Foomatic 4.0.4 ============== foomatic-db-engine ------------------ Foomatic's database engine generates PPD files from the data in Foomatic's XML database. It also contains scripts to directly generate print queues and handle jobs. Till Kamppeter <till.kamppeter@gmail.com> Lars Uebernickel <larsuebernickel@gmx.de> http://www.openprinting.org/ This usage documentation file is written by Till Kamppeter Intro ----- Foomatic is a database providing information about the usage of printers with Unix-like operating systems (Linux, Solaris, ...). The applications of these operating systems send PostScript or PDF to the printer queues. Therefore one usually hands over the PostScript directly to a PostScript printer (sometimes with some inserted PostScript commands for options) or uses Ghostscript for generating the data format the printer needs from PostScript or PDF input. This is done by the printer spooler which also stores the data in a spool directory when the printer is still occupied by another job, transmits the data to a print server in the network, and so on. The printer drivers for non-PostScript printers are either compiled into Ghostscript, a plug-in for Ghostscript (e. g. IJS drivers), or they are an extra filter which converts a generic bitmap generated by Ghostscript into the printer's data format. For this the spooler has to call complicated command lines of Ghostscript and the extra filter (if needed). The user of a Unix-like operating system normally does not see these command lines because an installation program takes appropriate filter scripts and/or description files from a database and assigns them to the printer queue. Widely used databases were the RHS-Printfilters and the APS filters. Their disadvantages were that they only supported one spooler (LPD/LPRng) and only a small part of the driver's options (mostly page size and resolution). Foomatic supports all options of the drivers and all known spoolers (LPD, LPRng, GNUlpr, CUPS, Solaris LP, PPR, PDQ, CPS, direct spooler-less printing). In addition, all known free software printer drivers are supported. Foomatic also supports printing of various non-PostScript/PDF file types for spoolers which do not support these by themselves (LPD, LPRng, GNUlpr, spooler-less printing). To enable this feature you need to have "a2ps", "enscript", or "mpage" installed. Another problem is that the way how to install queues, to print files, and to handle jobs is very different with different spoolers. LPD for example requires editing of configuration files for adding a queue, whereas CUPS and PPR have specialized command line utilities. Foomatic puts a layer between the applications and the spoolers so that one has a common, spooler-independent command line interface for all spoolers, so that switching of spoolers or administration of a network with different spoolers gets much easier, because for the same operations there are the same commands, independent of the spooler. This command line interface can also be used as a base for spooler-independent graphical frontends. Installation ------------ Foomatic runs on all systems where one can run the Perl interpreter and Ghostscript. Besides Perl and a C compiler with its standard libraries you will need the libxml C library for XML handling and one of the tools "wget" or "curl". In addition, you need the Foomatic database ("foomatic-db") and the Foomatic filters ("foomatic-filters"). It is recommended to install these packages before you install this package. Then the paths to its components get auto-detected during the build of this package. "wget" is really a standard tool which nearly every distribution includes. If yours does not include it, you find "wget" on http://www.gnu.org/software/wget/wget.html and "curl" is located on http://curl.haxx.se/ Because libxml is also used by GNOME, it is probably also part of every distribution of GNU/Linux or *BSD and one can also easily build it on any Unix-like operating system. If you distribution does not provide libxml you can get libxml from http://www.xmlsoft.org/ If your distribution contains libxml, note that besides the "libxml" or "libxml2" package you must install also a package with a name "libxml-devel" or "libxml2-devel" to be able to compile programs which use libxml. This additional package contains the needed header files and "xml(2)-config", which tells the C compiler where it finds the header files. If "xml(2)-config" or some header files in the packages of your distribution are missing, compile libxml from source. We have tested with the versions 1.8.17 and 2.4.19 of libxml, both work, but 1.8.17 requires that the XML files do not have leading blank lines. Use foomatic-fix-xml if you have such XML files (old or third-party files). libxml 1.8.9 and earlier do not work. Using libxml 2.x or newer is highly recommended. For Foomatic making sense one also needs Ghostscript (5.50 or newer, GPL Ghostscript 8.64 or newer highly recommended) if one has a non-PostScript printer. In addition, the appropriate driver for a non-PostScript printer must be installed. After installing the libxml package, Foomatic can be installed using the commands (if you have downloaded this package from the BZR repository, run "./make_configure" at first, for that you will also need libxml 2.x, the "autoconf" and "aclocal" utilities, "aclocal" is in the "automake" package in some distributions): ./configure make make install "make install" must be run as "root", the other commands can be run as a normal user. The "configure" script will auto-detect where the libxml is installed and which version and also where relevant programs, files, and directories of your printer spooler are located. In addition, it is made sure that Perl will find the Perl libraries of Foomatic. If "configure" fails because of something not being installed, do rm -rf config.cache autom*.cache before you run "configure" again (after installing the missing parts). By default, Foomatic is installed into subdirectories of /usr/local (e. g. /usr/local/bin/foomatic-configure), to get it into subdirectories of /usr (/usr/bin/foomatic-configure), enter: ./configure --prefix=/usr make make install There are other things which can be adjusted by options on the "configure" command line, enter "./configure --help" for more info. You can also modify variables in the beginning of the "Makefile" after running "configure", but note that every run of "configure" re-creates the "Makefile". If "configure" did not auto-detect where you have placed the database (or if you intend to install the database afterwards), do export LIBDIR=/path/to/the/database ./configure make make install You have specified the path correctly, when /path/to/the/database/db/source/driver/ljet4.xml exists. You can also run Foomatic out of its source directory (for example when you want to try it out, or when you don't have root access). Therefore enter (can be done as a normal user): ./configure make inplace and enter the commands with "./" in the beginning (e. g. "./foomatic-ppdfile ..."). This also works on a machine where a system-wide Foomatic is already installed. This way you can develop XML files for the database and test them in your local database without messing up the system-wide one. To have the local database you need to put the "foomatic-db" tarball into the main directory of this package or into the directory where you have also put this package for unpacking. Simply unpack the database package. You do not need to build or install it. You can use Foomatic databases from wherever you want, edit the "$libdir" line in lib/Foomatic/Defaults.pm to point to the desired database. To use the system-wide one, let the line look like: ... # Library directory; typically /usr/share/foomatic or somesuch. $libdir = '/usr/share/foomatic'; ... In addition, you should install a utility to make PostScript out of non-PostScript files, so that you can print those non-PostScript files and also a list of available options using the "docs" option. The supported utilities are "a2ps", "enscript", and "mpage". Recommended is "a2ps" because it detects many file types (text, PDF, most image formats) and together with ImageMagick (for images) and GNU Ghostscript 6.51 or newer (for PDF) it converts them to PostScript. The other tools convert only text files. The tool you have installed is auto-detected by the filter script for your spooler and used automatically if necessary. CUPS and PPR need this tool only for printing the option list, they use internal filters for printing non-PostScript files. The PDQ configuration files only supports "mpage", with LPD, GNUlpr, LPRng, or direct, spooler-less printing you can use all tools. A default spooler can be set by putting its name into an /etc/foomatic/defaultspooler file or into ~/.defaultspooler If you have a printer or multi-function