Host-based printer drivers are software applications that process print data (i.e., data to be sent to a printer) on a host device, such as a personal computer. By processing the print data on the host device, the printer driver allows the host device to cooperate with printers having minimal processing capability (and, thus, a lower cost) while yielding superior print quality.
However, because such low-capability printers cannot process object-oriented graphics (e.g., vector graphics and associated text fonts), the printer driver typically converts object-oriented images into raster (bitmap) data before the printer can print the images. Unfortunately, such data conversion often places high demands on the processing resources of the host device, and thus can detract from the performance of applications simultaneously running on the host device.