Before you can install a printer, you need to have the root password and your printer information ready. Depending on how you connect to the printer, you might need the printer URI, TCP/IP address or host, and the driver for the printer. A number of common printer drivers ship with SLED. If you cannot find a driver for the printer, check the printer manufacturer’s Web site.

To set up a printer in KDE, start the Printing Manager from the main menu (Tools+Printing+Printing Manager). Alternatively, press Alt+F2 and enter kcontrol. In the left-hand navigation bar of the KDE Control Center, click Peripherals+Printers.

Figure 12.1. Printing Manager¶

You can set up a printer as root with the help of a wizard, as described in the following. If you are not sure which option to choose and which information to enter, ask your system administrator.

For detailed information about how to access and configure a Windows network printer, refer to Section 9.5, “Configuring and Accessing a Windows Network Printer”.

When printing from an application in KDE, you can now select the printer in the KPrinter dialog and start a print job. For more information about sending and monitoring print jobs in KDE, refer to Section 12.4, “Starting Print Jobs in KDE”.

In KDE, you usually start print jobs with KPrinter. This application is started automatically each time you print from a KDE application. In the KPrinter dialog, choose a printer and edit the Properties of your print job, such as page orientation, pages per sheet, and duplex printing.

Sending Files to a Printer without Opening the Application

You can also start KPrinter manually by pressing Alt+F2 and entering kprinter. This is useful if you want to print one or several files without starting the application to view or edit the file. The KPrinter dialog then additionally includes the Files tab, where you can determine the files to print. Either drag them from the desktop and drop them into the list or use the file dialog to locate them.

To specify the number of copies and various other options, click Expand at the bottom left. The window then expands and shows three tabs: Copies, Advanced Options, and Additional Tags. See Figure 12.2, “Starting a Print Job with KPrinter”.

Figure 12.2. Starting a Print Job with KPrinter¶

The Copies tab determines the page selection (all pages of the selected document, the currently selected one, or a range) and the number of copies. You may also choose to print only the even or only the odd numbered pages of the selected document. Use Advanced Options to specify any additional information for the print job. Enter any Billing information if needed or set a custom page label at the top and bottom of the page. The Job Priority can also be set here. The last tab, Additional Tags is rarely needed. Once your print job has been filed, you can watch its progress using KJobViewer.

Start KJobViewer from the main menu or with kjobviewer from the command line. A window like that in Figure 12.3, “Monitoring Print Jobs with KJobViewer” opens, listing all the print jobs queued on your printer. As long as your print job is not active, you can edit it. Do this using the entries of the Jobs menu.

Figure 12.3. Monitoring Print Jobs with KJobViewer¶

If, for example, you want to check if you sent the correct document to the printer, you can stop the job and resume it if you decide to print it. Remove your own print jobs from the queue with Remove. To change the printer, select a different printer with Move to Printer.

With Restart, reprint a document. To do this, select Filter+Toggle Completed Jobs, select the desired document, and click Jobs+Restart. Clicking Jobs+Job IPP Report shows the technical details of a job. Use Jobs+Increase Priority and Jobs+Decrease Priority to set the priority, depending on how quickly you need the document.

Filter enables you to switch between various printers, toggle completed jobs, and limit the view to your own print jobs by selecting Show Only User Jobs. The current user is then displayed in the top right field.

Settings+Configure KJobViewer opens a configuration dialog. Here, determine the maximum number of print jobs to display. Enter a number in the field or use the slider to the right to determine a value. Press OK to save the setting or Cancel to exit the dialog without saving.

The icons in the toolbar correspond to the functions you can access by way of the menu. Display a help text explaining the function by holding the mouse pointer over one of the icons.

The job list consists of eight columns. The job ID is automatically assigned by the print system to identify the various jobs. The next column contains the login of the user who sent the job followed by the filename of the document. The status column indicates whether a job is still in the queue, currently being printed, or already completed. Next, the size of the document is displayed in kilobytes and number of pages. The default priority of 50 can be increased or reduced if necessary. Billing information can be cost centers or other company-specific information. If you right-click a job in the list, the Jobs menu opens under the mouse pointer, allowing you to select an action. Only a few functions are available for completed jobs. If you activate Keep window permanent, KJobViewer opens automatically the next time you log in.