Dell Open Print Driver - Manual (Page 3)

Dell Open Print Driver Version 1.9 3
Chapter 1
About Dell Open Print Driver
Dell Open Print Driver (Dell OPD) is a universal print driver for PCL 5, PCL XL and PostScript printers. It
provides a common user interface and functionality for all printers and reduces administration and
support needs in printing environments.
Dell Open Print Driver supports Windows operating systems for clients and servers and can be deployed
via MSI install, INF install and point and print. The software is Microsoft WHQL tested and certified, as
well Novell yes tested and Citrix certified.
Dell Open Print Driver supports PCL and PostScript from within the same print queue. Users can
manually switch between the different print formats and Dell OPD will convert all settings between the
desired formats. Settings like watermarks and default print settings will be automatically preserved.
Dell Open Print Driver supports all current and a large variety of legacy Dell PCL and PS printers
explicitly. Additionally Dell OPD provides a generic print profile for printing to any printers that support
PCL or PostScript, regardless of manufacturer.
Dell Open Print Driver is primarily geared towards network environments, but also supports USB
connections.
Operation Modes
Dell Open Print Driver operates in 3 configuration modes.
1) Dynamic Mode (Workstations Only)
2) Static Mode (Servers and Workstations)
3) Dynamic Mode/Static Mode - Connected to a Local Port (Servers and Workstations)
Dynamic Mode (Workstations Only)
In dynamic mode OPD provides a network discovery dialog, which allows users to find printers on the
network. Users can select and change to a discovered printer and print to it as needed. When changing
printers, all printing preferences are automatically transferred from the previous printer to the new one.
Dell Open Print Driver automatically discovers printers through three different methods:
• SNMP via broadcast in the local IP subnet
• LDAP, if a local LDAP server is available and can be connected to
• NetBIOS, if no LDAP server is available