Translations by Jared Norris

Managing Printers and Printing in <phrase>Kubuntu</phrase>

This document is maintained by the Ubuntu documentation team (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DocumentationTeam). For a list of contributors, see the <ulink url="help:/kubuntu/contributors.html">contributors page</ulink>

A copy of the license is available here: <ulink url="help:/kubuntu/copyright.html">Creative Commons ShareAlike License</ulink>.

This document contains information about various printing options that <phrase>Kubuntu</phrase> offers and other related tasks.

Printing

Most printers are supported by <phrase>Kubuntu</phrase>. System Settings &gt; Printer Configuration provides the ability to add printers, modify their settings, monitor printing jobs, suspend or restart printers, and set up printer sharing.

The <application>HP Device Manager</application> simplifies the configuration of <acronym>printers</acronym>, including <acronym>HP</acronym> Multifunction Devices (<acronym>MFD</acronym>s)--printers that also copy and scan. This application should be used if there is a direct connection from the computer to the printer via <acronym>USB</acronym>, <acronym>LPT</acronym> (parallel port), or network (direct connection or JetDirect). The <application>HP Device Manager</application> does not work with printers on a shared network using <application>Samba</application>. If the printer is configured with <application>Samba</application>, <xref linkend="print-network"/> is recommended.

To open the <application>HP Device Manager</application>, press <keycombo><keycap>Alt</keycap><keycap>F2</keycap></keycombo>. In the <guilabel>Run Command</guilabel> dialog, type <userinput>printer toolbox</userinput> followed by pressing the <guibutton>OK</guibutton> button or pressing the <keycap>Enter</keycap> key. If this is the first time opening the application, the <guilabel>No Installed HP Devices Found</guilabel> dialog will appear. Three choices will be presented: <guibutton>Setup Device...</guibutton>, <guibutton>CUPS Web Interface</guibutton>, and <guibutton>Close</guibutton>. To set up the printer, select the <guibutton>Setup Device...</guibutton> button. When prompted for a password, enter the correct password and then press the <guibutton>OK</guibutton> button. Select the option that suits the printer configuration and complete the setup. The <application>HP Device Manager</application> has the ability to automatically detect any attached devices, or to scan a network for any compatible devices.

For more information on the <application>HP Device Manager</application>, install the <application>hplip-docs</application> package. Please refer to the <ulink type="help" url="help:/kubuntu/add-applications/">Adding Applications</ulink> documentation for more information on installing extra applications. Once the <application>hplip-docs</application> are installed, they can be accessed by going to <menuchoice><guimenu>Help</guimenu><guimenuitem>Contents...</guimenuitem></menuchoice> or browsing to <ulink url="file:///usr/share/doc/hplip-doc/HTML/index.html"/>.

A local printer is one that is directly attached to the computer (network printers are discussed in the following section). To set up a new local printer:

Determine the model name of the printer and ensure the printer is powered on.

Choose <menuchoice><guimenu>Kickoff Application Launcher</guimenu><guimenuitem>System Settings</guimenuitem></menuchoice> and select <guilabel>Printer Configuration</guilabel> to open the <application>system-settings-config-printers</application> system dialog.

Choose <menuchoice><guimenu>Add</guimenu><guimenuitem>Add Printer/Class...</guimenuitem></menuchoice>

The printer should be detected automatically. If so, click <guibutton>Next &gt;</guibutton> and then <guibutton>Finish</guibutton>.

To finish, enter a description and location for the printer.

Some printers may need further set up steps. If the printer was not automatically detected, try to select the port and printer driver manually. Search the databases at <ulink url="http://www.linuxprinting.org">LinuxPrinting.org</ulink> or check the <ulink url="https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HardwareSupportComponentsPrinters">Kubuntu Wiki's Printer Page</ulink> for possible information on the printer.

<phrase>Kubuntu</phrase> can be configured to send print jobs to a remote print server. Remote printers are attached through a network. To configure a remote printer:

Choose <menuchoice><guimenu>New Printer</guimenu><guimenuitem>New Printer Class</guimenuitem></menuchoice>

At the <guilabel>Introduction</guilabel> dialog, press the <guibutton>Next &gt;</guibutton> button.

At the <guilabel>User Identification</guilabel> dialog, select the type of authentication that is used by either the remote printer or the system that is sharing the remote printer. <emphasis role="bold">TIP:</emphasis> if there is a question, try <guilabel>Anonymous (no login/password)</guilabel> and press the <guibutton>Next &gt;</guibutton>. If this fails, try with <guilabel>Guest account (login="guest")</guilabel>.

