7.5. Using Printers

This section tells you how to use printers you have setup with FreeBSD. Here is an overview of the user-level commands:

lpr

Print jobs

lpq

Check printer queues

lprm

Remove jobs from a printer's queue

There is also an administrative command, lpc, described in the section Administrating the LPD Spooler, used to control printers and their queues.

All three of the commands lpr, lprm, and lpq accept an option ``-P printer-name'' to specify on which printer/queue to operate, as listed in the /etc/printcap file. This enables you to submit, remove, and check on jobs for various printers. If you do not use the -P option, then these commands use the printer specified in the PRINTER environment variable. Finally, if you do not have a PRINTER environment variable, these commands default to the printer named lp.

Hereafter, the terminology default printer means the printer named in the PRINTER environment variable, or the printer named lp when there is no PRINTER environment variable.

7.5.1. Printing Jobs

7.5.2. Checking Jobs

7.5.3. Removing Jobs

7.5.4. Beyond Plain Text: Printing Options

7.5.4.1. Formatting and Conversion Options

7.5.4.2. Job Handling Options

7.5.4.3. Header Page Options

7.5.5. Administrating Printers