device from HP, install HPLIP from http://hplipopensource.com/ before starting to set up printer queues with Foomatic. This gives you the possibility to access all extra functions of your HP device, independent whether it is connected via parallel port, USB, or ethernet. This gives you, depending on the device, functionality, as ink/toner level check, nozzle check and cleaning, color adjustment, head alignement, scanning, memory card access, and even sending faxes. Printing through the MTink daemon from the MTink package (http://xwtools.automatix.de/) is also supported. When CUPS is the spooler the special "mtink" backend (included in the MTink package) will be used. Using the MTink daemon it is possible to check the ink levels while printing. The MTink daemon supports only Epson inkjets from the Epson Stylus Color 740 on to the current models. Easy printer setup with CUPS 1.2 or newer ----------------------------------------- If you have CUPS 1.2 or newer, you do not need the command line to set up printers with Foomatic. Simply fire up the web interface entering http://localhost:631/ and click the "Administration" tab. Then click the "Add this printer" at the entry of an auto-detected printer (parallel, USB, ethernet) or click "Add printer" at the top. Follow the instructions on the following pages. If the printers of the Foomatic database do not appear, check whether the link to foomatic-ppdfile is in /usr/lib/cups/driver: lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 25 Apr 19 18:13 foomatic -> /usr/bin/foomatic-ppdfile If not, create it manually. If you want the web interface only list entries for the recommended driver for each printer, create a file /etc/cups/foomatic.conf containing the line OnlyRecommended Yes Note: CUPS paths may be different on your system. Adding a queue -------------- To add a printer queue you use the queue administration tool foomatic-configure. You call it this way: foomatic-configure [-q] [-f] [-w] [-s <spooler>] -n <queue> -c <connection> [-p <printer ID> -d <driver ID>] [ --ppd <ppdfile> ] [-o <option>=<value> -o <option>=<value> ...] Options in [...] can be left out. The options mean: -q Quiet operation: You are not asked for anything. -f Force rebuild: If you queue uses a PPD file generated from the Foomatic database, it will be rebuilt when this option is set. Otherwise only the default settings are updated. -w Generate PPD which is compatible to the CUPS PostScript driver for Windows (GUI strings are limited to 39 characters). If you use Adobe's PostScript driver on your Windows clients, you do not need to supply this option, because Adobe's driver does not have this bug. Usage of Adobe's driver is recommended as you do not need to live with crippled GUI strings then. This applies only to PPDs built from the Foomatic database, it has no influence on PPDs supplied with the "--ppd" option. -s <spooler> The spooler to be used. If this option is left out, the spooler is auto-detected and the user is asked whether the auto-detection is correct (unless -q is given). Possible choices are: "lpd", "lprng", "cups", "pdq", "ppr", "direct". -n <queue> The queue name. This argument is required. -c <connection> The way how the printer is connected (also required, These are exactly the URIs as one uses them for CUPS): parallel:<device> : Printer connected to local parallel port, for example "parallel:/dev/lp0". usb:<device> : Printer connected to local USB port, for example "usb:/dev/usb/lp0". With CUPS 1.1.17 or newer the URI is automatically converted to an URI referring to the printer model and serial number. So if one has plugged the printers in a different order and reboots, they are still found even if they are assigned to other /dev/usb/lp? device files. usb://<make>/<model>?serial=<ser. num.