Replacing traditional printing commands lpr and lp for printing documents, there is now a nice application on Mandrake Linux called XPP that allows users to print files and configure printing parameters for all printouts. It can also be used as the "print command" in applications[1], so that you can comfortably access all printers from there too.
Let's say that you have just stored on your hard drive an image from a web site and you wish to print it. First launch XPP from the menu figure 11-9) will appear.
+ -> , the main window (There are three main parts on that window: a field to specify the location of the file(s) to print, the list of printers available and a set of options at the bottom.
To select the file to print, click on the figure 11-10) where you can navigate through your disk and choose the file you wish to print. Note that if you know the location you can also type the full path by hand into the white field.
button, it'll display a dialog (Then make sure that the printer selected (with a black point on the left) is the correct one and click the
button.![]() | If you wish to use XPP as the printing program for print jobs sent from other applications such as galeon or many others that allow it, you simply need to change the printing command. There is usually a field in the printing options dialog that says lpr, just change it to xpp. Then when you click on the button, the XPP window will pop-up. You just need to change the options you wish, without worrying about the file. |
XPP allows you to finely tune your printouts. First, there are options on the main window that allow you to print multiple copies of the same file (Copies field) and to change the priority of your printing job. This latter is useful for very busy printers used by many users. If you urgently need a document to be printed, increment the priority number; if you wish to print a document you do not need immediately, lower the priority number.
Then there is the figure 11-12).
button that displays a multi-tabs options dialog (The first tab is divided in two sections:
You can choose three parameters here, although depending on the printer's capabilities, they may or may not be relevant. First is the option to choose a tray for paper, or to use manual feeding. Then the paper size, and finally the printing orientation.
These options are very useful to define the way your document is printed and which part of it.
The Page selection example would only print pages 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 of your document.
The Duplex Printing option is only useful for printers that support it. It is also called double-sided printing.
As stated, the Page set option allows you to duplex print even on printers that do not support it. Simply begin by printing the even pages, place the paper again in the tray (be careful with the orientation!) and print the odd pages on the other side.
Scaled down printing is an environmentalist's option that allows printing multiple pages per sheet of paper. Combined with duplex printing, it should help to save the rain forest :-)
The Reverse output option will print the pages beginning with the last one. It is useful for printers which stack the paper only face-up, so multiple-page documents come out in the correct order.
Finally, the Collate option changes the page order when printing multiple copies of the same file. With the option set, the order of a 3 pages document will be 1,2,3,1,2,3. Without this setting, pages will come out in this order: 1,1,2,2,3,3.
The Text tab (figure 11-13) provides more subtle options to change the way text files are printed.
There are many options, each one quite easy to understand. Just a note about the Enhanced C-Code printing option, that will print a header for each page and perform syntax highlighting for listings of C programs.
The Advanced tab (figure 11-14) provides options to change the page's visual appearance.
This tab is divided in three sections:
Two parameters, Brightness and Gamma will mainly influence half-tone parts and images in the printout (lighten-darken).
The first two parameters change the relative position and size of the image on the page; the last two change the way colors are corrected.
Three parameters:
Fit plot to page: Resize the plot so that it exactly fits the paper size.
Plot all in black: Print in black & white only.
Pen width: Adjust the width of the "virtual" pen plotting the document.
![]() | When you choose options incompatible with each other, the problematic options are displayed in red so that you can easily identify the conflict. In this situation, you will get an error message when clicking on or - correct your settings first. |
When changing the options, there are two possibilities: either save them with the
button so that options are reused for next printouts, or simply click if these options are just valid for the current print job.[1] | You can also use for this purpose, the kprinter command |