At the <guilabel>Printer Settings</guilabel> dialog, press the <guibutton>Scan</guibutton> button. If there are any authentication errors, press the <guibutton>&lt; Back</guibutton> button and try the previous step with a different authentication setting. If all goes well, select the remote printer and press <guibutton>Next &gt;</guibutton>.

After KDE builds the driver database, the <guilabel>Printer Model Selection</guilabel> dialog will appear with a list with <guilabel>Manufacturer</guilabel> and <guilabel>Model</guilabel> information. Locate the printer, highlight the corresponding drivers, and press <guibutton>Next &gt;</guibutton>. If no information pertaining to the printer is found, please search the databases at <ulink url="http://www.linuxprinting.org">LinuxPrinting.org</ulink> or check the <ulink url="https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HardwareSupportComponentsPrinters">Kubuntu Wiki's Printer Page</ulink> for possible information on the printer.

For this step, there are two possible choices concerning the dialog. If the drivers were set up automatically, then the <guilabel>Printer Test</guilabel> dialog will appear. If the drivers weren't automatically setup, then the <guilabel>Driver Selection</guilabel> dialog will be displayed.

At the <guilabel>Printer Test</guilabel> dialog, do a testprint to verify the operation of the printer or move on. When complete, press the <guibutton>Next &gt;</guibutton> button.

At the <guilabel>Driver Selection</guilabel> dialog, there will be a prompt to select an appropriate driver. If there is a <emphasis>[recommended]</emphasis> driver, select this printer and press <guibutton>Next &gt;</guibutton>. If there isn't a recommended driver, try each driver to find one that is suitable for your printer.

At the <guilabel>Banner Selection</guilabel> dialog, select the default <guilabel>Starting</guilabel> and <guilabel>Ending</guilabel> banners. When complete, press <guibutton>Next &gt;</guibutton>.

At the <guilabel>Printer Quota Settings</guilabel> dialog, set the size of the quota to be enabled for the printer. This is the maximum file size or maximum number of pages that will be allowed at any one time. When complete, press <guibutton>Next &gt;</guibutton>.

At the <guilabel>User Access Settings</guilabel> dialog, access rules can be set for users or groups. When complete, press <guibutton>Next &gt;</guibutton>.

At the <guilabel>General Information</guilabel> dialog, insert at least one <guilabel>Name</guilabel> for the printer. When complete, press <guibutton>Next &gt;</guibutton>.

<guilabel>Confirmation</guilabel> is the final dialog presented. Verify that the information is correct, and press <guibutton>Finish</guibutton> to complete the installation.

Samba Print Server

Samba is commonly used to configure printer sharing, installed locally or over the network, on a Ubuntu server. Similar to <ulink type="help" url="help:/kubuntu/sharing/"> Samba-fileserver</ulink>, this section will show how to configure Samba to allow any client on the local network to use the installed printers without prompting for a username and password.

For a more secure configuration, see <ulink type="help" url="help:/kubuntu/sharing/"> Samba-fileprint-security</ulink>

Installation

Before installing and configuring Samba, it is best to have a working <application>CUPS</application> installation. See the <ulink url="https://help.ubuntu.com/9.10/serverguide/C/cups.html"> wiki</ulink> for details.

To install the <application>samba</application> package, from a terminal enter:

sudo apt-get install samba

Configuration

After installing samba, edit <filename>/etc/samba/smb.conf</filename>. Change the <emphasis>workgroup</emphasis> attribute to what is appropriate for the network, and change <emphasis>security</emphasis> to <emphasis role="italic">share</emphasis>:

workgroup = EXAMPLE ... security = user

In the <emphasis>[printers]</emphasis> section, change the <emphasis>guest ok</emphasis> option to <emphasis role="italic">yes</emphasis>:

browsable = yes guest ok = yes

After editing <filename>smb.conf</filename>, restart Samba:

sudo /etc/init.d/samba restart

The default Samba configuration will automatically share any printers installed. Simply install printers locally on the Windows clients.

Resources

For in depth Samba configurations see the <ulink url="http://samba.org/samba/docs/man/Samba-HOWTO-Collection/">Samba HOWTO Collection</ulink>

The guide is also available in <ulink url="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0131882228">printed format</ulink>.

O'Reilly's <ulink url="http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9780596007690/">Using Samba</ulink> is another good reference.

See the <ulink url="http://www.cups.org/">CUPS Website</ulink> for more information on configuring CUPS.