How Much Memory? North Las Vegas NV

Posted by : Stephen J. Bigelow

Q: I'm trying to print a 400KB PostScript file, but the file won't print properly even though I have 4MB of RAM in the printer. What's the problem?

A: PostScript is a language that describes the image that must be printed, but that language eventually must be converted within the printer to the individual dots (pixels) that compose the image. In actual practice, a large image can easily require several megabytes of RAM-even though the PostScript representation of the file is considerably smaller. In most cases, the following formula can help determine the minimum amount of available memory required for PostScript files:

Image size x Resolution x Color bits / 8 =

File Size (in bytes)

As an example, a 10-by-10-inch four-color file at 300-by-300dpi would require 4.5MB (100 x 90000 x 4 / 8). Other features such as downloaded fonts will demand even more memory. Wide lines, raster fill patterns, polygon mode and polygon fill, and user-defined line types are a few types of PostScript vectors that require substantially more memory.

The bottom line is that there is no easy way to tell just how much memory is required to process any given PostScript image. If you find that the printer hasn't enough memory to handle the image, check the printer's diagnostics to verify that all of the internal RAM is detected. If not, there may be a RAM fault in the...

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