dslreports logo
Search similar:


uniqs
116020

Mizex
WTF?
Premium Member
join:2002-03-11
Miami, FL

1 edit

Mizex

Premium Member

Postscript Vs PCL drivers?

Hello, I have a question about printer drivers. The place I currently work at has PCL 6 drivers installed, I have been told that the PostScript drivers are much better. I was wondering what makes the postscript drivers so much better? Does it make pdf files for example send faster? That is my main thing right now... I have a 4MB PDF but when I sent it to the printer it turns it into a 20+meg file...

Would having the post script drivers get rid of this issue?

Thanks in advance!

shdesigns
Powered By Infinite Improbabilty Drive
Premium Member
join:2000-12-01
Stone Mountain, GA
(Software) pfSense
ARRIS SB6121

1 edit

shdesigns

Premium Member

Postscript will make the print file even larger.

Postscript is not any better, just standardized. Has a bit better font support.

Windows now basically ignores the driver and prints pages as one big bitmap. This is inefficient on postsript printers.

There are some programs that can use postscript better. Usually some higher-end publish software.

There is a lot of outdated information about postscript. In the early days, it was better when programs wrote to the device directly. Postscript had a large # of fonts and had command like rotated text. If you used a different printer you might lose some features. Now windows just creates a big image for the page and draws to it via software. Then dumps the image to the printer.

SparkChaser
Premium Member
join:2000-06-06
Downingtown, PA

SparkChaser to Mizex

Premium Member

to Mizex
Agree, the file sizes are definitely larger.

This is a comment/question. I haven't tried this in over a year so I don't now what the latest is but Postscript would allow me more control over my colors. i.e. The PCL would interpret what it thinks the color should be and with postscript I could tell it what I wanted. This was with Win2000 and Photoshop.

Da Geek Kid
join:2003-10-11
::1

Da Geek Kid to Mizex

Member

to Mizex
PostScript is Far superior to any other font type. since a PostScript fonts are Vector based meaning that there is an algorithm for every character and a drawing. This makes the Fonts superior because Fonts like TT fonts are Dot based rather than equation based...

And If a printer supports a PCL does not mean you can print PostScript unless it clearly states that it supports it...

The clear and easy test are when a printer supports 1200dpi, you would select the smallest font size and print a page in postscript and a page in PCL you can clearly tell each character individually also, you can test it out the sameway by extending the Font size to a VERY large scale... there, you can see dots in the corner of letters such as S, or J , or even D. you would not see the Ugly dots in postscript.

Mac OSX is a PostScript designed OS, meaning that most default fonts are PostScript.

shdesigns
Powered By Infinite Improbabilty Drive
Premium Member
join:2000-12-01
Stone Mountain, GA
(Software) pfSense
ARRIS SB6121

shdesigns

Premium Member

said by Da Geek Kid:

PostScript is Far superior to any other font type. since a PostScript fonts are Vector based meaning that there is an algorithm for every character and a drawing. This makes the Fonts superior because Fonts like TT fonts are Dot based rather than equation based...
TrueType fonts are vector based.

The difference is more PS fonts are geared for publishing. TT fonts are usually just cheap.

Da Geek Kid
join:2003-10-11
::1

Da Geek Kid

Member

correct, I guess what I meant to say is that TTs are Pixelated Fonts and PS fonts are not.

pog4
Premium Member
join:2004-06-03
Kihei, HI

pog4

Premium Member

I guess I'm a bit confused... in what way are TT fonts pixelated? They seem just like any other vector when I rip them apart in Corel Draw/etc.

shdesigns
Powered By Infinite Improbabilty Drive
Premium Member
join:2000-12-01
Stone Mountain, GA
(Software) pfSense
ARRIS SB6121

shdesigns

Premium Member

TT fonts are vector. If you read the docs they talk mostly about how to use algorithms to convert raster fonts to vector.

So, yes it is a vector font, but low res. If they created them at something like 12000 DPI, then they would be good.

Professional fonts are created from vectors from the start. If they are TT or PS they are the same vectors.

TT also has raster fonts embedded in them. This can improve things like laser printers where leaving a pixel out on the inside of a corner will make the corner sharper as the surface tension of the toner tends to round them. Difficult to specify in vectors, but both TT and PS could support them.

It all comes down to the amount of work in the fonts. There is a big difference in the free fonts you get with windows and one you buy professionally. At one time most professional fonts were only available in postscript. Now they are available in several formats.

InGreenwood to Mizex

Anon

to Mizex
At one level, you can already see this is a religious war, fans of one language erecting strawmen about other languages.

This really even goes to printer vendors, I work with Xerox copiers and historically, their PS drivers are much better than their PCL drivers. The folks at Xerox are PS fanboys as well.
»www.support.xerox.com/go ··· download

Certain programs favor one language (Pre Corel Wordperfect wants PCL, so does old PrintMaster versions) over the other, but it is rare. Adobe has a strong PS background.

Once upon a time PS was killer compared to PCL (PCL version 3 helped a lot!) but PCL v6 compares nicely to PostScript v3.

Mizex
WTF?
Premium Member
join:2002-03-11
Miami, FL

Mizex

Premium Member

said by InGreenwood :

At one level, you can already see this is a religious war, fans of one language erecting strawmen about other languages.

