[Samba] Re: CUPS Print Quality -- WAS -- UPDATE Where are the ADOBE PS Drivers?

[Simon Hobson]

Chris McKeever wrote:

>So - the PPD controls the print options - therefore driver
>independence isnt fully achievable since you need the printer specific
>PPD (if you want to be able to set printer specific information per
>job)

Yes, that is true. What I am not sure about as I've not done the 
testing to support it, is whether just changing the PPD and 
re-running cupsaddsmb will result in the client getting the new ppd 
installed (our login script maps the printers on this site). If it 
does then swapping out a printer should be as simple as changing the 
ppd on the server.

>from the howto:
>
>"A postscript file that was created to contain device-specific ommands
>for achieving a certain print job output on a specific target machine,
>may not print as expectd, or may not be printable at all on other
>models"

One of the things about Postscript is that it tends to degrade 
reasonably well. I'm fairly confident that in most cases you could 
send a file that (for example) requests duplex printing to a printer 
without that feature and it will still print (but without the duplex 
of course).

>Now what would be nice (and who knows if at all possible) - if there
>was a generic CUPS PPD, which gave general print options
>(duplex/punched) -- when sent from windows into the cups spooled, cups
>could extract what the client requested, use the PPD of the vendor to
>ensure what was requested is available, recreated the PS file and send
>it to the printer.  With this, the client could be completely
>driver/ppd independent
>
>from the howto:
>
>"for real PS printers, DO NOT use the foomatic PPD's.  The original
>vendor PPD's are always first choice"

You could roll your own !

I don't know if you've looked at the contents of a ppd, but they tend 
to be fairly easy to understand (if a bit large for a complex 
printer). If you started with a complex printer ppd and stripped out 
the bits you don't need then you could end up with something that 
would just have the features you want, and I think you would probably 
find the output reasonably portable.


-- 
Simon Hobson MA MIEE, Technology Specialist
Colony Gift Corporation Limited
Lindal in Furness, Ulverston, Cumbria, LA12 0LD
Tel 01229 461100, Fax 01229 461101

Registered in England No. 1499611
Regd. Office : 100 New Bridge Street, London, EC4V 6JA.