1 POSTER
 poster - Scale and tile a postscript image to print on multiple pages

2 SYNOPSIS
SYNOPSIS
 poster <options> infile

2 DESCRIPTION
DESCRIPTION
 _P_o_s_t_e_r can be used to create a large poster by building it from multiple
 pages and/or printing it on large media.  It expects as input a generic
 (encapsulated) postscript file, normally printing on a single page.  The
 output is again a postscript file, maybe containing multiple pages together
 building the poster.  The output pages bear cutmarks and have slightly
 overlapping images for easier assembling.  The input picture will be scaled
 to obtain the desired size.

 The program uses a brute-force method: it copies the entire input file for
 each output page, hence the output file can be very large.  Since the pro-
 gram does not really bother about the input file contents, it clearly works
 for both black-and-white and color postscript.

 To control its operation, you need to specify either the size of the
 desired poster or a scale factor for the image:

 - Given the poster size, it calculates the required number of sheets to
   print on, and from that a scale factor to fill these sheets optimally
   with the input image.

 - Given a scale factor, it derives the required number of pages from the
   input image size, and positions the scaled image centered on this area.

 Its input file should best be a real `Encapsulated Postscript' file (often
 denoted with the extension .eps or .epsf).  Such files can be generated
 from about all current drawing applications, and text processors like Word,
 Interleaf and Framemaker.
 However _p_o_s_t_e_r tries to behave properly also on more relaxed, general
 postscript files containing a single page definition.  Proper operation is
 obtained for instance on pages generated by (La)TeX and (g)troff.

 The media to print on can be selected independently from the input image
 size and/or the poster size. _P_o_s_t_e_r will determine by itself whether it is
 beneficial to rotate the output image on the media.

 To preview the output results of _p_o_s_t_e_r and/or to (re-)print individual
 output pages, you should use a postscript previewer like ghostview(1).

2 OPTIONS
OPTIONS

 -v Be verbose. Tell about scaling, rotation and number of pages.
    Default is silent operation.

 -f Ask manual media feed on the plotting/printing device, instead of using
    its standard paper tray.
    Default is adhering to the device settings.

 -i <box>
    Specify the size of the input image.
    Default is reading the image size from the `%%BoundingBox' specification
    in the input file header.

 -m <box>
    Specify the desired media size to print on. See below for <box>.
    The default is set at compile time, being A4 in the standard package.

 -p <box>
    Specify the poster size. See below for <box>.  Since _p_o_s_t_e_r will auto-
    nomously choose for rotation, always specify a `portrait' poster size
    (i.e. higher then wide).
    If you don't give the -s option, the default poster size is identical to
    the media size.

 -s <number>
    Specify a linear scaling factor to produce the poster.  Together with
    the input image size and optional margins, this induces an output poster
    size. So don't specify both -s and -p.
    Default is deriving the scale factor to fit a given poster size.

 -c <box> _o_r -c <number>%
    Specify the cut margin. This is the distance between the cutmarks and
    the paper edge. If the output is really tiled on multiple sheets, the
    cut marks indicate where to cut the paper for assembly.  This margin
    must be big enough to cover the non-printable margin which almost all
    printers have. For <box> see below.
    Default is 5%. Only when you specify identical poster and media sizes,
    the default cut margin becomes 0, effectively removing the cutmarks.

 -w <box> _o_r -w <number>%
    Specify a white margin around the output image.
    In the `ideal' situation (when an input `eps' file specifies an exact
    BoundingBox in its header), the output image will be scaled exactly to
    the edges of the resulting poster (minus cut margin). If you desire a
    certain margin to remain around the picture after poster assembly, you
    can specify this with `-w'.
    (This option is actually redundant, since you can obtain the same result
    using -s or -i. However some might find this more convenient.)
    Default is 0.

 -o <outputfile>
    Specify the name of the file to write the output into.
    (Only added for those poor people who cannot specify output redirection
    from their command line due to a silly OS.)
    Default is writing to standard output.

 The <box> mentioned above is a specification of horizontal and vertical
 size.  Only in combination with the `-i' option, the program also under-
 stands the offset specification in the <box>.
 In general:
      <box> = [<multiplier>][<offset>]<unit>
 with multipier and offset being specified optionally.
      <multiplier> = <number>*<number>
      <offset> = +<number>,<number>
      <unit> = <medianame> or <distancename>

 Many international media names are recognised by the program, in upper and
 lower case, and can be shortened to their first few characters, as long as
 unique.  For instance `A0', `Let'.
 Distance names are like `cm', `i', `ft'.

