On Tuesday 15 March 2016 19:40:07 Brian wrote: > On Tue 15 Mar 2016 at 09:46:26 -0500, David Wright wrote: > > On Mon 14 Mar 2016 at 13:20:25 (+0000), Brian wrote: > > > "PDF filter" would be a suitable substitute for "PDF converter". But > > > not "PDF interpreter". > > > > OK. Debating what to call what happens between PDF and ink-on-paper > > is "less important" (I'm learning) than my trying to tie down whether > > that process takes place entirely in the printer, ie the box we bring > > back from the store. > > I thought we had established that the filtering process takes place > entirely on the printer. After all, there are no drivers on the sending > device. > > > > Yes. But maybe my understanding of what an onboard PS/PCL/PDF > > > interpreter does (stated in an earlier mail) is different from yours. > > > > OK. Debating... (ditto as above). > > Ok, yes. But I have said what I mean by an interpreter. You haven't. > > > > We seem to be both agreed that a PDF arriving at an AirPrint-compatible > > > printer has to be dealt with in some way to ready it for printing. > > > Let's leave it there. It is interesting to speculate how a printer > > > processes a PDF sent from a driverless device but ultimately it is of > > > no great consequence because it is not under our control. > > > > It's of the greatest consequence if there's a way of getting a linux > > box to send PDF files to an AirPrint printer and have them print. > > CUPS is not involved in printing to an AirPrint printer. Debian CUPS has > been patched to enable an iOS device to send to any printer (AirPrint > capable or not). The principles to do it have been worked out and it is > Bonjour broadcasting which is the key. > > > It means you can walk into a store and just buy something, take it > > home and it works. A bit like when I worked in a university: the > > printers understood PDF files so I knew I could just send stuff to the > > queue and it would print it. > > > > Here's my old methodology for buying a printer: > > -Go to the store and look and printers. > > -Persuade wife to "check reviews" rather than buy straight away. > > -Go home and look at linuxprinting-type websites for linux compatibility. > > -Search forums for complaints/difficulties. > > -List some linux-compatible models. > > -Go back to store only to find that all these model numbers are out of > > date and unavailable, replaced by shiny new models. > > -Persuade wife that the shiniest model she wants is going to be a great > > doorstop (or else she's going to have to print all my wants from a > > stick). -Buy a printer. > > -Find a driver that kind-of works. > > -Work round the problems that the driver throws up. > > Since it is mentioned twice, your major tussle with printer purchase > appears to be with your wife. Driver choice and adaptation pales into > insignificance compared with this, :) > > > > It really should. Without Bonjour broadcasting by the printer AirPrint > > > would not exist. > > > > I wrote "in this discussion". Drivers, not discovery. AFAICT I'm > > already using avahi to print now. I'm not, however, sending raw PDFs > > to the discovered printer. > > Unless the printer has a PDF interpreter you will be disappointed with > the result. > > > > as a solution to Jarle Aase's issue. All we need is someone with an > > > AirPrint printer to test it. :). > > > > Yes. Has noone else on this list bought one? There's a huge list of > > models. Unfortunately my model is HP Officejet Pro 85xx and one > > needs 86xx for AirPrint inclusion. > > Gene Haskett has an HL-3170CDW, which he now knows does AirPrint. I > believe he is someone who is up for a challenge. Compared with flooded > basements, lightning strikes, falling trees and power cuts this is small > beer. If he is amenable he could > > 1. Install avahi-daemon and avahi-utils. > > 2. Do > > avahi-browse -art > discovered > > and post the file "discovered" here. Then we might progress. > > Your printer cannot deal with files sent directly from an iOS device. > Through the mediation of Debian CUPS it can.
But in order to do it, he would have to install Jessie, would he not? And I don't think he has a spare computer on which to do so. :-( Lisi
