Using lpr with CUPS

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Printing from DICE

CUPS Online Help

From a dice machine you can access the CUPS Online Help pages

Graphical printing options

On most DICE machines you can view print queues and cancel your own jobs via toolbar menu System->> Administration->> Printing.

Using lpr with CUPS

CUPS status information

As a user, issue the lpstat command with proper options:

# lpstat <options>

Options can be:

-t : show all CUPS info
-d : show default printer
-p : show all printers
-a : show all printers that accept jobs
-o : show active print jobs

Listing Printer-Specific Options

Each printer has a set of options derived from the PPD (driver) file. The lpoptions command allows you to see a list of the available options:

lpoptions -p <printer name> -l

HPOption_500_Sheet_Tray/500 Sheet Tray: True *False
HPOption_Envelope_Feeder/Envelope Feeder: True *False
HPOption_Duplexer/Duplex Unit: *True False
HPOption_Memory/Total Memory: *4Meg 12Meg
PageSize/Media Size: Letter LetterSmall Legal LegalSmall *A4 A4Small Executive Comm10 Monarch DL C5 B5 A5
PageRegion/PageRegion: Letter LetterSmall Legal LegalSmall A4 A4Small Executive Comm10 Monarch DL C5 B5 A5
InputSlot/Media Source: Upper *Lower LargeCapacity Envelope
ManualFeed/Manual Feed: True *False
HPHalftone/Levels of Gray: *Enhanced Standard
Resolution/Printer Resolution: *600dpi 300dpi
Duplex/Duplex: None *DuplexNoTumble DuplexTumble
Smoothing/Resolution Enhancement: *None Light Medium Dark

The asterisk beside a value indicates the default value.

Standard Printer Options

Some common print options are listed below. If an option accepts a value, then it is listed in the form option=value:

landscape - for landscape printing
media=A4 - check your ppd file for possible media values
Collate=true | false - useful when printing multiple copies
sides=two-sided-short-edge - used for landscape prints [the default is sides=one-sided]
sides=two-sided-long-edge - used for portrait prints [the default is sides=one-sided]
page-ranges=1-4,7,9-12 - print specific pages or page ranges
page-set=odd | even - print only odd or even pages
outputorder=normal | reverse - the pages are printed from first to last or the other way around
cpi=10 - characters per inch
lpi=6 - lines per inch
columns=2 - format the text in two or more columns
page-left=value - specify the left margin in points [1pt = 1/72inch]
page-right=value - specify the right margin in points [1pt = 1/72inch]
page-top=value - specify the top margin in points [1pt = 1/72inch]
page-bottom=value - specify the bottom margin in points [1pt = 1/72inch]
job-sheets=none - front and back cover pages
job-sheets=standard
job-sheets=classified,classified

Add or modify print options

A user can set his own default options for a specific CUPS printer by issuing the command:

# lpoptions -p printer -o option1=value -o option2=value

Remove print options

Previously defined print options can be removed from ~/.lpoptions by:

# lpoptions -p printer -r option1 -r option2

Create sets of options - Printer Instances

A very useful CUPS feature is that sets of options can be defined. These can be system-wide if they are set by root, or user specific if they are set by a user. Printer instances are extra options for a specific printer that are saved as an extra printer in the form printer/set. This virtual printer’s settings override the default options.

To create a printer instance, as a user issue the command:

# lpoptions -p printer/set1 -o option1=value -o option2=value

To delete a printer instance issue the command:

# lpoptions -x printer/set1

The printer instance is listed as a printer in lpstat.
The user can send a document to the printer instance:

# lpr -P printer/set1 filename

Missing -Z options

One of the missing, but probably useful -Z options is -Z book. This rearranged pages in a document suitable for printing 2up,duplex and turning into a book. You can achieve the same result by using the psbook command to generate the required reordered pages of the PostScript file, and then printing 2up,tumble. eg

# psbook < myfile.ps | lpr -Z2up,tumble

or using CUPS's native options:

# psbook < myfile.ps | lpr -o number-up=2 -o sides=two-sided-short-edge

If you want to print a PDF file in book format you can do it directly from acroread:

set the Page Scaling to Booklet Printing on the Print dialog
set the Duplex Printing to Flip on Short Edge on the Printer Properties dialog.

(although these instructions don't seem to work with Adobe Reader 9).

Alternatively you can convert the PDF to PostScript and use the above psbook command. eg:

# pdftops myfile.pdf - | psbook | lpr -o number-up=2 -o sides=two-sided-short-edge

If you wish to select a subset of pages, insert "psselect -p<BeginPage>-<EndPage>" in the pipeline before "psbook". For example, to print the first four pages of a document, use:

# pdftops myfile.pdf - | psselect -p1-4 | psbook | lpr -o number-up=2 -o sides=two-sided-short-edge

(which will print four pages - two pages per side, on one sheet).

If you wish to use Simplex (One-Sided printing):

# lpr -o sides=one-sided -P myprinter myfile.pdf

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