Best way to implement printing forms (invoices, etc)?

[Helge Blischke]

Joe Greco wrote:

>> Joe Greco wrote:
>> You could use the "alternate pstops filter" (see the links on the CUPS
>> web site). The filter published there is based on the 1.1.19 original; if
>> you drop me an e-mail, I could send you a more recent source based on
>> 1.3.5. This filter (use any 1.3.x sources to compile) can easily be used
>> on 1.4.x (1.5.0 not tested).
>> When using that filter, you can apply the preprinted forms as a watermark
>> to the pages with a little bit of PostScript programming.
> 
> Wow, that looks kind of promising.  I had talked to some other PostScript
> hackers about this but it was kind of discouraging.  I haven't written any
> serious PS in near 20 years and only putter with it very infrequently, so
> I think the next intelligent question is ... "what's a little bit of
> PostScript programming?"
> 
> I'm not sure I have the time to undertake authoring our forms in PS,
> though I feel like pstops would be likely to work with this if I did.
> 
> It'd be preferable to be able to take an existing PS file (or author new
> ones using something like Mayura Draw) and use that, but I don't know how
> possible that really is.  Is that a likely possibility for someone of only
> modest PostScript skills?
> 
> Thanks for the lead, in any case!  I'm going to have to put together a
> CUPS VM now to go play with this a bit more.

Apart from my last ptoposal, there may be a cheaper (without the need of 
recompiling a cups filter) way to achieve what you need: I recently browsed 
my archives and found a backend (written in Perl) which did just do what you 
want but generating PDFs instead of direct printing. It even offers 
different "preprints" for different pages of tha output (like a full 
letterhead for the first page and follow-up forms for the second ff. 
page(s)). I could easily modify that script to operate as a CUPS filter.

Lwr me know if *this* would be a suitable solution for you.

Helge