PDF Printing support from Python

[Grant Edwards]

On 2005-04-22, dcrespo <dcrespo at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Your solution requires a previous installation of Acrobat.
>
>> Probably not.  Most printing systems I'm familiar with use
>> ghostscript to render PDF into either postscript (the case on
>> my machines at home) or whatever raster format the printer
>> desires (the case at my office).
>
> Acrobat (windows) and Ghostscript are PDF drivers.

No, ghostscript isn't a "driver". it's a normal user-space
application, but I'm not sure what you're point is. My
statement that printing PDF doesn't depend on Acrobat is true
regardless of whether ghostscript is a driver or application.

>>> Internally, the OS is sending the pdf file to the Acrobat PDF
>>> Driver and then it is sent to the printer.
>
>> Nope.  It's usnig the foomatic print filters which in turn use
>> ghostscript to render PDF.
>
> What I mean is that the pdf file is sent to a pdf driver (some
> program to interpret it)... In your case is ghostscript, and
> in my case is Acrobat.

That's not a driver.  At least not in my world.  Drivers live
in kernel space.  Acrobat and ghostscript are just applications
that run in user-space.

>> No you just need a good printing system.  CUPS + foomatic works
>> great for me.  It knows what to do with postcript, text, PDF,
>> dvi, and a whole boatload of other fileformats that I don't
>> ever use.
>
> CUPS + foomatic are the whole megadriver... So it's just a
> manner of saying PDF Driver for my study case.

You're use of the word "driver" is one with which I'm not
familiar.  But I don't really "do windows" so it's probably a
Widnowism.

> Really thanks for all the information :) I didn't know about
> Ghostscript.

I'm sure you can use ghostscript to do the same thing under
Windows (render PDF into the raster format preferred by your
printer), but I've no idea how one would go about it.

-- 
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