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Save the file and open Xsane (<menuchoice><guimenu>Applications</guimenu><guimenuitem>Graphics</guimenuitem><guimenuitem>XSane Image Scanner</guimenuitem></menuchoice>). Your scanner will hopefully work.

ubuntu-doc@lists.ubuntu.com (Ubuntu Documentation Project)

2006-09-07

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

You are free to modify, extend, and improve the Ubuntu documentation source code under the terms of this license. All derivative works must be released under this license.

This documentation is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AS DESCRIBED IN THE DISCLAIMER.

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

Most printers will be automatically supported by Ubuntu. The <application>Printer Configuration</application> application allows you to add printers, as well as modify their settings. You can also use this application to share the printer with other computers on a network, disable the printer, or restart it.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

<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.

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

Ubuntu Community support pages

Efax-gtk website

Scanning

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.

Using your scanner

To scan a document:

Place what you want to scan on the scanner.

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

What if it says "No devices available"?

There are two reasons why you might get this message:

Your scanner is not supported in Ubuntu. For example, most parallel port scanners and Lexmark All-in-One printer/scanner/faxes are not supported.

The driver for your scanner is not being loaded automatically.

You may be able to get your scanner working by installing a driver or altering some configuration files. Please ask for advice on the <ulink url="http://ubuntuforums.org/">Ubuntu forums</ulink> or similar.

To get some scanners working, you may need to plug in the scanner <emphasis>after</emphasis> the computer has booted.

Manually installing a scanner

There are some scanners that have less than complete drivers from the SANE project. They can sometimes be used, but not all the features may work.

Install the <ulink url="apt:libsane-extras">libsane-extras</ulink> package.

Press <keycombo><keycap>Alt</keycap><keycap>F2</keycap></keycombo>, type <userinput>gksudo gedit /etc/sane.d/dll.conf</userinput> into the box and click <guibutton>Run</guibutton> to open the SANE driver file for editing.

Enable the right driver for your scanner by removing the <quote>#</quote> from in front of the name of the driver. You may need to search the web to find out which driver is the right one.

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