Ppd file what is

If the default media size is Letter , the PPD compiler will override it to be A4 for non-English localizations for you automatically. The filename follows the directive and must conform to the Adobe filename requirements in the Adobe Postscript Printer Description File Format Specification. Specifically, the filename may not exceed 8 characters followed by the extension.

The FileName directive can be used to specify longer filenames:. The previous example created a single PPD file. Driver information files can also define multiple printers by using the PPD compiler grouping functionality.

Listing 2 shows a variation of the original example that uses two groups to define two printers that share the same printer driver filter but provide two different resolution options. The second example is essentially the same as the first, except that each printer model is defined inside of a pair of curly braces. For example, the first printer is defined using:. The printer inherits all of the definitions from the parent group the top part of the file and adds the additional definitions inside the curly braces for that printer driver.

When we define the second group, it also inherits the same definitions from the parent group but none of the definitions from the first driver.

Groups can be nested to any number of levels to support variations of similar models without duplication of information.

For printer drivers that support color printing, the ColorDevice and ColorModel directives should be used to tell the printing system that color output is desired and in what formats. Listing 3 shows a variation of the previous example which includes a color printer that supports printing at and DPI. The option name can be any of the standard Adobe ColorModel names:. Custom names can be used, however it is recommended that you use your vendor prefix for any custom names, for example "fooName".

The compression mode value is passed to the driver in the cupsCompression attribute. It is traditionally used to select an appropriate compression mode for the color model but can be used for any purpose, such as specifying a photo mode vs. The Group , Option , and Choice directives are used to define or select a group, option, or choice. Listing 4 shows a variation of the first example that provides two custom options in a group named "Footasm".

The custom group is introduced by the Group directive which is followed by the name and optionally text for the user:. The group name must conform to the PPD specification and cannot exceed 40 characters in length.

If you specify user text, it cannot exceed 80 characters in length. The InstallableOptions group is reserved for options that define whether accessories for the printer duplexer unit, finisher, stapler, etc. The directive is followed by the name of the option and any optional user text, the option type, the PostScript document group, and the sort order number.

The option name must conform to the PPD specification and cannot exceed 40 characters in length. Boolean options can have at most two choices with the names False and True. Pick options can have any number of choices, although for Windows compatibility reasons the number of choices should not exceed The PostScript document group is typically AnySetup , meaning that the option can be introduced at any point in the PostScript document.

Other values include PageSetup to include the option before each page and DocumentSetup to include the option once at the beginning of the document. The sort order number is used to sort the printer commands associated with each option choice within the PostScript document. This allows you to setup certain options before others as required by the printer. For most CUPS raster printer drivers, the value 10 can be used for all options.

Once the option is specified, each option choice can be listed using the Choice directive:. The directive is followed by the choice name and optionally user text, and the PostScript commands that should be inserted when printing a file to this printer. The PostScript commands are also interpreted by any RIP filters, so these commands typically must be present for all option choices.

Most commands take the form:. Sometimes you will want to define constants for your drivers so that you can share values in different groups within the same driver information file, or to share values between different driver information files using the include directive. Take advantage of our 8 new features with this new version.

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Please try again in a few minutes. Is This Content Helpful? Back to top. Note: It is highly recommended to use ArcGIS Pro for printing and exporting, especially when experiencing issues caused by the limitations of the ArcMap display engine.

For example, transparency is natively supported in ArcGIS Pro, preventing the rasterization of layers. Normally a PostScript printer driver will not utilize any additional print filters. For drivers that provide additional filters such as a CUPS command file filter for doing printer maintenance, you must also list the following Filter directive to handle printing PostScript files:.

To use the standard PostScript command filter, specify commandtops as the path to the command filter. Use the following Filter directive to handle filtered PDF files:. Custom PDF filters that accept filtered data do not need to perform number-up processing and other types of page imposition, while those that accept unfiltered data MUST do the number-up processing themselves. Use the following Filter directive to handle PostScript files:. The cupsICCProfile attribute defines the color profiles that are available for a given printer, for example:.

Resolution" defines a selector based on the corresponding option selections. A simple driver might only define profiles for the color models that are supported, for example a printer supporting Gray and RGB might use:. Printer Driver Basics A CUPS PostScript printer driver consists of a PostScript Printer Description PPD file that describes the features and capabilities of the device, zero or more filter programs that prepare print data for the device, and zero or more support files for color management, online help, and so forth.

Figure 1: PostScript Filter Chain. Figure 2: Command Filter Chain. If not specified, then RGB is assumed. If not specified, Plus90 is assumed. LanguageLevel The PostScript language level supported by the device: 1, 2, or 3. If not specified, 2 is assumed. Product The string returned by the PostScript product operator, which must include parenthesis to conform with PostScript syntax rules for strings. Multiple Product attributes may be specified to support multiple products with the same PPD file.

PSVersion The PostScript interpreter version numbers as returned by the version and revision operators.