Differences between revisions 1 and 18 (spanning 17 versions)
Revision 1 as of 2018-10-05 17:55:46
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Comment: Initial version.
Revision 18 as of 2022-04-20 16:13:33
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Editor: Brian Potkin
Comment: Deleted references to Google Cloud. Removed links to external sources. Spelling. Amendments and additions.
Deletions are marked like this. Additions are marked like this.
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## page was renamed from PrintingGlossaryandIndex
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Describe in one or two lines what your page is about.

## If your page gets really long, uncomment this Table of Contents
## <<TableOfContents(2)>>
An aid to locating items of interest on the [[Printing|Printing Portal]] pages.
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<<Anchor(aio)>>
  '''[[#mfd|AIO]]'''
        All-in-One. See [[#mfd|MFD]].

<<Anchor(airprint)>>
  '''[[CUPSAirPrint|AirPrint]]'''
        A facility offered by almost all [[CUPSQuickPrintQueues#intro|modern]] printers and [[#aio|AIOs]]. !AirPrint printers are obliged to accept [[#appleraster|Apple raster]] as a [[#pdlan|PDL]]. The Debian printing system is [[#rastertopwg|able to produce]] Apple raster to send to the printer. Sending to a suitable device may be done over ethernet, Wi-Fi or [[#ippoverusb|USB]].


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 '''[[#urf|Apple Raster]]'''
      See [[#urf|URF]]
 '''[[CUPSDriverlessPrinting#pdls|Apple Raster]]'''
      A [[#urf|raster file format]] devised by Apple for using with AirPrint devices. See [[#urf|URF]]
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<<Anchor(autorotate)>>
 '''[[pdftopdfandPageRotation#autorotate|autorotation]]'''
      The default behaviour of [[#cupsfilters|cups-filters]] to fit landscape pages in a printed document on paper.

<<Anchor(avahi)>>
 '''[[Avahi|Avahi]]'''
      A framework for Multicast DNS Service Discovery ([[#dnssd|DNS-SD]]). It allows programs to publish and discover services and hosts running on a local network with no specific configuration and is the equivalent of [[#bonjour|Bonjour]].

<<Anchor(avahibrowse)>>
 '''[[Avahi#browse|avahi-browse]]'''
      A utility to browse for [[#dnssd|DNS-SD]] announced [[CUPSAirPrint#Browsing_an_AirPrint_Bonjour_Broadcast|printers and queues]] on the local network using [[#avahi|Avahi daemon]].
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      Used for [[#printer|printer]] discovery and sending a document processed by [[#cups|CUPS]] and [[#cupsfilters|cups-filters]] to the device after it has been converted to a format understood by the printer       Used for [[#printer|printer]] discovery and sending a document processed by [[#cups|CUPS]] and [[#cupsfilters|cups-filters]] to the device after it has been converted to a format understood by the printer.

<<Anchor(bonjour)>>
 '''[[AirPrint|Bonjour]]'''
      An implementation of [[#dnssd|DNS-SD]] by Apple. Most recent network printers have it as facility.

<<Anchor(interfaceclass)>>
 '''[[CUPSDriverlessPrinting#lsusb|bInterfaceClass]]'''
      The USB standard defines class code information that is used to identify a device’s functionality. Printers are allocated code 7. The host gets information about a connected printer from USB descriptors and loads a suitable device driver such as the usblp kernel module.

<<Anchor(interfaceproto)>>
 '''[[CUPSDriverlessPrinting#lsusb|bInterfaceProtocol]]'''
      The protocol code of the printer that the USB organisation assigned. Indicates what the [[#interfaceclass|device]] is capable of doing. For example, code 2 indicates that it accepts bidirectional communication; code 4 indicates that [[CUPSDriverlessPrinting#lsusb|IPP-over-USB]] is a capability.

<<Anchor(booklet)>>
 '''[[pdftopdfandPageRotation#bonus|booklet]]'''
      A [[#cupsfilters|cups-filters]] option to output a document in booklet format.
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<<Anchor(classicp)>>
 '''[[#printer|Classic Printer]]'''
      See [[#printer|Printer]].

<<Anchor(clientconf)>>
 '''[[CUPSPrintQueues#cupsclient|client.conf]]'''
      Print without a local [[#cups|CUPS]] server.
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      Manages all aspects of printing a document and is at the heart of Debian's default printing system. Subject to continual [[https://github.com/apple/cups/|upstream development]].       Manages all aspects of printing a document and is at the heart of Debian's default printing system. A fork of Apple CUPS is [[Printing#important|maintained at OpenPrinting]] and [[DebianList:debian-printing/2020/11/msg00064.html|used as the basis]] for Debian's packages.

