PMR 33480
|
All times are Universal Time. |
| PMR: |
33480,212,848 |
Severity: |
3 |
| Apar: |
|
Customer Number: |
0255412 |
| Contact: |
Lukas Beeler |
Status: |
Closed |
| Phone 1: |
+41 44 718 1900 |
Created: |
06/09/08 |
| Phone 2: |
076 56 20 930 |
Updated: |
06/11/15 |
| Email Address: |
|
| Brief Description: |
Wrong colors when creating color AFP overlays |
________________________-06/09/08-18:48--CE____________________________
*** iSeries Entitled S9S8R7_I1S2E3R4I5E6S7
*** Electronic creation by customer. l.beeler@dataline.ch
*** Please contact customer by EMAIL
***
***
Problem Details
E-Mail: l.beeler@dataline.ch
.
Abstract:
Wrong colors when creating color AFP overlays
.
System Model: 9406-270
System Serial Number: 658D4BB
Operating System: i5/OS V5R4
Product Group: Client Access for iSeries - Print
.
Environment:
Windows XP with SP2 and all Security Updates applied
iSeries Access at V5R4M0 with SI23696
iSeries 270 at V5R4M0 at CUM 06192
Word 2003
Word 2007 Beta 2
Adobe Illustrator G2
Adobe Acrobat 7
Adobe Photoshop G2
.
Problem:
After spending nearly eight hours on this problem, i'm ready to giv
e up.
I'm trying to create a color AFP overlay, which I can print to any
IPDS-enabled color printer which supports FS45.
The problem is that the colors in the AFP file I get are already
wrong, before I even upload the file to our iSeries.
I try to generate the AFP using the IBM printer driver, supplied he
re:
http://www-1.ibm.com/support/dlsearch.wss?rs=95&apar=exclude&q=afp
driver psd1*&dc=D430
(I'm using the Generic 600 dpi Printer driver)
I've also tried the driver integrated into V5R4M0 IBM iSeries Clien
t
Access. This result looks like this:
http://projectdream.org/~lb/ca-afp.JPG
That's the best one so far, but far from being good.
I also tried the Infoprint Server gif2afp, tiff2afp, jpeg2afp
commands. These don't work at all.
There is some documentation on this issue:
https://www-912.ibm.com/s_dir/slkbase.NSF/acf2ee1e9d64b16e8625680b0
0020389/f6ce4719a31214d68625710f005d87da?OpenDocument
It mentions printing from Word, which will generate RGB output,
which the printer driver will misinterpret. So I tried to use
several CMYK-Printing enabled applications, like Adobe Illustrator,
Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Acrobat.
Not one of them worked.
The problem is clearly visible in this screenshot:
http://projectdream.org/~lb/farbproblem.JPG (On the Left the Word
document, on the right the AFP)
It also happens in the CMYK enabled illustrator in this screenshot:
http://projectdream.org/~lb/farbproblem2.JPG
However, printing the pure CMYK-colors works fine:
http://projectdream.org/~lb/klappt.JPG
This is our Logo, in a CMYK EPS file:
http://projectdream.org/~lb/data_adr-logo_leg.eps
I've systematically tried all settings available in the printer
driver. Some of them didn't work at all, but all of them created
wrong colors.
Using the black and white mode works fine, of course. The problems
only there with color printing.
________________________-06/09/11-05:28--AL____________________________
________________________-06/09/11-05:28--AL____________________________
________________________-06/09/11-05:28--CR____________________________
________________________-06/09/11-05:28--AT____________________________
________________________-06/09/11-06:19--CT____________________________
________________________-06/09/11-06:21--AL____________________________
________________________-06/09/11-06:21--AL____________________________
________________________-06/09/11-06:22--AL____________________________
________________________-06/09/11-06:22--CR____________________________
printing stuff
regards Michael
________________________-06/09/11-07:11--CT____________________________
________________________-06/09/11-08:11--AL____________________________
________________________-06/09/11-08:12--AL____________________________
________________________-06/09/11-08:12--CR____________________________
env: 9406-270 R540 C6192540
con: mr. beeler
prb: client will print color overlays. but the colors in the afp viewer
are wrong. and the colors are used from the afp viewer by the print
output.
adi: by the following internet link you can see the color prb:
http://projectdream.org/~lb/farbproblem2.JPG
http://projectdream.org/~lb/ca-afp.JPG
act: ask client what printer driver he use. client told me the Generic
600 dpi Printer Driver. told client he should use the IBM AFP 300
or 600 Printer Driver the version 1.81 and set the settings of the
printer driver according to LN405282826. but the problem still
exist.
nac: will discuss the problem with my colleague and check if another or
newer version of the IBM AFP Viewer is available.
