Can a folder be made to automatically print incoming files?

I would love to set up a folder on the Jaguar server that will automatically copy files from that folder into the printer spool and then deletee the original file. It sounds like a simple task, but I’d like to automate it? Can this be done?

Yes, it is possible keying off the file type/creator type to launch the appropriate application and issuing open, print, and close document commands, but here are some major “gotcha’s” to watch out for that I have personally run into:

(1) Watch out for apps which require you to respond to a dialog box when opening / printing / closing. This could stall the automated process when you open, for example, a vector EPS with Photoshop waiting for you to provide rasterization info before opening the document. It is beneficial to set up Photoshop preferences, for example, to not prompt for color profile mismatches and to take a specified course of action instead of prompting you for instructions. This is not possible to do with all apps, however.

(2) If printing files which don’t have creator codes (i.e., PC files), it is not easy to know which is the correct application to use to print (i.e., should you launch Photoshop or Illustrator to print an EPS file?)

(3) Errors could cause a script to loop and print repeatedly. Using folder actions instead ofa looping Applescript can help to avoid this.

I have written automated processing / printing of TIFF/EPS/PDF files using Facespan w/Applescript on OS 9 and OS X. Under OS X, it really works well, especially with the open source development tools such as MySQL, Perl and PHP. Getting all the kinks worked out is definitely not trivial, though, due to the considerations mentioned above.

Good luck

Jerry

I too am looking for a solution for this. I have clients (newspapers) with several locations. They want to be able to FTP PDF files to a folder, and have the contents of this folder automatically printed. Then perhaps have this file moved to a ‘printed’ folder.

Any offerings for this, or if anyone can point me in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.

-Brian

-Brian Sheafer, Apple Certified Help Desk Specialist
http://www.svmac.com - brian@svmac.com
SV Macintosh™ Consulting - Since 1996
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