Re: Looking for ratings of all-in-one printers for Linux (Ubuntu in particular)
On Fri 13 Jul 2018 at 13:52:23 (+0100), Brian wrote:
> On Thu 12 Jul 2018 at 16:22:33 -0500, David Wright wrote:
>
> > On Wed 11 Jul 2018 at 16:34:48 (+0000), Curt wrote:
> > > On 2018-07-11, Brian <ad44@cityscape.co.uk> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > The interest being expressed is one in printing a PDF directly to a
> > > > printer, so CUPS isn't (or needn't be) be involved. No conversion to
> > > > or from PostScript (which is no longer being developed) is undertaken.
> > > > Any delays would lie in transporting the file to the printer and what
> > > > takes place on it.
> > > >
> > >
> > > That exists, it seems (pdf interpreter in the firmware of the printer).
> > >
> > > https://okiprinting-en-gb.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/581/~/pdf-direct-printing
> > >
> > > Some of the higher-end (at least) HPs apparently have a feature called HP Direct PDF, which
> > > appears to be exactly what it says.
> > >
> > > Maybe that isn't the question (if there's a question) and everybody knew that pdf
> > > printers existed but me.
> >
> > I've know that PDF printers exist, but have never had the money to buy
> > one. Those I'm familiar with are washing-machine-sized and are found
> > in libraries and offices. Their critical property (particularly on
> > account of their location) is that they can print PDFs from a USB
> > stick.
>
> That's a printer which prints PDFs, not a PDF printer. Ok, it could have
> the firmware to print directly to PDF but there is insufficient data to
> form an opinion. Without the firmware, the PDF on the USB stick will be
> converted to something the printer understands - just as CUPS does.
I have a PDF printing system here. Give me a PDF and I can print it.
By that I mean that a computer file that starts and finishes with, say,
%PDF-1.2 and %%EOF will end up as an appropriate collection of marks
on the paper.
But my printer is not a PDF printer. Given a data stream of the same
description arriving at one of its input ports, it would not be
capable of the same result. A PDF printer would. The mention of a
USB stick acts as a shibboleth, making sure there's no conversion
taking place outside the printer itself.
(A PostScript printer would likewise be able to handle a document
enclosed by, say, %!PS-Adobe-3.0 and %%EOF.)
> > Our aio printer can print from a stick, but only jpegs, not PDFs.
> > As one would expect, printing from a computer therefore requires
> > CUPS to push it through a driver¹, and the quality of printing (and
> > even the area of the paper used) depends on that driver.
> >
> > OTOH our printer can scan to a stick, writing a PDF file. That
> > requires no driver/computer/sane system. Of course, AIUI, the PDF
> > is really just a container for some sort of image content, but
> > that's fine as I can apply all the PDF tools (pdfjam, pdftk etc)
> > at a document level, rather than jpg by jpg.
>
> A useful facility; just the thing for removing confidential documents
> from a secure environment. :)
Well, that doesn't differ very much from a scanner talking to sane on
a computer with a USB port in terms of security. But in terms of
usefulness, scanning to a USB stick is part of the civic
infrastructure of any town. (Fortunately, its marginal cost is
virtually zero.)
> > So I'm disappointed that the Brother is only an alleged PS printer and
> > not a PDF one.
> >
> > > To tell the truth (and why the hell not at this late date), I was fuzzy
> > > up until recently (quite recently, like ten minutes ago) as to what a
> > > postscript printer was precisely. Now I know. Seems obvious now.
> >
> > I was a PS printer user (with no responsibility for how it was driven)
> > for many years, starting in 1985. Driving them was a black art:
> > interfacing with appletalk, dealing with limited memory, font handling
> > and so on. As printer and comms speeds, memory and PS specs increased,
> > and PDF printers arrived, most of those complications have
> > disappeared, at least for us users.
> >
> > So, as far as printing from my computer is concerned, a printer that
> > only handles PS, and not PDFs, wouldn't be a great step forward.
> >
> > ¹ rasteriser, whatever.
>
> Less expensive printers that handle printing PDFs directly are becoming
> more common. The Brother HL-L5000D can be had for under 120 GBP:
>
> http://support.brother.com/g/b/spec.aspx?c=eu_ot&lang=en&prod=hll5000d_us_eu_as
That's certainly a satisfactory list of emulations there as it
includes PDF. Some of them, like IBM Proprinter XL and Epson FX-850
bring back memories of writing drivers for a bunch of mainly
dot-matrix printers in the '80s and '90s.
Cheers,
David.
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