Adobe Universal PostScript Windows Driver

[gil_he]

hello,

I was trying to install  - Adobe Universal PostScript Windows Driver Installer 1.0.6 - English - under window 7 and got a severe error.

Then, I realized this softweare package is not intended for windows 7.

Does anyone know where I can find such PS drivers for windows 7?

Thank you.

[Dov Isaacs · Accepted solution]

The Adobe Universal PostScript Windows Driver Installer 1.0.6 was originally intended for use with Windows'95, Windows'98, Windows ME, and Windows NT 4.x.

For all newer versions of Windows, the PostScript driver developed jointly by Adobe and Microsoft is included with the operating system. Under 32-bit versions of Windows 2000 and Windows XP, the driver installer simply serves to associate the PSCRIPT5 driver already included in Windows with a user designated port and PPD file. For other 32-bit versions of Windows, the installer either fails or yields incorrect results. It does not work at all with any 64-bit version of Windows.

There is no intention to release any newer versions of the Adobe Universal PostScript Windows Driver Installer. Use the Windows "Add printer" wizard instead.

          - Dov

[gil_he]

Thank you Dov.

I need to add a PS printer that prints to FILE.

Can you guide how to do it in with Windows "Add printer" ?

Do I choose any PS printer and direct its output to a FILE?

Is there a generic PS driver (that is already included with windows 7) that I can use? Where do i find it?

thank you.

[Dov Isaacs]

There is no such entity as a generic PostScript printer! PostScript as generated by the PSCRIPT5 Windows PostScript driver is by definition fairly device-dependent as table driven by a particular product's PPD file.

Maybe if you give us some idea of what you are trying to generate PostScript for we can better assist you.

          - Dov

[gil_he]

Yes, I can.

The intention is to print Orcad Capture designs (from Cadence) into pdf files.

Here is an extract from the HELP file:

13 PDF Export for Capture Design

13.1 Introduction

Sometimes, you are interested in exporting the PDF for Capture designs. This section presents the information about a shareware utility built with TCL/Tk which lets you exporting PDF from Capture design.

13.2 Architecture

Capture provides the facility of exporting the design to PDF, subject to the availability of Postscript (PS) driver and Postscript-to-PDF converter software on user’s machine. The following diagram shows the architecture of PDF Export

13.3 Use Model

The use-model of PDF export is as follows-

 User acquires a suitable Postscript driver - User can install any suitable postscript driver

An example is Adobe Universal Postscript Driver for Windows (Acrobat Distiller PostScript Printer driver) that can be downloaded and installed from http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/product.jsp?platform=win&product=pdrv). In case of installing this driver, the following two files need to be downloaded from this location:

PPD Files: Adobe (http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=204)

After downloading this file, extract the *.PPD files to any location (e.g. c:/temp/Adobe)

o

Adobe Universal PostScript Windows Driver Installer - English (http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=1500)

A postscript printer (on the network or attached to the machine) can also be used as a postscript driver. Output will vary depending on the selected postscript driver.

 User acquires a suitable Postscript-to-PDF converter - User can acquire any third party Postscript to PDF converter tool and use the tool for generating the PDF output from the postscript file.

Examples are Distiller from Acrobat Professional (commercial and can be acquired from http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobatpro ) or Ghostscript (free and can be acquired from http://sourceforge.net/projects/ghostscript). There are many other commercial and free tools available. User needs to acquire or purchase any of these tools and install the software at their end.

[Dov Isaacs]

When you install Acrobat, it creates a PostScript printer driver instance labelled Adobe PDF to which you print from your application and which automatically takes the output from the driver and instead of printing same, sends it the Adobe Acrobat Distiller for generation of PDF from PostScript.  If you are using some third party PostScript generator, it will create a similar driver instance.

In no case should you need to manually create a PostScript printer driver instance.

          - Dov

[Guest]

Having googled around the same problem, it looks like there are a few people out there who, like me, do want to manually create such a driver instance to get clean postscript output to file.

Besides the PPD file downloadable from the link in the preceding posts, the only thing needed is a suitable INF file. Having failed to find one anywhere that simply created a printer instance, I put the following together. Save as Generic_Adobe_PostScript.inf, usage instructions are in the comments at the top of the file.

Hope this helps a few people, certainly works for me on ia64 Win7.

