Control Panel window, double click on the 
       "Printers" icon.

   3.  In the dialog box, choose the Add button.

   4.  Scroll down through the list of available printers to
       find your printer make and model.  If you find it, 
       choose "Install" and follow the directions to complete
       the installation.  You will need your Microsoft Windows
       distribution diskettes.  After installing the printer,
       be sure to choose "Connect" to set the appropriate
       port for your printer.  See the Windows User's Guide
       for more information.  Exit from the control panel.

If you don't find your printer listed in step (4), then 
consult your printer documentation to find out if the printer
"emulates" another printer that IS listed in step 4.  If so,
install this printer driver as described above.  You may need
to set some front-panel controls on your printer as well to
"enable" this emulation (consult your printer documentation).

If you still can't find an appropriate driver, you may still be
able to use your printer by installing the Standard / Text Only
printer driver that is included with PreSort Pro.  

The Standard / Text Only driver has the following characteristics:

   Advantages:
      1.  Works with virtually any printer.
      2.  Lets you select font and other attributes from the
          front panel controls of your printer, including high
          speed draft mode.
   Disadvantages:
      1.  Only provides basic text printing in the fixed-width
          (non-proportional) font selected at the printer.
      2.  Only supports 6 lines per inch printing.
      3.  Does not support graphics or barcode (except for printers
          with native Postnet bar code capability).
      4.  Only allows positioning on the form in units of 1/6th inch
          vertically and one 1/10th inch horizontally (assuming
          the normal 10 cpi font is selected).

See file BAR_INFO.TXT for step-by-step instructions on how to install
the Standard / Text Only driver and how to use the native barcode
capability of your printer, if it has one.

                   DIRECT IMPRESSION PRINTERS
                   --------------------------

Direct impression printers are designed specifically for printing
address information on high volumes of mail pieces.  Popular 
brands include Datatech, Bryce, and Rena, among others.  Typically
a direct impression printer (DIP) has the following characteristics:

    1.  Prints directly on the mail piece.
    2.  Has special controls to govern the position of the address
        label on the mail piece.
    3.  Often has a native Postnet barcode font.

Using one of these printers is somewhat different than for normal
printers as described in the PreSort Pro User's Guide.  There
are four main steps: (1) Choosing a Windows printer driver; 
(2) Defining an appropriate Form and Template in PreSort Pro; 
(3) Configuring the printer itself; (4) Setting parameters to
enable correct Postnet barcode generation.  Step (1) is described
above; you will probably use the Standard / Text Only printer driver.
The remaining steps are described below.

Choosing a Form and Template for Your DIP
-----------------------------------------

For direct impression printers, the position of the address block 
on the mail piece is usually set on the printer itself using the 
front panel or other software.  Therefore your PreSort Pro
form should really be just a "dummy" form with the address block
at the extreme upper left hand corner - no top or left margin.
To define such a form from PreSort Pro, use the Print /
Choose Form command.  Then choose the New button to create and
save an appropriate new form.  Use the dimensions shown below:

     1  Label across page           1  Label down page
   4.0  Width of label            2.0  Height of label
   0.0  Left margin               0.0  Top margin
   0.0  Width between labels      0.0  Height between labels
   8.5  Form width               11.0  Form height

Try these values first, even if your actual form size or print 
position is different.

After saving and selecting this form, from the Print menu select
Choose Template to choose or create an appropriate template.
First choose one WITHOUT barcode; we will tackle barcode later.
An example of a suitable template is:

     {Pkg,E}
     [FIRST] [LAST]
     [COMPANY]
     [ADDRESS_1]
     [CITY], [STATE]  [ZIP]

Configuring Your DIP 
--------------------

If you have not already done so, set up your printer in the usual
fashion as described in the documentation.  Follow the 
manufacturer's instructions to set the print position for
the address block.

If your printer has an option to automatically print a Linefeed
(LF) character when a Carriage Return (CR) is received, make sure
you turn this option OFF.

Now try printing a couple of pieces from PreSort Pro in the usual
manner.

Solving Basic Problems With Your DIP
------------------------------------

If your pieces printed correctly, go to the next step to set up
for printing barcode.

If your printer prints the first label okay but prints the second
label right after the ZIP of the first label or on the same piece 
or in the wrong place on the second form, you may need to send a
form feed to the printer at the end of every label, as follows:

    1.  Go back to the Windows Control Panel and double click on
Printers.  Choose Standard / Text Only Printer and click on Setup.
Then click on the Characters button.

    2.  In the left hand column titled On Screen, scroll down until
"170 = a" is highlighted (the "a" will be a superscript character).
Then click on the On Printer box, delete any characters in the box,
and press Ctrl and M.  "^M" should appear in the box.  In a like
manner, set values for 171 and 172 in the On Screen box, so that
you wind up with the following:

        On Screen     On Printer
        170           ^M
        171           ^J
        172           ^L

Close and exit from the Control panel.

    3.  Start PreSort Pro and use the Print / Choose Template command.
Use the Edit button to edit your template.  Place the blinking
cursor immediately after the [ZIP] field on the last line of 
your template.  Hold down the ALT key (and keep holding it down)
and on the numeric keypad of your keyboard press 0170 and then
release the ALT key.  The subscript "a" character should appear.
In a similar manner enter Alt 0171 and Alt 0172.  You should see
the three special characters.  Save and select your template,
and try printing a couple of labels again.

Some direct impression printers may need a different character
to "trigger" the beginning or end of the address block.  For
example, the Rena 307 has an option to enclose the address
block with "<" and "> characters.  In this case, edit your
template to place a "<" character in front of the [FIRST]
field and a ">" character after the [ZIP] field.

Printing Barcode With Your DIP
------------------------------

Most direct impression printers have options to print bar code by
interpreting the ZIP code information and possibly delivery point
two-digit add-on as it is received by the printer.  Often a 
special "trigger" character is used to tell the printer that
the digits are to be printed as bar code rather than as normal
digits in a ZIP code.  Sometimes another trigger character is
needed to end the barcode.

You will use options in the {Bar...} command to trigger the
internal barcode font of your printer.  These options are
described in detail in the BAR_INFO.TXT file.

Here is an example template for the Datatech 1186 printer,
assuming it is set up to print the barcode below the address 
block:

   Datatech 1186 printer Template example:

     {Pkg,E}
     [FIRST] [LAST]
     [COMPANY]
     [ADDRESS_1]
     [CITY], [STATE]  [ZIP]
     {Bar,D,F=Y,S="~",C=N}

This {Bar...} command will print delivery point bar code by
sending a Tilde (~) trigger character to the printer,
followed by the ZIP+4 digits and two delivery point add-on
digits.  The "C=N" part of the command tells PreSort Pro not to
send the Correction digit for the delivery point barcode,
because the Datatech computes and prints the check digit by
itself.
   
See file BAR_INFO.TXT to find out what options to use on
the {Bar} command for your printer.

------------------
Product names mentioned are trademarks of their respective trademark 
holders, and are used only for identification.

                            --- End ---
