Printing

List of Available Printers

For a list of printers available to you on campus, at the Unix prompt, type:

printers

You will see a list like:

PRINTER
ps_lvlg40
ps_lvlg40_dp
ps_sal125
ps_sal125_dp
ps_wphb34
ps_wphb34_dp


The printer names have a prefix which tells you what type of printer it is, followed by a building and room location, and ending with a suffix which tells you whether there is any special handling involved. Here is what they mean:

Prefixes:

ps_, p_: PostScript printer

lp_, l_: line printer

Suffixes:

_dp: duplex (will print on both sides of the paper)

_dr: drilled (will print on paper with 3-holes)

_dpdr: duplex and drilled

The list of available printers may vary slightly from host to host.

Printing PostScript Files

The command to print PostScript is lpr. You must use the -P option to specify a printer. The syntax is:

lpr -P <printer> <filename>

Example: lpr -P ps_ucc101 hw.ps

Another common option is -#<number> which allows you to print multiple copies.

The following example will print 3 copies of the file assign1.ps to the PostScript printer in WPH B34.

Example: lpr -P ps_wphb34 -#3 assign.ps

For more options and information on the lpr command, type the following at the Unix prompt:

man lpr

Printing Text Files

The command to print ascii text files is enscript. You must use the -P option to specify a printer. The syntax is:

enscript -P <printer> [options] <filename>

Example: enscript -P ps_sal125 lab.txt

Other common options are:

-#<number> print multiple copies

-B don't print the banner on the top of each page

-2r rotate and condense the text to print two pages per sheet

Example: enscript -P ps_koh200_dp -2r -B -#2 paper.txt

This example will print two condensed and rotated copies of paper.txt with no banners to the duplex PostScript printer in KOH 200.

For more options and information on the enscript command, type the following at the unix prompt:

man enscript

Determining File Format

If you are not sure what file format your file is, type:

file <filename>

Example: file report

This example will return the file format next to the name of the file:

report: ascii text
or
report: PostScript document

Note: If the file format is not text or postscript, do not try to print the file with the above commands. If the printer cannot recognize the format of the file, it may print out random ascii characters on an excessive amount of paper.

Displaying Print Queues

To see whether your job is in a print queue or how long a print queue is, use the lpq command. You must use the -P option to specify which print queue you would like to see. The syntax is:

lpq -P <printer>

Example: lpq -P ps_ucc101

The above example will display something like:

Rank	Owner	Job	Files	Total Size
active	nobody	739	essay1	84694 bytes
1st	ttrojan	435	homework2	593 bytes

Removing Print Jobs from Print Queues

To remove a print job from a print queue, use the lprm command. You must be the owner of a print job in order to kill a print job. You must use the -P option to specify the print queue your job is in. The syntax is:

lprm -P <printer> <job#>

Example: lprm -P ps_ucc101 739

This example will remove print job 739 from the print queue for the printer in UCC 101. You can also use a hyphen to represent all your print jobs.

For example:

lprm -P ps_lvlg40 -

This will remove all your print jobs from the print queue for the printer in LVL G40.

Note: You must be on the same host you submitted a job from in order to kill a print job. Once a print job has left the queue and is being printed, there is no way to kill it.

Defining a Default Printer

You can define a default printer for your Unix account by putting the following line in your .login file:

setenv PRINTER <printer>

Example: setenv PRINTER ps_ucc101

Then you can use the lpr and enscript commands without the -P option and your print jobs will be sent to your default printer. You can override your default printer at any time by using the -P option.

Charges for Printouts

Printouts cost 0.15 cents per page single-sided (simplex) or double-sided (duplex) at SAL, WPH, KOH, and LVL. This cost is subject to change and does vary at non-ITS run locations. Please check with the printout center at the lab in which you are working for the most current information.

Printouts must be paid for with a USCard using either a "Discretionary" or "Print Only" account.

Please note that you are expected to pay for your printouts. Serious and/or repeated instances in which you fail to pay for your printouts will result in your account being disabled or terminated.