Selecting a Printer Type

In this Solaris release, you can assign a printer type with Solaris Print Manager if you deselect the Use PPD files default attribute in the Print Manager drop-down menu in Solaris Print Manager. This printer definition is not available when the Use PPD files attribute is selected. When you add a printer with PPD files, the printer make, model, and driver printer definitions replace the printer type definition.

For a local PostScript printer, use a printer type of either PostScript (PS) or Reverse PostScript (PSR). If your printer supports PostScript, choose PS or PSR, even if the specific printer type is listed in the terminfo database.

If your PostScript printer prints pages face up, documents appear to be printed backwards. As such, the first page is at the bottom of the stack and the last page is on the top. If you specify the printer's type as PSR, the LP print service reverses the order of the pages before sending the pages to the printer. The last page is printed first, and the pages are stacked in forward order. However, the LP print service can reliably change the page order only for PostScript files that conform to the Adobe® Technical Note #5001, PostScript Language Document Structuring Conventions Specification. This document is available on the Adobe Developer Relations web site.

If a printer can emulate more than one kind of printer, you can assign several printer types by using the lpadmin -T command. If you specify more than one printer type, the LP print service uses the printer type that is appropriate for each print request.

You might not find the printer type in the appropriate terminfo directory. The type of printer is not necessarily linked to the manufacturer's name on the printer. For example, for any type of PostScript printer, you can use the PS or PSR entry, found in the /usr/share/lib/terminfo/P directory, instead of an entry specific to the manufacturer or product name.

If you have an unusual type of printer, you might need to try different entries before you can determine whether a particular terminfo entry works for your type of printer. If possible, find an entry in the terminfo database that works for your printer. Trying to use an existing entry is much easier than trying to create an entry. If you must create your own entry, Adding a terminfo Entry for an Unsupported Printer contains some useful tips.