As operating systems vary and new printers come online everyday, it seems like an opportune time to have an HP print driver refresher.

HP PCL 6 Driver
PCL 6 provides best overall print quality, speed, and printer feature support
PCL 6 is recommended for most users for printing in all Windows environments
Note: PCL 6 may not be fully compatible with customized PCL 5 and 3rd Party solutions

HP PCL 5 Driver
PCL 5 (also known as PCL 5c/PCL 5e) is the best choice for 3rd Party custom solutions (SAP, custom forms, custom fonts, etc)
PCL 5 is recommended for general office Windows printing
Note: PCL 5 is backward compatible with previous PCL versions and some LaserJet printers

HP Postscript (PS) Driver
PS provides the best known comparability between Apple MACs and Windows applications
PS is designed for corporate IT managed environments
PS has been found to be faster with Adobe applications (Reader, Acrobat, etc) than HP PCL 6
User for PS font support and PS level 3 requirements

HP Universal Print Driver
UPD is designed for corporate IT managed environments
UPD is preferred in a managed print server environment to multiple print models (static or moble)
Note: For additional info on HP Universal Print Driver - go HERE

HP XML Paper Specification (XPS) Driver
HP XPS provides improved color printing
HP XPS improves rendering and spooling
HP XPS should be used with high-fidelity print output (like HP’s Indigo Press Lineup)

Tags: Adobe, Apple, Choosing the correct printer driver, high-fidelity, HP Printer Drivers, PCL 5, PCL 6, Postscript, SAP, universal print driver