Ghostscript Detection / PDF Printer
When the setup program runs it tries to locate a Ghostscript installation on the computer. Ghostscript is a requirement for the program to run properly. The setup program helps the user locate an existing installation or install a new one.
Ghostscript can be installed in different locations depending on the installation method used. The setup program searches the system in the following places and order:
Registry Setting
GS Folder
Ghostscript Lite Setup
Ghostscript Registry Entries
First it check a specific registry entry where an earlier version of the printer could have written the location of the Ghostscript installation. The registry setting can be found at
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\7-PDF\PDF Printer\Settings\GhostscriptFolder
A folder named GS can be located in the same folder as the setup program itself. If this folder is found and it contains a valid set of Ghostscript files then it is installed with the printer.
The preferred way to distribute and install Ghostscript automatically with the printer is to place the gslite.exe file next to the setup program. gslite.exe is a distribution of Ghostscript that only contains the files necessary to create PDF documents. If the setup program finds this file in the same folder as the setup program it will automatically install Ghostscript together with printer.
As a last resort the setup program will start searching the registry for a normal installation of Ghostscript. When Ghostscript is installed it will create a couple of registry entries that specifies the location of the Ghostscript dynamic link library. The entries are version specific and could look like this:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\GPL Ghostscript\8.60\GS_DLL.
Automatic Download
In case no valid installation of Ghostscript is found the setup program offers the user to download and install the gslite.exe distribution of Ghostscript automatically.