The Copy Image


GDI printers A GDI printer or a Winprinter (similar to a Winmodem) is a print processor that uses software to do all the print processing instead of requiring the printer hardware to do it. It works by rendering an image to a bitmap on the host computer and then sending the bitmap to the printer. A GDI printer will not print from a non-Windows program or file. This allows low-cost printers to be built by printer manufacturers, because all the page composition is done in software. Usually, such printers do not natively support a page description language such as PostScript or XPS. A Winprinter uses GDI to prepare the output, which is then passed to the printer driver (usually supplied by the manufacturer) for further processing and only afterwards to the printer itself. In general, the lowest-cost printers are GDI devices. Most manufacturers also produce more flexible models that add PCL compatibility, or PostScript, or both. In most cases it is only the very lowest-cost models in any given manufacturer's range that are GDI-only. Compare how GDI printers rely on this 2-way constant communications between the PC and the printer to leach off the PC's processor, as opposed to standard printers, which send a completed file to a standard printer for it to create. Thus, a GDI printer cannot create a document without a PC attached. This is why a GDI printer won't print when attached to a standard stand-alone print server, though some manufacturers have created a solution to this problem by making print servers that are capable of processing data. Another solution would be to physically attach the GDI printer to a PC or file server, and share the printer via this connection (though the PC must be constantly left on for the GDI printer to be accessible).
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GDI printers

A GDI printer or a Winprinter (similar to a Winmodem) is a print processor that uses software to do all the print processing instead of requiring the printer hardware to do it. It works by rendering an image to a bitmap on the host computer and then sending the bitmap to the printer. A GDI printer will not print from a non-Windows program or file.

This allows low-cost printers to be built by printer manufacturers, because all the page composition is done in software. Usually, such printers do not natively support a page description language such as PostScript or XPS. A Winprinter uses GDI to prepare the output, which is then passed to the printer driver (usually supplied by the manufacturer) for further processing and only afterwards to the printer itself.

In general, the lowest-cost printers are GDI devices. Most manufacturers also produce more flexible models that add PCL compatibility, or PostScript, or both. In most cases it is only the very lowest-cost models in any given manufacturer's range that are GDI-only.

Compare how GDI printers rely on this 2-way constant communications between the PC and the printer to leach off the PC's processor, as opposed to standard printers, which send a completed file to a standard printer for it to create. Thus, a GDI printer cannot create a document without a PC attached. This is why a GDI printer won't print when attached to a standard stand-alone print server, though some manufacturers have created a solution to this problem by making print servers that are capable of processing data. Another solution would be to physically attach the GDI printer to a PC or file server, and share the printer via this connection (though the PC must be constantly left on for the GDI printer to be accessible).