Exploring the Driver Options in the Wizard
Important
The modern print platform is Windows' preferred means of communicating with printers. We recommend that you use Microsoft's IPP inbox class driver, along with Print Support Apps (PSA), to customize the print experience in Windows 10 and 11 for printer device development.
For more information, see Modern print platform and the Print support app design guide.
Important
Microsoft has announced end of life servicing for legacy v3 and v4 printer drivers.
For more information, see End of servicing plan for third-party printer drivers on Windows.
This article explores the driver options in the first section of the Create a v4 Print Driver wizard.
The information is provided here in summarized form, to help you quickly find out about the various feature options. If you want more information about any feature, follow the provided links to related articles that provide more details.
Driver rendering type
V4 print driver with custom rendering filters (accepts XPS only)
Choose this option, if you want to create a printer driver that only accepts the Microsoft XPS format as input. The driver can produce output in XPS and/or OpenXPS format, depending on the choice that you make in the Choose the driver XPS format field.
V4 print driver with class driver rendering
When you choose this option, you create a printer driver that can accept input in either XPS or OpenXPS format. When you choose this driver, you have to indicate on the next page of this Wizard the name of the print class driver that you would like to use for rendering.
Microsoft XPS to PCL6 render filter (accepts XPS only)
This option allows you to create a filter driver module that only accepts XPS format as input, and converts the input to PCL6. The driver can produce output in XPS and/or OpenXPS format, depending on the choice that you make in the Choose the driver XPS format field.
Microsoft XPS to PostScript render filter (accepts XPS only)
This option allows you to create a filter driver module that only accepts XPS format as input, and converts the input to PostScript. The driver can produce output in XPS and/or OpenXPS format, depending on the choice that you make in the Choose the driver XPS format field.
Driver XPS format
XPS
This option configures the driver to produce output in XPS format only.
OpenXPS
This option configures the driver to produce output in OpenXPS format only.
XPS, OpenXPS
This option configures the driver to produce output in either XPS or OpenXPS format, with XPS set as default in the INF file.
OpenXPS, XPS
This option configures the driver to produce output in either OpenXPS or XPS format, with OpenXPS set as default in the INF file.
Driver configuration type
GPD Driver
This option causes the Wizard to create a generic printer description (GPD) language file with the printer driver.
PPD Driver
This option causes the Wizard to create a PostScript printer description (PPD) language file with the printer driver.
Protected printing
Enable protected printing
Select this option, if you want the ability to use a PIN to lock a print request that is sent to a printer. The end-user then has to provide the same PIN at the printer to release the locked print request for printing. For more information, see Driver Support for Protected Printing.
Additional functionality
Driver property bag
This is an XML file that describes the contents of a driver property bag. The properties specified in this file, and the information provided in any data files added to the project's ByteArray or IStream folders, will be compiled into a driver property bag. For more information, see V4 Printer Driver Property Bags.
And you can find the XML Schema for the driver property bag template in the Windows Driver Kit, in this folder: \Include\um\printdriverproperties.xml.
Driver event file
This file is used to describe Bidi queries and the triggers that should cause a driver event to be raised. And it's important to note that driver events only support standard strings. For more information about driver events and standard strings, see Driver Support for Customized UI.
DevMode mapping file
This is an XML file that is used with PrintTicket <-> DEVMODE conversion in JavaScript code. When you provide this file, it must be specified in the V4 Driver Manifest.
Queue property bag
This template allows you to provide per-queue configuration settings, including form-to-tray mappings and the configuration of printer properties like installable options. For more information, see V4 Printer Driver Property Bags.
Resource DLL
This template allows you to provide the descriptions for resources such as externally stored fonts, icons and other bitmaps, and localizable user interface text strings. For more information, see Using Resource DLLs in a Minidriver, V4 Driver Manifest and V4 Printer Driver Localization.
Constraints JS
This template provides the method headers for all supported JavaScript constraint entry points. For more information, see JavaScript Constraints.
Autoconfiguration GDL
This provides a basic autoconfiguration file for a v4 print driver.
TCPMon Bidi extension XML
This provides a simple TCP/IP Bidi extension file. For more information about Bidi syntax for the standard TCP/IP port monitor, see TCP/IP Schema Extensions.
WSDMon Bidi extension XML
This provides a simple WSD Bidi extension file. For more information about Bidi syntax for WSDMon, see WSD Schema Extensions.
USBMon Bidi extension XML + JS
This provides a simple USB Bidi extension file. It's dependent on the existence of a matched USB Bidi Extender JavaScript. For more information, see USB Bidi Extender.