Printing and Faxing from Applications

Once your printer is properly installed (refer to the section called “Configuring Printers with PrinterDrake” for instructions on printer installation) it's time to put it to use. In the past printing has been a quite an issue under GNU/Linux but as you will soon discover, this has changed a lot.KDE applications support a simple printing method based on a program called kprinter. kprinter can even be used to build PDF files and to send faxes.

Accessing KPrinter

From KDE applications, clicking on the print button or selecting File->Print will invoke kprinter directly. Make sure you select the page range, the printing quality, the number of copies, etc., and click on the Print button.

GNOME applications have to be set up to print with kprinter. In fact, every X application which supports the definition of its printing command (for example, Mozilla) can use kprinter. All you have to do is invoke the print options (by typing Ctrl-P, or by selecting File+Print) then look for an option named “Print command”, “Printer”, “Printer Options” or similar, and fill it with kprinter --stdin. This way, kprinter will be invoked every time you ask that application to print. Then click on the Print button and you will see kprinter's main window (no actual document will be printed at this point).

KPrinter's Interface

kprinter allows you to set many options[10] for printing your documents, such as the output device (generally a physical, local or remote printer), the number of copies, the paper size, the printer resolution, etc.

Figure 10.8. KPrinter Window

KPrinter Window

As you can see in Figure 10.8, “KPrinter Window”, the interface is quite clean and simple. In the Printer section you can choose the printer from a pull-down list. Depending on the printing system you use, you can also add new printers (clicking on the magic wand icon will launch a wizard to help you to do this) and you can further configure the printer settings by clicking on the Properties button.

At the bottom of the window are buttons which allow you to Expand kprinter's options. The System Options button gives you access to global printing configuration. The other buttons (Help, Print, Cancel) speak for themselves.

The Printer Section

In this section, you set the device which will receive your print job and its properties, such as page size, resolution, etc. All the available printers are listed in the Name pull-down list. Just select the one you want to print to.

[Tip]Tip

Usually, your local printer, the “Print to file” printers (both PDF and Postscript) and the “Fax” printer are listed. However, if you are in a network, all printers available on the network will be listed too, so network printing becomes very simple.

Click on the Properties button to change the device's options. Please note that the options available will depend on the chosen device.

Figure 10.9. Printer Properties Window

Printer Properties Window

Most options available are self-explanatory. One worth mentioning is Pages per sheet (set to 2 in the example). This allows you to put up to 4 pages onto a single sheet of paper (or 8 if you can print on both sides). This is a nice feature to save paper when printing book drafts or other lengthy material which changes often.

Figure 10.10. Changing Printer Resolution

Changing Printer Resolution

If you want to change printer-specific options such as the resolution of the printing device, you click on the Driver Settings tab. Here you will find the Resolution option as one of the available categories. When you click on it, the available resolutions will be displayed in the bottom part of the window. Select the one you want from the list.

Other settings include printing modes which use much less toner or ink (search for something like “Economy Mode”, “Toner Density” or “Toner Saving”). However, the output is much paler. If this is not available, choosing a lower resolution often has similar effects.

You can use the Save button to save the current settings for future printing jobs. Once you are satisfied with your settings, click on OK.

Expanded Printing Dialog

After clicking on the Expand button, kprinter's dialog changes to the one shown in Figure 10.11, “More Printing Settings”.

Figure 10.11. More Printing Settings

More Printing Settings

In the Copies tab you have the page range settings and the number and order of the copies. Page selection can be set to:

All

Prints all of the document's pages.

Current

Prints only the document's current page. This option might not be available at all times.

Range

Allows you to specify page ranges to print. You can specify pages or groups of pages separated by commas: 1,2,5 prints pages 1, 2 and 5; 1-3,7,21 prints pages 1 to 3 and pages 7 and 21, 10- prints from page 10 to the end of the document, and -3 prints the first three pages of the document).

