Every printer device on the market certainly has the support of a device processing program or driver. Usually this driver is included in the form of a CD / DVD that is given in the printer box or until there is also a link to download information directly from the official website of the printer brand.
There are many uses for the driver for that printer. One of them is to optimize the workings of the printer with various features that are offered specifically according to the sophistication of the device.
However, you can also understand the complete explanation of the printer driver easily. Moreover, each of the printers also has a different driver character. This is adjusted to the support of each piece of software that is in the driver.
What is a Printer Driver?
A printer driver, also known as a print driver, is software installed on a computer that converts printed data into a format that the printer can understand. Its main purpose is to enable printing applications without knowing the technical details of each printer model.
Technically, the printer can work with generic drivers, but it's a complicated process involving USB connections and a thorough understanding of IT logistics. Sometimes additional installation is required on the computer to select the most suitable driver.
In short, a printer driver is a software or program that works on a computer to recognize and communicate with the printer. When a printing command from a computer is sent to the printer, the “Printer Driver” acts like an intermediary and converts the information from this program into a language format that the printer can understand.
Printer Driver is the printer and operating system used on certain computers and printers, for example Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10. It is quite important to use a suitable driver to avoid problems when printing.
Having and knowing the definition of a printer driver is of course an obligation for a printer owner to be able to fully access and operate the printer device, both for its main use as a printing tool and other facilities such as scanning, copying and faxing that may be available on the unit.
Apart from converting data into a form that can be used by the printer, the printer driver also has a printer control function. Such as setting page margins, controlling page printing, and performing other tasks that ensure that the print job runs perfectly as expected.
Apart from that, the printer driver can also send signals from the printer to the computer, such as ink level warnings, error messages, paper jams, and other things. Some new operating systems come with printer drivers by default. When we plug the USB cable into the Printer, the computer will try to recognize it and if it has a suitable driver, it can perform an automatic installation and print.
If the computer does not recognize the printer, we need to install the driver. New printers come with a CD containing Printer drivers for different operating systems, which allows us to install manually. Apart from that, we can also download it to the printer's website.
Why do we need printer drivers?
A printer driver or print processor is a software package that converts printing hardware into a language the printer can understand. Drivers enable interaction between your computer and printing devices. It does this by receiving standard commands from the computer or operating system and translating them into understandable language that the printer can follow. This way, your printer will be able to meet your requirements appropriately.
Many people wonder whether printers can operate without drivers, and the simple answer as we have observed is no. Without a driver connection, your printer will not connect to any device, PC or laptop. Additionally, printer drivers allow your printer to function optimally without any problems or errors.
At Palindrome Consulting, we understand that managing a device or additional software is a lot of work, so we're here to help. We start by providing detailed information about printer drivers, explaining why printing devices are essential for your business, and showing you how to set up printing devices.
Types of Printer Drivers
There are two main types of printer drivers: Printer Command Language (PCL) and PostScript (PS). Let's break them down a bit more:
1. Printer Command Language (PCL)
Printer Driver PCL is considered an industry standard for print drivers and it is developed by the brand d Printer HP printing was popular in the 1980s. It is commonly used for everyday text printing, including legacy applications, mainframe printing, and some vector graphics.
PCL is supported by various operating systems and depends on the device; which means "the driver for this language uses the printer's hardware to generate certain print data, typically graphic data such as box fills, underlines, or fonts," according to Xerox .
The PCL print driver provides fast print processing and can operate in a variety of printing environments, but graphics quality depends on the device itself and is not supported in the Macintosh environment.
The same print job on two different devices may also give slightly different results with the PCL print driver.
2. PostScript (PS)
PostScript, or PS, printer driver is another popular printing language used by many printer manufacturers.
PS is mainly used for publishing applications, color graphics, complex graphics, clipart, and PostScript file types. It contrasts with PCL because it is device independent, meaning that the PostScript language "generates all print data and does not depend on the printer for print data": according to Xerox.
The advantage of using a PostScript printer driver is that graphic objects will often be more detailed than on a driver such as PCL.
You can also expect the same print file to look identical when completed on two or more devices, which is especially useful for businesses that print drafts they want to send to a print shop for production. ,
However, PS drivers can have slow print processing speeds and are not found on as many platforms as PCL. File size and print memory requirements are also generally greater with PostScript.
Complete explanation of basic printer drivers
In general, the printer driver is a collection of special applications or programs that are used to carry out the functions of the printer. This printer driver is also an intermediary that connects specifically through computer devices.
So, if you want to print via a printer, the driver program used must also match the device from the printer.
The printer driver also functions to avoid various technical problems that occur when printing. Until now there is an integrated printer driver that can be used through many platforms or operating systems. For example, you can use it for devices with the Windows operating system to MacOS.
The display of the program owned by the printer driver is also very good. The interface that is given is considered to be easier for the printing process repeatedly.
In fact, some systems from the program also sometimes provide advanced information about the condition of the printer being used. For example, conditions on the beach such as the amount of ink to the overall condition of the machine.
Functions of the Printer driver
Another important function of the printer driver that you can get is printing settings. This is to simplify the process of the prints you want. For example, you can print or print with several choices of paper sizes. In addition, you can also print repeatedly with a larger amount of paper.
Note:Another thing that should be a concern for you is that each of the printers has a special driver.
Of course you will not be able to use a printer of a different brand or manufacturer with different drivers. Moreover, the system settings applied to each printer machine will also be different.
However, until now the latest operating systems have also implemented default settings on the device to make it easier to connect to the printer. This is indeed considered to make it easier for you to carry out the printing process.
However, not all brands or types of printers can be connected by default to the operating system. This condition makes you have to use a special driver to connect the printer device to a laptop or pc.
Currently the form of drivers available in the market is indeed included in the CD/DVD category. Usually you will get this driver through the package received at the time of purchase. However, there are also certain manufacturers or brands that offer digital drivers.
You can get this driver by downloading on the official website. Usually the systems and applications in the digital section are more updated than conventional drivers via CD/DVD. Also make sure you frequently update drivers that are already installed on devices such as PCs or laptops.
Important software offered from the printer driver
A complete description of the printer driver to maximize the function of the printer is usually not only based on system defaults. That means, you don't just use the driver for printing or printing.
However, some very sophisticated printer brands also add other programs so that they can optimize the function of the actual printer. The more sophisticated the printer you are using, the more software or applications in the driver will be.
In a printer driver is usually covered by several software options available from this driver usually,
- Printing app
- Arrangement
- Copy files easily
- Scanning
- Ink check
- Paper jam check
- Error notification when there is a problem with the printer and others.
Also make sure that all the additional software provided by the printer driver available on this printer you can use optimally and easily understand, because its main function and purpose is to provide convenience and flexibility to every user who uses the printing machine, if the programs and software were not used and can't maximize learn in more detail what needs and must be installed.