path: root/doc/kdeprint/highlights.docbook

<chapter id="kdeprint-highlights">
<title>&kdeprint;'s Highlights</title>

<para>The new &kdeprint; system includes more than one highlight.
Having worked in an environment in the past that is not exactly
sophisticated, as far as printing is concerned, take a look at some of
the benefits that come with &kdeprint;</para>

<sect1 id="add-printer-wizard">
<title>The <quote>Add Printer</quote> Wizard</title>

<para>&kdeprint; has an <quote>Add Printer Wizard</quote>.  The Add
Printer Wizard helps you with adding and configuring a new printer.  Of
course, you may do this manually as well.</para>

<para>&kdeprint; helps you <quote>discover</quote> printers. It is able
to scan the environment for available devices and queues. This works for
network connections using <acronym>TCP</acronym> (AppSocket,
<acronym>aka</acronym> &HP; <trademark
class="registered">JetDirect</trademark>, or <acronym>IPP</acronym>) or
<acronym>SMB</acronym>/Samba (<quote>shared</quote> &Windows;) printers
and partially for directly attached printers over parallel, serial, or
<acronym>USB</acronym> connections.</para>

<screenshot>
<screeninfo>A screenshot of the new <quote>Add Printer
Wizard</quote></screeninfo>
<mediaobject>
<imageobject>
<imagedata fileref="cupsaddprinterwizard1.png" format="PNG"/>
</imageobject>
<textobject>
<phrase>Here's a screenshot of the <quote>Add Printer Wizard</quote>
(this one is not very exciting yet; but...)</phrase>
</textobject>
</mediaobject>
</screenshot>

<para>The wizard makes the installation and handling of the drivers
<quote>a snap</quote>. Selecting, configuring and testing should be easy
as never before on any &Linux;-like system.</para>

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</sect1>

<sect1 id="print-job-control">
<title>Full Print Job Control</title>

<para>The Print Job Viewer is automatically started by &kprinter;.  It
may be docked into the &kde; panel (in the system tray).  The Print Job
Viewer allows full job management, if supported by the print
subsystem.</para>

<para>You can:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>Hold and release jobs,</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>Move pending jobs to another printer,</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>Cancel pending or processing jobs.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<para>A screenshot of the &kdeprint; PrintJob Viewer shows the information
you get: Job-ID, target printer, job name, job owner, job status and job
size. In the next &kdeprint; release you will also see information about the
number of pages (as &CUPS; calculates it; see chapter on page accounting
for more information about its merits and limitations).</para>

<screenshot>
<screeninfo>A screenshot of the &kdeprint; PrintJob Viewer</screeninfo>
<mediaobject>
<imageobject>
<imagedata fileref="kdeprint-jobviewer.png" format="PNG"/>
</imageobject>
<textobject>
<phrase>Here's a screenshot of the &kdeprint; PrintJob Viewer.</phrase>
</textobject>
<caption><para>A screenshot of the &kdeprint; PrintJob
Viewer.</para></caption>
</mediaobject>
</screenshot>

<para>An alternative way to looking at the same information (and having the
same amount of control is through the <inlinemediaobject><imageobject>
<imagedata fileref="kcontrol-icon.png" format="PNG"/></imageobject>
</inlinemediaobject> &kcontrolcenter; selecting
<menuchoice><guilabel>System</guilabel><guilabel>Printing
Manager</guilabel></menuchoice>. If you don't see the
<guilabel>Printer Information</guilabel>,
<mousebutton>right</mousebutton> click on the window
background and select <guilabel>View Printer
Information</guilabel>. Then go to the <guilabel>Jobs</guilabel> tab
to see this:</para>

<screenshot>
<screeninfo></screeninfo>
<mediaobject>
<imageobject>
<imagedata fileref="kcontrolcenter-printmanager-jobcontrol-2.png" format="PNG"/>
</imageobject>
<textobject>
<phrase>Here's a screenshot of the &kdeprint; PrintJob Viewer.</phrase>
</textobject>
</mediaobject>
</screenshot>

</sect1>

<sect1 id="modules-for-different-subsystems">
<title>Modules for different print subsystems</title>

