Contrary to the X11/Motif dependence mentioned on the download site, the CQue 4.0 Reference Manual states:
CQue 4.0-0 is a major release of CQue. It comes with the same PPDs as previous versions but the graphical user interface is absent. This eliminates many security and compatibility issues.
Without the graphical user interface it is suited for installation on a headless server. Note: the driver program sicgsfilter is proprietary software.
We installed Canon CQue DEB Driver 4.0.1 for Linux (64-bit) on all our Debian based SavaPage servers, and successfully use all basic printing functions and finishings like staple, punch and booklet .
Canon urged us to use the cQue PostScript drivers instead of the UFR II drivers. This due to several issues we had with the UFR II driver (v3.40). These issues were mainly related to filtering performance and major printing quality problems. More of this can be read in the extensive test technote.
The cQue PostScript driver uses the sicgsfilter, which also presented some major restrictions concerning the stapling of copies. Initially this was restricted to a maximum of 99 copies. Luckily Canon agreed that this is acceptable for personal use, but definitely not for bulk printing as applied in print rooms. The result: the maximum was increased to 999 copies, and a new parameter named ‘OptimiseRepeatJob’ (which should by default be set to ‘True’) was introduced due to some other issues in the sicgsfilter.
Unfortunately the supplied PPD’s aren’t very consistent and straightforward. For example the colour MFP’s (iR-ADV C xxxx) expect the options ‘Staple Pos =….’ and ‘StapleType=StapleOn’ to achieve a successful staple, whilst the grayscale MFP’s only expect the option ‘Staple=…’ to achieve a successful staple. Furthermore the option ‘Finishing’ presented quite a challenge to get the grouping, collating and jogging to work properly.
These are the PPDs we use: - Canon iR-ADV 4545/4551 PS - Canon iR-ADV 8505 PPD PS - Canon iR-ADV C5535/5540 PS - Canon iR-ADV C5550/5560 PS - Canon iR-ADV C7565 PS
Despite the inconsistencies SavaPage managed to address all non-straightforward issues to make everything plain and simple for end users (both job ticket operators and job ticket makers). This without compromise in functionality of the driver. After more than a year of being in production, we’ve only encountered one minor issue concerning the printing of diactritics, to which I’ll dedicate another post.