Introduction

The 3-Heights™ PDF Printer is an efficient and practical solution for automated background printing of PDF documents on all Windows printers including PostScript and on virtual printers. A variety of options are available for printer control.

The tool is characterized first and foremost by its high level of performance and is extremely adaptable to specific requirements. It also supports PDF/A-compliant printing.

Brief Description

Performance Characteristics

• Integrability
• GDI and PostScript support
• Comprehensive support of Chinese, Japanese and Korean writing systems (CJK)
• Compatibility mode for legacy printer drivers
• Spool file optimization
• Black point compensation
• Optimized mode for physical printers (small spool file) and virtual printers (anti-aliasing, subpixel rendering, image filtering)

Functions

• • Print PDF documents
  • Divert print to file
  • Local / remote printing
  • Select paper format
  • Select paper tray
  • Select print quality
  • Define page sequence
  • Select printer-specific properties
  • Color management control
  • Link printer properties with watched directories
  • Supports http, https and ftp datastreams
  • Print raster images (TIFF, JPEG, etc.)
  • Group documents to form a print job
  • Integrate watermark (text, image)

Areas of Use

• Centralized corporate printing service
• Output management
• Lettershop
• Receipt printer in subsidiaries
• Conversion from PDF to PostScript / PCL spool files
• Web-based printing

Sectors

• Public sector
• Banking and insurance
• Retail and wholesale trade
• Transport and logistics
• Service provider output management
• Wholesale
• Event organizers (printing entrance tickets)

Functions

The 3-Heights™ PDF Printer translates PDF, PDF/A, TIFF and JPEG into the language of a printer driver such as PostScript or PCL. Documents are either printed on a physical printer (local, remote or via Internet) or issued as a file. The tool offers a variety of printer control options such as paper tray, paper format, duplex printing, stapling, merging multiple pages to form a single print job, and applying watermarks in the form of (personalized) texts and images. It is also possible to query the properties of the target printer (print margins, resolution, etc.) and to optimize printing accordingly. In addition to all current printer models the tool supports older printers via emulation.

Functions

• Print PDF documents
• Divert print to file
• Local / remote printing
• Select paper format
• Select paper tray
• Select print quality
• Define page sequence
• Select printer-specific properties
• Color management control
• Link printer properties with watched directories
• Supports http, https and ftp datastreams
• Print raster images (TIFF, JPEG, etc.) 
• Group documents to form a print job
• Integrate watermark (text, image) 

Formats

Input Formats

• PDF
• PDF/A
• BMP
• GIF
• JBIG2
• JPEG
• JPEG2000 and JPEG-LS
• PBM
• PNG
• TIFF

Output Formats

• Print spool formats PostScript, PCL 5, PCL 6, AFP

Compliance

• Standards: ISO 19005-1 (PDF/A-1), ISO 32000 (PDF 1.7)

Benefits

Properties and Benefits

The 3-Heights™ PDF Printer is a high-performance, versatile and flexible tool. It is easy to integrate or use directly via command line or Windows service. It guarantees efficient, automated printing of various formats with no third-party software and significantly optimizes workflow and resource utilization. Stable and unsupervised background printing significantly reduces the costs of maintenance and operation.

Performance Characteristics

• Simple and flexible integrability
• Supports PostScript and PCL
• Comprehensive support of Chinese, Japanese and Korean writing systems (CJK)
• Compatibility mode for legacy printer drivers
• Spool file optimization
• Black point compensation
• Optimized mode for physical printers (small spool file) and virtual printers (anti-aliasing, subpixel rendering, image filtering)

Areas of Use

Email Dispatch / Output Management

The PDF Printer can be used in companies of any size as a central printing service for PDF files and illustrated documents. With regard to output management, it is particularly suitable for processing high volumes, personalized printing, ticket printing and generating paper copies from electronic archives.
 

Areas of Use

• Centralized corporate printing service
• Output management
• Lettershop
• Receipt printer in subsidiaries
• Conversion from PDF to PostScript / PCL spool files
• Web-based printing

Special Areas of Use

Embedding the print function in the browser: prints PDF files directly without first installing Acrobat.

Control of a fax server as a virtual printer, whereby the fax number is referenced directly from the document.
 

Sectors

• Public sector
• Banking and insurance
• Retail and wholesale trade
• Transport and logistics
• Service provider output management
• Wholesale
• Event organizers (printing entrance tickets)

Technical Details

Architecture and Application Options

The 3-Heights™ PDF Printer is available in the following variants: as a Windows service with watched directories, as a command line tool for batch processing and as a programming interface for integration in existing applications.

Variants

Product Variants

• Shell tool (command line)
• API (programming interface)
• Windows service (system service)

Formats

Input Formats

• PDF
• PDF/A
• BMP
• GIF
• JBIG2
• JPEG
• JPEG2000 and JPEG-LS
• PBM
• PNG
• TIFF

Output Formats

• Print spool formats PostScript, PCL 5, PCL 6, AFP

Compliance

• Standards: ISO 19005-1 (PDF/A-1), ISO 32000 (PDF 1.7)

Platforms

Operating Systems

• Windows 2000, 2000 Server – 32 and 64 bit
• Windows XP, 2003 Server – 32 and 64 bit
• Windows Vista, Windows 7, 2008 Server on Intel – 32 and 64 bit

Interfaces and Languages

Interfaces

• Shell tool: Command line for batch processing
• API: C, Java, .NET 2.0, COM
• Windows service: Watched directories

Programming Languages

• All program libraries are written in efficient and thread-safe C++. API offers a selection of the following connections to programming languages:
  • C#, VB .NET, J# via .NET
  • Java via JNI
  • MS Visual Basic, Borland Delphi, MS Office products such as Access and C++ via COM
  • C and C++ via native C

Product Code

PRN

Further Product Details

The 3-Heights™ PDF Printer serves the purpose of printing PDF documents. Any Windows printer (not only PostScript) can be used. The 3-Heights™ PDF Printer also allows PDF/A-compliant printing of PDF/A files.

Integrating the 3-Heights™ PDF Printer in proprietary applications is simple. The tool offers all printer control options (select printer, select paper tray, duplex mode, etc.). The PDF Printer can apply watermarks during the printing process; it is also capable of printing raster image files.