Installation Note
Linux Printing support using CUPS

Steps to Install the PPDs.

                  

1.   Log in as root or Super user.

2.   Insert and mount the disc.

On some Linux distributions, the disc is automatically mounted.

The following command is an example of how to mount a disc, assuming the mount point is “/mnt/cdrom”. (The mount point varies depending on the Linux distribution.)

3.   Mount the disc and copy the PPDs to the following location: “/usr/share/cups/model/LinuxPPD”. The disc contains PPDs for the following languages: 1.English 2.French 3.Spanish 4.Portuguese. 5. Italian 6. Germany. Copy the PPD for the Language you need into the mentioned folder. The folder may not exists, in which case create the same and copy the files.

4.   Restart the cups daemon by typing the following command at the prompt.

“/etc/init.d/cups restart”

  1. The CUPS printer management interface can be invoked in one of the following ways.

1.      Type the command in the prompt. “cupsconfig”

2.      In a web browser like Mozilla, type in the URL: http://localhost:631/admin

6.   Follow the instructions to Add a printer. While browsing for the printer manufacturers, look for our manufacturer name. Choose the PPD for the model you want to select and continue with the rest of the instructions.

           

Salient facts about the CUPS Printing System.

1.      The browser based CUPS interface and the cupsconfig utility are both administrator utilities and cannot be used with normal user privileges.

  1. After printer installation by the administrator, the user can use the CUPS system for normal printing. Please visit the following link to get more detailed information about how to use printing system commands: http://www.cups.org/sum.html#USING_SYSTEM
  2. If the lp or lpr command does not work, replace it with lp.cups or lpr.cups respectively.
  3. The CUPS system can also be used with a GUI interface such as KDEPRINT.
  4. To use KDEPRINT, you need to have the KDE package installed. Try typing in “kprinter” at the command prompt. If it says command not found, you need to install the KDE package from the Linux disc. This will bring up the kdeprint print window. Select the CUPS spooler from the drop down menu on the bottom right of the window. You can change the PPD options by clicking on the properties tab and then selecting driver settings.

Using Ghost Script Filters with Foomatic Rip to print Chinese

To print Chinese (Simplified/Traditional) documents, select the “convert to ps level 2 option” under driver settingsàGhostScript Filtering options. This can be done as follows.

KDEPRINT  GUI : In the KDE print GUI, select driver settings. In the Ghost Script filtering options, please select “Convert to PS Level 2” in the drop down menu. Click on save and OK. Your print system is now capable of printing Chinese characters with the Supplied Chinese PPDs.

CUPS GUI: In the Cups printer Management web interface, select the printer model and choose configure. Under the Ghost Script filtering options select “Convert to PS Level 2” in the drop down menu. Save the settings and now your print system is capable of printing Chinese characters with the Supplied Chinese PPDs.

Installation Components

Printer devices are supported on all distributions of Linux having CUPS 1.1.15 or higher environment.

Known Issues and Limitations

1. Konqueror Browser limitations:

While displaying the PPD options in the Konqueror web browser interface, certain options are not visible. The text appears as rectangles. Try using the Mozilla or Netscape browser.  

2. Mozilla Browser Limitations:

            While printing from a Mozilla Browser with KDEPRINT, the Landscape option does not work properly. Use Konqueror browser instead.

3. CUPS web browser changing driver issue:

 

When changing a printer driver (Ex: from Model_Printer_Name_4530_English to Model_Printer_Name _1810_English) through the CUPS web interface, if the features in the model are different, they still show up in the printer UI but with no values listed (sort<>). Changing the driver using the KDE-PRINTMGR interface does not have this problem.

 

4. Watermark feature issues:

Some applications like AbiWord, KWord, and Konqueror generate postscript commands which clear the background before doing any rendering on it and this also clears the watermark. The Mozilla browser supports the watermark feature and so is recommended for printing with the watermark feature enabled.