Translations by Osama Khalid

If your printer is directly connected to a Windows machine on your network, choose <guilabel>Windows Printer via SAMBA</guilabel>. Otherwise, select the protocol your printer uses to communicate.

Click <menuchoice><guimenu>Applications</guimenu><guimenuitem>Graphics</guimenuitem><guimenuitem>XSane Image Scanner</guimenuitem></menuchoice>.

Insert the details of the network printer and click <guibutton>Forward</guibutton>.

Choose <menuchoice><guimenu>System</guimenu><guimenuitem>Administration</guimenuitem><guimenuitem>Printing</guimenuitem></menuchoice>

Click <menuchoice><guibutton>New Printer</guibutton></menuchoice>.

Choose <menuchoice><guibutton>New Printer</guibutton></menuchoice>.

Select the printer model and then click <guibutton>Apply</guibutton>.

If your printer is directly connected to a Windows machine on your network, choose <guilabel>Windows Printer via SAMBA</guilabel>. Otherwise, select the protocol your printer uses to communicate.

A copy of the license is available here: <ulink url="/usr/share/ubuntu-docs/libs/C/ccbysa.xml">Creative Commons ShareAlike License</ulink>.

Canonical Ltd. and members of the <placeholder-1/>

A local printer is one which is directly connected to your computer (as opposed to a network printer, discussed in the following section).

To setup a new local printer, plug your printer into your computer and power it on. Most printers will automatically be detected and configured. Once detected, a printer icon will appear in the notification area and after waiting a few moments, you should get a popup with the text <guilabel>Printer added</guilabel>.

If your printer was not detected after a few moments, then you will need to follow these steps:

Obtain the model name of your printer.

Ensure the printer is turned on.

Your printer should be automatically detected. If so, simply click <guibutton>Forward</guibutton> and then <guibutton>Apply</guibutton>.

Finally, you can enter in a description and location for your printer.

If your printer was not automatically detected, you can try to select the port and printer driver manually. Some printers need further setup. Search the databases at <ulink url="http://www.linuxprinting.org/">LinuxPrinting.org</ulink> or check the <ulink url="https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HardwareSupportComponentsPrinters"> Ubuntu Wiki Printer page</ulink> for information on your printer.

You can also configure your Ubuntu system to send print jobs to a remote print server. Remote printers are hosted somewhere on a network. To configure a remote printer:

If you do not know the protocol or details of your network printer, you should consult your network administrator.

Testing a Printer

To check if your printer works correctly:

Right click on the printer's name in the list.

Click <guibutton>Properties</guibutton>.

Under the <guilabel>Settings</guilabel> tab, Click <guibutton>Print Test Page</guibutton>. A page will then be printed if your printer is working correctly.

How can I check the ink levels of my printer?

To find out how much ink is left in your printer, follow the instructions which apply to your printer:

<emphasis role="strong">Hewlett-Packard (HP) printers:</emphasis> Press <keycombo><keycap>Alt</keycap><keycap>F2</keycap></keycombo>, type <userinput>hp-toolbox</userinput> and click <guibutton>Run</guibutton>. Select the <guilabel>Supplies</guilabel> tab in the HP Device Manager window which appears to view a summary of ink levels.

<emphasis role="strong">Epson and some Canon printers:</emphasis> Install the <ulink url="apt:mtink">mtink</ulink> package and click <menuchoice><guimenu>Applications</guimenu><guimenuitem>Accessories</guimenuitem><guimenuitem>mtink</guimenuitem></menuchoice> to check your ink levels.

<emphasis role="strong">Some other Epson and Canon printers:</emphasis> Install the <ulink url="apt:inkblot">inkblot</ulink> package, press <keycombo><keycap>Alt</keycap><keycap>F2</keycap></keycombo>, type <userinput>inkblot</userinput> and click <guibutton>Run</guibutton>. A printer icon will appear in the notification area on the top panel; click it to view ink levels.

For printers from other manufacturers, the best chance of viewing ink levels for your printer in Ubuntu is to install an official Linux printer driver from your manufacturer if one exists.

Faxing

<ulink url="apt:efax-gtk">efax-gtk</ulink> can be used to send and receive faxes using a fax modem. It requires a supported fax modem to be installed for it to function correctly.

It also has an interface to provide a <quote>virtual printer</quote> for sending faxes from word processors and similar programs, along with automatically email a received fax to a designated user, and can automatically print a received fax.

To run efax-gtk, click <menuchoice><guimenu>Applications</guimenu><guisubmenu>Office</guisubmenu><guimenuitem>Efax-gtk</guimenuitem></menuchoice>.

More information is available from the following locations:

Ubuntu Community support pages

Efax-gtk website

Many scanners are automatically supported by Ubuntu, and should be easy to install and operate. This section will walk you through how to use your scanner and what to do if Ubuntu does not detect your scanner.

Does my scanner work with Ubuntu?

Simply plug it in and try it! If it is a newer Universal Serial Bus (USB) scanner, it is likely that it will just work.

Check the <ulink url="https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HardwareSupportComponentsScanners">list of supported scanners</ulink> for Ubuntu.

Check the <ulink url="http://www.sane-project.org/sane-backends.html"> SANE project listing of support scanners</ulink>. SANE is the software used by Ubuntu for most of its scanner support.

To scan a document:

Place what you want to scan on the scanner.

Alternately, pressing the scan button on the scanner should also work.