<<Anchor(cupsctl)>>
 '''[[CUPSPrintQueues#confs|cupsctl]]'''
      A utility for configuring [[CUPSPrintQueues#confs|cupsd.conf]] options.
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      A file for diagnosing issues and misbehaviours of the printing system. Logging to the file is done not only by [[#cups|CUPS]] but by other printing processes such as [[#cupsfilters|cups-filters]].       A file for diagnosing issues and misbehaviours of the printing system. Logging to the file is done not only by [[#cups|CUPS]] but by other printing processes such as [[#cupsfilters|cups-filters]] and [[#tea4cups|Tea4CUPS]].
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      A setup tool for [[#printqueue|print queues]] and [[#printer|printers]]. Comes as a package separate from [[#cupsfilters|cups-filters]] and is essential on Debian 8 (jessie) and 9 (stretch) for automatic discovery and setup of remote queues and printers.       A setup tool for [[#printqueue|print queues]] and [[#printer|printers]]. Comes as a package separate from [[#cupsfilters|cups-filters]] and is essential on Debian 8 (jessie) and 9 (stretch) for automatic discovery and setup of remote queues and printers. It also supports facilities (such as browsing the broadcasts of pre-1.6.x CUPS servers, servers on other network segments and queue clustering) which are no longer supported by CUPS.
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 '''[[ThecupsfilterUtility|cupsfilter]]'''  '''[[CUPSFilter|cupsfilter]]'''
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<<Anchor(cups-filters)>>
 '''[[DissectingandDebuggingtheCUPSPrintingSystem#intro|cups-filters]]'''
      A project providing [[#backend|backends]], [[#filter|filters]] and other software such as [[#cupsbrowsed|cups-browsed]]. Under continual [[https://github.com/OpenPrinting/cups-filters|upstream development]].
<<Anchor(cupsfilters)>>
 '''[[CUPSDebugging#intro|cups-filters]]'''
      A project providing [[#backend|backends]], [[#filter|filters]] and other software such as [[#cupsbrowsed|cups-browsed]] and [[#driverlessutil|driverless]]. Under continual [[Printing#ext|upstream development]].
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      A primary configuration file for [[cups|CUPS]].       A primary file for configurong a [[#cups|CUPS]] server.
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      A primary configuration file for [[cups|CUPS]].       A file for configuring the files and directories used by a [[#cups|CUPS]] server.
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<<Anchor(dnssd)>>
 '''[[CUPSDriverlessPrinting#driverless|DNS-SD]]'''
      This is a public service protocol used to advertise and discover printing services on a local network. The services [[Avahi#resolution|are resolved]] to hostnames using standard DNS queries. Being a public service, no filtering of announcements is offered. A [[#cups|CUPS]] server automatically uses the protocol to publicise its queues and it is a feature of many recent printers which have AirPrint. [[#bonjour|Bonjour]] is Apple's implementation of DNS-SD and is handled on Debian by [[#avahi|Avahi]].
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      A Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) is an addressing technology for identifying where to dispatch the file sent by a [[#backend|backend]]. USB and [[PrintQueuesCUPS#networkuri|network printers]] are supported by [[#cups|CUPS]] with various schemes.        A Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) is an addressing technology for identifying where to dispatch the file sent by a [[#backend|backend]]. USB and [[PrintQueuesCUPS#networkuri|network printers]] are supported by [[#cups|CUPS]] with various schemes.

<<Anchor(dialog)>>
 '''[[#printdialog|Dialog]]'''
      See [[#printdialog|Print Dialog]]
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 '''[[DriverlessPrinting|Driverless Printing]]'''
      Printing using only free, open-standard software and [[#filter|filters]]. No vendor-specific drivers or [[#ppd|PPDs]].
 '''[[CUPSDriverlessPrinting|Driverless Printing]]'''
      Printing using only free, open-standard software and [[#filter|filters]]. No vendor-specific drivers or [[#ppd|PPDs]]. Any needed PPD is generated from the reponses given by the [[#printer|printer]] or [[#queue|queue]] to [[#ipp|IPP queries]]. [[#cupsbrowsed|cups-browsed]] has a PPD generator which is practically the same as the one in [[#cups|CUPS]].

