UsingLprCommand < CF

CF Web>Printing>HowDoIPrint>UsingLprCommand (2006-05-10, WalterTautz) (raw view)

---+ Using the =lpr= Command from the Unix Command Line

The =lpr= command referred to here is specific to  Solaris hosts only in the Student or General computing regions and
specific research hosts.

Unix users can view documentation on how to use the =lpr= command by typing =man lpr= 
to see the options that are available to use with the lpr command, including the =-Z= options,
which allows you to fit =n= logical pages (also known as =n-up= printing) on a physical 
sheet of paper. For example,
<verbatim>
lpr -Fl -Plj_cs -Z2d file.ps
</verbatim>
tells =lpr= to print the postscript file.ps on both sides of
the sheet (=d= part is responsible) and to print two pages on side (the =2= indicates this) 
of the sheet of paper to the print queue =lj_cs=. Note the
presence of the =-Fl= directive which tells lpr that =file.ps= is to be interpreted as a
Postscript file, normally this option is not needed needed as the system will scan the file
to determine what type it is but sometimes files can get corrupted and this auto detection
method can get fooled. The result can be a pile of pages where the Postscript file is
treated as a text file, *not what you want* as its gibberish to the human eye and results
in a huge stack of wasted paper. So to be on the safe side, use =-Fl= option if you know
the file is a Postscript file (*NOTE*. If a =.ps= file was created with specific 
formatting settings embedded in it, you may not be able to override them with the aforementioned 
command line options).


Ordinary text files, for example, a file created with text editor like =vi=, =emacs=, or =pico= 
be printed in the same way a Postscript file can be printed, namely
<verbatim>
lpr -Plj_cs textfile
</verbatim>
The system will convert the file to postscript and send that to the printer.

Dvi files as produced by the =latex= and =tex= command can be printed directly
by using the =-Fd= option as opposed to the =-Fl=. Unfortunately this approach
sometimes results poor output because of obscure font issues and depending on what
specific printer is used.. It may well be better to use =pdflatex= and then
view the resulting pdf file with =acroread= and use =acroread= to print the file.
Acroread allows one to specify =lpr= as a Print Command.

Topic revision: r2 - 2006-05-10 - WalterTautz

Information in this area is meant for use by CSCF staff and is not official documentation, but anybody who is interested is welcome to use it if they find it useful.

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