XEROX GLOBAL DRIVER User Manual

Xerox Print Driver
Platform

Xerox Global Print Driver
Xerox Mobile Express Driver

February 2013

Contents

Executive Summary ............................................................................................................. 2

Background Information ...................................................................................................... 3

Xerox Print Driver Strategy ................................................................................................. 4

Xerox Global Print Driver (X-GPD) .................................................................................... 5

Xerox Mobile Express Driver (X-MED) .............................................................................. 6

Driver Type Comparison .....................................................................................................10

Basic Printing Mode ............................................................................................................11

Driver Security ....................................................................................................................12

What’s New in this Release? ...............................................................................................13

Appendix A: FAQ: Xerox Driver Platform Strategy...........................................................14

Appendix B: FAQ: Xerox Global Print Driver (X-GPD) ....................................................15

Appendix C: FAQ: Mobile Express Driver (X-MED) ........................................................19

Appendix D: X-GPD configurations ................................................................................... 21

Appendix E: Supported Environments ................................................................................25

Xerox Print Driver Platform

Executive Summary

Xerox Corporation developed a breakthrough print driver platform that significantly
reduces costs and increases the efficiencies of enterprise printer management and
support. This new platform has changed the way that IT administrators view and
manage enterprise print drivers.

Our core driver platform (the key component of this new strategy), helps make you more
productive by streamlining the user interface and ensuring a consistent experience
across the majority of our product lines. This consistency has greatly simplified print
services delivery and reduced end-user training and support requirements, and lowered
the cost of IT print services as a result.

Two of the most innovative print drivers built on the new platform, the Xerox Global Print
Driver and Xerox Mobile Express Driver, have been upgraded:

 Xerox Global Print Driver (X-GPD) is a universal print driver that offers

unprecedented ease of use for network administrators managing a diverse
array of print devices across the enterprise. It greatly reduces the time and
effort required to deploy and upgrade print drivers on a network.

 Xerox Mobile Express Driver (X-MED) allows mobile professionals to quickly

and easily find and use printers in any new location, without time-consuming
driver installation and costly support calls.

Unlike proprietary “universal” print drivers, X-GPD and X-MED support both Xerox and
non-Xerox printers, which is an important advantage for IT managers administering the
typically diverse mix of print devices on today’s enterprise networks. These drivers also
support 100 percent of the feature sets of most Xerox printers.

In addition, X-GPD and X-MED provide you with a consistent single interface for all
printers, with real-time, dynamic reports of printer status. As a result, you can easily
identify the best printer for your needs, quickly choose the correct options, and see
updated consumables status without the assistance of IT.

Page 2 of 26

Xerox Print Driver Platform

Background Information

Traditional Print Drivers: The “One Driver, One Printer” Model

In the typical, “traditional” scenario, print drivers are device-specific. While they can manage a
single device or family of related models, traditional drivers generally can’t be used to manage
other printers, particularly from other manufacturers.

Most enterprise networks have diverse output requirements and employ a wide array of
devices with varying capabilities. Some are connected to the network; others connect
directly via USB to individual users’ computers. The task of qualifying, installing, and
managing those drivers can be a large drain on an organization’s IT resources.

In addition, this standard “one driver, one printer” model can proliferate drivers on a single print
server, increasing the chances of conflicts between drivers. The multitude of drivers can also
slow down migrations to new technology, delay recovery in the event of a disaster, and
significantly increase network-operations staffing requirements.

Also, making changes to a printer or its configuration can require repeated, direct interaction
with users’ computers, which slows down device refreshes and increases IT’s support costs.
Printer users can be confused by differences between varying print driver interfaces, which not
only reduces employee productivity but also increases the need for additional training and/or
help desk support.

Traditional drivers often are problematic for today’s mobile professionals. When visiting a new
location you must identify and install drivers in order to print documents, or interrupt on-site
personnel for “print favors.” Your printer list soon grows to an unmanageable level, regardless
of whether the listed printers are actually available.

Printing with Universal Print Drivers

A single “universal” driver platform for all networked devices resolves many of the
issues that arise from the “one driver, one printer” model. A universal print driver (UPD)

provides users and network administrators with a single driver interface that
communicates with multiple printers.

By deploying a UPD on the network, IT managers reduce printer support requirements,
install or upgrade printers in a fraction of the time, and reduce the labor and overhead
needed to support network printing. This cuts an organization’s overall printing costs,
and increases user satisfaction with IT’s print services.

Unfortunately, older UPDs are proprietary, providing little or no support for other

manufacturers’ devices. The UPD may not be capable of printing to any device it
doesn’t explicitly support (even from the same manufacturer), and may not always allow
access to all the device’s features and capabilities. For example, the UPD may not offer

access to advanced color management options or print quality settings for a selected
printer, even in the manufacturer’s own product line.

Proprietary UPDs are of limited usefulness in supporting the diverse array of output
devices found on today’s networks. It’s not always clear if these drivers will scale to
accommodate future printers and multifunction devices when a company’s product
direction changes.