________________________-06/09/11-08:13--CR____________________________
________________________-06/09/11-08:13--AT____________________________
________________________-06/09/11-11:01--AL____________________________
________________________-06/09/11-11:01--CR____________________________
act: a newer version of the AFP Viewer is available. will informed
client about the newer version. but nocon, out of business time.
send client an e-mail and informed client about the newer version
and installation. requested fb after the installation and test. w4f
________________________-06/09/11-11:46--AL____________________________
________________________-06/09/11-11:46--CR____________________________
sts: client has send me an e-mail with fb. client has tried the newer
version. but the problem still exist.
________________________-06/09/11-12:49--CR____________________________
env: 9406-270 R540 C6192540
con: mr. beeler
prb: client trying to create a color AFP overlay, which he can print to
any IPDS-enabled color printer which supports FS45. The problem is
that the colors in the AFP file I get are already wrong, before I
even upload the file to our iSeries.
adi: by the following internet link you can see the color prb:
http://projectdream.org/~lb/farbproblem2.JPG
http://projectdream.org/~lb/ca-afp.JPG
Hi Rochester,
at first client has used the Generic Printer Driver 600 dpi. told client
he should use the IBM AFP 300 or 600 Printer Driver the version 1.81 and
set the settings of the printer driver according to LN405282826. but the
problem still exist. afterwards client has the version 1.66 for the IBM
AFP Viewer and the AFP PTFs according to LN23381552 installed. same
problem occured. please help me in this case. why is the color wrong in
the AFP Viewer.
Regards Iris.
________________________-06/09/11-12:54--AL____________________________
________________________-06/09/11-12:54--CR____________________________
________________________-06/09/11-12:54--AT____________________________
________________________-06/09/11-12:56--CR____________________________
________________________-06/09/11-12:56--AT____________________________
________________________-06/09/11-13:53--CT____________________________
________________________-06/09/11-13:53--CR____________________________
________________________-06/09/11-13:53--AT____________________________
________________________-06/09/11-17:27--CT____________________________
________________________-06/09/11-18:07--CR____________________________
We could try printing through a later version of the AFP driver. We
would need the input file that they are printing through the driver, and
a description of what application they are using to print from.
________________________-06/09/11-18:51-SCE____________________________
*** Electronic update by customer.
Additional Information:
The problem happens in all applications i've tried so far (see
original posting).
Here's my sample file using Adobe Illustrator G2:
http://projectdream.org/~lb/CMYK%20test.ai
Here's the same file, converted to PDF in case you don't have acces
s
to Adobe Illustrator:
http://projectdream.org/~lb/CMYK%20test.pdf
The problem is the same, no matter what application i use for
printing. Be it microsoft word, professional programs like Adobe
Illustrator, or mspaint.
I've also tried a variety of printing options in all applications,
with none leading to better results.
________________________-06/09/12-05:11-SCR____________________________
________________________-06/09/12-05:11-SAT____________________________
________________________-06/09/12-06:08--AL____________________________
________________________-06/09/12-06:08-SCR____________________________
q corr CFEPR4
________________________-06/09/12-06:28-SCT____________________________
________________________-06/09/12-06:30--AT____________________________
adi: delete secondary, work on primary.
________________________-06/09/12-07:45--AL____________________________
________________________-06/09/12-07:45--CR____________________________
Hi Rochester,
please read the update from client on page 13.
Regards Iris.
________________________-06/09/12-07:47--CT____________________________
________________________-06/09/12-07:47--CR____________________________
Reque from IST400,163 to WTPRT,163 for further technical assistance.
________________________-06/09/12-14:18--CT____________________________
________________________-06/09/12-14:48--CR____________________________
We don't have either application that they mention. Could they send us
a file to use with some common Microsoft application, like paint?
Also, we have posted a newer version of the AFP driver with instructions
to ISTWorld. The customer can try it to see if it helps any. We
recommend, to start, that the only image options they change is to
select the "Full color" color option.