2 EXAMPLES
EXAMPLES
 The following command prints an A4 input file on 8 A3 pages, forming an A0
 poster:
          poster -v -iA4 -mA3 -pA0 infile >outfile

 The next command prints an eps input image on a poster of 3x3 Letter pages:
          poster -v -mLet -p3x3Let  image.eps > outfile

 The next command enlarges an eps input image to print on a large-media A0
 capable device, maintaining 2 inch margins:
          poster -v -mA0 -w2x2i image.eps > outfile

 Enlarge a postscript image exactly 4 times, print on the default A4 media,
 and let _p_o_s_t_e_r determine the number of pages required:
          poster -v -s4 image.eps > outfile

 Scale a postscript image to a poster of about 1 square meter, printing on
 `Legal' media, maintaining a 10% of `Legal' size as white margin around the
 poster.
          poster -v -mLegal -p1x1m -w10% infile.ps >outfile

2 PROBLEMS-&-QUESTIONS
PROBLEMS & QUESTIONS

 I get a blurry image and/or interference patterns

 If your input file contains -or consists of- pixel images (as opposed to
 just vector data which is essentially resolution independent), you might
 have this problem.  Such pixel images are normally made to fit well to
 standard 300 (or 600) dpi devices.  Scaling such a picture with an uncare-
 fully chosen factor, can easily lead to hazy edges and interference pat-
 terns on the output.  The solution is to provide _p_o_s_t_e_r with an exact scal-
 ing factor (with the -s option), chosen as an integer. If integer scaling
 is unpractical for your purpose, choose a fractional number made from a
 small integer denominator (2, 3, 4).

 Can I select only a small part of a given input picture?

 Yes, for this purpose you can define both the size (width and height) and
 offset (from left and bottom) of a window on the input image.  Specify
 these numbers as argument to a `-i' command line option.
 One way to obtain such numbers is previewing the original image with ghost-
 view, and observing the coordinate numbers which it continually displays.
 These numbers are in postscript units (points), named by _p_o_s_t_e_r as just
 `p'.

 Poster doesn't seem to work properly, output pages are empty

 The major cause for poster not to work correctly, is giving it postscript
 files which don't conform to proper 'eps' behaviour.  Try whether your
 application (or printer driver) cannot generate real 'encapsulated
 postscript'.

 If I ask for a 50x50cm poster, it always generates something bigger

 Yes, probably. When specifying a desired output size with the `-p' option,
 _p_o_s_t_e_r first determines an array of sheets to cover such an area.  Then it
 determines a scale factor for the picture to fill these sheets upto their
 edge. As result your requested size is used as rough guess only.  If you
 want an exact output size, specify the scaling factor yourself with the `-
 s' option (and omit the `-p').
 I want to keep the white space around the poster as in my original

 _P_o_s_t_e_r will as default use the input image bounding box, and
 scale/translate that to the edges of your poster.  If the program which
 generated your input file specifies an exact and tight %%BoundingBox, you
 will indeed loose your white margin.  To keep the original margin, specify
 a `-i' option with as argument the papersize on which the original document
 was formatted (such as `-iA4').  Alternatively specify a smaller scale fac-
 tor (with -s) or an explicit new margin (with -w).

2 POSTER-ASSEMBLY
POSTER ASSEMBLY
 Our preferred method for the assembly of a poster from multiple sheets is
 as follows:

 - Arrange the sheets in the proper order on a large table or on the floor.

 - Remove from all sheets, except from those in the leftmost column or bot-
   tom row, their left and bottom cutmargin.

 - In left-to-right and bottom-to-top order, glue the right (and top) cut-
   margin and stick the right (and upper) neighbouring page on top of that.

 - Turn the glued-together poster face bottom, and put adhesive tape on the
   sheet edges (on the backside of the poster) for more strength.

 - Remove the remaining cutmargin around the poster.

2 DEVICE-SETTINGS
DEVICE SETTINGS
 For postscript level-2 capable printers/plotters, which is about all modern
 postscript devices today, _p_o_s_t_e_r will send device settings in its output
 file.  This consists of a `setpagedevice' call, setting:

 - the media size.
   This is required for all printers I know to get correct behaviour on dif-
   ferent media/picture sizes.

 - duplexing off.
   Some printers will otherwise perform double-side printing by default.
   Clearly that is not what you want to print a poster.

 - manual media feed.
   This is given only when _p_o_s_t_e_r was executed with the `-f' command line
   option. This is a convenient feature if you want to print your job on
   different media than normally installed in the paper tray, and you are
   submitting your job through a multi-user networking and spooling environ-
   ment.

 These settings cause proper device behaviour, without the need to manually
 interact with the printer settings, and has been here locally tested to
 work on devices like the HP300XL and HP650C.

 The settings thus passed in the postscript file, will affect the device for
 this job only.

2 DSC-CONFORMANCE
DSC CONFORMANCE
 _P_o_s_t_e_r will generate its own DSC header and other DSC lines in the output
 file, according the `Document Structuring Conventions - version 3.0', as
 written down in the `Postscript Language Reference Manual, 2nd ed.' from
 Adobe Systems Inc, Addison Wesley Publ comp., 1990.

 It will copy any `%%Document...' line from the input file DSC header to its
 own header output. This is used here in particular for required nonresident
 fonts.

 However the copy(s) of the input file included in the output, are stripped
 from all lines starting with a `%', since they tend to disturb our `ghost-
 view' previewer and take useless space anyhow.

2 SEE-ALSO
SEE ALSO
 ghostview(1)

2 CONTRIBUTED-BY
CONTRIBUTED BY
 Jos van Eijndhoven (email: [email protected])
 Design Automation Section (http://www.es.ele.tue.nl)
 Dept. of Elec. Eng.
 Eindhoven Univ of Technology
 The Netherlands
 24 August, 1995

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