amiga-news.de - AmigaOS 4: The network printer tool Airprint

22.Feb.2025 AmigaOS 4: The network printer tool Airprint
After Arild 'mcleppa' Aarbakk had already written a scanner software for AmigaOS 4 with AirScan, he has also been working on a printer tool for AmigaOS 4 based on the Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) since the end of 2023. At the end of 2022, Apple developed AirPrint, an extension of IPP, which has become standard on many current printers.

The Internet Printing Protocol provides printing services via a network and includes all the necessary mechanisms such as authentication, access authorisations, encryption, etc. This enables printing without a separate printer driver. In principle, printing is therefore possible without a separate printer driver.

I was able to test the first, early versions, which worked right from the start with my Canon G9000. For the first time since I proudly ran my Canon BJC-4200 with the "legendary" CanonDisk printer driver in the 90s, I was able to print from my Amiga, an AmigaOne X5000.

Initially, the range of functions was still somewhat limited, but gradually more options such as trays, colour, duplex and paper type were added.

SSL support was also added with the last update. The installation process of the tool has now been simplified so that the installer not only copies the necessary files, but also opens the settings window during installation:

The Airprint utility programme is located in the Sys:Prefs/Airprint directory after installation. After starting, a printer is searched for using the "+"...

...and in my case successfully found and added:

For me personally, Arild's very useful application is another important building block for a "complete" AmigaOS 4, but also an example of how you can use AmigaOS 4 and MorphOS together on the AmigaOne X5000 and thus achieve synergies. The DHL shipping label for the parcel was purchased under MorphOS with the Wayfarer web browser and the PDF file was saved on a shared drive, from where I was able to print the label with Airprint. Now that's Amiga fun:

In the Airprint utility itself, PDF, JPEG, text and postscript files can be loaded, converted and then sent to the printer. In addition, the programme should support printing from most Amiga applications, such as Notepad, AmiPDF, AmiGS, Odyssee, IBrowse (please refer to the documentation on activating fonts for printing) or Multiview. For this purpose Airprint communicates with the Amiga printer.device, for which DEVS:Printers/Airprint is required. The data is converted into RGB format. They are then sent to DEVS:airprint.device, which then communicates with the Airprint utility.

The source code of Arild's airprint driver is based on the source code of the HP DeskJet CMYK sample driver, while the airprint.device is based on Chris Young's ipp.device (GitHub link). The developer provided many useful hints on how the devices work together, enabling Arild to develop it further.

The paper size is currently limited to A4 and US Letter. Likewise, the resolution is currently only 150 DPI, converted into pixels this corresponds to 1240 x 1754. In practice, as Arild explains to us, this means that the resolution remains the same when a larger image is sent to the printer, so that you do not yet benefit from higher resolutions. This will change in the future.

The checkbox for the alignment is currently inactive. The image is always aligned so that it fits the paper format selected by the user. This will also be changed later.

Airprint always uses the paper installed in the printer. The selection of the "from to" range works - in future it should be possible to select each page to be printed, not just a range. The "Ink levels" tab shows the ink level of the printer:

As the tool is still in the beta phase, the programme versions are currently only available in the corresponding topic on the Amigans website. The current version is 0.36.

Download: Airprint_V0.36.lha (247 KB) (dr)

[News message: 22. Feb. 2025, 16:34] [Comments: 0]
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