Re: Printer driver confusion (long)

["Jason Aiken" <jason.aiken@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Thomas,

No doubt, you have recently plummeted from your UNIX mountain of sanctity into the mass chaos the rest of us face everyday. Configuring Windows printers is wrought with confusing terms, because the interface uses rather generic, and sometimes completely inaccurate, terminology.

The basic rundown is: printer driver + postscript printer description (PPD) = printer instance.

When you add a "printer" in Windows to the list, it's best called a printer instance. It is possible to add more than one printer instance to each physical printer. For example, printer instance A and B might both apply to the same printer, but one could have printer instance A configured for single-sided printing and printer instance B configured for duplex printing. That way, rather than mess with printer settings, users can directly choose the printer of their choice to achieve the desired outcome.

Although it's possible to use different drivers in association with each printer instance, I would not recommend this. Each driver leaves various files laying around in C:\Windows\System and can create undesirable effects on win.ini and/or atm.ini. I tend to think of the driver as a separate piece of software, messily dumped into the system folder and forced to share some pretty hardcore system files with other components. In Windows, everything is kinda like a triple decker spider web made out of Lincoln logs instead of silk.

In my opinion, when using Adobe FrameMaker and creating PDF files via Adobe Distiller, it's best to use Adobe Type Manager to manage PostScript (and TrueType if you have ATM Deluxe) fonts. A printer instance should be created that uses the appropriate AdobePS printer driver and the latest PPD matching the hardware. Consider Acrobat Distiller a "virtual printer" for sake of discussion and treat it as separate hardware. Virtual printer, the term, comes from the Macintosh way of setting up a Distiller-dedicated printer instance, by the way.

AdobePS specifies Adobe PostScript and usually prefixes files associated with the Adobe PostScript printer drivers. PSCRIPT is the prefix attributed to the Microsoft family of PostScript printer drivers.

When adding a new printer instance to the list it uses the driver and PPD one associates it to in the "Add Printer" series of dialogue boxes. Remember, the operating system won't complain if you use multiple printer drivers across your range of printer instances, but I try and avoid this. Unless you have some serious problem or printer driver deficiency you are trying to overcome, I cannot see why anyone would wanna do this (please set me straight if there's a good reason I'm overlooking).

The AdobePS InstallShield can and should replace any thoughts of using the MS "Add Printer" button. If you want AdobePS to work well, do NOT use the "Add Printer" button. (please correct me if the Universal Installer works differently nowadays!) When I use AdobePS printer drivers, or the Universal Installer, there is an option to "Copy the software" or something like that. If you choose this option, you may run the InstallShield again in the future to configure/add new printers using the Adobe driver. In the past, Dov warned us to refrain from using the "Add Printer" button in the Control Panel after an AdobePS printer was installed because the Windows OS will rebuild the PSCRIPT type printer drivers one would usually seek to remove before installing older AdobePS drivers. The newer software might not be so finicky. You can run the Installer again, usually, by going to Start > Programs > Adobe > AdobePS, I believe. Again, I haven't used the Universal Installer enough to know whether it differs from the past.

When you install a printer instance, you are using the driver installer software to link up the printer driver with a PPD file. If MS uses INF files, those are probably default drivers/manufacturer associations that came with the OS and are most likely outdated. I would suppose the INF and PSCRIPT printer instances would be okay for limited review copy sorts of printing jobs, but I would highly recommend a proper AdobePS configuration for higher quality and better integration to the Adobe products you're probably using.

Best regards, Happy Friday, and may the Force be with you.
Jason

>>> "Thomas Michanek" <thomas.michanek@iar.se> 05/11/01 07:28AM >>>
I'm guessing Dov Isaacs is the person to ask directly,
but I'm interested in any takes on the following issue.

When setting up your system to correctly print or produce
PDF in Windows, there's a lot of terms floating around:
printer, printer driver, virtual printer, printer instance,
printer driver instance, driver installer, AdobePS, PSCRIPT,
printer description files, PPD files, INF files, etc. etc.

When adding a "printer" in Windows (to the printer list,
not physically), what is the best term to use for what
is added: a printer, a printer instance, a printer driver
(for a printer), or a printer driver instance?
Is it correct that you can add more than one "printer"
connected to the same physical printer? 
Can these "printers" use different drivers, for instance
one using AdobePS and one using Microsoft's?

Do the names AdobePS and PSCRIPT specify a printer driver,
a "type" of printer driver, or a "family" of printer drivers?
When a "printer" is added using such a driver, is a copy of
the driver embedded in the added "printer", does the added
"printer" become an "instance" of the driver, or is the driver
a separate piece of software sitting around independently
of the added "printers"?
Does the AdobePS driver installer (the InstallShield Setup
utility downloadable from Adobe) correspond to the "Add Printer"
wizard available in the Windows Printer control panel?
Do you need to run the AdobePS driver installer each time
you need to add a "printer" using AdobePS, or is it any way
to "run" the AdobePS driver already installed on your system?

Is it correct that when you add a "printer", the driver
(driver installer?) must have access to a "printer description
file", specifying the name and model of the printer and all
its features, limitations and characteristics? These files
are called PPD files by Adobe, and INF files by Microsoft?
If so, what are the "PPD" files used by PSCRIPT on Windows 2000?
Often you do not see these files directly when you add a
"printer"; you only select the name of the manufacturer and
the printer model, but I guess each entry corresponds directly
to a PPD or INF file? The same seems to be true when you must
browse for a "printer" on your own: the driver/installer looks
for PPD or INF files, but present them as printer models?

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