cheers,
Spool saving and storage!! What is the way to save print spools off and on printers?
The Canon iPF8000s uses a 5400rpm 80GB conventional laptop HDD to store spools in mailboxes. The mailboxes can be named, renamed and spools moved between mailboxes at any time via the printers 'Status Monitor' or via the 'Remote UI' which is basically the status monitor program, ported to a browser interface and with nice GUI colours added...!
So user has no choice but to save print spool, as by default, it goes to the printers HDD and into common 'mailbox' unless redirected to another named/numbered box. Job can then be either just saved there or printed immediately. The spool is given the previous file name by default and has no (visible) .suffix - so the format of the spool file is not provided to user. Photoshop is seen to create the spool and the printers HDD led seen to save it. The spool can then be reprinted at will or moved between mailboxes. It cannot be edited in any way, neither can it be retrieved to the PC which sent it ( I think, from my present knowledge of machine!).
It may be a matter of only time before the Canon interface programs allow the spools to be retrieved, but at present, the print file needs to be stored on the sending PC if it is to have edit ability and be re-sent to the printer again at a later stage. All mailbox content on the printer can only be moved, deleted or printed.
So this system is rather like sending mail and not being able to receive it. Also, one has to, by default, PRINT the file, to save it on the printers HDD - though it can be just saved there for later use. I think with a little more work the 'mailbox' method should be extended to allow the creating PC to PRINT the spool to PC based 'mailboxes', and for those mailboxes to be able to be dragged and dropped to the printers HDD 'mailboxes', within the present status monitor or the 'Remote UI'. For example, like having the PC and the printer both running 'print mail programs' which allow dragging and dropping (or cut and paste) of spools to each other. Since all the print setup is in the spool I am not suggesting the spools for one printer could be dragged and dropped to another printer - for this would be complicated by the page size and ICC profile etc embedded for the previous printer, it was intended for.
So I am suggesting and asking if 'one printer - one spool' storage, can be better managed than in the present Canon system - of 'no return mail' allowed & 'no off printer spool storage allowed'?? OK, their system is pretty new, but they certainly made it for bunnies/dummies and to prevent errors.
I accept, of course, that removing the printer HDD and viewing its printer formatted content, mailboxes and stored spools, could enlighten the issue, but I haven't got that far yet.
My thoughts are that this has all likely been done before using other high end rips and I am concerned to know if there is existing software which can enable this task without having to wait for Canon to extend their new printer spool management programs.
regards to all