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  • The answer to the second problem isn't always true. If you have set the print queue up as a raw queue, then this will hold, as the print queue simply forwards the print job to the printer directly, without modifying it. If you setup the print queue with PPD's provided by the manufacturer on the CUPS server itself, then CUPS exposes the printer as a simple PostScript printer and will potentially interfere with the settings chosen by the user in their local driver options. If you want to have full control from the client workstation, you are best to use a raw print queue. Commented Mar 7, 2018 at 1:39
  • @jduncanator: Note my usage of the "default" keyword.... Also note that the context of this question is "Samba". In which case we don't see the job transferred from Windows client to CUPS server via IPP, but via SMB. In which case most of your arguments aren't true. You seemed to have had IPP in mind, not looking left nor right... Commented Mar 7, 2018 at 1:41
  • When using CUPS as the backend, the print job is never transferred directly to the printer, it always goes through CUPS (otherwise you would not be able to manage the queue via CUPS), regardless of how it gets there. CUPS allows creation of raw printers (i.e., no print file format translation) as well as smart printers (i.e., CUPS does file format conversion as required for the printer). When using a "smart printer" (eg. one with a PPD file attached), CUPS will try to interpret the supplied print job and submit it to the printer in the format described by the PPD format. Commented Mar 7, 2018 at 2:11
  • From the description provided in the question, it sounds like the OP has created a "smart printer" by providing a PPD file and having the option to set default print options available to them. Smart printers are usually used with generic PostScript print drivers on the client that are not manufacturer specific (the specifics of the printer are handled by CUPS). Of course, you can use the manufacturer drivers, but as the majority of the options are handled by CUPS, the options you set in the manufacturer drivers may not always carry over to the final job. Commented Mar 7, 2018 at 2:14
  • Thanks for trying to teach me about CUPS/Samba printing, Young Padawan. However, I STILL advise you to try what the union of "silent" default settings with the ones you did possibly override in your smb.conf in Samba are: run testparm -sv | grep --color -Ei '(print|driv|spool|devmode)' to see if there are surprises. Some Samba versions or some Linux distros ship default settings where in a print command = ... mentions "raw".... Commented Mar 7, 2018 at 2:15