A print filter handles special printing modes and requests to print specific pages. A special printing mode is needed to print any characteristics of print requests that require a customized filter.
Filters handle the following characteristics:
Printer type
Character pitch
Line pitch
Page length
Page width
Pages to print
Character set
Form name
Number of copies
The LP print service provides default settings for these characteristics. However, a print filter can handle some characteristics more efficiently. For example, some printers can handle multiple copies more efficiently than the LP print service. So, in this case, you can provide a filter for multiple-copy page control.