ThinPrint .print is a software solution for easy output management. It consists of server and client components. The basic architecture is pictured below.

The .print Server Engine AS/400 is the core of the ThinPrint-.print Frameworks on the AS/400. It provides complete printer driver management up to and including driver-free printing:

• Bandwidth limiting of output requests
• Streaming of print output
• transparent compression of print output data

A .print client is the usual method by which print data will be received, decompressed, decrypted and forwarded to the end-device. These .print clients are available for a very wide range of devices and environments e.g. for all Windows versions including Windows CE, Linux, DOS, Win OS/2, Symbian (eg.. Nokia und UIQ), PocketPC, Smarteren, Java, Civets as well as for print boxes und network printers.

A ThinPrint port controls the bandwidth for a given print request. Since the bandwidth optimization can be individually controlled for specific ports it's easy to achieve optimum performance related to bandwidth by allocating specific ports to printers.
In addition to bandwidth optimization by transmission control, .print compresses the print output, reducing network traffic to printers. This traffic is often underestimated in network planning. Typical compression rates are between 55% and 85% depending on the application and type of data.
The .print Server Engine AS/400 is a product of the partnership between ThinPrint GmbH, Berlin and XPS Software GmbH, Munich. This is the same partnership which also produces the .print Server Engine/Host for IBM Mainframes.