| Graphics | |
Factors to Consider in Choosing a Driver
The choice of printer driver depends upon several considerations:
The flow chart below gives an overview of how to choose a driver based on the platform you are using and the type of printer you have.
Deciding What Type of Printer Driver to Use
On Windows, you can use any of the driver types shown in the figure above. If you use the Windows driver, you can use the Windows Print Manager.
On UNIX, you can use either PostScript or Ghostscript drivers.
On either platform, if you have a PostScript-compatible printer, it is better to use a PostScript driver than a Ghostscript driver. PostScript is less prone to printing errors than Ghostscript.
Printer support is different among the Windows, PostScript, and Ghostscript drivers. Consult the manual for your printer to see what driver to use.
Windows drivers support most printer models, but sometimes the printer's native driver is incompatible with the MATLAB Windows driver. If you are getting printing errors, see Trouble with Native Drivers on Windows. If lines and text in your figure are not printing with the desired color scheme, see Correcting Color Results with Windows Drivers.
Some Ghostscript drivers are specific to certain printer models. For example, MATLAB provides different drivers to support the HP DeskJet 500, 500C, and 550C models, plus a generic driver for the series. When this is the case, try the model-specific driver first. If that doesn't work, try the generic driver.
By default, MATLAB uses a black-and-white driver. The built-in MATLAB and Ghostscript drivers print both color and black and white. The Printer Drivers table on the print reference page indicates which drivers are color.
Colored surfaces and images print in grayscale when you use a black-and-white driver. Colored lines and text can be printed in color, grayscale, or black and white, depending on the color support of the driver and color capability of your printer.
In MATLAB, the fonts supported for printing depend upon the MATLAB printer driver you specify and sometimes upon which platform you are using.
PostScript and Ghostscript Supported Fonts. The table below lists the fonts supported by the MATLAB PostScript and Ghostscript drivers. This same set of fonts is supported on both Windows and UNIX. If you use a font that is not on this list, it is replaced with Courier.
| AvantGarde |
Helvetica-Narrow |
Times-Roman |
| Bookman |
NewCenturySchlbk |
ZapfChancery |
| Courier |
Palatino |
ZapfDingbats |
| Helvetica |
Symbol |
If you set the font using the set function, use the names exactly as shown above. This example sets the font of the current text object to Helvetica-Narrow using MATLAB commands.
If you use the Property Editor dialog box (available under Axes Properties or Current Object Properties on the Edit menu) to set the font, the list of available fonts shows those that are supported by your system. If you choose one that is not in the table above, your resulting file will use Courier.
Windows Drivers Supported Fonts. The MATLAB Windows drivers support any system-supported font. To see the list of fonts installed on your system, open the Font name list on the Text or Style tab of the Property Editor.
If you use the set function to set fonts, type in the name just as it appears in the Property Editor. For example, if you have the Script font installed on your system, set the title of your figure to Script using the following code.
HPGL Driver Supported Fonts. HPGL drivers support only one font. However, you can set its size and color.
Settings That Are Driver Specific
Some print settings are only supported by specific drivers. This table summarizes the settings and which driver supports them.
| | Choosing a Printer Driver | Driver-Specific Information | |
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