This chapter aims to give a technical overview of KDEPrint which non-programmers can comprehend.
KDEPrint is a new and revolutionary tool to give easy access to printing services for both KDE users and KDE developers.
You can access the functions of KDEPrint in different ways: through the Printing Manger in the KControl, through the kprinter command or through the dialog that pops up if you want to print.
KDEPrint is not a replacement for the printing subsystem itself. KDEPrint does not therefore give provision for spooling, and it does not do the basic processing of PostScript® or other print data.
KDEPrint is an intermediate layer between the spooling and the data processing print subsystem (as installed), and the application that seeks to print. KDEPrint provides a common interface for KDE developers and KDE users, to various supported print subsystems. At the same time, it is customizable, and highly configurable.
KDEPrint is easy to use for both KDE developers and end-users. Developers can port their applications, with minimal changes, to use KDEPrint instead of the old Qt™ print “system”. Users can easily choose and configure their print subsystem.
For a reference to new KDE users: Qt™ is the basic library and graphical toolkit, which is used by all KDE applications; Qt™ is developed by TrollTech, a Norwegian software company.
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