Driver Free Printing
ThinPrint’s innovative technology for driverless printing
In contrast to universal printer drivers, ThinPrint’s driver free printing technology separates the printing process into program-oriented and printer-specific parts. This separation makes it possible to flexibly distribute the printing process across the corporate network. No printer drivers need to be installed on the devices on which the programs are running, only ThinPrint’s virtual printer driver, the ThinPrint Output Gateway, is required. This virtual printer driver simulates the original printer drivers and transfers print data in a printer-independent format. Driver free printing is the ideal solution for driverless remote desktop printing. ThinPrint has developed driver free printing with V-Layer™ for all other environments with desktop PCs.
Driverless printing with V-Layer™
V-Layer™ is a unique architecture based on Driver Free Printing. Thanks to V-Layer™, native printer drivers are only required on the central print server. The ThinPrint Output Gateway is used on the desktop PCs instead of the original printer drivers. For each chosen printer, ThinPrint V-Layer™ creates a virtual copy. Then it moves all shares to the virtual printer
ensuring that no rules or scripts need to be rewritten. Later, the shared virtual printer receives the print job which will be instantly
transmitted to the paired native driver for further processing.
Highlights
- Driverless printing for all print environments and printer models
Driver Free Printing is suitable for any IT environment and thanks to ThinPrint’s V-Layer™ also for thin clients, Linux PCs, print boxes and Macs. ThinPrint’s virtual, Microsoft-certified printer driver supports all your printer models, regardless from which manufacturer they are. In addition, ThinPrint also enables native printing. - Simplified printer driver management and an end to printer driver conflicts
Driverless printing makes it easy for admins to complete the complex task of creating printers and eliminates the need to roll out printer drivers. Incompatible printer drivers can no longer wreak havoc. - Highly user friendly
The clear print dialog, which is uniform in all printing environments, makes it easy for your users to quickly find all the features they require. The fact that ThinPrint Output Gateway is also available in 17 languages makes its use even easier. - Cost-saving default print settings
Administrators can reduce expenditure with low-cost printing presets like greyscale or duplex printing. - Multifunctional printers and special feature
In contrast to universal printer drivers, ThinPrint’s V-Layer™ also supports advanced printing options, including finishing options such as hole punching, stapling, and binding. Currently, over 5600 printers with special features are supported. ThinPrint also reacts flexibly to the requirements of its customers by continuously adding unsupported printers at no additional cost. - Exceptional printing speeds
The ThinPrint Output Gateway ensures fast printing in any environment through adaptive compression and print data caching (SpeedCache). - Simplified workflows
Thanks to genuine printer independence gained with V-Layer™, your employees can print a print job simultaneously to several different printers (Virtual Copy).
Frequently Asked Questions
Traditional printing requires a dedicated printer driver to be installed on every single device that sends print jobs — a time-consuming and error-prone process, especially at scale. ThinPrint's driver free printing technology takes a fundamentally different approach by separating the printing process into a program-oriented part and a printer-specific part. Instead of native printer drivers, only ThinPrint's virtual printer driver — the ThinPrint Output Gateway — needs to be installed on the user's device. It simulates the original printer drivers and transfers print data in a printer-independent format. This makes driver free printing significantly more flexible, easier to manage, and far more scalable across complex corporate networks.
ThinPrint's driver free printing is designed to work across virtually all IT environments and printer models. Remote Desktop and virtual desktop environments are supported through Driver Free Printing, while desktop PCs, thin clients, Linux PCs, Macs, and print boxes are covered by V-Layer™. ThinPrint's Microsoft-certified virtual printer driver supports all printer models regardless of manufacturer, including multifunctional devices with advanced finishing options such as stapling, hole punching, and binding. Currently, over 5,600 printers with special features are supported, and ThinPrint continuously adds new models at no additional cost.
V-Layer™ is a unique architecture built on top of ThinPrint's Driver Free Printing technology, specifically developed for environments with desktop PCs, thin clients, Linux PCs, Macs, and print boxes. With V-Layer™, native printer drivers only need to be installed once — on a central print server — rather than on every individual workstation. For each selected printer, V-Layer™ automatically creates a virtual copy and redirects all shares to it, meaning no existing rules or scripts need to be rewritten. When a user sends a print job, it is received by the virtual printer and instantly forwarded to the paired native driver on the server for processing. The result is a seamless printing experience with zero driver installation effort on the end-user side.
Driver free printing fundamentally simplifies how IT administrators manage printing infrastructure. Because printer drivers no longer need to be deployed to individual devices, the complex and time-intensive process of rolling out and maintaining drivers across a large device fleet is eliminated entirely. Incompatible printer drivers — a common source of system instability and helpdesk tickets — can no longer cause problems. With V-Layer™, driver management is centralized on a single print server, giving administrators full control from one location. On top of that, cost-saving default settings such as greyscale or duplex printing can be configured organization-wide, and ThinPrint's clear, uniform print dialog — available in 17 languages — ensures a consistently smooth experience for end users across all environments.
Get started with high-performing printing!
Download the ThinPrint Engine and discover high-performing enterprise printing. The first 30 days are free, including all ThinPrint features.