Note: This page is derived from content in the file "whatsnew.txt" that is installed along with Print Wizard 4, and is accessible from the Start Menu.
Print Wizard 4.0 is a MAJOR update, with hundreds of small improvements and
quite a few major ones. Here are some highlights.
1. PDF as input
Prior versions of Print Wizard could read only very simple image PDF files.
This version can read a wide variety of text and image PDFs as main file or
as overlay. This includes support for multiple graphics formats, multiple
colorspaces, multiple embedded font formats, various page sizes, multiple
compressions, multiple encryptions, and so forth. We won't claim to support
*all* PDFs, but we believe we've covered the vast majority. If you have one
that Print Wizard won't handle, please email it to us.
You can use a PDF as the main file to print (or view, or fax, etc.)m or you can
use a PDF directly as an overlay. You can attach a PDF to a fax or to an email.
2. Multi-page, page mode preview.
Prior versions had a text-mode Print Preview feature, that allowed the
user to manipulate margins, linespacing, etc. This worked for raw text
files, PWML files, and simple PCL files, and continues to work for
those. Version 4 adds another previewer for image files, PDF files, EMF
files, SPL files, and complex PCL files, where the contents can be previewed
as assembled pages. The user can navigate through the pages.
3. Multi-page "ink"
The new page mode preview can accept "ink" (on PCs with TabletPC feature)
independently on every page. This allows signing documents as well as
marking up in other ways. With Print Wizard on a TabletPC, you can, for
instance, capture a purchase order or other document, display it on the
screen, read it, navigate between pages, and sign it directly on the screen.
Then you can output it to PDF, without it ever hitting paper.
4. "Viewonly" mode
A new preview mode allows Print Wizard to function as a document reader,
with no output options. Set your laptop on your piano, with your sheet music
showing, and "flick" between pages!
5. Document and overlay placement
The main document and the overlay can include placement information, to
specify where the document goes on the page. In other words, each can be
panned and zoomed. The user can adjust the form (overlay) to fit within
printer's printable area, for instance. Then the user can easily adjust main
file placement to line up with the form. Changes to placement can be done by
dragging the boundaries of pages, by zooming with the mouse wheel, or by
using a novel "thumbtack mode" - pinning one spot down and adjusting the
rest.
6. Screen calibration
In order to get Print Wizard to print things in exactly the right spot, it
can be helpful to have the screen show the document in true size. With
larger monitors becoming more affordable, this becomes possible. Print
Wizard's preview screen now has a simple way to match the screen display to
the paper, and to retain that information.
7. Touch support
Print Wizard 4 includes support for Windows 7's touch and multitouch
features, on PCs that support these features. The user can use a finger or
stylus to "flick" between pages in the Preview window, or use *two fingers*
to adjust the placement of the main document or the overlay.
8. Profile writeback
When the user has made changes to placement, text metrics, or preview window
location on the screen, they are given the option of saving that information
into the current profile, or into a new profile. Thus the next time this
profile is used, placement changes (etc.) will be retained.
8. Replacing multi-part preprinted forms.
A major focus of Print Wizard 4 has been to allow customers to retire their
dot matrix printers. Often these are being used to print invoices, purchase
orders, statements, medical claim forms, government documents, etc. on
multi-part preprinted forms. These forms can be quite expensive, and also
require special printers and special handling. Replacing this setup with a
laser printer and plain paper, while *not* changing the program that
generates the printout, required multiple new features in Print Wizard:
a) Some installations depend on the dot matrix printer being preset with
the print head at a certain point *below* the top edge of form. Print
Wizard's "bottompad" setting addresses this.
b) Print Wizard can now translate and respond to control codes for
Microline, Epson and Oki printers, while printing to any Windows-supported
printer (or fax or PDF).
c) Print Wizard can now use a PDF file directly as a form image.
d) The user can now preview all combinations of input type and output type,
to make sure they're right.
e) The user can adjust the placement of the overlay (form). It might need to
be shrunk a bit, for instance, to fit within the printable space of the
laser printer.
f) Once the overlay is in a good place, the text (i.e., the main document)
may not be right. Print Wizard lets the user adjust the placement
on-screen and very easily line things up.
g) The "Test Print" button prints out just the first page, to double check
alignment.
h) When everything is right, the user can save configuration into a profile.
The next time the user prints that kind of report, with that profile,
everything will print the same.
i) Sometimes you want the output in "sets", meaning four copies of page 1,
then four copies of page 2, etc., to mimic your 4-part forms. For this
scenario, Print Wizard offers "page-repeat".
j) Sometimes you want your output "burst", so that all the customer copies
are first, then all the file copies, etc. For this scenario, Print
Wizard offers "job-repeat".
k) To differentiate the various copies of each page, you may want a
different overlay on each copy. One overlay might say "Customer Copy" and
another might say "File Copy". The shipping copy might black out the
prices. Print Wizard can do all this.
l) If you have a multi-bin printer, you may want to pull pink paper from one
bin, yellow paper from a different bin, etc. Or you might buy
pre-collated multi-color paper. Print Wizard can handle all of this.
m) A PCL main file or overlay might include codes to specify the input bin.
Print Wizard can be told to override this.
n) Print Wizard can be told to print each "set" as a separate print job (to
Windows). Then, if your printer has a stapling feature, that can be
selected, so each set comes out stapled.
o) If purchase orders must be signed, the responsible party can sign *on the
screen* in Print Preview, either once per page or one time for all pages.
p) If you need standard terms and conditions (boilerplate) on the back of
certain pages, Print Wizard can do that.
q) Instead of printing an invoice, you can create a PDF and email it. You
can even digitally certify it. The PDF can include the overlay(s).
r) Or, fax the output directly, or via a fax server. With the overlay.