The SampleRaster project implements a CUPS printer driver that simulates a

typical CMYK inkjet raster printer.  The driver provides the following

components:

    - CUPS raster filter (rastertosample)

    - CUPS command filter (commandtosample)

    - CUPS backend (sampletopdf)

    - Cocoa-based printer utility application (SampleUtility.app)

    - Cocoa-based print dialog plugin (SampleRasterPDE.bundle)

    - Printer icon

    - ICC color profiles

    - iPhoto/Preview printer presets

    - Custom printer-state-reason keywords

    - On-line help

    - Driver information file (sample.drv) which is compiled into a PPD file

      (sample.ppd).

The CUPS backend is provided for testing purposes only.  Most printer drivers

do not require their own backend - the system-supplied backends handle all

standard interfaces and network protocols for printing - and very few backends

are as complicated as the sampletopdf backend.

INSTALLATION

You must be running Mac OS X 10.6 or higher to compile or install from

source.

The "makepackage.sh" script can be used to create an installable driver

package, or you can just install from source directly with the following

command:

    sudo xcodebuild -target SampleRaster -configuration Debug_10.6 install DSTROOT=/

Once you have installed the software, open the Print & Scan preference pane

and click on the "+" button to add a printer.  Choose the "Sample Raster Driver"

listing from the list and click "Add".

NOTES

Products requiring PPC support must be built on 10.6.x or 10.5.x using XCode 3.

Products with only Intel support can be build with 10.6.6 or later using

Xcode 4.

The ink level monitoring supported by the printer utility and help will only

work with Mac OS X 10.5.3 and higher.  The driver as a whole works with Mac

OS X 10.6 and higher. Builds targeting Mac OS X 10.6 and higher use the Grand

Central Dispatch version of the ink level monitoring code.

The backend writes the virtual printed pages to PDF files in a per-queue

directory in /Library/Caches, typically /Library/Caches/Sample_Raster_Driver

if the default printer name is used when you add the printer.

If you use this sample project as the start point for your product,

before releasing your product, make sure you adjust the VALID_ARCHS value

of each target in the project file and the RC_ARCHS value to be passed to

'xcodebuild' in your build script, based on the versions of OS you support.