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Installing a Unidrv Minidriver

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Important

The modern print platform is Windows' preferred means of communicating with printers. We recommend that you use Microsoft's IPP inbox class driver, along with Print Support Apps (PSA), to customize the print experience in Windows 10 and 11 for printer device development.

For more information, see Modern print platform and the Print support app design guide.

Installation of a Unidrv minidriver requires a printer INF file that identifies the minidriver's files. If a printer model isn't supported by Microsoft's printer INF file, ntprint.inf, a vendor-supplied INF file is required. The INF file should reference printer INF file data sections and printer INF file install sections, which are defined in ntprint.inf. For a minidriver named abc100, the following INF file entries are typically needed, if the printer is bidirectional, supports TrueType font substitution, and uses a single resource DLL:

[Manufacturer]
"ABC Printers"
 
[ABC Printers]
"ABC Printer 100" = ABC100.GPD, ABC_Printer_100
 
[ABC100.GPD]
CopyFiles=@ABCres.dll,@ABC100.gpd  ;Resource DLL and GPD file
DataSection=UNIDRV_BIDI_DATA       ;Unidrv Data Section
DataFile=ABC100.gpd
Include=NTPRINT.INF                ;Include NTPRINT.INF.
Needs=TTFSUB.OEM,UNIDRV_BIDI.OEM   ;Install TrueType subs, Unidrv,
                                   ;    and PJL language monitor.

If you're providing a user interface plug-in or a rendering plug-in, you need to include the names of these components within your INF file. For information about installing customized code, see Installing Customized Driver Components.