NupPrint (v3.0
beta) NupPrint (v3.0
beta) NupPrint is a Windows application which lays out and prints images 'N-up' in the page. The layout is based on a range of parameters defined by the user.
NupPrint is a single Windows executable file (NupPrint.exe) that
calls on standard Windows facilities to control file opening, printing,
etc.
The executable is provided as part of a single Zip file (NupPrint.zip)
together with its help text (NupPrintHelp.html), style sheet
(NupPrintSS.css) and image files (NupPrint*.gif).
The application is provided as Freeware with no warranty. You are free to
use NupPrint, but I would ask that if it is distributed further, it is
distibuted as the complete Zip file which includes the Help files. Copies
of the Zip file and an email link for comments or suggestions can be found
on my web site at www.middlea.freeserve.co.uk.
Any comments about NupPrint are welcome.
Having selected a folder, NupPrint analyses its contents, and optionally any sub-folders. The images are listed and can be selected and sorted before being laid out and printed.
A page title and footer can be defined, the defaults being the selected folder and page numbers.
The images will be laid out in a specified number of rows and columns, and each image can be labelled by its file name as a caption. For digital photographs, the caption can also include the camera model, the date the photograph was taken, the exposure, the lens focal length, the camera 'speed' and any exposure compensation. If IPTC details have been added to the image (e.g. by Photoshop) selected details such as the image Title can also be included in the caption.
The alignment, font and size of titles, footers and captions can also be defined by the user.
The laid out pages can then be printed without a preview, or each page can be previewed and selectively printed.
NupPrint is written using REALbasic, an object oriented integrated development environment (IDE) available from REALsoftware.com. REALbasic (up to RB2008r1) produces self contained applications that include the necessary common code for file opening, printing, etc. Later releases of REALbasic build the application with a separate DLL folder. For the time being, NupPrint will be built using RB2008r1 so that it will continue to be a single self-contained .exe file!
Though REALbasic can be used to compile for Linux and Mac platforms, NupPrint has currently only been built for Windows.
Version details and a list of changes are given here. The current version is shown in the Help>About menu option as 'Major version.minor version.bug version [stage]' (stage is only given on test versions).
NupPrint is best run on a monitor with 800x600 pixel resolution or higher.
When entering data, numeric fields are validated as they are typed. If the characters typed are not valid they are ignored. If the number falls outside the expected range it will be highlighted in red while typing and set to the upper or lower limit of the range once 'return' is pressed or focus moves to another control. If the field is left empty, it is set to a default value.
NupPrint is run by double clicking on the NupPrint icon or on
its file name in the same way as any Windows application. It does not need
to be installed.
Alternatively a folder can be dropped onto the NupPrint icon or file name so that the application opens with the folder selected.
NupPrint opens with its Main Window which shows a series of controls through which the user can direct its operation.
The various controls are described below. In general, they step from top to bottom through the process of defining a layout, but they can be selected in any order. Some controls are disabled until relevant.
The window also has a menu bar through which the application can be closed (File>Exit) or the Help file can be accessed.
A folder containing images can be selected using the Select Source Folder button. You will need then to navigate to the required folder, and click OK once it is selected. Having select a folder, details of all the files in the folder will be added to the list box. (The listing can be Cancelled by the user if an excessivley large folder has been selected!)
You can also opt to include any sub-folders in the layout. If this box is ticked after a folder has been listed, NupPrint will ask for confirmation.
The file list can be sorted using any of the displayed columns by clicking on the column's heading. This will also define the order in which the images will be laid out on the page.
The width of the columns can be adjusted by dragging the boundaries between the column headings.
At least one image file will need to be marked for inclusion in the layout. This can be done by ticking the box in the first column or by pressing the Space Bar while the required row is selected. Alternatively all images can be included using the Include All button. (The Include All processing can be Cancelled by the user if necessary.)
As a row is selected, NupPrint will first check the file. If the file is not a valid image, the check box will be disabled. If it is an image, a preview will be shown alongside the file list, and if it is an image from a digital camera, the Date/Time the image was taken will be populated in the file list.
The preview can be enlarged by expanding the whole window, either by dragging the window margins or by maximising the window.
Where available, details of a selected image (Title, Description, Exposure, etc.) will also be added as a Help Tag made visible when the mouse cursor is hovered over the image preview. These are the same details that can optionally be included in the image caption (see Text Details below).