<<Anchor(driverlessutil)>>
 '''[[CUPSDriverlessPrinting#lpadmin|driverless]]'''
      A utility to find the [[#deviceuri|URI]] of an [[#ipp|IPP printer]] and generate a [[#ppd|PPD]] for [[#driverless|driverless printing]]. Provided by [[#cupsfilters|cups-filters]].
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<<Anchor(evince)>>
 '''[[#viewers|Evince]]'''
       A PDF and !PostScript file [[#viewers|viewer]].
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      Programs or scripts for converting from one input format to another format that can be printed directly or sent to another filter. Examples are [[ThetexttopdfFilter|texttopdf]], [[pdftopdfandPageRotation|pdftopdf]], [[DissectingandDebuggingtheCUPSPrintingSystem#pdfcentric|gstopdf]] and [[DriverlessPrinting#rasters|rastertopwg]]. Both [[#cups|CUPS]] and [[#cupsfilters|cupsfilters]] provide filters for the printing system.       Programs or scripts for converting from one input format to another format that can be printed directly or sent to another filter. Examples are [[CUPSTextToPdfFilter|texttopdf]], [[pdftopdfandPageRotation|pdftopdf]], [[DissectingandDebuggingtheCUPSPrintingSystem#pdfcentric|gstopdf]] and [[DriverlessPrinting#rasters|rastertopwg]]. Both [[#cups|CUPS]] and [[#cupsfilters|cups-filters]] provide filters for the printing system.

<<Anchor(filedevice)>>
 '''[[DissectingandDebuggingtheCUPSPrintingSystem#capture2|file:/ device]]'''
      Print a [[#job|job]] to a file rather than to a [[#printer|printer]] or [[#queue|queue]]. Intended to be used for diagnostic testing.

<<Anchor(fittopage)>>
 '''[[pdftopdfandPageRotation#fittopage|fit-to-page]]'''
      An option passed to [[#pdftopdf|pdftopdf]] to scale a file to fit on the page.
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<<Anchor(gcp)>>
 '''[[#gcloud|GCP]]'''
      See [[#gcloud|Google Cloud Print]]

<<Anchor(gcloud)>>
 '''[[GoogleCloudPrint|Google Cloud Print]]'''
      An infrastructure to allow printing to a cloud-aware printer or a print queue on a remote [[#cups|CUPS server]].

<<Anchor(cloudprint)>>
 '''[[GoogleCloudPrint#cloudprint|cloudprint]]'''
      An application to make locally configured printers available to [[#gcp|GCP]].

<<Anchor(gcpc)>>
 '''[[GoogleCloudPrint#gcpc|google-cloud-print-connector]]'''
      An application to make locally configured printers available to [[#gcp|GCP]].

<<Anchor(gv)>>
 '''[[#viewers|gv]]'''
       A PDF and !PostScript file [[#viewers|viewer]].

<<Anchor(grouplpadmin)>>
 '''[[#lpadmingroup|group (lpadmin)]]'''
      See [[#lpadmingroup|lpadmin group]]
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<<Anchor(ippeveprinter)>>
 '''[[CUPSIPPUtilities#ippeveprinter|ippeveprinter]]'''
      AN [[#ipp|IPP]] server conforming to the [[CUPSIPPEverywhere|IPP Everywhere]] specification
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      A standard for [[#driverless|driverless printing]] produced by the [[https://www.pwg.org/|Printer Working Group]].       A standard for [[#driverless|driverless printing]] produced by the [[Printing#ext|Printer Working Group]].
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 '''[[DriverlessPrinting#ippusbxd|IPP-over-USB]]'''
      An [[https://www.usb.org/document-library/ipp-protocol-10|extension]] to the USB standard which makes [[#ipp|IPP]] available over a USB interface. Most modern AirPrint printers should have this facility.

<<Anchor(ippusbxd)>>
 '''[[DriverlessPrinting#ippusbxd|ippusbxd]]'''
      Implements [[#ippoverusb|IPP-over-USB]] driverless printing (originally only available to a network printer) on a [[#ippoverusb|suitable]] USB connected device.
 '''[[DriverlessPrinting#ippoverusb|IPP-over-USB]]'''
      An extension to the USB standard that makes [[#ipp|IPP]] available over a USB interface. Most modern AirPrint printers should have this facility.

