Table of contents (click to expand)

• Setting up applications for DOSBox Staging
  • WordPerfect 6.2 for DOS

---

Setting up applications for DOSBox Staging

Obsolete Technology from https://xkcd.com/1891/

WordPerfect 6.2 for DOS

Printing to PostScript file

WordPerfect for DOS is still used to this day by professionals in their late career years or working part-time from retirement. Setting up WordPerfect 6.2 for DOS for modern PostScript to PDF pipeline (or printing to a local PostScript printer) is poorly documented, so let's walk through the necessary steps.

Adding a PostScript printer

1. Select File menu, select Print/Fax...

2. From Current Printer choose Select...

3. Select Add Printer...

4. Edward Mendelson's excellent WordPerfect for DOS Updated resource recommends using Tektronix Phaser ColorQuick driver as a print-to-file PostScript printer driver. This driver supports PostScript Level 2, and is able to support every presentation feature in WordPerfect 6.2 for DOS. For older versions of WordPerfect that don't include Tektronix Phaser ColorQuick driver, selecting Apple LaserWriter IINTX driver is a safe choice. Select Tektronix Phaser ColorQuick, choose Select..., use default filename and select OK. Continue to next chapter.

5. If you don't have Tektronix Phaser ColorQuick driver installed in your WordPerfect 6.2 for DOS printer driver directory, you can now install it by selecting Other Dir... and specifying printer driver directory as D:\COREL\WPC62DOS\ or equivalent from WordPerfect install media in hand and select OK. This will now add all the printers in the selected directory to a list for the user to choose from and this will take a while. Select Tektronix Phaser ColorQuick, choose Select..., use default filename and select OK. Continue to next chapter.

Configuring a PostScript printer for print-to-file workflow

1. Information window pops up displaying information about the added printer. Do note that adding Tektronix Phaser ColorQuick printer adds 35 PostScript Type 1 fonts defined in PostScript Level 2 Core Font Set to WordPerfect. Select close to proceed.

2. In Edit Printer Setup menu select Port...

3. Select Prompt for Filename (this will make the printer solely print-to-file) and select OK.

4. Make sure Printer Configured for Color is selected.

5. In Directory for Soft Fonts specify default C:\PSFONTS or a directory of your choosing where your PostScript Type 1 fonts are located. Select OK.

6. Select Close in Select Printer window and select Close in Print/Fax window to return to the WordPerfect editing mode.

7. In Print/Fax window select Print to start the print-to-file process. You can specify just the filename for example WPDOC1.PS (the file will go to your default document directory C:\WPDOCS) or specify the directory where the file goes for example C:\PSFILES\WPDOC1.PS. Select OK and wait for the print-to-file process to complete. If you're processing large files, for example, legal discovery documents (these can be several thousand pages), you can monitor progress of the print job by selecting Control Printer... in Print/Fax window. Happy printing!

Printing to local PostScript printer

You can print raw PostScript generated by WordPerfect to your local PostScript printer by drag and dropping the PostScript file on your printer's print queue window. This works on Windows, macOS, and most Linux desktop environments:

Do note that Tektronix Phaser ColorQuick driver lacks duplex printing support, as the printer didn't come with a duplexer. WordPerfect 6.2 for DOS also lacks N-up printing support, which became a standard feature for PostScript drivers from 1995 on. For these types of printing workflows, you still have to use the host printer driver.

Making sure generated PDF documents are searchable

If you need your generated PDF documents to be searchable, it's a good idea to stick to PostScript Level 2 Core Font Set. The PostScript generated by WordPerfect 6.2 for DOS doesn't do a good job of ensuring generated PDF documents are searchable unless PostScript Level 2 Core Font Set is used. For example, if your document was largely authored in Roman-WP font family, you can switch it to Times font family, which is the equivalent in PostScript Level 2 Core Font Set.

Here's a small table to get this right:

WordPerfect font family	PostScript font family
Roman-WP*	Times*
Helve-WP*	Helvetica*
Courier-WP*	Courier*

*️⃣ denotes each font family's Regular, Bold, Italic, and Bold-Italic equivalents.

Making WordPerfect for DOS run fast

Create a batch file in your WordPerfect application directory, for example RUN.BAT:

config -set "core=dynamic"
config -set cpu_cycles=100000
config -set cpu_cycles_protected=100000
wp
config -set "core=auto"
config -set cpu_cycles=3000
config -set cpu_cycles_protected=60000

To run WordPerfect from now on, type RUN in your WordPerfect application directory and press the ↵ Return key.

More about using batch files with DOSBox Staging from here: Running games from batch files

[Top]

---