Moreover, current UPDs fail to address mobile user issues. Because they usually can’t
provide dynamic, location-specific updates of printer status and availability, you can
mistakenly send documents to printers at other sites. This is frustrating and
inconvenient and, when confidential documents mistakenly print in a remote location,
introduces a potential security risk.

Page 3 of 26

Xerox Print Driver Platform

Xerox Print Driver Strategy

Xerox Windows Driver Platform

The Xerox Windows Driver Platform solves many of the problems of older, proprietary
UPDs by providing an underlying driver base that unifies a common user experience
and feature implementation. The Xerox Windows Driver Platform is the basis for our
continuing delivery of traditional, universal and mobile print drivers. It also improves the
user experience through enhanced ease-of-use and the ability to present a common
user interface for all supported devices.

Built on industry-standard UNIDRV and PScript core driver components from Microsoft,
the Xerox Windows Driver Platform supports Xerox Office and Production products
including our Phaser, WorkCentre, ColorQube and DocuSP/FreeFlow devices. It
provides a common driver implementation for Microsoft Windows operating systems,
including 32- and 64-bit versions of Windows XP SP3, Windows Server 2003 SP2,
Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, and Windows Server 2008 R2.

Architecture

The Xerox Windows Driver Platform enables a wide range of workflows from a common
driver core. This simplifies driver certification in enterprise environments, and also
significantly reduces or eliminates the effort required to transition between driver types.

The Xerox Global Print Driver (X-GPD) and the Xerox Mobile Express Driver (X-MED)
share the same architectural components as traditional Xerox drivers. As a result, all
Xerox drivers built on this platform present a consistent user experience regardless of
the chosen printer. Users will see the same features and behaviors, the same interface
components, and the same driver/application interactions.

These driver solutions allow users to print to almost any Xerox or non-Xerox device
even when not explicitly supported.

X-GPD lets IT managers virtually eliminate the one printer, one driver model, which
dramatically streamlines print driver management across the enterprise. Because the
three driver types share the same core and feature implementations (creating a
common print driver base), IT staff need only focus on the unique changes in workflow
characteristics, driver improvements or version changes when transitioning between
driver types. This eliminates the need to fully test and certify multiple drivers for multiple
devices, which significantly reduces IT support costs.

Integration with Microsoft Core Drivers

Xerox aligns with Microsoft’s print driver development architectures, basing our platform
on Microsoft’s core drivers, UNIDRV and PScript, to ensure that our drivers maintain

optimal compatibility with the Windows operating system.

Consistent Interface Lowers User Learning Curve

Each driver offers distinct workflows tailored to meet the needs of specific types of
users. Because the drivers share a consistent user experience, users can move
between drivers and printers without confusion, thereby greatly reducing the need to
call IT for printer support. An employee can install X-MED, for example, and find each
feature in the same position in the user interface for every printer they use.

Page 4 of 26

Xerox Print Driver Platform

Xerox Global Print Driver (X-GPD)

The Xerox Global Print Driver (X-GPD), which launched in 2008, has been significantly
upgraded with the 2010 launch of version 2.2. As with the earlier version, X-GPD 2.2
reduces the burden of network printer support for IT administrators by providing broad
device support in a convenient, single-driver package. It works with virtually all Xerox­branded printers and multifunction printers (MFPs), and also supports non-Xerox
devices that implement print features using compliant PostScript® and PCL® page
description languages (PDLs).

X-GPD Key Features

 Unified, universal driver. Single driver can be used across the network with

Xerox and non-Xerox devices using PostScript® and PCL PDLs.

 Custom printer settings. IT managers can deploy global, pre-configured

printer settings to all X-GPD-supported devices. In addition, you can configure
your own application-specific printer settings that will be applied to every new
printer you choose.

 Single, consistent interface greatly improves the overall user experience.

Unified, Universal Driver

X-GPD supports virtually all Xerox-branded printers and multifunction printers (MFPs). Our
tests have shown that it also works with non-Xerox devices if they support a Microsoft
Windows implementation of PostScript (Level 2 or Level 3) or PCL 5/6.

For fully supported devices, X-GPD displays the full feature set of the selected device,
including such options as advanced color management and print quality settings. However, we
can’t guarantee that non-standard features of every non-Xerox device will be compatible with
X-GPD.

Simplified Device Management

X-GPD’s ability to unify and streamline print driver management can dramatically
reduce ongoing network printing costs.

X-GPD can greatly simplify driver deployment and maintenance. When a network
administrator upgrades a device with two-sided printing capabilities, for example, X­GPD will dynamically update the user’s printer options to reflect the new features.

A printer can be easily replaced when using X-GPD; the network administrator simply
plugs in the new device and assigns it the same IP address as the old printer (or
redirects the port). No additional installation or qualification is necessary. X-GPD will
automatically determine which product should be associated with a print queue during
printer installation, and select the appropriate user interface to use for the new device.

This capability eliminates the need to distribute new printer queue mappings to users
when changing or replacing printers. Instead, the change can be quickly and
transparently delivered to the user environment without requiring additional user
intervention.