> URIs referring to printer models/serial numbers can also be directly given, but they must exactly match one of the URIs listed by "lpinfo -v" (only available for CUPS). serial:<device> : Printer connected to local serial port, for example "serial:/dev/ttyS1". file:<file name> : Printing into a file, a named pipe, or similar. <file name> can also be a device special file as /dev/lp0, /dev/usb/lp1, ..., so we are compatible to older versions of Foomatic. hp:/<device name> : HP printer used with the low-level driver HPLIP (see http://hplipopensource.com/). The device name is name assigned to the device by the HPLIP system, Run "lpinfo -v" to see valid URIs (works only with CUPS). ptal:/<device name> : HP multi-function device used with the obsolete low-level driver HPOJ (see http://hpoj.sourceforge.net/). The device name is name assigned to the device by the ptal-mlcd daemon, for example "mlc:usb:PSC_950". Please replace HPOJ by HPLIP (http://hplipopensource.com/) if you have it still in use somewhere. mtink:/<device name> : Epson Stylus Color, Photo, Pro, or Scan inkjet printer used through the mtink daemon. <device name> is the name of the appropriate pipe in the /var/mtink directory. Example: To print to /var/mtink/C70 the URI is mtink:/C70. lpd://<server>/<queue> : Remote LPD printer (on server running LPD/LPRng or ethernet- connected printer) socket://<server>:<port>/ : TCP/Socket printer (ethernet- connected printer) smb://<user>:<password>@<workgroup>/<server>/<share> smb://<user>@<workgroup>/<server>/<share> smb://<workgroup>/<server>/<share> smb://<server>/<share> smb://<user>:<password>@<server>/<share> : Printer on Windows server. Leaving out user and password sends the job to the "GUEST" account, the workgroup is optional (SMB not available in PDQ, workgroup ignored in PPR). ncp://<server>/<queue> ncp://<user>:<password>@<server>/<queue> : Printer on Novell NetWare server (only LPD, LPRng, and direct printing). postpipe:"<command line>" : Pipe the PostScript output into the given command line (only LPD, LPRng, and direct printing). stdout Print to standard output (only available for direct printing). -p <printer ID> : The database ID of the used printer model. To get it, type foomatic-configure -O | less on the command line and search the output for your printer model. The entry for your model contains both the printer ID and the driver IDs for all suitable drivers. To search strings in the output of the command above press "/", type a search term, and press <Enter>. -d <driver ID> : The ID of the desired printer driver. If the "-p" and the "-d" options are left out, a raw (filterless) queue is set up (PDQ does not support raw queues). --ppd <ppdfile> : If you have a PostScript printer which is shipped with a PPD file (or a PPD file from the internet, a CD, or so), you can set up your print queue with this PPD file using this option. Works also with the PPD files of CUPS raster drivers, even if another spooler than CUPS is used. The driver itself and a Ghostscript version with the "cups" device (check with "gs -h") must be installed. Compressed PPD files ("file.ppd.gz") are allowed. Do not use "-p" and "-d" then. -o <option>=<value> : Set the default value for an option. Example: We have the HP DeskJet 840C on the USB and want to use it with the "cdj880" driver. To get a CUPS queue named "DeskJet" we have to enter: foomatic-configure -O | less and find in the output: <printer> <id>HP-DeskJet_840C</id> <make>HP</make> <model>DeskJet 840C</model> <functionality>B</functionality> <unverified>B</unverified> <autodetect> <parallel> <manufacturer>Hewlett-Packard</manufacturer> <model>DeskJet 840C</model> </parallel> </autodetect> <driver>hpijs</driver> <drivers> <driver>cdj550</driver> <driver>cdj670</driver> <driver>cdj880</driver> <driver>cdj970</driver> <driver>hpdj</driver> <driver>hpijs</driver> <driver>pcl3</driver> <driver>stp</driver> </drivers> </printer> The printer ID is between the "<id>" tags and is derived from the manufacturer and modek name (so it can often be determined without looking it up). The model name is between the "<model>" tags and the driver names between the "<driver>" tags. Then the command line to add the queue must be (with the default paper size set to A4): foomatic-configure -s cups -n DeskJet -c usb:/dev/usb/lp0 -p HP-DeskJet_840C -d cdj880 -o PageSize=A4 Under CUPS 1.1.17 or newer the URI will be converted to an URI referring to manufacturer, model, and serial number of the printer. So if the printer gets /dev/usb/lp1 after the next boot, the queue will still work. Exactly the same queue, but for PDQ: foomatic-configure -s pdq -n DeskJet -c usb:/dev/usb/lp0 -p HP-DeskJet_840C -d cdj880 -o PageSize=A4 When the printer is connected to a Samba server (name: "winserver", queue: "dj"), the line has to be: foomatic-configure -s cups -n DeskJet -c smb://winserver/dj -p HP-DeskJet_840C -d cdj880 -o PageSize=A4 If you have an HP LaserJet 4050, which is a PostScript printer, you can get its PPD file from its Windows driver CD, http://hplip.sf.net/, or