Print using a Windows driver

Printing Using a Windows Driver Output tasks task lets you send a job to a local or network printer, using its own drivers. The printer does not need to be a PostScript printer.
Since the printer driver itself is not necessarily PostScript, Workflow cannot optimize the print file, so this task will always generate a larger and slower print job. However, this Output task can work with non-PostScript printers such as HP PCL printers.

The Print Using a Windows Driver Output task requires a OL Connect Workflow license, otherwise this plugin will cause a watermark.

Note: This type of output task does not support PDF transparency and duo-tone features, so you should not use it with PlanetPress Design documents that use those features.

Input

This task can accept either a data file with a correct emulation (see About data emulation), which is then merged to a PlanetPress Design document, or a PDF file which is to be printed natively.

Processing

Either the data file is merged with the document if one is selected, or the PDF File is printed natively through the OL Connect Printer driver (which prints the same as if one were to open the PDF in a PDF reader and print it).

Task properties

General Tab

  • Printer queue: Select the queues to which you want to send the output. Note that this is a variable property box, so you can use various schemes to use printer queue names that change with each job at run-time.
  • Properties: Click to change the current printer queue properties. Note that OL Connect Workflow generates the job file and hands it over with the available print options to the Windows print driver, which takes the relay for the actual printing part, so there is no way for your OL Connect Workflow Tool to ensure that all the settings you make will be applied to the printed document.
  • Job name: Enter the job’s file name. By default, the variable %f (Job File Name) is used. You may use a different variable, but you may not use a data selection. This information may be used for the printer’s banner page.
  • Job owner name: Enter the job owner name. You may use a OL Connect Workflow variable.

    • Note: This option is not functional when natively printing PDFs (without a PlanetPress Design document). If setting the job owner name is important, an alternative is to use the Printer Queue Output task and set it to use Windows printer.

  • Documents: Select a specific PlanetPress Design document if you want all the jobs to be printed with that document.
    • Natively print PDF file: This special option can be used if your job file is a PDF. The job will .
  • Add job information to the document: Select to prompt your OL Connect Workflow to add the available job information elements in the header of the file that will be sent to the selected printer queues.

Metadata

If no metadata file is found, the from / to page settings from the job and the printer's properties from the task configuration are used, with the job's settings overriding those of the printer where applicable. If a Metadata file is found, it is used to indicate which pages are printed and in which order. Any other Metadata is ignored.

Known issue: If a data file with Metadata is resubmitted to such a process, the from/to page values set by the user in the Resubmit interface are ignored.

On Error Tab

For a description of the options on the On Error tab see Using the On Error tab.

Miscellaneous Tab

The Miscellaneous tab is common to all tasks.

It contains a text area (Task comments) that lets you write comments about the task. These comments are saved when the dialog is closed with the OK button and are displayed in The Task Comments Pane.

Check the option Use as step description to display the text next to the icon of the plugin in the Process area.

The tab also provides an option to highlight the task in The Process area with the default color, set in the Preferences (see Colors), or the color selected or defined under Highlight color on this tab.
To revert the selected highlight color to the default color, open this tab, turn the Highlight option off and close the dialog with the OK button; then turn highlighting back on.
Highlighting can also be turned on and off via the task's contextual menu and with the Highlight button on the View ribbon.