________________________-06/09/12-14:55--AL____________________________
________________________-06/09/12-14:55--CR____________________________
act: informed client about the update from rochester. client will
install the new version of the ibm afp printer driver and
afterwards made tests. w4f
________________________-06/09/12-15:32-SCE____________________________
*** Electronic update by customer.
Additional Information:
I've received a zipfile from Frau Bauer from Germany.
I've installed the new printer driver according to the instructions
given, but still no go. The problem still exists, though its form
has changed a bit.
There are now two different problems:
If i print the PDF provided earlier using FoxIt PDF Reader, i get a
n
AFP File in more or less correct colors, but truncated text.
This is my AFP File:
projectdream.org/~lb/new6.afp
Printing this AFP as an Overlay causes the print writer to die.
But the problem with incorrect colors still remains in basic
applications like mspaint:
This is a standard Bitmap file, printed using MSPAINT:
http://projectdream.org/~lb/new.bmp
This is the resulting AFP File:
http://projectdream.org/~lb/new.afp
For your reference, here's a comparison screenshot:
http://projectdream.org/~lb/comparison.JPG
As you can see, the problem remains the same.
Now, for the printer options:
I've changed the type to overlay, disabled internal forms
definition, and changed the color type to full color. Everything
else was left at default values.
________________________-06/09/12-19:52--AL____________________________
________________________-06/09/13-06:53-SCT____________________________
________________________-06/09/13-06:54--AT____________________________
adi: delete secondary, work on primary.
________________________-06/09/13-06:56--AL____________________________
________________________-06/09/13-06:56--CR____________________________
Hi Michael,
client has installed the new version of the IBM AFP Printer Driver.
please see the update and test result from client above.
Regards Iris.
________________________-06/09/13-07:03--CT____________________________
________________________-06/09/13-07:03--CR____________________________
Reque from IST400,163 to WTPRT,163 for further technical assistance.
________________________-06/09/13-14:17--CT____________________________
________________________-06/09/13-14:17--CR____________________________
________________________-06/09/13-14:17--AT____________________________
________________________-06/09/13-19:46--CR____________________________
OK, with this .bmp file, I can see the issue. The yellow and black are
OK, but the other 2 colors are altered a bit. I will check with
development to see if there is any way around this. I seem to get the
same result when printing via the MS image/fax viewer product.
________________________-06/09/18-19:11--CR____________________________
I asked development for an update.
________________________-06/09/18-19:50--CR____________________________
Development states:
"There isn't much that the AFP Printer Driver can do. The driver is
just passing the bytes provided by the Windows GDI".
So, it appears there will be no recommendations forthcoming.
________________________-06/09/19-05:49--AL____________________________
________________________-06/09/19-05:49-SCE____________________________
*** Electronic update by customer.
*** SEVERITY HAS CHANGED
Additional Information:
If that's the case, how is it that the IBM AFP Driver is the only
thing which has this color corruption?
Adobe Distiller's PDF Writer doesn't have that Problem. FreePDF XP
doesn't have that problem. No "regular" printer driver i've seen ha
s
this problem.
We still expect IBM to resolve this issue. We have invested time an
d
money to get a printer which is capable of printing these color
overlays, so we expect IBM to get us a way to generate those
overlays. We've also provided you with as much information as
possible to resolve this issue.
________________________-06/09/19-06:13-SCT____________________________
________________________-06/09/19-06:14--AT____________________________
adi: delete secondary, work on primary.
________________________-06/09/19-06:21--CR____________________________
Hi Michael,
please read update from client.
Regards Iris.
________________________-06/09/19-06:32--CT____________________________
________________________-06/09/19-06:32--CR____________________________
Reque from IST400,163 to WTPRT,163 for further technical assistance.
________________________-06/09/19-13:47--CT____________________________
________________________-06/09/19-13:49--CR____________________________
Does the customer happen to have the Infoprint Designer product? I was
able to create a page segment from the .bmp file that the customer
submitted using the Image Editor portion of Designer. The colors appear
to be pretty close. Then, you could include the page segment in an
overlay or use the page segment directly using the PAGSEG dds keyword.
________________________-06/09/19-14:07-SCE____________________________
*** Electronic update by customer.
Additional Information:
We don't have InfoPrint Designer, and we don't intend to buy it.
We're a small ISV and are looking to integrate this into our ERP
Software (running on the System i). We can't tell our customers to
buy a piece of software which is in a rather high price category
just to create some fancy invoices.
________________________-06/09/19-14:11-SCT____________________________
________________________-06/09/19-14:11--AT____________________________
adi: delete secondary, work on primary.