Xerox Global Print Driver (cont.)

Custom Printer Settings

Page 5 of 26

Xerox Print Driver Platform

Printing with Traditional Print Drivers: The “One Printer: One Driver” Model

The traditional one printer: one driver

model significantly increases IT’s driver

management and support burden, and is
frequently a source for driver conflicts
on network print servers. Most

“universal” print drivers are proprietary

and support relatively few devices on the
typical network, doing little to resolve
this issue.

The breakthrough Xerox Global
Print Driver significantly
consolidates print driver management
for both Xerox and non-Xerox
printers, dramatically reducing IT
management and support
requirements.

The architecture of X-GPD makes it easy to establish global printer settings for certain
print driver features and apply them across the network. IT managers can use this
capability, for example, to enforce sustainability or “green” by defaulting all print queues
to use two-sided, or duplex, printing, or save money by electing a default setting of
black and white instead of color.

Single, Consistent Interface for Users

Because X-GPD creates a consistent, easy-to-use printer interface, it can reduce user
training and support. When X-GPD is first installed and enabled with bidirectional
communication, it will identify the print device associated with the print queue. It then
selects and displays the correct user interface and feature set for the user’s chosen
printer.

If bi-directional communication is not enabled, or the device is not fully supported by X­GPD, the user can choose between manually configuring the print driver for a richer
feature experience or using a standard basic interface.

Xerox Mobile Express Driver (X-MED)

X-MED provides you with a simple, intuitive, and consistent interface that makes it easy
to find, configure and print to the best available printer in any location.

Page 6 of 26

Xerox Print Driver Platform

The driver is location-aware, i.e., when you log-in to a new location, X-MED initiates
search-and-discovery of all available printers on your local network. X-MED displays
printers found in the new location and allow the creation of a customized list of printers
for each new location so you see only those available at that location.

Key Features

 Configures itself at print time. When you select a printer, the driver

automatically populates its interface with the correct options and status
information for that device.

 Helps you find the right printer without IT. Lets you find and sort printers

based on IP address, printer name, location, real-time status and other
information.

 Automatically detects location, discovers printers and dynamically updates

your printer list to reflect Xerox and non-Xerox printers in that location.

 Customized for each user. You can add favorite printers to the “My Printers”

list and save application-specific print settings.

Configures Itself at Print Time

X-MED differs from the traditional drivers and X-GPD, because it configures the print
driver experience at print time rather than at install time.

When installed, X-MED isn’t associated with any particular device. Instead, when
printing from an application, X-MED initially discovers the devices available on the
network or allows you to choose from a device in the My Printers list.

You can view detailed information about the device and choose the device that contains
the appropriate capabilities required for the print job. After selection, the driver
automatically configures its driver display to represent the chosen device.

Helps You Find the Right Printer without IT

X-MED uses SNMP requests to query for devices on the network, within the user’s local
subnet. On connection to the network, X-MED identifies the location, queries for

available printers, and populates the driver’s “Discovered Printers” pane with the

printers it finds on the subnet.
You can sort the list by device name, model, DNS name and IP address, and by status

(see right). Previously used printers become available in the user’s “My Printers” list,
with the most recently used printer appearing at the top of the list.

X-MED ensures that you always know which printers are ready to accept print jobs
before attempting to print to a device, reducing the frustration and delay of printing to a
device that requires attention. This improves employee productivity and satisfaction with
IT print services.

Page 7 of 26

Xerox Print Driver Platform

Location-Centric Printing

Day 1: Visiting Minneapolis

X-MED identifies the new location on
connection, and automatically
discovers and displays available local
printers. At print time, it configures the
interface to match the chosen printer.

Day 2: Home in Houston

Back in the home office, X-MED
detects its regular location and updates
its display for local Houston office
printers.

Xerox Mobile Express Driver (X-MED) (cont.)

Automatically Detects Location

X-MED incorporates an intelligent discovery that identifies when you have connected to
a new network location. It lets you manage the lists of available printers in different
office locations, a feature that’s particularly valuable to mobile professionals working in
multiple office locations.

When you move to a different office location, building, or branch, X-MED recognizes the
change in network profiles and offers to create a new location for that device. You will
only see devices in your “My Printers” list that are physically in that location. When you
return to a previous location, X-MED will identify a change in location and will include
only the printers in that location.

This eliminates the need for you to juggle a long list of print queues and try to remember
which print queue to use when traveling to various locations.

Additionally, X-MED displays information about the location of each of the devices it
discovers. This helps you find the right printer when you’re unfamiliar with a new office.
To maximize the usefulness of this feature, network administrators should be sure to
configure the device with this information.

By using a standardized “template” for entering the device’s location, you can be self­sufficient and more productive. Many devices, including recent Xerox models, let
administrators access device settings through a web browser (as in the example below,
showing a browser-based user interface for the Xerox WorkCentre 7675 MFP). By
using a consistent format for specifying building, floor, and room location details, you
can find devices in various office environments quickly and easily.

Page 8 of 26