http://www.openprinting.org/. After downloading it you can set up a queue as follows: foomatic-configure -s pdq -n LJ4050 -c socket://printer:9100 --ppd HP_LaserJet_4050_Series.ppd -o PageSize=A4 and you get full access to all features of the printer, even with non-PPD-aware spoolers (as PDQ in this example). Compressed PPD files ("file.ppd.gz") are also allowed here. In this example we set up an Epson Stylus Photo 1290 with the CUPS driver of Gutenprint, but with PDQ as the spooler: foomatic-configure -s pdq -n Eps1290 -c usb:/dev/usb/lp0 --ppd escp2-1290.ppd -o PageSize=A4 One simply takes the PPD file which comes with the CUPS driver. Naturally the CUPS driver itself and a Ghostscript with the "cups" output device (Check with "gs -h", ESP Ghostscript recommended). In most cases you will need also the CUPS libraries to run a CUPS driver or to compile Ghostscript/the driver with CUPS support. The liberaries (and its "-devel" or "-dev" for compiling drivers/Ghostscript) are only a small part of CUPS and in most distros you can install the separately. A raw LPD queue pointing to an HP JetDirect box (IP: 192.168.1.234, port: 9100) is made this way: foomatic-configure -s lpd -n remoteraw -c socket://192.168.1.234:9100/ Modifying a queue ----------------- Do the same as for adding a queue, but take care that you use the same queue name. The old queue will be replaced. You only need to supply the items which you want to change. Example: The "DeskJet" queue from above can be switched to use the "hpijs" driver (HP's DeskJet driver from http://hplipopensource.com/). Enter foomatic-configure -s cups -n DeskJet -d hpijs Both drivers have the option "PageSize", so its default value (here "A4") is overtaken to the new driver. So you do not need to configure all the options again when you change something with foomatic-configure. Also option defaults set with external programs (KUPS, CUPS web interface, KDE Printing Manager, XPDQ, ...) do not get lost. Option settings are also overtaken when one switches from a Foomatic setup ("-p <printer> -d <driver>" to a setup with a manufacturer-supplied PPD ("--ppd <ppd file>") or vice-versa or from one to another manufacturer-supplied PPD. This command line sets an option: foomatic-configure -s cups -n DeskJet -o Quality=600photo and this line you need when you want to connect your printer to the parallel port: foomatic-configure -s cups -n DeskJet -c parallel:/dev/lp0 Copying a queue --------------- To copy a queue we have the "-C" option: foomatic-configure [-q] [-f] [-w] [-s <spooler>] -n <queue> -C [sourcespooler] sourcequeue -c <connection> [-p <printer ID> -d <driver ID>] [-o <option>=<value> -o <option>=<value> ...] This creates the queue <queue> under the spooler <spooler> making a copy from the queue <sourcequeue> under the spooler <sourcespooler>. If you do not supply a <sourcespooler>, the source queue is assumed to be under the same spooler as the copy. All the other arguments have the same meaning as for creating a queue and they modify the copy. So lets make two queues for our HP DeskJet 840C with two different output qualities (under LPRng): foomatic-configure -s lprng -n DeskJetHi -c usb:/dev/usb/lp0 -p HP-DeskJet_840C -d hpijs -o PageSize=A4 -o Quality=600PhotoCMYK foomatic-configure -s lprng -n DeskJetLo -C DeskJetHi -o Quality=300ColorCMYK The first queue is for high quality printouts. The second is for low quality printouts, here we copy all characteristics of the first queue, but we modify the quality option to get the lower quality. So we do not need to type all the other arguments again. The page size setting of A4 is copied, too. Now we want to replace LPRng by CUPS without loosing our queues. After installing CUPS we do: foomatic-configure -s cups -n DeskJetHi -C lprng DeskJetHi foomatic-configure -s cups -n DeskJetLo -C lprng DeskJetLo and our queues are transferred to CUPS. LPRng does not need to be installed to do that copy, but CUPS as the destination spooler must be running. All option settings, description, location, and so on are conserved. When one has set up a USB printer with CUPS, its URI is converted to an URI referring to manufacturer, model, and serial number (see above). As these URIs are not supported by other spoolers, they are converted back in the copied queue under the bew spooler. But note that for this back-conversion CUPS must still be installed and running (it uses the "lpinfo -v" command of CUPS). When a USB printer queue is copied from another spooler to CUPS, the URI is also automatically converted to the new URI referring to manufacturer, model, and serial number. Setting the default queue ------------------------- To define a default queue (which is used when one uses the "lpr", "pdq", or "foomatic-printjob" commands without the "-P" option) enter foomatic-configure [-q] -D [-s <spooler>] -n <queue> Options in [...] can be left out. The options mean: -q Quiet operation: You are not asked for anything. -D Set the given queue as the default queue. -s <spooler> The spooler to be used. If this option is left out, the spooler is auto-detected and the user is asked whether the auto-detection is correct (unless -q is given). Possible choices are: "lpd", "lprng", "cups", "pdq", "ppr", "direct". -n <queue> The queue name. This argument is required. Example: Set the "DeskJet" queue from above as the default queue: foomatic-configure -s cups -D -n DeskJet The super user ("root") can set system-wide default queues for all spoolers, normal users can set a personal default queue for CUPS or PDQ. Use the "-Q" option of "foomatic-configure" to find out which is the current default queue. Removing a queue ---------------- To remove a queue you do foomatic-configure [-q] -R [-s <spooler>] -n <queue> Options in [...] can be left out. The options mean: -q Quiet operation: You are not asked for anything. -R Delete the given queue. -s <spooler> The spooler to be used. If this option is left out, the spooler is auto-detected and the user is asked whether the auto-detection is correct (unless -q is given). Possible choices are: "lpd", "lprng", "cups", "pdq", "ppr", "direct". -n <queue> The queue name. This argument is required. Example: Remove the "DeskJet" queue from above: foomatic-configure -s cups -R -n DeskJet Getting PPD files for manual queue setup ---------------------------------------- You can get Foomatic PPD files for manual queue setup. Use foomatic-ppdfile -h to get information about how to get the PPD files and follow the links on http://www.openprinting.org/foomatic.html to know how to set up a queue with these PPD files. Querying info ------------- You can query info about your configuration with the -Q and the -P option. Use foomatic-configure -h to get more info. Printing from the command line with Foomatic -------------------------------------------- Printing is done with the foomatic-printjob command. It is similar to the "lpr" commands of the spoolers. It is called as follows: foomatic-printjob [-i] [-s <spooler>] [-P <queue>] [-o <option1>=<value1>] [-o <option2>=<value2>] [-o <option3>] [<file1>] [<file2>] ... Options in [...] can be left out. The options mean: -i interactive, the user has to confirm the spooler auto- detection -s <spooler> The spooler to be used. If this option is left out, the spooler is auto-detected. When the -i option is given the user is asked whetherb the auto-detection is correct. Possible choices are: "lpd", "lprng", "cups", "pdq", "ppr", "direct". -P <queue> The queue where the job should be printed. If not given the default is read from the PRINTER environment variable or the default set with the "-D" option of "foomatic-configure" is used. If no default queue is set, it is chosen according to the rules of the spooler. -o <option> The switch "option" is set. -o <option>=<value> The option "option" is set to the value "value". <file> File(s) to be printed. When no file is given, the data to print is taken from standard input. Example: "file.ps" should be printed on the "DeskJet" in presentation quality on A4 paper: foomatic-printjob -s cups -P DeskJet -o PageSize=A4 -o Quality=presentation file.ps The current directory should be printed on the default printer: ls | foomatic-printjob In applications "foomatic-printjob" can be inserted as printing command instead of "lpr". Printing from the command line with your spooler's printing command ------------------------------------------------------------------- You do not need to have Foomatic installed on all your clients to be able to print on your printer which you have set up on your server using Foomatic. You can use the normal printing commands of your printing system. Proceed as follows: - LPD Stock LPD (not LPRng or GNUlpr) do not support the submission of option settings along with the print job. Here a workaround is used by stuffing the option settings