The Page set pull-down list lets you specify pre-defined sets of pages to print (All pages, Odd pages or Even pages). This allows you to print double-sided documents on a printer without a duplex unit: print the odd pages, turn the stack of printed pages over and put them back into the input tray, then print the even pages.

Under the Copies section, use the little arrows to increase or decrease the number of copies or just type the number of copies you want to print in the Copies field.

When you are printing multiple copies, you may check the Collate check box to print the whole document before starting to print the second copy, instead of getting all copies of page number 1, then all copies of page number 2, and so on.

The Reverse check box makes the printing job start at the last page and end at the first one (the document is printed “backwards”). This option is useful if your printer leaves the paper sheets face-up in the output tray.

The HTML Settings tab lets you define options concerning HTML pages printing such as: a “Printer friendly mode” which does not print the background and prints all text black to save toner or ink, and whether or not to print images and a header.

In the Advanced options tab you may set some options concerning printing time, priority of the print job and so on.

Click on the Collapse button to return to the “minimal” display mode of kprinter.

Building PDF Files

Creating a PDF file from your document is very easy with kprinter. Simply select the Print To File (PDF) special printer, enter the file name in the Output file field as shown in Figure 10.12, “Generating a PDF File”, and click on Print. A PDF file will be written (print.pdf in your home directory in our example).

Figure 10.12. Generating a PDF File

Generating a PDF File

Sending Faxes

The special Send To Fax printer allows you to send faxes in the same way as some Windows® applications, by “printing to the fax”. When you click on the Print button, a dialog (Figure 10.13, “Faxing Main Window”) will appear.

Figure 10.13. Faxing Main Window

Faxing Main Window

First, you need to make sure that your fax modem is properly configured. To configure your fax modem, select Settings->Configure KdeprintFax from the menu. Fill the information under the Personal section with your name, company and fax number. In the System section make sure that the correct faxing system and its corresponding parameters are set. An example is shown in Figure 10.14, “Fax Settings”.

Figure 10.14. Fax Settings

Fax Settings

Fill in the Fax number field and click on the Send Fax button, or press the Enter key, to send the fax immediately.

The View Log button (Ctrl-L) will show you a window with the fax activity log (check it to make sure your fax has been sent correctly).

The Address Book button (Ctrl-A) will open the KDE address book to let you select fax numbers to dial.

Once your fax has been sent you can quit the fax window by selecting File->Quit from the menu or pressing Ctrl-Q keys.

Handling Print Jobs

This icon appears on the KDE panel whenever you have print jobs, printing or queued. Clicking on it will open the print queue control window (see Figure 10.15, “Print Queue”).

Figure 10.15. Print Queue

Print Queue

Table 10.3, “Jobs Queue Control Buttons” lists the most important job queue control functions. Please bear in mind that, unless you have sufficient rights, you can only control print jobs launched by yourself. You won't have control on print jobs launched by other users. Also note that not all buttons might be enabled at all times.

Table 10.3. Jobs Queue Control Buttons

ButtonFunction

Clicking on this button will put the currently selected print job on hold, that is it will pause its printing.

Clicking on this button will resume printing of the currently selected paused print job, that is it will continue its printing.

Clicking on this button will remove the currently selected print job from the queue, and its printing will be canceled. Please bear in mind that you will not be asked for confirmation, the job will be removed immediately.

Clicking on the “up arrow” button will increase the priority of the print job and clicking on the “down arrow” button will decrease it. You can use these buttons to give some jobs preference over others.

Multi-Function Printers

Some printers are known as multi-function devices. This generally means that the printer may also be used as a scanner and maybe also as a fax. There are also printers that can read digital photo camera memory cards, some can even print photos directly from the memory card.

If you have a multi-function device with scanning functionality, please note that the scanner will be configured with PrinterDrake and not with ScannerDrake. Make sure you read PrinterDrake's messages when installing the device.

In any case, refer to your printer documentation for information on operating the different functions or devices your multi-function printer has.



[10] The actual printing options you will be able to set will depend on the output device you have selected. Not all devices have the same capabilities.