________________________-06/09/19-14:13--CR____________________________
Hi Michael,
please see update from client.
Thx Iris.
________________________-06/09/19-14:15--CR____________________________
________________________-06/09/19-14:15--AT____________________________
________________________-06/09/19-14:35--CT____________________________
________________________-06/09/19-14:35--CR____________________________
OK, I will ask the developers again.
________________________-06/09/26-11:35-SCE____________________________
*** Electronic update by customer.
Additional Information:
A week has passed since the last update. Any news from development?
________________________-06/09/26-12:40-SCR____________________________
Hi Michael,
please see the update from client.
Regards Iris.
________________________-06/09/26-12:44-SCR____________________________
________________________-06/09/26-12:44-SAT____________________________
________________________-06/09/26-13:12-SCT____________________________
________________________-06/09/26-13:12-SCR____________________________
________________________-06/09/26-13:12-SAT____________________________
________________________-06/09/26-20:03--CR____________________________
________________________-06/09/26-20:03--AT____________________________
________________________-06/09/27-20:49--CR____________________________
Development continues to state that no fix will be forthcoming. This is
sort of documented in knowledgebase document 405282826.
"These settings might not generate the expected output; it depends on
the Microsoft? Windows? application used to create and design the data.
For example, the above settings will generate a file with color from
Microsoft Paint, but the same settings when generating a file from a
Microsoft Word document results in colors being changed (CMYK color
conversion).
Different applications can pass information to the IBM AFP print driver
in different ways. For example, Microsoft Word passes information
through DrvStrokeAndFillPath, which creates GOCA (Graphics Object
Content Architecture) data. Microsoft Paint passes information through
DrvBitBit, which generates IOCA (Image Object Content Architecture)
data. The output from these architectures is different, which accounts
for the differences in the resulting overlay or page segment object.
To print color from a Microsoft Word document, test with selecting the
Gray Scale Method as Photographic Dither, the Graphics Option as
Enhanced, and the Color Options as Black / White."
The CMYK conversion is what is causing the colors to change slightly.
Another alternative, is to modify the original document to use line art,
instead of bitmap. This way the AFP Printer Driver will be called with
the box fill drawing orders and the AFP Printer Driver wouldn't convert
the color space using CYMK. I'm not sure if the customer could draw the
same logo using Microsoft Paint, which normally uses line art.
________________________-06/09/27-20:50--CR____________________________
________________________-06/09/27-20:50--AT____________________________
________________________-06/09/28-06:15--AL____________________________
________________________-06/09/28-06:15--CR____________________________
act: will informed client that the problem record is back from the lab.
but nocon, client is not in office at the moment. send client an
e-mail and informed him that the problem record is back. send
client also KB405282826. requested fb. w4f
________________________-06/09/28-07:01-SCE____________________________
*** Electronic update by customer.
Additional Information:
Please reread my initial report on the problem. I was aware of the
document mentioned at that time, and tried printing from a variety
of applications, as also mentioned in my initial report.
These applications are:
Word 2003
Word 2007
Adobe Illustrator G2 (in Both RGB and CMYK Mode)
Adobe Acrobat (in both RGB and CMYK Mode)
mspaint from Windows XP
Microsoft Document Viewer from Windows XP
The problem exists while printing from ALL of these applications, i
n
more or less the same form. There is variety of virtual printer
drivers which do not exhibit any problems like this, most notable i
s
FreePDF XP, which you can download for free from
http://www.freepdfxp.de.
The existance of virtual printer drivers from other vendors which d
o
not have this problem are proof that this is not a general problem
of Microsoft Windows.
If IBM is not able to find the cause of this problem, i suggest IBM
to open a case with Microsoft Product Support.
Or offer an alternative way to create color overlays.
________________________-06/09/28-07:04-SCT____________________________
________________________-06/09/28-07:05--AT____________________________
adi: delete secondary, work on primary.
________________________-06/09/28-07:07--AL____________________________
________________________-06/09/28-07:07--CR____________________________
Hi Michael,
please see the update from client again.
Regards Iris.
________________________-06/09/28-07:26--CR____________________________
requeue from IST400,163 to WTPRT,163 for further technical assistance
________________________-06/09/28-13:28--CT____________________________
________________________-06/09/28-16:43--CR____________________________
The AFP driver developers do not plan on any fixes at this time.
Page segments created by Image Editor of Infoprint Designer look OK.