- Chris

----8<----8<----8<----

; Generic_Adobe_PostScript.inf -- inf install for generic PostScript output using Adobe ADIST5.PPD
; You will need to get ADIST5.PPD from Adobe, currently available at:
; http://download.adobe.com/pub/adobe/printerdrivers/win/all/ppdfiles/adobe.zip
; Place ADIST5.PPD in the same directory as this .INF file, then add a printer,
; chose local port FILE:, Have Disk... and browse to this inf and "install anyway" when prompted.
; You should now have a new printer which prints to a postscript file.
;
; CIS 2011-07-14
;

[Version]
Signature="$Windows NT$"
Provider=chris693
ClassGUID={4D36E979-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}
Class=Printer
CatalogFile=oemprint.cat

DriverVer=14/07/2011,1.0.0.1

; Manufacturer section

[Manufacturer]
"Adobe"=Adobe,NTamd64,NTia64

[Adobe]
"Adobe Generic PostScript Driver" = ADIST5.PPD, Acrobat Distiller

[Adobe.NTamd64]
"Adobe Generic PostScript Driver" = ADIST5.PPD, Acrobat Distiller

[Adobe.NTia64]
"Adobe Generic PostScript Driver" = ADIST5.PPD, Acrobat Distiller

[ADIST5.PPD]
CopyFiles=@ADIST5.PPD       ; PPD file.
DataSection=PSCRIPT_DATA    ; PSCRIPT Data Section
DataFile=ADIST5.PPD
Include=NTPRINT.INF         ; Include NTPRINT.INF.
Needs=PSCRIPT.OEM           ; Install PSCRIPT.

[DestinationDirs]
DefaultDestDir=66000

[SourceDisksNames]
1=%Disk1%,,,""

[SourceDisksFiles]
ADIST5.PPD =1

[Strings]
Disk1="Adobe ADIST5 PPD Setup Disk 1"

[Guest]

awesome fix and worked perfectly. Thanks! Others should know about this easy fix to Adobe and MS jerking us PS users around. You rock!

[engineering_czar]

Thanks for posting this - it worked perfectly.  What a relief after struggling for days...  I added a dozen custom page sizes to the PPD, my own printer name, and bingo it works! 

[johnweaver13]

Fantastic fix. I used it in Win 7 with Acrobat 7.1 installed. The printer installed as predicted, and it works fine from programs like WordPerfect 12. To save the PS file, you do have to enter a full path with the file name and .ps suffix, though. Acrobat then loads the PS file and produces a PDF from it without a hitch.

[Test Screen Name]

Just a note that, if Acrobat is installed and working properly, none of this is needed to make a PDF. Acrobat installs a driver called "Adobe PDF". Print to it, and a PDF is made - job done. (What happens is that the printer makes a PostScript file, then the "PDF port" that is part of the driver picks it up, perhaps prompts for a file location, and runs Distiller, making the PDF).

This won't happen for you because Acrobat 7 is way too old for Windows 7, and so the printer driver cannot install itself. But people with up to date software should look for getting the Adobe PDF driver fixed rather than this last ditch workaround.

[Netex Printing]

My solution was also based on the above comment.

To add a printer using a  .ppd file:

Create a folder where you will build your printer description for the printer you want to install in Win 7.

Find the .ppd offered for NT or 98 and put in this directory but rename it to "ADIST5.PPD"

Place everything from here down in a .inf file as named:

;------- Begining of file

; "Generic_Adobe_PostScript.inf"
;
;

[Version]
Signature="$Windows NT$"
Provider=chris693
ClassGUID={4D36E979-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}
Class=Printer
CatalogFile=oemprint.cat

DriverVer=14/07/2011,1.0.0.1

; Manufacturer section

[Manufacturer]
"Adobe"=Adobe,NTamd64,NTia64

[Adobe]
"Adobe Generic PostScript Driver" = ADIST5.PPD, Acrobat Distiller

[Adobe.NTamd64]
"Adobe Generic PostScript Driver" = ADIST5.PPD, Acrobat Distiller

[Adobe.NTia64]
"Adobe Generic PostScript Driver" = ADIST5.PPD, Acrobat Distiller

[ADIST5.PPD]
CopyFiles=@ADIST5.PPD       ; PPD file.
DataSection=PSCRIPT_DATA    ; PSCRIPT Data Section
DataFile=ADIST5.PPD
Include=NTPRINT.INF         ; Include NTPRINT.INF.
Needs=PSCRIPT.OEM           ; Install PSCRIPT.