This really even goes to printer vendors, I work with Xerox copiers and historically, their PS drivers are much better than their PCL drivers. The folks at Xerox are PS fanboys as well.
»www.support.xerox.com/go ··· download

Certain programs favor one language (Pre Corel Wordperfect wants PCL, so does old PrintMaster versions) over the other, but it is rare. Adobe has a strong PS background.

Once upon a time PS was killer compared to PCL (PCL version 3 helped a lot!) but PCL v6 compares nicely to PostScript v3.
We use Lanier copiers at work and I was told by one of the techs that comes to service it to download the PS drivers as it would help the quality a lot. I was then told last week by my professor the same thing. So now I'm debating reinstalling the PS drivers at work but wanted some more info on what makes it better over PCL, and we're using PCL 6 for the drivers.

I think after reading most of the posts here I'm going to leave it the way it is and perhaps just reinstall the PS for our color laser.

InGreenwood

Anon

said by Mizex:

We use Lanier copiers at work and I was told by one of the techs that comes to service it to download the PS drivers as it would help the quality a lot. I was then told last week by my professor the same thing.
Listen to the Lanier techs about Lanier equipment, they would be in a position to know that the designers at the Lanier factories favor the PS drivers with the most tweaking, and rush through the PCL drivers. It does not matter if PS is 'really' better, if the factory put their heart into writing the PS drivers, they will be better. If you use an HP, assume the PCL driver will be better, they invented PCL and have their heart set on it.
PrntRhd
Premium Member
join:2004-11-03
Fairfield, CA

1 edit

PrntRhd to Mizex

Premium Member

to Mizex
This is the way I try to explain the difference:

PCL is faster for printing text.

PS is better for printing graphics, pdf pages, web pages etc. The driver sends a description of the page with the file to precisely control the printing of the page. How well the printer does depends on the capabilities of the printer itself.

Da Geek Kid
join:2003-10-11
::1

Da Geek Kid

Member

That is negative... PCL or PS for printing speeds are nothing but BS. A printer that is optimized to print PS such as Xerox will print a plain text in less than a sec just like a PCL text page... The only difference are in Quality of the printing as opposed to the speed... HP large printers always take FOREVER to print anything, and anything at all... These are the large colored or black and white Office printers...

Again, printing Speed is irrelevant to either PCL or PS

InGreenwood to Mizex

Anon

to Mizex
»members.arstechnica.com/ ··· ail2.jpg
»members.arstechnica.com/ ··· ail2.jpg

In the list shown in these two halves of the screen, my top job is from a Mac OS 9.1 and PS, my next jobs are from Win 98se via PS, and Becky's 4 jobs at the bottom are Win XP and PCL. Both start and stop times for the entire job and interpeter speed are shown, as well as the number of pages.

If you had sample PDFs you wanted me to time, you could email them to me at flemington@cableone.net

Da Geek Kid
join:2003-10-11
::1

Da Geek Kid

Member

again, The PS and PCL comparo engines depend on the cost of the Printer and if the Printer manufacturer Prefers PS or PCL... I can't tell what your really shows since you can't tell if it's a PCL print or a PS print...

DRM Killler

Anon

said by Da Geek Kid:

... I can't tell what your really shows since you can't tell...
Huhhh ??? I can tell already, and I drank more than you.

mymiliz
@qala.com.sg

mymiliz to Mizex

Anon

to Mizex
hello...i think it's right that postscript is much better than PCL.maybe you work at HP, so you appreciate with PCL. but when you print graphic,it's much better to use postscipt

Mizex
WTF?
Premium Member
join:2002-03-11
Miami, FL

Mizex

Premium Member

No I don't work for HP. I work for a printing company that uses Lanier machines.

joako
Premium Member
join:2000-09-07
/dev/null

joako to Mizex

Premium Member

to Mizex
I bought a Dell printer that is supposed to work with Postscript but when I use the PS driver even the one on the CD it just prints jibberish.

I know this doesnt help but if you don't have a problem with the PCL driver then there's no reason to switch.

Da Geek Kid
join:2003-10-11
::1

1 edit

Da Geek Kid

Member

The stuff that comes out is due to the memory problem you either do not have enough memory on the printer, or the printer really does not support PS.

Oh, it may also be that how you attempted to print a PS. Would you elaborate on what you tried to print and what OS you are running?

joako
Premium Member
join:2000-09-07
/dev/null

joako to Mizex

Premium Member

to Mizex
The printer does support PS. I installed the Dell driver and anything I print comes out as jibberish even the Windows test page.
PrntRhd
Premium Member
join:2004-11-03
Fairfield, CA

PrntRhd

Premium Member

If the first page starts with character "@", you are using a PS driver with no PS support.

The issue I earlier mentioned re PCL/PS speed of printing differences regards the size of the file sent to the printer. PCL is a smaller file size, PS sends a complete description on how the job is to be printed with the job, PCL does not.

joako
Premium Member
join:2000-09-07
/dev/null

joako to Mizex

Premium Member

to Mizex
It certainly does have PostScript support according to the config sheet this refurbished printer has printed 23 postscript jobs.