into the job title field: lpr [-P <queue>] [-J '<option1>=<value1> <option2>=<value2> ... <option3> ...'] [-Jdocs] [<file1>] [<file2>] ... Options in [...] can be left out. The options mean: -P <queue> The queue where the job should be printed. If not given the default is chosen according to the rules of the spooler. -J '...' Option settings, they must be enclosed in the '-J' option. The settings can be expressed as follows: <option> The switch "option" is set. <option>=<value> The option "option" is set to the value "value". -J docs Print listing of the options. Works only when you provide a file or something on standard input (which will not be printed). <file> File(s) to be printed. When no file is given, the data to print is taken from standard input. All other options can be used as forseen by the LPD printing system. The first example from above looks like the following now: lpr -P DeskJet -J 'PageSize=A4 Quality=presentation' file.ps Print a listing of valid options with lpr -P DeskJet -J docs ~/.bashrc - LPRng LPRng uses "-Z" to include option settings: lpr [-P <queue>] [-Z <option1>=<value1>] [-Z <option2>=<value2>] [-Z <option3>] [<file1>] [<file2>] ... Options in [...] can be left out. The options mean: -P <queue> The queue where the job should be printed. If not given the default is chosen according to the rules of the spooler. -Z <option> The switch "option" is set. -Z <option>=<value> The option "option" is set to the value "value". -Z docs Print listing of the options. Works only when you provide a file or something on standard input (which will not be printed). <file> File(s) to be printed. When no file is given, the data to print is taken from standard input. All other options can be used as forseen by the LPRng printing system. The first example from above looks like the following now: lpr -P DeskJet -Z PageSize=A4 -Z Quality=presentation file.ps Print a listing of valid options with lpr -P DeskJet -Z docs ~/.bashrc - CUPS/GNUlpr These spoolers use "-o" to include option settings: lpr [-P <queue>] [-o <option1>=<value1>] [-o <option2>=<value2>] [-o <option3>] [<file1>] [<file2>] ... Options in [...] can be left out. The options mean: -P <queue> The queue where the job should be printed. If not given the default is chosen according to the rules of the spooler. -o <option> The switch "option" is set. -o <option>=<value> The option "option" is set to the value "value". -o docs Print listing of the options. Works only when you provide a file or something on standard input (which will not be printed). <file> File(s) to be printed. When no file is given, the data to print is taken from standard input. The first example from above looks like the following now: lpr -P DeskJet -o PageSize=A4 -o Quality=presentation file.ps Print a listing of valid options with lpr -P DeskJet -o docs ~/.bashrc - PPR PPR uses the "ppr" command for printing and options are set by "-F": ppr [-d <queue>] [-F "*<option1> <value1>"] [-F "*<option2> <value2>"] [-F "*<option3> True"] [<file1>] [<file2>] ... Options in [...] can be left out. The options mean: -d <queue> The queue where the job should be printed. If not given the default is chosen according to the rules of the spooler. -F "*<option> True" The switch "option" is set. -F "*<option> <value>" The option "option" is set to the value "value". -i docs Print listing of the options. Works only when you provide a file or something on standard input (which will not be printed). <file> File(s) to be printed. When no file is given, the data to print is taken from standard input. The first example from above looks like the following now: ppr -d DeskJet -F "*PageSize A4" -F "*Quality presentation" file.ps Print a listing of valid options with ppr -d DeskJet -i docs ~/.bashrc - PDQ PDQ uses "-o" and "-a" to include option settings: pdq [-P <queue>] [-o<option1>_<value1>] [-o<option2>_<value2>] [-o<option3> -a<num_option>=<num_value>] [<file1>] [<file2>] ... Options in [...] can be left out. The options mean: -P <queue> The queue where the job should be printed. If not given the default is chosen according to the rules of the spooler. -o<option> The switch "option" is set. -o<option>_<value> The option "option" is set to the value "value". -a<num_option>=<num_value> The numerical option "num_option" is set to the value "num_value". -odocs Print listing of the options. Works only when you provide a file or something on standard