[DestinationDirs]
DefaultDestDir=66000

[SourceDisksNames]
1=%Disk1%,,,""

[SourceDisksFiles]
ADIST5.PPD =1

[Strings]
Disk1="Adobe ADIST5 PPD Setup Disk 1"

;------- End of file

Then simply add a local printer from the Win 7 "Add Printer" dialogue and select "Have Disk" and point it to the .inf you made.

Note: Your files will show up on the remote printer queue under the sender "Remote DownLevel Document"

Thanks Chris for the write-up

[Actionable_Mango]

Thank you Chris and Netex for these posts. They have enabled me to continue using my old DesignJet on Windows 7.

However, I have not had the same success with Windows 10. When trying to install the INF, the installation wizard just loops indefinitely where I keep making selections but instead of installing it just keeps bringing me back one or two screens back to the selections.

Has anyone else verified that this method works with Windows 10?

[Guest]

Thanks heaps for this. Installed it on a Windows 8 machine and now I can print to my Linux Gostscript PDF writer no worries.

[Test Screen Name]

Adobe will be so pleased....!

[Dr.Adam]

there is no Adobe Universal  PS driver to work under Win 7 and Vista

UN PS driver only support XP.

Dr.Adam

[Dov Isaacs]

Actually, all that package contained for Windows XP 32-bit was an installer, not a driver. The driver for Windows 2000 and later is the standard Windows PSCRIPT5.DLL driver.

          - Dov

[wendyl59264822]

Dov doesn't know what he is talking about. Some older versions of software require PS drivers. And you they will not allow you to print packages without a PS driver.

[Test Screen Name]

Your deep historical knowledge of PostScript puts us all to shame. Though I would be interested if you could tell us where Mr Isaacs says that you don't need a PS driver. I missed that.

[Dov Isaacs]

wendyl59264822‌

With 25 years of experience working at Adobe, much of that time in Adobe's print group involved with PostScript interpreters, PDF interpreters, and drivers as well as print workflow, I think I know what I am talking about with regards to PostScript, drivers, and printers!

However, I have never either stated or intimated that PostScript drivers aren't necessary for one or another purpose.

This thread has been a discussion of available PostScript drivers for Windows. The fact is that since Windows 2000, Microsoft has bundled a PostScript driver with all Windows versions, the product of a joint project between Adobe and Microsoft. As per one of my earlier postings on this thread, the “driver” that Adobe had available on its website was only usable on 32-bit Windows XP and earlier to associate a user-provided PPD file with the PSCRIPT5.DLL printer driver already within Windows to create a PostScript printer driver instance for a particular port with the PPD file for a particular printer model.

That installer does not work with any modern version of Windows! Postings above show how to hack together a .inf file to work with a hardcoded .ppd file name to coerce the Windows Add New Printer wizard to setup a new PostScript printer driver instance.

If you have an application which for some reason requires PostScript production for a pseudo-printer, using this technique will in fact allow you to do that; typically such output would be routed to the File: port.

            - Dov

[Doug Hanna]

In working on a similar issue I came across this thread, and it's intriguing solution.  Thanks Chris693 for putting it together.  I will have to take a look at it and see if it helps meet our needs.  Currently we are 'borrowing' a hacked HP ColorLaserJet PPD to test out our workflow.

That being said, I know of just about no one currently at Adobe Systems more knowledgeable about PostScript and how the rather 'broken' printer sub-system in Windows operates than Dov.  From the PostScript tokenizer through the PLRM and on to Adobe's Extreme RIP technology.  Along with issues surrounding PDF, fonts, color and just about every other aspect of a production print environment.  Over many years Dov has helped myself, along with an incalculable number of people work through a myriad number of intractable number of print related issues.  A little history - Dov was hired by Adobe to develop the Test/QA environment for PSLLII.  With the underlying thought - how do you upgrade software (firmware) in a non-upgradeable environment?  You don't - you make sure it's right - the first time.  This is long, long before IoT, constant firmware updates, and modern system capabilities.  Where firmware updates required driving to the site, opening up the device, and replacing a physical chip.  A different mindset towards engineering solutions.  While no one is perfect, when given full information on the situation, I've never found Dov to be wrong.... on anything.  Ever.

Doug