<<Anchor(ippfind)>>
 '''[[CUPSIPPUtilities#ippfind|ippfind]]'''
      A utility [[CUPSDriverlessPrinting#lpadmin|to find]] the [[#deviceuri|URI]] of an [[#ipp|IPP printer]] or [[#queue|queue]] on the local network.

<<Anchor(ipptool)>>
 '''[[CUPSIPPUtilities#ipptool|ipptool]]'''
     A utility for querying an [[#ipp|IPP printer]] or [[#queue|queue]] on the local network.

<<Anchor(ippusb)>>
 '''[[CUPSDriverlessPrinting#debian|ipp-usb]]'''
      Extends [[#driverless|driverless printing]] (originally available only on a printer when connected by ethernet or wireless) to a [[#ippoverusb|suitable]] USB connected device.
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<<Anchor(job)>>
 '''[[#printjob|job]]'''
      See [[#printjob|Print Job]]
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<<Anchor(landscape)>>
 '''[[pdftopdfandPageRotation#landscape|landscape]]'''
      A [[#cups|CUPS]] option (passed to [[#pdftopdf|pdftopdf]]) to rotate pages in a document.

<<Anchor(legacyp)>>
 '''[[#printer|Legacy Printer]]'''
      See [[#printer|Printer]].
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<<Anchor(lpadmingroup)>>
 '''[[PrintQueuesCUPS#lpadmin|lpadmin group]]'''
      Setting up a printer with a [[#drivers|driver]] and a [[#ppd|PPD]] is a superuser task; that is, the user has to have root privileges unless they belong to the lpadmin group.
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<<Anchor(mfd)>>
  '''[[#aio|MFD]]'''
      A multifunction device. A peripheral that offers a combination of the printing, scanning, photocopying and faxing functions.

<<Anchor(mfp)>>
  '''[[#mfd|MFP]]'''
        Multifunction Peripheral. See [[#mfd|MFD]].
        
<<Anchor(minus90)>>
 '''[[pdftopdfandPageRotation#landscape|Minus90]]'''
      A [[#ppd|PPD]] option controlling page rotation. Acted on by [[#pdftopdf|pdftopdf]].

<<Anchor(modernp)>>
 '''[[#printer|Modern Printer]]'''
      See [[#printer|Printer]].

<<Anchor(mupdf)>>
 '''[[#viewers|MuPDF]]'''
       A PDF file [[#viewers|viewer]].
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<<Anchor(lpadmin)>> <<Anchor(nonfree)>>
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<<Anchor(okular)>>
 '''[[#viewers|Okular]]'''
       A PDF and !PostScript file [[#viewers|viewer]].

<<Anchor(or)>>
 '''[[pdftopdfandPageRotation#landscape|orientation-requested]]'''
      An [[#ipp|IPP]] option (passed to [[#pdftopdf|pdftopdf]]) to rotate pages in a document.
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<<Anchor(pdfcentic)>> <<Anchor(pdl)>>
 '''[[AirPrint|Page Description Language]]'''
      A computer language that describes the appearance of a printed page. PDLs of particular importance to a modern printing system are PDF, [[#appleraster|Apple Raster]] and [[#pwgraster|PWG Raster]]. The most well-known non-vendor-specific PDL is probably !PostScript.

<<Anchor(pclm)>>
 '''[[DriverlessPrinting#misc|PCLm]]'''
      A streaming, PDF-based raster protocol supported by the [[#cupsfilters|cups-filters]] ''rastertopclm'' filter but not by [[#cups|CUPS]].

<<Anchor(generator)>>
 '''[[DriverlessPrinting|PPD Generator]]'''
      A technique used by [[DriverlessPrinting#generator1|CUPS]] and [[DriverlessPrinting#generator2|cups-filters]] to produce a [[#ppd|PPD]] to use with [[DriverlessPrinting|driverless printing]].

<<Anchor(pdfa)>>
 '''[[Tea4CUPS#pdfa1|PDF/A]]'''
      A PDF format aimed at reliable, long-time preservation of archived digital documents.

<<Anchor(pdfcentric)>>
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<<Anchor(pdfprinter)>>
 '''[[SystemPrinting#pdfprinter|PDF Printer]]'''
      Convert a file to PDF using the printing system.

<<Anchor(pdlan)>>
 '''[[#pdl|PDL]]'''
      See [[#pdl|Page Description Language]].

