
Copyright © 2011 Canonical Ltd. and members of the Ubuntu Documentation Project
This document contains information about various printing options that Kubuntu offers and other related tasks.
Table of Contents
Most printers are supported by Kubuntu. System Settings > Printer Configuration provides the ability to add printers, modify their settings, monitor printing jobs, suspend or restart printers, and set up printer sharing.
The HP Device Manager simplifies the configuration of printers, including HP Multifunction Devices (MFDs)--printers that also copy and scan. This application should be used if there is a direct connection from the computer to the printer via USB, LPT (parallel port), or network (direct connection or JetDirect). The HP Device Manager does not work with printers on a shared network using Samba. If the printer is configured with Samba, the section called “Network Printing” is recommended.
To open the HP Device Manager, press
Alt+F2. In the
Run Command dialog, type printer
toolbox
followed by pressing the
button or pressing the Enter key. If
this is the first time opening the application, the No Installed HP
Devices Found dialog will appear. Three choices will be presented:
, , and . To
set up the printer, select the button.
When prompted for a password, enter the correct password and then press the
button. Select the option that suits the printer
configuration and complete the setup. The HP Device
Manager has the ability to automatically
detect any attached devices, or to scan a network for any compatible devices.
For more information on the HP Device Manager, install the hplip-docs package. Please refer to the Adding Applications documentation for more information on installing extra applications. Once the hplip-docs are installed, they can be accessed by going to → or browsing to 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 → and select Printer Configuration to open the system-settings-config-printers system dialog.
Choose →
The printer should be detected automatically. If so, click and then .
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 LinuxPrinting.org or check the Kubuntu Wiki's Printer Page for possible information on the printer.
Kubuntu can be configured to send print jobs to a remote print server. Remote printers are attached through a network. To configure a remote printer:
Determine the model name of the printer and ensure the printer is powered on.
Choose → and select Printer Configuration to open the system-settings-config-printers system dialog.
Choose →
At the Introduction dialog, press the button.
At the Backend Selection dialog, select the type of remote connection you wish to use and press the button.
At the User Identification dialog, select the type of authentication that is used by either the remote printer or the system that is sharing the remote printer. TIP: if there is a question, try Anonymous (no login/password) and press the . If this fails, try with Guest account (login="guest").
At the Printer Settings dialog, press the button. If there are any authentication errors, press the button and try the previous step with a different authentication setting. If all goes well, select the remote printer and press .
After KDE builds the driver database, the Printer Model Selection dialog will appear with a list with Manufacturer and Model information. Locate the printer, highlight the corresponding drivers, and press . If no information pertaining to the printer is found, please search the databases at LinuxPrinting.org or check the Kubuntu Wiki's Printer Page 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 Printer Test dialog will appear. If the drivers weren't automatically setup, then the Driver Selection dialog will be displayed.
At the Printer Test dialog, do a testprint to verify the operation of the printer or move on. When complete, press the button.
At the Driver Selection dialog, there will be a prompt to select an appropriate driver. If there is a [recommended] driver, select this printer and press . If there isn't a recommended driver, try each driver to find one that is suitable for your printer.
At the Banner Selection dialog, select the default Starting and Ending banners. When complete, press .
At the Printer Quota Settings 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 .
At the User Access Settings dialog, access rules can be set for users or groups. When complete, press .
At the General Information dialog, insert at least one Name for the printer. When complete, press .
Confirmation is the final dialog presented. Verify that the information is correct, and press to complete the installation.
Samba is commonly used to configure printer sharing, installed locally or over the network, on a Ubuntu server. Similar to Samba-fileserver, 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 Samba-fileprint-security
Before installing and configuring Samba, it is best to have a working CUPS installation. See the wiki for details.
To install the samba package, from a terminal enter:
sudo apt-get install samba
After installing samba, edit /etc/samba/smb.conf
. Change
the workgroup attribute to what is appropriate for the
network, and change security to share:
workgroup = EXAMPLE ... security = user
In the [printers] section, change the guest ok option to yes:
browsable = yes guest ok = yes
After editing smb.conf
, 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.
For in depth Samba configurations see the Samba HOWTO Collection
The guide is also available in printed format.
O'Reilly's Using Samba is another good reference.
See the CUPS Website for more information on configuring CUPS.
Select Printers from → → .
At the Warning dialog, press the button.