[Printing-architecture] PostScript printers without PPD files?

[Michael Sweet]

Till,

> On Jul 27, 2020, at 4:09 PM, Till Kamppeter <till.kamppeter at gmail.com> wrote:
> ...
> Will PostScript printers always come with PPD files? Or will there be in the future non-IPP-driverless PostScript printers without PPD files? Will there be PostScript printers in the future at all?

PostScript is dead, long live PDF...

Seriously, PostScript (and PCL) are provided for legacy enterprise application support but PDF and Apple/PWG Raster/PCLm are the formats-de-jour of the current network printing standards, even for Microsoft now that they have gone whole-hog for Mopria-based "universal" printing.

> Would it make sense for Printer Applications to have a Something-to-PostScript filter which can be optionally built without PPD support at all? This filter being used by PostScript Printer manufacturers for their printers in the future?

I think it makes sense to have a generic Level 2 PostScript printer PPD (as macOS has shipped for almost 20 years and as CUPS has had for almost as long) that covers the standard Letter/Legal/Tabloid, A4/A3, and Env10/EnvDL office printer sizes.  You could also have a generic Level 3 PPD (not that the current filters do all that much different for Level 3), and it is possible to query a PS printer for the list of supported paper sizes, color support, duplexer, etc. so that a PPD file can be generated in the absence of a product-specific PPD.

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Michael Sweet