PPD files

  • Thread starter Thread starter eager
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eager

PostScript Printer Description (PPD) files are created by vendors to
describe the entire set of features and capabilities available for their
PostScript printers. blah, blah, blah

although have installed postscript and pcl drivers for hundreds of printers
and MFPs, have no idea how do the ppd files work in the real world ... call
me stupid, if you want :)

any help will be greatly appreciated!
 
eager said:
PostScript Printer Description (PPD) files are created by vendors to
describe the entire set of features and capabilities available for their
PostScript printers. blah, blah, blah

although have installed postscript and pcl drivers for hundreds of printers
and MFPs, have no idea how do the ppd files work in the real world ... call
me stupid, if you want :)

any help will be greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...

As you already know, these files basically tell the computer what "set
of features" the printer makes available. So those declared features
show up as options in the dialog boxes used for printing. For example,
if the printer is capable of two-sided printing, some Duplex information
should show up in the PPD file, and in the dialog boxes.

You can open a PPD file in a text editor for examination. To continue
the example, my printer's PPD shows the following section on duplexing:

*%=== Duplex ================================
*OpenUI *Duplex: PickOne
*OrderDependency: 25 AnySetup *Duplex
*DefaultDuplex: None
*Duplex DuplexTumble: "<</Duplex true /Tumble true>>setpagedevice"
*Duplex DuplexNoTumble: "<</Duplex true /Tumble false>>setpagedevice"
*Duplex None: "<</Duplex false /Tumble false>>setpagedevice"
*CloseUI: *Duplex

Other sections in the PPD cover Basic Device Capabilities, Emulations
and Protocols, and on and on.

It's been several years since I edited a PPD, so I don't recall the
details or where I found complete documentation. However, some vendors
like Adobe, Apple, and so forth, may have more information available.

Hope that helps. ...pt
 
Philip Tobias said:
As you already know, these files basically tell the computer what "set of
features" the printer makes available. So those declared features show up
as options in the dialog boxes used for printing. For example, if the
printer is capable of two-sided printing, some Duplex information should
show up in the PPD file, and in the dialog boxes.

You can open a PPD file in a text editor for examination. To continue the
example, my printer's PPD shows the following section on duplexing:

*%=== Duplex ================================
*OpenUI *Duplex: PickOne
*OrderDependency: 25 AnySetup *Duplex
*DefaultDuplex: None
*Duplex DuplexTumble: "<</Duplex true /Tumble true>>setpagedevice"
*Duplex DuplexNoTumble: "<</Duplex true /Tumble false>>setpagedevice"
*Duplex None: "<</Duplex false /Tumble false>>setpagedevice"
*CloseUI: *Duplex

Other sections in the PPD cover Basic Device Capabilities, Emulations and
Protocols, and on and on.

It's been several years since I edited a PPD, so I don't recall the
details or where I found complete documentation. However, some vendors
like Adobe, Apple, and so forth, may have more information available.

Hope that helps. ...pt
Click to expand...

Ok, let me rephrase my question:
whenever I installed a ps or pcl driver for a mfp (Toshiba, KonicaMinolta,
Canon, etc. ) I never installed a ppd, wether it was a MS, Novell, Mac or
Linux/Unix environment.
My question is, where is the ppd file found and how does it get installed.

Thanks!
 
Philip Tobias said:
As you already know, these files basically tell the computer what "set of
features" the printer makes available. So those declared features show up
as options in the dialog boxes used for printing. For example, if the
printer is capable of two-sided printing, some Duplex information should
show up in the PPD file, and in the dialog boxes.

You can open a PPD file in a text editor for examination. To continue the
example, my printer's PPD shows the following section on duplexing:

*%=== Duplex ================================
*OpenUI *Duplex: PickOne
*OrderDependency: 25 AnySetup *Duplex
*DefaultDuplex: None
*Duplex DuplexTumble: "<</Duplex true /Tumble true>>setpagedevice"
*Duplex DuplexNoTumble: "<</Duplex true /Tumble false>>setpagedevice"
*Duplex None: "<</Duplex false /Tumble false>>setpagedevice"
*CloseUI: *Duplex

Other sections in the PPD cover Basic Device Capabilities, Emulations and
Protocols, and on and on.

It's been several years since I edited a PPD, so I don't recall the
details or where I found complete documentation. However, some vendors
like Adobe, Apple, and so forth, may have more information available.

Hope that helps. ...pt
Click to expand...

Ok, let me rephrase my question:
whenever I installed a ps or pcl driver for a mfp (Toshiba, KonicaMinolta,
Canon, etc. ) I never installed a ppd, wether it was a MS, Novell, Mac or
Linux/Unix environment.
My question is, where is the ppd file found and how does it get installed.

Thanks!
 
Hi!
Ok, let me rephrase my question:
whenever I installed a ps or pcl driver for a mfp (Toshiba, KonicaMinolta,
Canon, etc. ) I never installed a ppd, wether it was a MS, Novell, Mac or
Linux/Unix environment.
Click to expand...

I'm not aware of any MFP (unless it's a big commercial/business unit) that
has a PostScript interpreter onboard. In the case of the Mac OS (which knows
no other way to print AFAIK), a post-processor provided by the printer maker
will convert the PostScript output to something the printer can understand.

If a PPD came with the device, it was probably installed alongside the rest
of the software for it.
My question is, where is the ppd file found and how does it get installed.
Click to expand...

I have no idea about Novell or Unix/Linux systems. On the Mac OS, I want to
say that PPD files are installed in the /Library directory. For Windows,
they will be somewhere under the Windows directory, probably in system or
system32.

William
 
"William R. Walsh"
I'm not aware of any MFP (unless it's a big commercial/business unit) that
has a PostScript interpreter onboard.
Click to expand...

My Brother 7820N has a PS clone interpreter on board.
 
eager said:
Ok, let me rephrase my question:
whenever I installed a ps or pcl driver for a mfp (Toshiba, KonicaMinolta,
Canon, etc. ) I never installed a ppd, wether it was a MS, Novell, Mac or
Linux/Unix environment.
My question is, where is the ppd file found and how does it get installed.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

If one exists for your printer, a PPD file would generally get installed
automatically while installing the rest of your printer's software.

As someone else already replied, on a Mac any PPDs get installed within
the Library/Printers/PPDs folder. My Windows computer is currently
sleeping, so it would be impolite to wake it up just to check for where
it stores its PPDs. <grin> But you should be able to search for the
files if necessary.

In most cases you do not need to care where the files exist, as they
will usually be detected by the printing and system software. However,
if you do desktop publishing, you may occasionally need to locate a
specific PPD. For example, QuarkXPress has a PPD Manager feature
(Utilities > PPD Manager...), which lets you specify where any required
PPDs are filed.

Hope that helps. ...pt
 
Philip Tobias said:
If one exists for your printer, a PPD file would generally get installed
automatically while installing the rest of your printer's software.

As someone else already replied, on a Mac any PPDs get installed within
the Library/Printers/PPDs folder. My Windows computer is currently
sleeping, so it would be impolite to wake it up just to check for where it
stores its PPDs. <grin> But you should be able to search for the files if
necessary.

In most cases you do not need to care where the files exist, as they will
usually be detected by the printing and system software. However, if you
do desktop publishing, you may occasionally need to locate a specific PPD.
For example, QuarkXPress has a PPD Manager feature (Utilities > PPD
Manager...), which lets you specify where any required PPDs are filed.

Hope that helps. ...pt
Click to expand...


Thank you so much for the clarification!!!
 
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