<<Anchor(pdfautorotate)>>
 '''[[#autorotate|pdfautorotate]]'''
      See [[#autorotate|autorotation]]

<<Anchor(pdffonts)>>
 '''[[CUPSTextToPdfFilter#case|pdffonts]]'''
      A utilty to list the fonts and information about each font present in a PDF document.

<<Anchor(pdfinfo)>>
 '''[[ThecupsfilterUtility#pdfinfo|pdfinfo]]'''
      A utilty to extract information from a PDF document.
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 '''[[pdftopdfandPageRotation|pdftopdf]]'''
      A page management [[#filter|filter]] which is central to the [[#pdfcentric|PDF-centric workflow]].
 '''[[CUPSPdfToPdf#role|pdftopdf]]'''
      A page management [[#filter|filter]] that is central to the [[#pdfcentric|PDF-centric workflow]].

<<Anchor(renderer)>>
 '''[[DissectingandDebuggingtheCUPSPrintingSystem#postscript|pdftops-renderer]]'''
      A [[#cupsfilters|cups-filters]] option for a [[#queue|queue]] or when printing. Convert PDF to !PostScript using a chosen renderer.
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      A PostScript Printer Description (PPD) file describes the capabilities of the [[#printer|printer]]. These capabilities are displayed in the dialogs of applications and with lpoptions and are sent to the [[#queue|queue]] when selected. A PPD file is often referred to as a driver. Removal of support within [[#cups|CUPS]] for PPDs is [[https://github.com/apple/cups/issues/5271|planned for the future]].       A !PostScript Printer Description (PPD) file describes the capabilities of the [[#printer|printer]]. These capabilities are displayed in the [[#dialog|dialogs]] of applications and with lpoptions and are sent to the [[#queue|queue]] when selected. A PPD file is often referred to as a driver. Removal of support within [[#cups|CUPS]] for PPDs is [[CUPSPrintQueues#intro|planned for the future]].

<<Anchor(plus90)>>
 '''[[pdftopdfandPa
geRotation#landscape|Plus90]]'''
      A [[#ppd|PPD]] option controlling page rotation. Acted on
by [[#pdftopdf|pdftopdf]].
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      A peripheral device which communicates with the output of a [[#queue|queue]] to put graphics or text on a medium such as paper.       A peripheral device that communicates with the output of a [[#queue|queue]] to put graphics or text on a medium such as paper. It is useful to distinguish between printers that require vendor [[#drivers|printer drivers]] and those that don't with the terms [[CUPSPrintQueues#intro|legacy/classic]] and [[CUPSQuickPrintQueues#intro|modern]].

<<Anchor(postscriptdesc)>>
 '''[[#ppd|PostScript Printer Description File]]'''
      See [[#ppd|PPD]].

<<Anchor(printdialog)>>
 '''[[PrintQueuesCUPS#autodiscovery|Print Dialog]]'''
      Different Graphical Use Interfaces (GUIs) obtain printing options from [[#cups|CUPS]] in different ways and differ in the way the application displays them in a user-selectable dialog.

<<Anchor(drivers)>>
 '''[[PrintQueuesCUPS#driver|Printer Drivers]]'''
      Used to apply printing options via a [[#ppd|PPD]] and convert a document into a form which can be understood by the printer. Removal of support within [[#cups|CUPS]] for drivers is [[CUPSPrintQueues#intro|planned for the future]].

<<Anchor(printjob)>>
 '''[[PrintQueuesCUPS#printqueue|Print Job]]'''
      A document or set of documents to be sent to a [[#queue|queue]].
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      A file to be printed is submitted to a queue, which is managed by [[#cups|CUPS]]. [[#cupsfilters|cups-filters]] is involved in processing the file and the output is usually sent to a [[#printer|printer]]. A single printer can be associated with many queues.       A file to be printed is submitted to a queue, which is managed by [[#cups|CUPS]]. [[#cupsfilters|cups-filters]] is involved in processing the file and the output is usually sent to a [[#printer|printer]]. A single printer can be associated with many queues. A ''local'' queue has a [[#ppd|PPD]] in ''/etc/cups/ppd'' and is a permanent queue. It is displayed in the output of `lpstat -a`. A [[PrintQueuesCUPS#tempq|temporary]] queue, displayed with `lpstat -l -e`, is a non-local queue.

<<Anchor(pwgraster)>>
 '''[[DriverlessPrinting#pdls|PWG Raster]]'''
      A raster file format devised by the [[CUPSDriverlessPrinting#pdls|Printer Working Group]] for use with [[#ippeverywhere|IPP Everywhere printers]].

