Translating PRN Files

[Stoker]

I have some .prn files and would like to view and edit the
contents. Is there any software capable of importing or opening these files?

 

[msmith]

Stoker,

From what I have been able to glean, the .prn file format does not exist, per se. What gets written to the prn file depends on which printer/driver was in use at the time. It is simply a stream of printer commands and could represent PCL, Postscript, etc. Sounds like a tall order for software to re-create the original data from this in a blind fashion. Anyone else have more on this?

Regards,
M. Smith

 

[austim]

I am sure that msmith is correct. The only way to read the contents of the .prn file is to send it to the printer for which it was written (or to a very closely relasted printer).

eg try sending the same file as *.prn to two different printers and compare them - they will differ quite markedly.
(You don't need the physical printers, just tell your OS what printer you are trying to send the file to)

 

ProductVision will open it, and lets you manipulate them a bit. I use it to compare/contrast files, be they iges, dxf, postscript, prn's, bmp's or whatever.

 

[Xiidaen]

If you take a look at the most recent edition of CADALYST Magazine (May 2002) they list several viewing programs that work iwth CAD Applications. They give WiseVIEW a five star rating and I know that version 4.5 will work with PRN files. You can see the product at

http://www.wiseview.com.