RTF not transparent when printing

rbuser

RB 6.03 Ent, Delphi 6...


We have been asked to add a watermark to one clients's templates.

Remembering earlier posts, have added a PageStyle band and have placed an
image in the band...

On screen preview, everything looks fine, but when printing the Rich Text
box hides part of the underlying image.

Have checked that Transparent is enabled and that Fill is set to No Fill,
but to no avail.

I think I am using the Woll2Woll enhanced RTF ...

Any ideas?

I would convert to a memo, but they are using the text formatting
capabilities of RTF...

Any help much appreciated...

Regards,

Pete Colson

rbuser

Depending upon the printer driver, I have had various issues with water
marks and RTFs. I received a FAX (copy of water mark report) from a major
client of our that was almost all black. But then it works on many
printers--we have no problems in our office :-).

I am thinking of looking at WPTools, but I still think the issue is the
printer driver.

Ed Dressel
Team DM

rbuser

Have tried printing on a HP LaserJet 4000 (PCL6 and PS), HP InkJet 2000C,
Oki Colour Laser C7400 and an HP OfficeJet G85 (on both Windows NT4 and
XP) - all with the same results!

If it's the printer drivers, then all of ours have the same fault!

If I replace the RichText box with a Memo box, everything works as it should
...(e.g. the watermark shows through ...).

The watermark is a GIF image... (have also tried a bitmap - same results)

Have temporarily removed ppWWRichEd from application , still the same
results ...

All my testing seems to point to the problem being part of RB and not the
printer drivers ...

What printers have you managed to get work successfully?

Would it help prove the point if I sent you the watermark image I am trying
to get working?

Look forward to your resposne!

Regards

Pete Colson

rbuser

Just note that Team DM is volunteers.

I got it working just fine on a HP OfficeJet R60.

--
Ed Dressel
DX Squad

Developer Express newsgroups are for peer-to-peer support.
For direct support from Developer Express, write to support@devexpress.com
Bug reports should be directed to: support@devexpress.com
Please state if you are not using the latest version of the product.

rbuser

Thanks for the input, much appreciated.

However, I can't insist all my clients buy HP R60's...

Have since tried it outpuutting to Pragnaan's PDF output file (presumably
bypasses standard printer drivers?) - and it still doesn't work!

Am therefore even more convinced that it's down to RB...

Hopefully DM can point us both in the right direction.

Thanks again for the feedback,

Regards

Pete Colson.

digitalmetaphors

Most printer drivers do not fully support the Win API calls which can be
made to them, when transparency is involved. If RB prints fine to one
printer but not another printer, and all else being equal, then that does
mean that the printer driver is at fault.

As an alternative test, you output the report to PDF and it still doesn't
work in the PDF or when you print the PDF? I don't have it installed right
now, but we can try it to find out. I'm not sure if the PDF device supports
transparency, but I'll find out if it has been designed to support it.


Cheers,

Jim Bennett
Digital Metaphors

rbuser

Jim,

Must admit, the screen preview looks right...

Have created two boxes, one directly below the other and both still with
watermark underneath.... the top one is a memo box, the bottom one a
RichText box.

Both boxes are transparent on print preview...

Outputted to a PDF using Pragnaan's software and on Acrobat Reader screen
preview, the watermark shows through the Memo box perfectly, but not the
Rich Text box... and the same happens when I print the PDF document...

As mentioend earlier, have tried same test on all four printers available
here, and it doesn't work on any of them. I used to be of the opinion that
HP LaserJets were the benchmark. If it worked on our HP LaserJet but nothing
else, I would unreservedly accept it was the printer driver...

The watermark shows through labels, shapes, dbText etc. and everything else
on the template - the ONLY thing not working (that I have tried, anyway)
appears to be the RichText box...

Any further light you can shed on this would be much appreciated...

Regards,

Pete Colson

digitalmetaphors

I researched it further and the Pragnaan PDF device doesn't support
transparent rich text. It is on their to-do list of features to add.

Most printer drivers don't support transparency very well. It works on a few
printers, which aren't inculded in the printers you are using. The best
thing to do is to upgrade to the latest printer drivers that you can.
Otherwise, you can't use the transparent rich text when printing because the
printer drivers just don't support this feature very well.


Cheers,

Jim Bennett
Digital Metaphors