Question about HPLIP, PPD, CUPS, PostScript printer and non-PostScript printer

[Leon Pu]

--- Laurence Orchard <laurence at orchards.org.uk> wrote:

> On Mon, 2006-05-15 at 06:53 -0700, Leon Pu wrote:
> > Hi all,
> > 
> > could any body explain the relationship between HPLIP, PPD, CUPS,
> > PostScript printer and non-PostScript printer?
> HPLIP provides the interface between the program/user who wants to
> use
> the printer.
> PPD describes the attributes of the printer to the system.
> CUPS in simple terms is the print spooler for all printers in the
> system.
> a postscript printer has a built-in postscript interpreter so can
> accept
> postscript commands
> a non-postscript printer is dumb, does not understand postscript and
> has
> to have the commands translated for it, usually by ghostscript or
> something similar.
> > 
> > Is it possible to let non-PostScript printer print out PostScript
> file?
> Yes, ghostscript is used to do the translation
> > 
> > Is HPLIP developed to let HP printers work in Linux?
> Exactly right, the HPLIP site on sourceforge has a large list of
> supported printers. HPLIP also provides an interface for all-in-one
> devices to allow the use of the scanners as well and it is planned to
> allow the use of the in-built faxes in the future.
> > 
> > Should all HP printers which supported by HPLIP work in Linux?
> Yes, some devices such as Officejets etc use Deskjet interfaces for
> the
> printing
> > 
> > Is PPD used to let non-PostScript printer print out PostScript
> file?
> PPD is used to describe the attributes of the various printers.

Hi Laurence,

I still have doubt about PPD. Does PPD only describe the attribute of
printers? Does it do any work with PostScript?

If I have a non-PostScript printer which supported by HPLIP, how can I
configure it to print out PostScript? Do I only need to install HPLIP
or anything else (install PPD, configure CUPS etc.)?

Thank you very much for your reply.


Best regards,
Leon

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