Defining printer objects
- Ricoh PDF printer
- Ricoh TotalFlow printer
- Custom PDF printer
- Passthrough printer
- Kodak PDF printer
- Available if the Cut Sheet Support for Kodak feature is installed.
- Xerox PDF printer
- Available if the Cut Sheet Support for Xerox feature is installed.
- AFP printer
- Available if the AFP Support feature is installed.
- PCLOut printer
- Available if the AFP Support feature is installed.
Optional features add more types of printer objects.
Jobs are assigned to the printers using scheduling properties. Scheduling properties are job and printer properties that RICOH ProcessDirector compares to determine whether a job can be sent to a printer. The table shows the default job scheduling properties and their corresponding printer properties. If all the scheduling properties match, the job can be scheduled to the printer. Scheduling properties are added or deleted from this list by editing a scheduling properties configuration file.
- Note:
- A blank value for a job scheduling property matches all values for the corresponding printer property. A blank value for a printer scheduling property matches all values for the corresponding job scheduling property.
Scheduling properties
| Job property | Printer property |
|---|---|
| Binding, with Perfect selected | Perfect binding capable |
| Binding, with Ring or Ring and punch selected | Ring binding capable |
| Customer name | Customer name |
| Fold options | Folding capable |
| Job size (sheets) | Printer job size (sheets) supported |
| Media | Media supported |
| PLE Media | Media supported |
| Output bin | Output bins available |
| Output format | Output format |
| Punch | Punch capable |
| Requested location | Printer location |
| Staple | Staple capable |
| PLE Staple | Staple capable |
The AFP Support feature provides these additional scheduling properties:
AFP scheduling properties
| Job property | Printer property |
|---|---|
| Job class | Printer class |
| Job destination | Printer destination |
| Job form | Printer form |
RICOH ProcessDirector can get status on the job while it is printing by communicating directly with AFP printers and Ricoh PDF printers.
For Passthrough and PCLOut printers, RICOH ProcessDirector runs a command that is defined for the printer and monitors the response to the command. RICOH ProcessDirector cannot report status of the job that it sent.
Different printer types generate different output to send to the printer.
- Ricoh PDF printers can print PDF data and JDF job tickets or PostScript data.
- Ricoh TotalFlow printers do no conversions and print PDF data streams. They produce a MIME package containing the PDF data and JDF job ticket.
- Custom PDF printers convert PDF to PostScript.
- Passthrough printers do no conversions and usually print data streams such as PostScript, PDF, and PCL.
- AFP printers use the Print Services Facility (PSF) printer driver to convert AFP print jobs into their Intelligent Printer Data Stream (IPDS) format.
- PCLOut printers use the PSF printer driver to convert AFP print jobs into their IPDS format. Then they convert the IPDS format into Printer Command Language (PCL) format.
- Kodak PDF and Xerox PDF printer objects represent printers that can print PDF files. They print jobs in PDF format, including jobs that have been converted to PDF format.
Another way to print is to define a workflow that copies the print file to a directory defined as a hot folder for a printer. You do not need to define a printer object in this case because the workflow does not usually contain a PrintJobs step. Jobs that are processed with that kind of workflow do not use scheduling properties because scheduling applies only to the PrintJobs step.