A printer minidriver is an executable data file that the raster printer device driver (RasDD) uses to print to a raster printing device. This GPC file describes the capabilities, commands, and resident fonts of a printer or class of printers.
RasDD is the Windows NT system-supplied device driver that, with a minidriver, provides printer support for raster printing devices. RasDD uses a GDI standard bitmap, allowing GDI to handle most of the rendering. So, instead of implementing all the DrvXxx functions that GDI requires, a driver writer need only create a minidriver that provides information about the printer. This greatly simplies the task of developing a Windows NT raster printer driver.
Other reasons for using minidrivers include:
This chapter provides design guidelines for those vendors who need to develop their own raster device drivers. For those vendors who need only develop a minidriver, this chapter provides a detailed description on how to use Unitool.