Software printer

Question

I need a "software printer" (if u know what I mean) that supports duplex printing. I'm testing a C# application. I have already tried Microsoft XPS Document Writer and Microsoft Office Document Image Writer, but none of them supports Duplex printing. I have also tried installing a physical printer driver (Canon MP980) and binding its output to Microsoft XPS driver, but that doesn't seam t be doing anything.

Is there a software printer that installs as a printer on my machine, could generate PDF or XPS (or whatever) for me and supports Duplex? (Plz do not suggest going to the market and buying a physical printer, thx).

Answer 1

You cannot expect a software printer to support duplex printing.

• Duplex is a concept related to printing over real-world media, like paper.
• Digital files store a collection of pages and do not implement the concept of paper sides.

Once files are generated and you want to print them on real printer, you may then select duplex printing. You cannot order PDF or XPS file to always print in duplex, that feature is device-, driver- and OS-dependant.

A solution to your problem (debugging application) might be to install a PostScript or PCL duplex-enabled printer driver and use Print to file feature. Once file has been generated, analyse it's content.

• PostScript is a relatively human-readable format, you should be able to find << /Duplex true >> stanza or something similar (though it might depend on printer in rare cases).
• PCL is a little bit more binary format, though it has a pretty readable header, you should find a string like @PJL SET DUPLEX=ON in the first part of the file.

Answer 2

If you're using Windows 7, you can install a printer driver for some common printer that does duplexing, set the options you want, and then set the printer to "offline" so that Windows won't expect to see it. Print jobs then get queued but you don't have to actually physically print them.

Start button > Devices and Printers > Add a Printer > Add a Local Printer > LPT1: > pick a model that has duplexing available (i.e. I tested with an HP Laserjet 5000), "do not share..." and finish without printing a test page.

Then open the Devices and Printers folder. Right-click the printer and choose "Printer Properties", go to the "Device Settings" tab, and choose the installable option for the duplexer. OK etc.

You should now be able to print to the printer, though the job will simply remain in queue until you clear it. But if you double-click the printer to open it with the list that shows the jobs in queue, you will find "use printer offline" under the File menu.