Re: Everything I always wanted to know about AdobePS and PPD files but was afraid to ask

[Dov Isaacs <isaacs@xxxxxxxxx>]

Adrian,

Much of this is a repeat of material covered before, but please
see my comments below ...         (8^)>

        - Dov


At 7/29/2002 10:07 AM, Adrian Morse wrote:
>Okay, here's one for a Monday afternoon.
>
>I took the plunge and installed Windows 2000. (Yep, it was clean). Then
>I installed Frame and all the software I need for making PDFs. Thanks to
>Dov's instructions it wasn't a problem, but even though the instructions
>were clear enough I must admit that I didn't know why I was following
>them (even less so after the stiff drink). I'd be grateful for
>clarification on a number of issues:
>
>Q1. Normally, when a printer is added via the Windows Printers panel is
>the manufacturer's PPD copied from the printer itself to my PC?


No, you should NEVER use the "Add Printer" wizard under Windows 2000
or XP unless you are a glutton for punishment. The "Add Printer" wizard
uses a built in ".inf" file that references a Microsoft-provided, often
castrated version of a PPD for the targeted printer. The printer itself
does not provide any PPD file. Use the current version (now 1.0.6) of the
"Adobe Universal PostScript Driver Installer" downloadable from Adobe's
web site. Under Windows 2000 and XP, it updates the system PSCRIPT5.DLL
driver to latest version, if necessary, and then creates a printer
driver instance based on the contents of whatever PPD you point to.
You must have that PPD file, though. 

The PPD file is an ASCII text file that contains very specific information
about the capabilities of the specific printer model and the exact PostScript
required to access those capabilities. The "Generic PostScript Printer PPD" 
file provided with the driver installer contains the minimal information to 
generate PostScript for a monochrome (no colors other than grayscale), early
PostScript Level 2 (i.e., version 2010 from 1991), 300dpi laser printer with
fairly large margins (cannot print to borders of physical pages), very few 
predefined paper sizes, no support for custom page sizes, and no native
support for TrueType fonts!


>Q2. What exactly happens when you run the Adobe Universal Postscript
>Driver Installer? Adobe PS is "installed", but what does this mean
>exactly? Does it mean that the Adobe PPD file is placed on your PC and
>thereafter used to generate postscript files when you print using this
>printer (instead of the printer's original PPD file)? 


See above. No "Adobe PS" is installed. The system PostScript driver is
installed with settings for the PPD file selected.

I don't know what you mean by "the printer's original PPD file" ... as
opposed to WHICH PPD file. Unless the printer's manufacturer provides
an updated PPD file, use whatever PPD file comes with the printer or
can be obtained by download from the manufacturer's web site.


>Q3. If you just want to install Adobe PS for the purpose of creating
>postscript files for conversion to PDFs does it make any difference if
>you choose to associate the Adobe PS driver with a real printer rather
>than the installing the generic postscript driver (and then installing
>the Distiller driver)? 


When you install Acrobat 5.0x, it creates a PostScript driver instance
(labelled "Acrobat Distiller") specifically for the purpose of creating 
PostScript for distillation. In fact, as configured, unless you override 
it in FrameMaker to "print to file", this "Acrobat Distiller" PostScript
printer driver instance automatically funnels the PostScript it generates
to the Distiller without the need for you to manually invoke Distiller.

UNDER NO CONDITION WHATSOEVER should you generate PostScript for distillation
using a printer driver instance other than that generated with the Acrobat
Distiller PPD. As I have indicated in numerous other posts to these lists
and to the Adobe User-to-User Forums, the results of creating PostScript
contrary to this rule may result in any number of problems in PDF production,
assuming you get a PDF file at all. Symptoms include (1) missing color,
(2) spacing problems, (3) font problems, (4) inability to print close to
the edge of the page, and (5) missing paper size support including lack
of support for custom page sizes.


>Q4. In fact, why would you want to install Adobe PS for a real printer
>if you do not want to create PDF files, but just want to print
>conventionally to that printer?


As indicated above, the "Add Printer Wizard" may give you a brain-dead
printer driver instance possibly based on an older version of the driver
and/or a truncated or incorrect version of the printer's PPD file.


>Q5. After installing Adobe PS you install Acrobat 4.05. This installs
>Acrobat 4.05, the Acrobat Distiller program and "virtual printer"
>drivers for Acrobat Distiller and Acrobat PDFWriter. Regarding the
>printer drivers, what exactly has happened during the installation? Have
>new PPDs been installed? How do these differ from the generic PPD
>installed when the AdobePS installer was run? Why does the generic Adobe
>PPD or a PPD for a real printer need to be installed first?


PDFWriter is an obsolete print driver installed by Acrobat 4.05 and
no longer installed by default by Acrobat 5.0x. It is not a PostScript
driver and does not support EPS graphics as well as many other things.
Avoid it like the Boubonic Plague!


>Q6. And last but not least, why is "Acrobat Distiller" the name of both
>the program and the printer driver? I understand the difference but it
>sure was confusing the first time around. I guess it's because Adobe
>encourages PS files to be made with the Distiller driver before being
>"distilled", but I think it just leads to confusion. 


Actually, it leads to properly generated PDF files. Sorry that you are
confused by the naming, but labelling the printer driver instance as
"Acrobat Distiller" best conveys what it does. It generates PostScript
and then feeds it directly to the "Acrobat Distiller."


>That's all. Happy Monday,


And Happy Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Shabbat, and Sunday
to you, too!

>Adrian


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