AFP, or advanced function printing, is a format designed by IBM to control and support its printers. This system of code dictates where data should be placed on a page and in what form. It uses a bidirectional format. This allows the printware to be in control of the printer and follow the status of pages being sent to the printer. AFP is perfect for high volume production printers. The system was created in the mid 1980s when storage was extremely expensive. As a result, the format was designed to take little space. It is still popular today for managing high printer volumes. To learn more about AFP and VIPP conversion continue browsing our articles and contact us if you have any questions.
Because of its popularity, many companies prefer the AFP system, but not all documents are compatible. This is when AFP conversion becomes necessary. Such a conversion is possible through printware like HostServe. It will override existing code in a document in order to make it correspond with AFP standards. This printware can also perform other exchanges like PDF to PCL.
PDF, or portable document format, was created in 1993 by Adobe Systems. It is a common file format that uses a fixed layout. It represents documents independent of application software, hardware and operating system. Every PDF file contains code for the included text, fonts, images and graphics for a document. At first a program needed to be purchased to support documents in this format. Now, Adobe Reader is available free for download. As a result, it has gained in popularity and usefulness. Many programmers use this program because most computers are able to view the content. This does not mean that every printer can create its documents though. If a printer is not compatible with PDF files, a driver is necessary to convert the file like from PDF to PCL. This is very similar to an AFP conversion with IBM printers.
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