This images to be included in or excluded from the layout can be marked using the tick boxes to the left of the list, or using the Include All or Remove All buttons. The number of images to be included will be updated as the selection is changed.
The basic layout will be based on the number of rows and columns (1-10) shown on the next line (initially 4 rows by 7 columns - suitable for thumbnails of an image folder on A4 Portrait paper). The number of pages in the selection details will be updated as changes are made.
The basic layout will leave a minimum gap between images and this can be changed as required (1-10mm).
Finally in this section, by default a hairline border will be placed around the images, but this can be omitted if preferred.
The same Font will be used for all text in the layout and can be selected from the pull-down list.
By default the Title for the pages will be defined as the path to the selected folder. This can be changed by un-ticking the Folder check-box. A line of text can then be entered in the edit-box. If all text is deleted, no title will be included and the space will be used by the main layout.
The Title can be Aligned to the Left, Centre or Right of the page, and its Point Size can be set as required (4-72pt). If the title will not fit into the page width, it will be truncated.
Each image will, by default, have a Caption comprising the File Name, including the Sub Path (if Sub Folders were included in the selection) and the File Type (i.e. File Extension). The elements of the caption can be omitted if not required, or can be changed to include 'IPTC' details (e.g. a Title added by an editor such as Photoshop) and/or 'Exif' details (e.g. for digital photographs).
If selected and available for the image, the Caption details will be included as separate lines in the order shown ...
Note that space will be allocated for each selected line of the caption even if the data is not avaialable. Adding more elements to the caption will reduce the available space for the images and the number of rows in the layout may need to be reduced. Also including long text strings (e.g. the image description) may make it necessary to reduce the number of columns since strings that do not fit in a column will be truncated. It may be prudent in such cases to preview the layout before printing (see Page Layout below).
The Alignment and Point Size of the caption can also be defined.
A Footer can also be included in the page optionally giving the Page Number, the Number of Pages and Current Date. If the entire footer is omitted the space will be used by the main layout.
Again, the Alignment and Point Size of the footer can be defined as required.
By default, the page layout will use the highest print resolution that is available for the selected printer up to a maximum of 300dpi. However, if your computer is low on memory, or if you want a higher resolution, you can set a new Max dpi (50-600dpi). By clicking on the Page Layout button you can then select the page size, orientation and margins, and also select the require printer and any printer parameters such as paper quality. This uses standard dialogs. The actual resolution selected for the layout will then be shown - initially this would have shown as 72dpi, but would generally be changed by the Page Layout dialog.
NOTE that the higher the resolution used, the greater the memory requirement for running NupPrint.
Finally, you have the option to Preview Each Page (set by default). By un-ticking this box, the pages will be laid out and sent to the selected printer by clicking the Layout Images button. The progress will be shown on the screen. If Page Layout has not previously been defined, then the dialog will be opened automatically before pages can be laid out.
If the pages are to be previewed, a new Preview window will be opened.
The Layout process can be cancelled by pressing the Cancel Button.
When a page has been created, it is opened in a separate Preview Window.
On opening, the page is sized to fit within the window. The window can be resized by dragging its margins or by maximising the window, and the view can be zoomed using the slider bar.
When the image is zoomed, horizontal and vertical scroll bars are added to the image.
Initially the first page is shown in the preview. If a print in not required, and assuming there is more than one page to be previewed, the preview can be changed using the Previous Page and Next Page buttons. If required, the current page can be sent to the selected printer by clicking the Print Page and go to Next button. Pages can be printed in any order and any number of times. The current page, the number of pages and the number of pages printed are shown at the top of the screen.
The Preview Window can be closed from the menu (File>Close Preview Window), or by using the Windows 'Close' icon (top/right), or by clicking the Finish button. The window does not need to be closed if a new layout is to be previewed (this can be done by clicking back in the main window), but if pages have been sent to the printer, the print will only be finalised when the window is closed.
The Help window is a simplified HTML browser that can be called directly from the Help Menus in each NupPrint window. The various Help options open the file NupPrintHelp.html at an appropriate point within the text. The Go to Top button will move to the top of the text where you will find links to the different help sections.
The browser window can be resized, and text can be scrolled using the scroll bar.
The browser expects NupPrintHelp.html and various other files to be in the same folder as the NupPrint.exe application file.
The file NupPrintHelp.html can also be opened in any other browser (e.g. Internet Explorer).