I am going to see if the xxx2afp transforms of Infoprint Server will
work or not.
________________________-06/09/28-18:15-SCE____________________________
*** Electronic update by customer.
Additional Information:
IBM has already acknowledged that this problem exists on
-06/09/13-20:46--CR.
Can we have an official, written statement, that is is impossible t
o
generate color overlays using standard software available from IBM?
I need to explain this to my superiors. It would also be nice if IB
M
would include this into the official documentation, because the
current situation is quite misleading, and can bring companys like
ours to buy equipment which we will not be able to use.
I will also forward this information to our marketing dept, and we
will make sure to update the documentation of our software to
include the fact that IBMs software is not able to fulfill this tas
k.
________________________-06/09/28-20:55--CR____________________________
I have forwarded the customer comments to development. If things don't
change, then probably the best place to document this would be in an
Information APAR.
________________________-06/09/29-06:11-SCT____________________________
________________________-06/09/29-06:12--AT____________________________
adi: delete secondary, work on primary.
________________________-06/10/04-08:18-SCE____________________________
Mr. Marc Hofer (IBM Switzerland) called in and requested call back at
phone-number +41 79407-1002 please.
________________________-06/10/04-08:18--AL____________________________
________________________-06/10/04-08:19-SCR____________________________
________________________-06/10/04-08:19-SAT____________________________
________________________-06/10/04-08:23-SCT____________________________
________________________-06/10/04-08:46--AT____________________________
con: mr. hofer, +41 79407-1002
act: mr. hofer will know the status of the problem. told mr. hofer the
pmr is in rochester and rochester works on an information apar.
adi: delete secondary, work on primary.
________________________-06/10/04-19:23--CR____________________________
Development is still discussing this issue.
________________________-06/10/04-21:47--CR____________________________
________________________-06/10/04-21:47--AT____________________________
________________________-06/10/12-06:08-SCE____________________________
*** Electronic update by customer.
Additional Information:
Any news?
________________________-06/10/12-09:34-SCT____________________________
________________________-06/10/12-09:36-SCR____________________________
Hi Michael,
do you have any news about this problem?
regards
Chris
________________________-06/10/12-09:51-SCR____________________________
requeue from IST400,163 to WTPRT,163 for further technical assistance
________________________-06/10/12-13:25-SCT____________________________
________________________-06/10/12-13:26-SCR____________________________
The developers are thinking about a redesign of the driver, but this
will take some time, and they have not committed to such a thing, yet.
It is still in the discussion phase.
________________________-06/10/16-06:48-SCT____________________________
________________________-06/10/16-06:48--AT____________________________
adi: delete secondary, work on primary.
________________________-06/10/17-07:22--AT____________________________
act: informed client about the update from rochester.
________________________-06/10/17-16:22--CT____________________________
NO CONTACT IS REQUIRED
________________________-06/10/17-18:03--CR____________________________
At this time, they still have not committed to the redesign. If it
happens, it would not be available until second quarter of 2007,
estimated.
________________________-06/10/17-21:38-SCE____________________________
*** Electronic update by customer.
Additional Information:
Okay, so what should we do?
________________________-06/10/18-06:35-SCT____________________________
________________________-06/10/18-06:36--AT____________________________
adi: delete secondary, work on primary.
________________________-06/10/18-06:40--CR____________________________
Hi Michael,
please see update from client.
Regards Iris.
________________________-06/10/18-06:47--CT____________________________
________________________-06/10/18-06:47--CR____________________________
Reque from IST400,163 to WTPRT,163 for further technical assistance.
________________________-06/10/18-13:23--CT____________________________
________________________-06/10/18-13:25--CR____________________________
At this time, we have identified Infoprint Designer as being capable of
generating proper colors. Other than that, an update to the AFP driver
could be available by second quarter 2007.
________________________-06/10/18-13:35--AL____________________________
________________________-06/10/18-13:35--CR____________________________
act: will contact client. but nocon, colleague from client told me,
client is not in office for today. send client an e-mail. client
should inform me when he is reachable.
________________________-06/10/18-14:58--AL____________________________
________________________-06/10/18-15:03--AL____________________________
________________________-06/10/18-15:03--AL____________________________
________________________-06/10/18-15:03--CC____________________________
act: client has send me an e-mail and informed me he is reachable.
contact client and informed client about the update from rochester.
nac: client accepted the answer and agree to close the call.
ccwca.
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