<<Anchor(pstoncapcpca)>>
 '''[[Canon|pstoncapcpca]]'''
      A [[#filter|filter]] for [[Canon]] UFR-II printers.

<<Anchor(pstoufr2cpca)>>
 '''[[Canon|pstoufr2cpca]]'''
      A [[#filter|filter]] for [[Canon]] UFR-II printers.
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<<Anchor(qpdfview)>>
 '''[[#viewers|qpdfview]]'''
       A PDF and !PostScript file [[#viewers|viewer]].
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<<Anchor(quirk)>>
 '''[[#usbquirk|Quirk]]'''
      See [[#usbquirk|USB Quirk]].
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      A CUPS, PWG, and Apple raster file viewer.       A CUPS, [[#pwgraster|PWG]], and [[#appleraster|Apple]] raster file [[#viewers|viewer]].

<<Anchor(rawqueue)>>
 '''[[Tea4CUPS|Raw Queue]]'''
      A [[#queue|queue]] which is set up with `-m raw`; that is; no [[#ppd|PPD]] is used. The [[#job|job]] bypasses the filtering system and goes directly to the [[#deviceuri|device uri]] specified for the queue. Removal of support within [[#cups|CUPS]] for raw queues is [[CUPSPrintQueues#intro|planned for the future]].

<<Anchor(rastertopwg)>>
 '''[[DriverlessPrinting#rasters|rastertopwg]]'''
      A [[#filter|filter]] to convert a file to [[#appleraster|Apple Raster]] or [[#pwgraster|PWG Raster]]
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<<Anchor(slpana)>>
 '''[[#slp|SLP]]'''
      See [[#slp|Service Location Protocol]]

<<Anchor(slp)>>
 '''[[PrintQueuesCUPS#hplip|Service Location Protocol]]'''
      A discovery protocol that allows the finding of printers connected to a local area network (LAN). It is very likely replaced by [[#dnssd|DNS-SD]] on recent printers.
      
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<<Anchor(tea4cups)>>
 '''[[Tea4CUPS|Tea4CUPS]]'''
      Tea4CUPS is a [[#cups|CUPS]] [[#backend|backend]]. Besides transporting data to a [[#printer|printer]] it allows them to be modified and manipulated before reaching the printer. The modified data can then be sent to any number of outputs.
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 '''[[DriverlessPrinting#shorttempq|Temporary Print Queue]]'''
      A feature of a client CUPS 2.2.4 and later when remote, shared queues and [[#ipp|IPP]] printers are advertised on the network. The [[#queue|queue]] is only brought into existence when it is printed to.
 '''[[CUPSDriverlessPrinting#tempq|Temporary Print Queue]]'''
      A feature of CUPS 2.2.4 and later when remote, shared queues and [[#ipp|IPP]] printers are advertised on the network. The [[#queue|queue]] is only brought into existence when it is printed to; it is an [[CUPSPrintQueues#tempq|on demand]] queue.
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 '''[[ThetexttopdfFilter|texttopdf]]'''  '''[[CUPSTextToPdfFilter|texttopdf]]'''
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<<Anchor(UFR)>>
 '''[[Canon|UFR]]'''
      The Ultra Fast Renderer. A printer driver langage for [[Canon]] printers.

<<Anchor(UFR)>>
 '''[[#UFR|Ultra Fast Renderer]]'''
      See [[#UFR|UFR]].
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      A raster [[#filter|filter]] format devised by Apple for use with AirPrint-capable printers. The acronym appears to have originally stood for ''Universal Raster Format'' but it is now known as ''Apple Raster''. [[#cups|CUPS]] converts files to Apple Raster with its [[DriverlessPrinting#rasters|rastertopwg filter]].       A raster format devised by Apple for use with AirPrint-capable printers. The acronym appears to have originally stood for ''Universal Raster Format'' but it is now known as ''Apple Raster''. [[#cups|CUPS]] converts files to Apple Raster with its [[DriverlessPrinting#rasters|rastertopwg filter]].

<<Anchor(uri)>>
 '''[[#deviceuri|URI]]'''
      See [[#deviceuri|Device URI]]

<<Anchor(usb)>>
 '''[[PrintQueuesCUPS|USB]]'''
      A USB interface is a very common way of setting up a [[#printer|printer]], particularly when it has no ethernet or wireless interface. Consider using [[#ippusb|ipp-usb]] with a printer which is capable of interacting with a [[#driverless|driverless printing system]].

