[PLUG] Older postscript printers

[John Jason Jordan]

On Fri, 1 May 2009 08:28:20 -0700 (PDT)
Rich Shepard <rshepard at appl-ecosys.com> dijo:

> On Fri, 1 May 2009, Pete Lancashire wrote:
> 
> > I have a similar problem with a 4V the one that lets me
> > print up to 11 x 17 paper. Could be a great use for SBC
> > as both a print spooler and PS->PCL translator.
> 
>    I wonder if this is why my LJ5 can no longer print from the command line
> using lpr. I can print from applications such as gv, xpdf, acroread but not
> directly.
> 
>    Bought this printer in '97 and added more RAM, a PS module, and a
> duplexer. It's a great workhorse of a printer.

The LJ5 can also use the PCL and foomatic drivers. In fact, I don't
know of any HP printer that cannot use PCL drivers. As far as I know,
HP created the PCL drivers in order to avoid having to pay Adobe,
Xionics or others license fees for PostScript. Thus, if it's an HP
printer, it has PCL capability. The only issue is determining which
version of PCL it has, but printing a native configuration sheet (from
the printer control panel) should tell you what drivers are installed.
Some printers can also have their drivers updated over the internet.

I have a 4Plus (PostScript added so it is really a 4MPlus, a 5SiMx,
several 8000DNs, and Xerox Phaser 8400DN. I can print via command line
to any of them with PostScript or PCL drivers, although I always print
from the application. The Phaser also has the new Adobe PDF print
engine, so I can send a PDF file directly from the command line rather
than from Adobe Reader, Okular, Evince or other PDF reader.