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I've been looking at printer protocols, and it's still not clear to me how today's computers communicate with printers "over the wire."

Historically, I understand that computers basically started as printers (with teletype machines), but today I read about protocols like AirPrint and CUPS; I understand that some printers (all printers?) take PostScript or PDF files as currency, but I've also read about HPPCL on the FreeBSD docs. It seems like most printers ("98%") support the Internet Printing Protocol, which apparently uses simple HTTP to send "various data formats" to the printer, but I've also found source code in the CUPS repo that seems to translate raster into a proprietary language for some EPSON printers. The discussion in this other StackOverflow question seems to indicate that even IPP isn't the be-all-end-all.

I realize this is a very vague question, but I'm also kinda looking for a general answer—how do computers "get stuff to" printers today? Do we mostly send over PDFs & JPEGs, or do we send G-Code-like commands to the printers? Is it a mixture of both? Can I send commands to my printer to have it arbitrarily move the printhead around, like I can do for CNC machines?

I would not be surprised if the answer is "most printers use a proprietary interface; that's why you still need to implement printer drivers." If so—is there a higher-level standard? Is it just whatever Microsoft says needs to go into a printer driver?

Thanks!

citelao
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1 Answers1

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There are multiple aspects in your questions:

  1. what are the discovery protocols?
  2. what are the printing protocols and PDLs.

Discovery protocol: mDNS/DNS-SD, WS-Discovery (WSD) Printing protocol: WS-Print (WSD), IPP. IPP is getting more traction now. Print Definition Language is that finally what format print job is sent to the device. Following are the some of the standard formats: OXPS, PDF, PWG Raster, PCL, PostScript, and other proprietary formats from each printer vendors.

Snekithan
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