PostScript Printer Description (PPD) files are created by vendors to describe the entire set of features and capabilities available for their
PostScript
PostScript (PS) is a page description language in the electronic publishing and desktop publishing realm. It is a dynamically typed, concatenative programming language. It was created at Adobe Systems by John Warnock, Charles Geschke, Doug Br ...
printers.
A PPD also contains the PostScript code (commands) used to invoke features for the
print job
In computing, a print job is a file or set of files that has been submitted to be printed with a printer.
Jobs are typically identified by a unique number, and are assigned to a particular destination, usually a printer. Jobs can also have options ...
. As such, PPDs function as drivers for all PostScript printers, by providing a unified interface for the printer's capabilities and features. For example, a generic PPD file for all models of HP Color LaserJet contains:
*% =
*% Basic Device Capabilities
*% =
*LanguageLevel: "2"
*ColorDevice: True
*DefaultColorSpace: CMYK
*TTRasterizer: Type42
*FileSystem: False
*Throughput: "10"
which specifies that the printer understands PostScript Level 2, is a color device, and so forth. The PPD can describe allowable paper sizes, memory configurations, the minimum font set for the printer, and even specify a tree-based user interface for printer-specific configuration.
A PPD is also often called ''PostScript Page Description'' instead of ''Printer Description'', this is because PostScript has the concept of ''Page Devices'' where the PostScript page description configuration is read from or saved as a PPD file.
CUPS
CUPS
CUPS (formerly an acronym for Common UNIX Printing System) is a modular computer printer, printing system for Unix-like computer operating systems which allows a computer to act as a print server. A computer running CUPS is a Server (computi ...
uses PPD drivers for all of its PostScript printers, and has even extended the concept to allow for PostScript printing to non-PostScript printing devices, by directing output through a CUPS filter. Such a file is no longer a standard PPD, but rather a "CUPS-PPD".
CUPS clients usually read the current PPD file from the server every time a new print job is created. It is located in
/usr/share/ppd/ or
/usr/share/cups/model/.
/usr/share/ppd
├── cupsfilters
│ ├── Fuji_Xerox-DocuPrint_CM305_df-PDF.ppd
│ ├── Generic-PDF_Printer-PDF.ppd
│ ├── HP-Color_LaserJet_CM3530_MFP-PDF.ppd
│ ├── pxlcolor.ppd
│ ├── pxlmono.ppd
│ └── Ricoh-PDF_Printer-PDF.ppd
├── cups-pdf
│ ├── CUPS-PDF_noopt.ppd
│ └── CUPS-PDF_opt.ppd
└── custom
Windows
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
also uses PPD files but converts these to a binary .BPD file format before using them. These, both PPD and BPD, are normally stored in
%WINDIR%\system32\spool\drivers\w32x86\3 on an x86 system, or
%WINDIR%\System32\spool\drivers\x64\3 on a 64 bit system.
Updating a PPD file requires four steps:
# stop the spooling service;
# edit the existing PPD file in place or replace it by an updated version;
# remove the old BPD file;
# restart the spooling service.
This will automatically generate a new BPD from the updated PPD.
MIME type
The MIME type for the CUPS variant of PPD is application/vnd.cups-ppd.
[IANA: https://www.iana.org/assignments/media-types/application/vnd.cups-ppd]
References
External links
Adobe PostScript Language Specifications*
Adobe Tech Note 5003: PostScript Printer Description (PPD) File Format Specification*
Adobe Tech Note 5645: Update to PPD Specification Version 4.3
Computer file formats
PostScript
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