Features of Custom Virtual Printer

in questions and answers

 

1. What types of EMF files are generated?
2. Can the driver handle portrait and landscape in the same document?
3. Does generated EMF image file contain printed graphics objects?
4. What programming tools are needed to build drivers from a source code?
5. Does EMF driver support different color modes?
6. If I buy the binary version of drivers, can I upgrade to the source edition by paying the difference later?
7. Do I need to purchase a maintenance plan for the support and updates?
8. Error message "Failed to copy the print monitor DLL" during the printer driver installation.
9. Known application compatibility issues.
10. Can the printer be used to print from the Terminal Services session or Remote Desktop connection?
11. Virtual printer generates output files in the user temporary folder, but I want to control where to save them.
12. How to control various parameters of the print job programmatically?
13. I found an error in the generated PDF document. What should I do?
14. Can I rename the virtual printer?
15. How do I use virtual printer under Citrix?
16. Do we need Ghostscript for creating a PDF with an EMF virtual printer?
17. Do we need Adobe Acrobat or 3rd party software for creating a PDF with an EMF virtual printer?
18. How can we integrate an EMF virtual printer with our client application? Do you have samples?
19. If I buy a binary version of your driver, can I redistribute it as a part of my software? Do I have to pay for each copy I redistribute with my software?
20. If I need additional customization for your virtual printer, can you do it for me?
21. After printing a document, can I extract and save the metadata (invoice ID, total of the agreement) entered in the appointed tags?

 

1. What types of EMF files are generated?

   Generated EMF is operating system specific: EMF 1.0 in Win9x, NT EMF 1.003 in NT4, NT EMF 1.008 in Win2k/XP. Generated EMF files are intended for local converting/viewing only, not for using on another computers because they contain environment specific fonts and graphics. To preserve fonts and graphics, you can use PDF format as your output file format. PDF is supported by our virtual printer technology as well.

    

2. Can the driver handle portrait and landscape in the same document?

   Yes. Client application can get information about document orientation, resolution and title from the virtual driver.

    

3. Does generated EMF image file contain printed graphics objects?

   Yes. Such objects are embedded in EMF in the device independent format with color information provided by the source application.

    

4. What programming tools are needed to build drivers from a source code?

   Microsoft Visual Studio 2003 and DDK for Windows XP or later.
   Win9x/ME driver requires MSVC 1.5 and DDK for Windows 98.

    

5. Does EMF driver support different color modes?

   EMF is independent from display color modes. All embedded graphics are stored in the device independent format. All necessary color transformations must be performed by client application.

    

6. If I buy the binary version of drivers, can I upgrade to the source edition by paying the difference later?

   Yes. You can upgrade from the binary version to the source code version by paying the difference any time.

    

7. Do I need to purchase a maintenance plan for the support and updates?

   One year of free support and updates is included. Further support costs 30% of the product price per year.

    

8. What to do with the "Failed to copy the print monitor DLL" error message, appearing during the printer driver installation?

   Close all running applications and try to install the printer again.

    

9. Known application compatibility issues.

   Our virtual printing technology is incompatible with following applications:

   • Applications that use Kodak Imaging component shipped with Microsoft Office.
   • All versions of the Quicken.

    

10. Can the printer be used for printing from the Terminal Services session or Remote Desktop connection?

    The virtual printer is compatible with Terminal Services.

     

11. Virtual printer generates output files in the user temporary folder, but I want to select the folder where to save them.

    The printer saves generated output files into the user temporary folder in order to avoid access rights problems. We assume that the client's application should be programmed to move the files further to a desired folder. But if you prefer to change the output folder, there is a hidden option to have it done. If you change the output folder you must as well set up the rights to access the folder for every user.

     

12. How to set up various parameters of the printing programmatically?

    We provide source code samples for such tasks.

     

13. I found an error in the generated PDF document. What should I do?

    Please send us the generated PDF file, its source EMF file and the original document (if possible). We will fix the bug as soon as possible.

     

14. Can I rename the virtual printer?

    No. The printer's name is hard-coded. If you rename the printer, it will become inoperative.

15. How do I use virtual printer under Citrix?

    As reported by Tiberiu Molnar, Principal Software Engineer of Waters GmbH (http://www.waters.com), the printing agent must be started in the same session as the user application which sends document to the virtual printer.

16. Do we need Ghostscript for creating a PDF with an EMF virtual printer?

    No, you don't need Ghostscript for creating a PDF using our virtual printer.

17. Do we need Adobe Acrobat or 3rd party software for creating a PDF with an EMF virtual printer?

    No, you don't. We use our own library, PDF Creator Pilot, for creating PDF files.

18. How can we integrate an EMF virtual printer with our client application? Do you have samples?

    Integration of your application with a virtual printer is an easy process. We have several samples. The full package, which you will receive after buying the printer, includes the samples as well.

19. If I buy a binary version of your driver, can I redistribute it as a part of my software? Do I have to pay for each copy I redistribute with my software?

    Our virtual printers are royalty-free. You can distribute them with your applications without any additional fees.

20. If I need additional customization for your virtual printer, can you do it for me?

    Yes, of course. We can customize the printer per customer request.

21. After printing a document, can I extract and save the metadata (invoice ID, total of the agreement) entered in the appointed tags?

    Yes, you can extract additional data from the documents which are sent to printing and save them in a file. Contact us for details...