ZPrint

ZPrint is a name used by multiple software projects to describe a printing subsystem, library, or toolchain. It is not a single, standardized product; rather, different developers have created ZPrint implementations with varying scope, licensing, and platform support. Common goals include rendering document content into printer-ready formats, managing print jobs, and interfacing with a range of printers through drivers or network protocols.

Most ZPrint projects provide a core engine that can assemble pages from input formats (such as PDF, PostScript, or bitmap data) and produce printer-ready streams. They typically include a spooler, a driver interface, and language bindings or API layers for programming languages. Cross-platform variants support Windows, macOS, and Linux, and some versions target embedded systems or point-of-sale devices. A command-line tool and a GUI are often provided for job submission, preview, and settings control.

Deployment contexts vary from academic and research environments to enterprise IT, with use in automated reporting pipelines, digital publishing, and hardware integrations. Because the ZPrint name is used by independent projects, compatibility and feature parity can differ significantly between implementations, making careful evaluation important for long-term maintenance and vendor support.

See also: print spooler, IPP, PostScript, PDF, printer driver, printer language.