Printing in Kubuntu
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Printing in Kubuntu

Credits and License

This document is maintained by the Ubuntu documentation team (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DocumentationTeam). For a list of contributors, see the contributors page

This document is made available under the Creative Commons ShareAlike 2.5 License (CC-BY-SA).

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: Creative Commons ShareAlike License.

This chapter contains information on printers and scanners.


Table of Contents

Printing
HP Device Manager
Local Printing
Network Printing
Testing a Printer
Sharing a Printer
Scanning
Scanner Installation and Configuration

Printing

A majority of printers are supported by Kubuntu. KDEPrint allows you to add printers, modify their settings, monitor printing jobs, disable or restart a printer, as well as printer sharing.

HP Device Manager

The HP Device Manager eases the configuration of HP Multifunction Devices (MFDs), printers that function as copiers and scanners, as well as other HP printers. It is recommended that if you have a direct connection via USB, LPT (parallel port), or network (direct connection or JetDirect) that you use this application. This application does not work with printers set up on a shared network printer using Samba, if your printer is configured this way, it is recommended that you see the section called “Network Printing”.

To open the HP Device Manager, press Alt-F2 and when prompted with the Run Command dialog, type in printer toolbox followed by pressing the OK button or pressing the Enter key. If it is your first time opening the application, you will receive the No Installed HP Devices Found dialog. You will be presented with three choices; Setup Device..., CUPS Web Interface, and Close. To setup your printer select the Setup Device... button. When prompted for a password, enter your user password and then press the OK button. At this point you would select the option that suits your configuration and follow through with the setup. The HP Device Manager has the ability to automatically detect any attached devices, or to scan your network for any compatible devices.

For more information on the HP Device Manager, you can 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 either Help->Contents... or directing your browser to file:///usr/share/doc/hplip-doc/HTML/index.html.

Local Printing

A local printer is one that is directly attached to your computer (as opposed to a network printer, discussed in the following section). To setup a new local printer:

  1. Obtain the model name of your printer and ensure the printer is powered on.

  2. Choose Kickoff Application Launcher->System Settings and select Printer Configuration. This will open the system-settings-config-printers system dialog.

  3. Now choose Add->Add Printer/Class...

  4. Your printer should be automatically detected. If so, simply click Next > and then Finish.

  5. 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 LinuxPrinting.org or check the Kubuntu Wiki's Printer Page for possible information on your printer.

Network Printing

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

  1. Obtain the model name of your printer and ensure the printer is powered on.

  2. Choose Kickoff Application Launcher->System Settings and select Printer Configuration. This will open the system-settings-config-printer system dialog.

  3. Now choose Add->Add Printer/Class...

  4. At the Introduction dialog, press the Next > button.

  5. At the Backend Selection dialog, select the type of remote connection you wish to use and press the Next > button.

  6. 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 you are unsure, try with Anonymous (no login/password) and press the Next >. If this fails, try with Guest account (login="guest") and so on.

  7. At the Printer Settings dialog, press the Scan button. If you receive any authentication errors, press the < Back button and try the previous step with a different authentication setting. If all goes well, select the remote printer and press Next >.

  8. After KDE builds the driver database, the Printer Model Selection dialog will appear with a list of Manufacturer and Model information. Locate your printer and highlight the corresponding drivers and press Next >. If no information pertaining to your printer is found, please search the databases at LinuxPrinting.org or check the Kubuntu Wiki's Printer Page for possible information on your printer.

  9. For this step, there are two possible choices concerning the dialog you will see. If the drivers were automatically setup, then you will see the Printer Test dialog. If the drivers weren't automatically setup, then you will be shown the Driver Selection dialog.

    1. At the Printer Test dialog, you can either test print to verify operation of your printer or move on. Which ever decision you make, when complete press the Next > button.

    2. At the Driver Selection dialog, you will be prompted to select an appropriate driver. If there is a driver with [recommended], select this printer and press Next >. If there isn't a recommended driver, try each driver until you find one that is suitable for your printer.

  10. At the Banner Selection dialog, you can select the default Starting and Ending banners. These are the header and footer of the page printed. Once complete press Next >.

  11. At the Printer Quota Settings dialog, you can setup the size of the quota you wish to enable for the printer. This would be the maximum file size or maximum amount of pages you want to allow at any one time through the printer. Once complete press Next >.

  12. At the User Access Settings dialog, you can enforce access to the printer to certain users or groups. Once complete press Next >.

  13. At the General Information dialog, you must insert at least a Name for the printer. Once complete press Next >.

  14. Confirmation is the final dialog you will be presented. Verify the information is correct and then press Finish to complete the installation.

Testing a Printer

  1. Select Printers from Kickoff Application Launcher->Computer->System Settings.

  2. Right click the printer you wish to test and select Test Printer...

  3. At the Warning dialog press the Print Test Page button.

Sharing a Printer

  1. Select Printers from Kickoff Application Launcher->Computer->System Settings.

  2. Highlight or select the printer that you want to share.

  3. Once highlighted go to Print Server->Share Printers on Local Network.

  4. At the Share Printers on Local Network dialog, press the Enable Sharing button.

  5. At the Run as root - KDE su dialog, enter your user password and press the OK button.

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