FAQ

I generated a color TIFF file using SoftCopy, but I can't view it using Microsoft's viewer!

This will happen if you select JPEG compression for your color TIFF file. The JPEG-in-TIFF format generated by SoftCopy is the recommended one specified in TIFF Technical Note #2. Many existing image viewers such as XnView, IrfanView and ACDSee have no problems handling it.

Alternatively, you can create uncompressed or LZW-compressed color TIFF files. Both compression schemes are compatible with Microsoft Imaging and Microsoft Viewer.

When I try to print to a large 44" x 54" JPEG image, my machine becomes very slow and unresponsive. What's wrong?

The output size is limited by the amount of RAM in your PC, since the entire bitmap is created in memory during printing. For example, a 44" x 54" printout at 300dpi occupies about 815MB! Hence if insufficient physical RAM is available, the machine is likely to become very sluggish and unstable. We suggest installing more RAM, or reducing the DPI setting of the print job and disabling anti-aliasing.

SoftCopy is printing very slowly. Is there any way to speed up the printing?

Slow printing is typically due to insufficient RAM rather than CPU speed. To check, open Task Manager and check the available physical memory under the "Performance" tab when you are printing. If this is a very low value, we suggest installing more RAM, or reducing the DPI setting of the print job and disabling anti-aliasing.

Can I change the page orientation from portrait to landscape via scGetJobInfo()?

No. Whether to use portrait or landscape orientation is decided by the application and not the printer driver.

I wrote an extension DLL that provides default job settings via scGetJobInfo(). Why is the application not picking it up

Make sure you restart the application when the default job settings returned by scGetJobInfo() change, since an application can choose to cache certain printer information (eg. default form size) when it first starts. For example, you cannot change the default form size within scGetJobInfo() after the application has started, and expect it to pick up the new information. It may or may not work, depending on how the application is written.

Can SoftCopy be used as a network printer?

No, SoftCopy can only be used as a local printer on a single machine.