input (which will not be printed). <file> File(s) to be printed. When no file is given, the data to print is taken from standard input. The first example from above looks like the following now: pdq -P DeskJet -oPageSize_A4 -oQuality_presentation file.ps Print a listing of valid options with pdq -P DeskJet -odocs ~/.bashrc - Direct, spooler-less printing Here one uses the "foomatic-rip" filter with a similar syntax as the "lpr" commands of CUPS and GNUlpr. Use "-o" to include option settings: foomatic-rip [-P <queue>] [--ppd <ppdfile>] [-o <option1>=<value1>] [-o <option2>=<value2>] [-o <option3>] [<file1>] [<file2>] ... [ > <destination> ] Options in [...] can be left out. The options mean: -P <queue> The queue where the job should be printed. If not given the default is chosen. --ppd <ppdfile> If your printer is not configured (or for testing/ debugging) you can specify a PPD file which defines how the job should be handled. The PPD file cane be one generated by Foomatic, but also one shipped with a PostScript printer. -o <option> The switch "option" is set. -o <option>=<value> The option "option" is set to the value "value". -o docs Print listing of the options. Works only when you provide a file or something on standard input (which will not be printed). <file> File(s) to be printed. When no file is given, the data to print is taken from standard input. > <destination> If no destination ("/dev/lp0", ...) for the output data is specified, the data is directed to standard output. In most cases it makes more sense to re-direct the output to a printer or into a file. The first example from above looks like the following now: foomatic-rip -P DeskJet -o PageSize=A4 -o Quality=presentation file.ps Print a listing of valid options with foomatic-rip -P DeskJet -o docs ~/.bashrc If you want to try out a PostScript printer which you have not configured yet, do foomatic-rip --ppd HP_LaserJet_4050_Series.ppd file.ps > /dev/lp0 foomatic-rip --ppd HP_LaserJet_4050_Series.ppd file.ps | nc -w1 host 9100 The first command assumes that the printer is on the first parallel port. Make sure that you have write permissions to /dev/lp0. The second command one has to use when the printer is connected via the local network, has the host name "host" and listens for jobs on port 9100 (TCP/Socket/JetDirect). You can also use this for debugging purposes, for example when your jobs do not get printed. This surrounds the spooler and sends the filtered job directly to the printer. When they get printed this way, the problem is probably a problem of the spooler, not of the printer or the driver. Note that "foomatic-rip" only exits when the whole data is passed through the printer driver and sent to the printer, because we have no spooler which stores the data on the hard disk to print out of the background. Applying options only to selected pages --------------------------------------- With most spoolers options can be supplied only to selected pages when Foomatic is used. The queues can be either Foomatic queues or they can use a manufacturer-supplied PPD file with "foomatic-rip". To make CUPS using "foomatic-rip" with manufacturer-supplied PPD files, add the line *cupsFilter: "application/vnd.cups-postscript 0 foomatic-rip" to the PPD file. To make an option setting acting only on certain pages one only needs to preceed the option by a page specification: CUPS, GNUlpr, CPS, no spooler: lpr -o 1:InputSlot=Letterhead lpr -o even:Watermark=on lpr -o 1,6-10,15,20-:MediaType=YellowPaper LPRng: lpr -Z 1-2:MediaType=Cardboard LPD: lpr -J "1,6-10,15,20-:MediaType=YellowPaper" PPR (RIP): ppr --ripopts "1:InputSlot=Letterhead" PPR (Interface) ppr -i "1:InputSlot=Letterhead" The syntax is "even", "odd", or giving comma-separated page numbers or page ranges. Applying options to selected pages with PDQ is not supported. Note that specifying a page selection with the "-F" option of "ppr" does not work. Option settings with page selection override option settings for the whole document on the appropriate pages. More specific (less pages selected) settings override less specific settings on the appropriate pages. Page-specific option settings cannot be set as default in the PPD files, but they can be set by editing the ~/.lpoptions file of CUPS. More info --------- Enter foomatic-configure -h foomatic-printjob -h for a full option list or see the man pages: man foomatic-configure man foomatic-printjob