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PostScript Printer Description - Wikipedia

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17 views3 pages

PostScript Printer Description - Wikipedia

Uploaded by

robinmdmb739
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© © All Rights Reserved
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PostScript Printer Description

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

A PPD also contains the PostScript code PostScript Printer Description


(commands) used to invoke features for the print
Filename extension .ppd
job. As such, PPDs function as drivers for all
PostScript printers, by providing a unified interface Internet text/plain,
media type application/vnd.cups-
for the printer's capabilities and features. For ppd
example, a generic PPD file for all models of HP
Magic number *PPD-Adobe
Color LaserJet contains:
Developed by Adobe Systems

*%
=================================
*% Basic Device Capabilities
*%
=================================
*LanguageLevel: "2"
*ColorDevice: True
*DefaultColorSpace: CMYK
*TTRasterizer: Type42
*FileSystem: False
*Throughput: "10"

which specifies that the printer understands PostScript Level 2, is a color device, and so forth. The PPD
can describe allowable paper sizes, memory configurations, the minimum font set for the printer, and
even specify a tree-based user interface for printer-specific configuration.

A PPD is also often called PostScript Page Description instead of Printer Description, this is because
PostScript has the concept of Page Devices where the PostScript page description configuration is read
from or saved as a PPD file.[1]

CUPS

CUPS uses PPD drivers for all of its PostScript printers, and has even extended the concept to allow for
PostScript printing to non-PostScript printing devices, by directing output through a CUPS filter. Such
a file is no longer a standard PPD, but rather a "CUPS-PPD". CUPS clients usually read the current
PPD file from the server every time a new print job is created. It is located in /usr/share/ppd/ or
/usr/share/cups/model/ .

/usr/share/ppd
├── cupsfilters
│ ├── Fuji_Xerox-DocuPrint_CM305_df-PDF.ppd
│ ├── Generic-PDF_Printer-PDF.ppd
│ ├── HP-Color_LaserJet_CM3530_MFP-PDF.ppd
│ ├── pxlcolor.ppd
│ ├── pxlmono.ppd
│ └── Ricoh-PDF_Printer-PDF.ppd
├── cups-pdf
│ ├── CUPS-PDF_noopt.ppd
│ └── CUPS-PDF_opt.ppd
└── custom

Windows

Microsoft Windows also uses PPD files but converts these to a binary .BPD file format before using
them. These, both PPD and BPD, are normally stored in
%WINDIR%\system32\spool\drivers\w32x86\3 on an x86 system, or
%WINDIR%\System32\spool\drivers\x64\3 on a 64 bit system.

Updating a PPD file requires four steps:

1. stop the spooling service;

2. edit the existing PPD file in place or replace it by an updated version;

3. remove the old BPD file;

4. restart the spooling service.

This will automatically generate a new BPD from the updated PPD.

MIME type

The MIME type for the CUPS variant of PPD is application/vnd.cups-ppd.[2]

References

1. PostScript Language Reference Manual Chapter 6.1 Using Page Devices page 393.
2. IANA: https://www.iana.org/assignments/media-types/application/vnd.cups-ppd

External links

Adobe PostScript Language Specifications (https://web.archive.org/web/20160901200541/http://partn


ers.adobe.com/public/developer/ps/index_specs.html)
Adobe Tech Note 5003: PostScript Printer Description (PPD) File Format Specification, hosted
on MIT (https://web.mit.edu/PostScript/Adobe/Documents/5003.PPD_Spec_v4.3.pdf)

Adobe Tech Note 5645: Update to PPD Specification Version 4.3, hosted on MIT (https://web.m
it.edu/PostScript/Adobe/Documents/5645.PPD_Update.pdf)

This business software article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it (https://en.wikipe
dia.org/w/index.php?title=PostScript_Printer_Description&action=edit).

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