[Info-vax] printing from VMS

[geze...@rlgsc.com]

On Monday, March 1, 2021 at 7:01:28 AM UTC-5, Phillip Helbig (undress to reply) wrote:
> In the old days, I set up TCPIP print queues and could print text and 
> PostScript files by just using the VMS PRINT command. Of course, the 
> printer had to be able to interpret PostScript. 
> 
> But that was a quarter of a century ago. 
> 
> These days, people print probably mostly PDF. Presumably most printers 
> will print a text file. What about PDF? Is that done by the printer or 
> is there some sort of driver installed on the printing device? 
> 
> My wife has a Canon Pixma printer. Not a laser printer, I guess bubble 
> jet or whatever. However, it's not working at the moment and we'll 
> probably buy a new printer if we can't get it fixed cheaply. It's 
> probably worth it to go for a laser printer---more expensive (but 
> probably cheap enough by today's standards) but less cost per page, so 
> we'll hit break-even in a reasonable time. 
> 
> It would be nice to print to that from VMS. What can I expect to work 
> if I set up a queue pointing to the IP address? Text? PostScript? 
> PDF? Nothing? 
> 
> Any suggestions? 
> 
> Ideally, such a printer would work well from VMS and various Apple 
> deviceds (iPad, MacBook, iPhone). 
> 
> I also have a black-and-white |d|i|g|i|t|a|l| laser printer from about 
> 1990 or so. I don't know if it is worth it to try to get it set up 
> (I've never used it).
Phillip,

As is often the case, the answer is "Depends".

Some printers take a bitmap/raster, depending on the host system to turn text/PDF into a raster that the printer understands. In that case, the printer is format agnostic, so long as the host can produce the raster. This also eliminates the need to license the Adobe or third party PostScript implementation.

Other, generally more expensive printers can interpret text, HP PCL, and or PostScript. Connections can be misleading: an Ethernet jack does not guarantee that the printer can accept text, it merely states that the printer accepts data via Ethernet. If the printer supports LPR/LPD, it probably supports text. Whether it supports PostScript is an orthogonal question.

Check the specification sheet and manual carefully. I have seen some interesting wording in this area. Some of can lead one astray. For example, a raster printer can print text if the Windows driver converts it to raster.

- Bob Gezelter, http://www.rlgsc.com