<<Anchor(usbquirk)>>
 '''[[DissectingandDebuggingtheCUPSPrintingSystem#usb|USB Quirk]]'''
      A [[#cups|CUPS]] rule to deal with a [[#printer|printer's]] possible deviation from the USB standard.

<<Anchor(usbnoreattach)>>
 '''[[DissectingandDebuggingtheCUPSPrintingSystem#usb|usb-no-reattach]]'''
      A [[#cups|CUPS]] option to deal with problematic [[#usb|USB]] [[#printer|printers]].

<<Anchor(usbunidir)>>
 '''[[DissectingandDebuggingtheCUPSPrintingSystem#usb|usb-unidir]]'''
      A [[#cups|CUPS]] option to deal with problematic [[#usb|USB]] [[#printer|printers]].
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<<Anchor(cupswebinterface)>>
 '''[[#webinterface|Web Interface]]'''
      See [[#webinterface|Cups Web Interface]].

<<Anchor(wifidirect)>>
 '''[[DriverlessPrinting#misc|Wi-Fi Direct]]'''
      Connect over wireless directly with a [[#printer|printer]] without the need for a wireless access point.
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<<Anchor(xpdf)>>
 '''[[#viewers|Xpdf]]'''
       A PDF file [[#viewers|viewer]].
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<<Anchor(zathura)>>
 '''[[#viewers|zathura]]'''
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CategoryPrinter

An aid to locating items of interest on the Printing Portal pages.

Jump to: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A

  • AirPrint

    • A facility offered by almost all modern printers and AIOs. AirPrint printers are obliged to accept Apple raster as a PDL. The Debian printing system is able to produce Apple raster to send to the printer. Sending to a suitable device may be done over ethernet, Wi-Fi or USB.

  • Auto Discovery

    • Techniques which lead to automatic discovery of remote, shared queues and printers on the local network and making them available for printing to.

  • Avahi

    • A framework for Multicast DNS Service Discovery (DNS-SD). It allows programs to publish and discover services and hosts running on a local network with no specific configuration and is the equivalent of Bonjour.

B

  • Backend

    • Used for printer discovery and sending a document processed by CUPS and cups-filters to the device after it has been converted to a format understood by the printer.

  • Bonjour

    • An implementation of DNS-SD by Apple. Most recent network printers have it as facility.

  • bInterfaceClass

    • The USB standard defines class code information that is used to identify a device’s functionality. Printers are allocated code 7. The host gets information about a connected printer from USB descriptors and loads a suitable device driver such as the usblp kernel module.

  • bInterfaceProtocol

    • The protocol code of the printer that the USB organisation assigned. Indicates what the device is capable of doing. For example, code 2 indicates that it accepts bidirectional communication; code 4 indicates that IPP-over-USB is a capability.

C

  • CUPS Error Log

    • A file for diagnosing issues and misbehaviours of the printing system. Logging to the file is done not only by CUPS but by other printing processes such as cups-filters and Tea4CUPS.

  • cups-browsed

    • A setup tool for print queues and printers. Comes as a package separate from cups-filters and is essential on Debian 8 (jessie) and 9 (stretch) for automatic discovery and setup of remote queues and printers. It also supports facilities (such as browsing the broadcasts of pre-1.6.x CUPS servers, servers on other network segments and queue clustering) which are no longer supported by CUPS.

  • cupsfilter

    • A diagnostic program included with CUPS. Convert a file to a specific format, just as if it had been printed through CUPS. Nothing is sent to the printer.

D

  • DNS-SD

    • This is a public service protocol used to advertise and discover printing services on a local network. The services are resolved to hostnames using standard DNS queries. Being a public service, no filtering of announcements is offered. A CUPS server automatically uses the protocol to publicise its queues and it is a feature of many recent printers which have AirPrint. Bonjour is Apple's implementation of DNS-SD and is handled on Debian by Avahi.

  • Device URI

    • A Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) is an addressing technology for identifying where to dispatch the file sent by a backend. USB and network printers are supported by CUPS with various schemes.

E

  • Embedded Web Server

    • An embedded web server resides on the printer in its firmware. It can be used to manipulate how the printer is presented on the network. It may also offer other facilities, such as scanning.

  • Everywhere Model

    • A queue which is set up with -m everywhere rather than with -m <PPD> or -P <PPD>. The remote queue or printer is queried to generate a PPD.

