Printer Driver question

[Hector Pascal]

Hi all, I'm getting a new printer for printing my Finale output.

There are three different drivers available for the printer:
1. Driver type = PDF
2. Driver type = PPD (PS)
3. Driver type: PS

Which is the best choice for me to use? (ie: I plan to sometimes print straight from Finale, but mostly I'll go from Finale>Export Pages as PDF>then print the PDF onto paper).
Any advice gratefully received.
Cheerio,
Hector.

[BuonTempi]

I'm a bit confused by that list.

PPD is "PostScript Printer Description" -- a text file containing details of the printer's features -- which on MacOS is all the "driver" you need to get most printers to work.

PDF and PS are file types. Some printers can accept PDF data, streamed directly from the printer, as well as PostScript.

Presumably, it's just a setting for which file type to send.

For instance, I have a "driver" (a PPD file) for my HP Laserjet 5200, which includes a line specifying that it should use PDF as the data format.

I would suggest sending PDF natively to the printer.


What is the printer?

[Hector Pascal]

Thanks for your reply, BuonTempi!
Here is the support page for my docuprint 4405 d.

https://support-fb.fujifilm.com/setupDr ... d=DP4405D#

I clicked on (+ Show other drivers) and it showed all the drivers that I could choose from.

Note: I selected Mac OS 11 as my operating system.

Also, I found this additional info on the Fujifilm website:
===========
Driver Type
There are two main types of drivers available to be configured with FUJIFILM machines:

• PCL or Printer Control Language, which is a widely used printing language, supported by many different operating systems and considered the industry standard. A PCL driver is generally best for, text-based office documents.
• PS or PostScript is primarily suited to large PDF or other image-heavy documents. A PS driver generally produces more detailed graphic objects. A PostScript chip must be installed in the FUJIFILM machine for the Postscript driver to function.
===========

Maybe I should choose the PS driver? Thanks, Buontempi for any suggestions! Hope u are well.
Cheers,
Hector.

[BuonTempi]

There are only two drivers on the linked page that you gave me: one "PPD (PS)", and one "PDF (Updated for Apple Silicon)".

Weirdly, the latter has a lower version number than the former.

PCL is native to the Windows world, as the alternative to Adobe's PostScript. Because Macs handle PostScript and PDF natively, you'd need a more complex driver that 'translates' to PCL, so not worth it.

I downloaded both of the drivers and had a look: the "PPD" one is massive and installed hundreds of files for lots of different types of printer: the PDF one is much smaller with a handful of files.

I'd go with the PDF one, and if it doesn't work or doesn't provide the functions you need, go with the big PPD one.

[Hector Pascal]

Thanks, Buontempi, for your help. Btw, to see all the relevant drivers, I first select the OS 11 pull down menu and then when one driver is displayed I click on the plus sign at the bottom to reveal the three driver options. Here is a picture of the three driver options:

Thanks as always,
Hector.

[BuonTempi]

I only saw the 1.72 and 1.73 versions. I wouldn't bother with the 1.00 one.