pbm Utilities

To translate or manipulate your graphics files into a multitude of different formats or effects for printing, try one of Jef Poskanzer's numerous pbm utilities. At last count there were nearly 40 different programs. See the pbm man page for pointers.

Ghostview

Although most of the convenience of having PostScript documents print automagically on cheap inkjet printers under Linux is due to Aladdin Enterprises' interpreter, gs, or Ghostscript, Tim Theisen's X client, Ghostview is another one of those "insanely great" programs that come with nearly every Linux distribution.

You can use Ghostview to preview or print .ps files. This program features multiple levels of magnification, landscape and portrait modes, and prints PostScript files too.

For More Information

See the man pages for tunelp, printcap, lpd, lpr, lpq, lprm, and lpc. Curiously, there is no man page for the printtool program, but its Help menu shows some general information and troubleshooting tips.

Information on how to use APSfilter is under aps/doc in a number of files.

For information about the BSD printing system, read Ralph Campbell's abstract "4.3BSD Line Printer Spooler Manual," which is part of the 4.4BSD System Manager's Manual, tabbed section 7.

For an excellent introduction to LPRng, see Patrick Powell's abstract "LPRng—An Enhanced Printer Spooler." This 13-page document, in PostScript or text format, includes the history, architecture, configuration, operation, and algorithm of the spooler software. You can find it at http://ltpwww.gsfc.nasa.gov/ltpcf/about/unix/Depotdoc/LPRng or look at the files Intro.txt or Intro.ps in the DOC directory of the LPRng sources.

To join the LPRng mailing list, send a subscribe message to plp-request@iona.com.

For detailed information about printing under Linux, you'll need to read The Linux Printing HOWTO by Grant Taylor. The Linux Printing HOWTO contains a host of great tips, tricks, traps, and hacks concerning printing under Linux, including setups for serial printers, and network printing.

Also read The Linux Printing Usage HOWTO, by Mark Komarinski, under /usr/doc.

And don't forget to peruse the following newsgroups for information about printers, PostScript, or Linux printing:

comp.lang.postscript

comp.laser-printers

comp.os.linux.hardware

comp.os.linux.setup

comp.periphs.printers

comp.sources.postscript

comp.sys.hp.hardware

Summary

In this chapter, you've learned about Linux printer devices and how to print simple files. I've also shown you the RHS Linux Print System Manager and some Linux printing commands for simple formatting of text files. Hopefully, you'll also try some of the other printer programs and filters. Use this chapter's information as a starting point to explore the printing features of Red Hat Linux, and push your printer to the max!