F

G

H

  • HPLIP

    • Free software exclusively for Hewlett Packard (HP) printing, scanning and faxing devices.

I

  • IPP

    • The protocol used by CUPS for local and network communication between client devices (computers, mobile phones, tablets, laptops etc.) and printers and print servers.

  • IPP-over-USB

    • An extension to the USB standard that makes IPP available over a USB interface. Most modern AirPrint printers should have this facility.

J

K

L

  • lpadmin

    • The fundamental utility for setting up a print queue. Used by all other setup programs.

  • lpadmin group

    • Setting up a printer with a driver and a PPD is a superuser task; that is, the user has to have root privileges unless they belong to the lpadmin group.

M

  • MFD

    • A multifunction device. A peripheral that offers a combination of the printing, scanning, photocopying and faxing functions.

  • MFP

    • Multifunction Peripheral. See MFD.

N

  • Non-free Drivers

    • Quite a few printers only provide vendor-specific non-free software, which is not allowed to be distributed with Debian. Recent printers from such manufacturers falling into this category should be capable of being used with driverless printing to avoid this restriction.

O

P

  • Page Description Language

    • A computer language that describes the appearance of a printed page. PDLs of particular importance to a modern printing system are PDF, Apple Raster and PWG Raster. The most well-known non-vendor-specific PDL is probably PostScript.

  • PCLm

    • A streaming, PDF-based raster protocol supported by the cups-filters rastertopclm filter but not by CUPS.

  • PDF/A

    • A PDF format aimed at reliable, long-time preservation of archived digital documents.

  • PDF-Centric Workflow

    • All files submitted to a queue are first converted to a PDF. After that, the PDF produced by the conversion is processed by pdftopdf before being sent for further processing and then on to the printer via a backend.

  • PDF Printer

    • Convert a file to PDF using the printing system.

  • pdffonts

    • A utilty to list the fonts and information about each font present in a PDF document.

  • pdfinfo

    • A utilty to extract information from a PDF document.

  • PPD

    • A PostScript Printer Description (PPD) file describes the capabilities of the printer. These capabilities are displayed in the dialogs of applications and with lpoptions and are sent to the queue when selected. A PPD file is often referred to as a driver. Removal of support within CUPS for PPDs is planned for the future.

  • Printer

    • A peripheral device that communicates with the output of a queue to put graphics or text on a medium such as paper. It is useful to distinguish between printers that require vendor printer drivers and those that don't with the terms legacy/classic and modern.

  • Print Dialog

    • Different Graphical Use Interfaces (GUIs) obtain printing options from CUPS in different ways and differ in the way the application displays them in a user-selectable dialog.

  • Print Queue

    • A file to be printed is submitted to a queue, which is managed by CUPS. cups-filters is involved in processing the file and the output is usually sent to a printer. A single printer can be associated with many queues. A local queue has a PPD in /etc/cups/ppd and is a permanent queue. It is displayed in the output of lpstat -a. A temporary queue, displayed with lpstat -l -e, is a non-local queue.

Q

R

S

  • Service Location Protocol

    • A discovery protocol that allows the finding of printers connected to a local area network (LAN). It is very likely replaced by DNS-SD on recent printers.

T

  • Tea4CUPS

    • Tea4CUPS is a CUPS backend. Besides transporting data to a printer it allows them to be modified and manipulated before reaching the printer. The modified data can then be sent to any number of outputs.

  • Temporary Print Queue

    • A feature of CUPS 2.2.4 and later when remote, shared queues and IPP printers are advertised on the network. The queue is only brought into existence when it is printed to; it is an on demand queue.

  • texttopdf

    • A filter to convert text to PDF. The output is generally sent to the pdftopdf filter for the pages to be managed.

U

  • UFR

    • The Ultra Fast Renderer. A printer driver langage for Canon printers.

  • URF

    • A raster format devised by Apple for use with AirPrint-capable printers. The acronym appears to have originally stood for Universal Raster Format but it is now known as Apple Raster. CUPS converts files to Apple Raster with its rastertopwg filter.

  • USB

    • A USB interface is a very common way of setting up a printer, particularly when it has no ethernet or wireless interface. Consider using ipp-usb with a printer which is capable of interacting with a driverless printing system.

V

  • Viewers

    • The outputs of some filters are viewable with various utilities.

W

  • Wi-Fi Direct

    • Connect over wireless directly with a printer without the need for a wireless access point.

X

Y

Z

See Also


CategoryPrinter