Passthrough mode in Mobility Print

When the Mobility Print server and Mobility Print client both use the same PDL driver, this enables what we call “passthrough mode”. Passthrough refers to a mode of operation where the rendered PDL is printed as is (that is, passed through). Passthrough mode typically works if the driver on the client and the server are the same. Behind the scenes, the command line executable that does the printing will change from pc-spool-job.exe to pc-raw-spool-job.exe. This feature is actually what Print Deploy relies on to allow the deployment of Mobility Print queues with vendor-specific drivers. The potential benefits of using passthrough mode include: because the vendor driver native spool is received, printer defaults such as color detection, simplex vs duplex, page size, tray selection and advanced printing features like hole punching and stapling are more accurately adhered to jobs print quicker due to PDF conversion being skipped Because Ghost Trap (installed with Mobility Print) facilitates converting Postscript files to PDFs, you are not required to install this component if you intend to use passthrough mode with your Mobility Print queues Note Passthrough mode is applicable for both standalone Mobility Print and Mobility Print linked with PaperCut NG/MF. Tip When implementing passthrough mode, we recommend you test the Postscript driver first in a small deployment to ensure it is supported the output is as expected. Then roll out the change on a larger scale. The requirements to successfully implement passthrough mode will vary depending on the OS. Windows Mobility Print server > Windows Mobility client If the destination printer uses: our PaperCut Global PostScript driver on both the client and the server, there is no conversion to PDF required and it will directly copy the spool file and print the job (passthrough occurs) our PaperCut Global PostScript driver on the client but not on the server, we will re-print the job (no passthrough occurs) any other native driver on the client side, it will directly copy the received spool file into the queue and print the job (passthrough occurs) XPS-based drivers, they will not work with passthrough mode. macOS Mobility Print server > macOS Mobility client Unfortunately, this is where things can get a little messy. Although passthrough works pretty consistently in Windows, it is less predictable in the realm of macOS. Theoretically, as long as the PPD (PostScript Printer Description) file used on your macOS client devices exactly matches the driver name and version of the driver on your macOS Mobility server, the server will receive the vendor driver native spool, and passthrough mode will be enacted. However, it’s also important to know that because of many potential variables in the environment and also depending on the methods used to obtain your Mobility queues, passthrough on Macs is very much a case of ‘your mileage may vary’. Windows Mobility Print server > macOS Mobility client We fully support passthrough when the Mac client sends the PDL to a Windows server as long as the drivers match on both. Chromebook, iOS and Android clients Passthrough mode is not supported by these platforms. This is because the print method for these devices will not generate a PDL file, but rather the job’s content is copied directly to the Mobility Print server as a PDF file for printing. Mobility Cloud Print Support Passthrough mode is a feature of printsys that has no dependency or knowledge of the transport method, so as long as the drivers on the server and client match, passthrough will still apply in a Cloud Print configuration (for Windows and macOS clients only, Chromebooks are not supported).