Journal Note Writer

So, you like the Journal Note Writer feature of your TablePC...  Do you want to be able to create Journal documents by "printing" them on the Journal Note Writer "printer" on an ordinary PC?

No, I'm not talking about the free download "Journal Viewer"... I'm talking about taking any printable document on a WinXP (not Tablet PC) and creating a journal file.

Well, I've figured it out... using a temporary network share and a component from Office 2003.

Here is how you do it.

1. On your TabletPC, create a print share for the Journal Note Writer (you might have to turn on "File and Print Sharing" and possibly adjust your firewall settings). Plug it into the network with the WinXP system.
2. On your WinXP system, "add a network printer" via the Control Panel's Printers and Faxes icon. The print share is (of course) the new share you just created on the TabletPC in step 1.
3. This will install the "Journal Note Writer" driver on your WinXP system. You can now delete the printer you just added (yes, the driver will remain after you've deleted the printer). You should also remove the share you created in step 1... you don't need it anymore.
4. Office 2003 normally installs a "Microsoft Office Document Image Writer" printer (if not, see below). Now you just edit this printer to use the new driver. From the printer's Properties, Advanced tab, Driver box, change the driver to "Journal Note Writer".

That's it... now when you print to the Document Image Writer, you get a Journal file that you can transfer to your TabletPC for markup

Note 1: If you have Office 2003 but don't have "Microsoft Office Document Image Writer" installed then that's an easy fix... just run the setup on Office 2003. Drill down to Add/Remove Features, Choose Advanced customization of applications, Office Tools, Microsoft Office Document Imaging. Then choose "Microsoft Office Document Image Writer".

Note 2: If you've got "Microsoft Office Document Image Writer" but don't want to give it up for exclusive use by the Journal Note Writer...an easy fix is to create a second printer for the Journal Note Writer. "Add a local printer", using LPT1, but specifying the driver (don't select detect plug and play)... use the "Have disk" and navigate to the Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office11 directory. The MSCOL11.INF file will install the "Generic Color PS for Commercial Printing".

Then mirror the settings from the "Microsoft Document Image Writer", namely:

1. From the Ports tab, change the Port to "Microsoft Document Image Writing Port:"
2. From the Advanced tab, Driver combobox, change the driver to "Journal Note Writer".
3. From the Advanced tab, click on "Print Processor", select "ModiPrint" and "RAW"
4. From the Advanced tab, clear the checkbox on "Print Spooled Documents first"

You might be able to use any "generic" printer (as long as it supported color graphics)... but I haven't tested any others.