TIFF File is not Correct from Print Wizard

Print Wizard has the ability to produce a TIFF, or TIF, file from a received print job. This image file may not appear as you think if you are not aware of certain options controlling the TIFF file generation.

A TIFF file is one of the few image formats that can contain multiple page within a single image file. TIFF files are generated by Print Wizard from a print job via either command line switches, a Print Wizard Service and Profile or via a BANG command. Additionally, a TIFF file may be created when merging multiple files into a single output file for faxing.

Default TIFF file settings

There are a number of reasons someone may want to produce a TIFF file from a print job, but the most useful is for faxing. Since Print Wizard already supports direct faxing, the most reason to create a TIFF file would be for future faxing. You would not normally create a TIFF file for any other purpose as a PDF file makes more sense for archiving, for subsequent printing, etc. (remember that any image file may not scale cleanly when reprinting or viewing due printer and screen resolution differences).

Because of this, our default settings for generating a TIFF file is a Class 4 compressed TIF file for faxing, which of course is black and white and a low resolution.

Changing the settings on the fly

There may be circumstances where you do not want to lose color and resolution settings for a print job when generating a TIFF file. Depending on how you are processing the print job, there are various options that you can set.

Options for TIFF file generation are all set through a "superfile" name when printing to file. Refer to the document Superfiles in Print Wizard for more information on what a "superfile" is and how to use it. For now, it is important to understand that you are printing the file to a superfile target name.

From command line switches

When you directly call the Print Wizard engine, "printwiz.exe", such as from a script or from your own application, you can set various switches of which one is the "superfile" name and of which the "superfile" name can contain additional parameters. A typical run may look like the following:

C:\Program Files\Printwiz3\printwiz.exe myprintfile /ftif://?view

The above line will create and then view, a faxable TIFF file with a default file name and a ".tif" extension (refer to the log file to locate the exact generated file name if you run this in quiet mode). BY default the resolution will be 200dpi and the color format will be mono (black and white).

You can also specify additional parameters to control the output further, such as setting the default type to be color and the default location to be one you specify:

C:\Program Files\Printwiz3\printwiz.exe myprintfile /ftif://c:\temp\mytif.tif?format=color?compression=none

This will create a color TIFF at the designated location. Note that to produce a color TIFF requires you also set a compression method, rather than letting it default. Additional "superfile" parameters for the tif:// target name include the following:

From a bang command

It is possible to generate a TIFF file from a BANG command as well. This is done by printing the file with a "superfile" target for the TIFF. The above options are then available for each subjob you want to generate a TIFF for. The file for a typical BANG approach might look like this:

!PRINT /ftif://c:\temp\mytif.tif?format=color?compression=PackBits
This is line 1 of data
This is line 2 of data
This is line 3 of data

From a service

It is possible to setup a service that generates only TIFF files. this can be done one of two ways.

a) You can set up a separate service for "listen" or for "despool" or a separate "queue" for the LPD protocol that has a different SPAWN string. When the SPAWN string is blank in the service, the Print Wizard engine runs and assumes you want to print. You could change this SPAWN string to something like

C:\Program Files\Printwiz3\printwiz.exe myprintfile /ftif://c:\temp\mytif.tif?format=color?compression=none

therefore the service would always produce a TIFF file.

b) You can setup a service to reference a Print Wizard "profile" and that "profile" can do a CUSTOM where the program string for the custom is something similar

C:\Program Files\Printwiz3\printwiz.exe myprintfile /ftif://c:\temp\mytif.tif?format=color?compression=none

producing a TIFF file each time the service is passed a print job.

Conclusion

By default, TIFF files are generated with faxing in mind. However, you can change the output format for the TIFF through "superfile" options. In fact, some faxing software can convert a color TIFF in one format to a standard faxable TIFF on the fly, still allowing these types of TIFF files to be faxed.

TIFF files are one of the few image formats that supports multiple pages. So there are some uses that you may find for this. Just keep in mind Print Wizard's default settings and how to override these and your TIFF should appear as you expect.