<para>&kdeprint; uses different modules to realize the interface to the
possible print subsystems.  Not all the modules are yet developed fully,
but you will have basic printing functionality with:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para><acronym>LPD</acronym> (<acronym>BSD</acronym> style)</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><acronym>LPRng</acronym> (&RedHat;, if you just use it's
<acronym>BSD</acronym> style subset),</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><acronym>RLPR</acronym> (a command-line <acronym>LPR</acronym>
utility, which doesn't need a <filename>printcap</filename> file.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><quote>external</quote> print commands (&Netscape; like).</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<para>Most importantly, full support for &CUPS; is already there.
Modules for other print subsystems, such as <acronym>PLP</acronym>,
<acronym>PPR</acronym> and <acronym>PDQ</acronym> may be available
later.</para>

<para>&kdeprint; makes &kde; much more flexible.  It gives freedom of
choice to &kde; 2.2 users.  To use different available print subsystems,
these must, of course, be installed independently from &kde;.  In
former versions, users were stuck with the old <acronym>LPD</acronym>
style print subsystems.  Now they can even use &CUPS;. In the future,
there will be easy integration of new subsystems, as they
appear on the scene.</para>

</sect1>

<sect1 id="kdeprint-goodies">
<title>More &kdeprint; <quote>Goodies</quote></title>
<subtitle>Benefitting all Print SubSystems.</subtitle>

<para>Some specific features of &kdeprint; depend on the chosen print
subsystem.  This dependency might exist because those features are only
implemented there; remember, &kdeprint; is an intermediate layer between
&kde; applications, and the print subsystem, but it's no replacement for
any print subsystem by itself.  Such dependency may exist for another
reason: that &kdeprint; has not yet implemented an interface to all the
features of all the subsystems.</para>

<para>Other features include benefits from &kdeprint; that are
independent of the chosen print subsystem, and are available with all of
them.  At present there are <quote>special</quote> or
<quote>virtual</quote> printers, and some generic
<quote>pre-filters</quote>.</para>

<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Print Preview</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>From the Print Dialog, you can select to look at a preview.  For
this, the print file is passed through filters which make it suitable for
displaying on screen using &kghostview;.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Special Printers</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>Amongst these additional &kdeprint; features are a few
<quote>special</quote> or <quote>virtual</quote> printers:</para>

<para>These special printers may:</para>

<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Print to PDF</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>Convert your document into a <acronym>PDF</acronym> file with the
help of an external program.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Print to email</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>Send your document as an email attached <acronym>PDF</acronym>
file.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Print to PS file</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>Save your document as a &PostScript; file.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Print to Fax</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>Send it through an available backend, such as
<application>Hylafax</application> as a fax.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

</variablelist>

<para>These <quote>special</quote> printers appear in the user print
dialog just like <quote>normal</quote> printers.  They are entirely
configurable on a per-user basis.</para>

</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Generic Pre-Filtering</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>&kdeprint; provides you with a framework to define and configure
your own <quote>pre-filters</quote>.  These pre-filters may take effect
<emphasis>before</emphasis> they are passed to your print subsystem for
further processing, but <emphasis>after</emphasis> the (&PostScript;,
plain text or other) print files have been generated by your
application.</para>

<para>There are a few useful filters already predefined. These
are:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>The <quote>multiple pages per sheet</quote> filter,</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para>the <quote>enscript</quote> text filter,</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para>and three filters to help print pamphlets.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<para>You may create your own filters based on any third party program
that is able to process &PostScript;, plain text or image files, and output
any one of those formats.</para>

<para>These filters are configured through <acronym>XML</acronym> files.
This makes an extension of the concept very easy for experienced developers,
but end-user configuration is also done through an intuitive graphical
user interface.  So, fear not, you don't need to learn
<acronym>XML</acronym> because of &kdeprint;!</para>

<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Multiple Pages Per Sheet Filter</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>This is a predefined filter that installs with &kdeprint;.  It
allows you to create a modified &PostScript; output, from &PostScript;
input, that prints 1, 2, or 4 logical pages on a single sheet of
paper.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Enscript Text Filter</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>This is a predefined filter that installs with &kdeprint;.  It
allows you to create &PostScript; output from any text file input, that
includes syntax highlighting for program listings, pretty-printing, and
nice configurable page frames and headers.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Pamphlet Printing Filters</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>If your printer is able to produce duplex output, using either
one-pass or two-pass technology, you may be able to use one, or a
combination, of the <quote>pamphlet</quote> filters.</para>

<para>For duplexing printers, make sure you use the duplex option that
<quote>turns</quote> the output along the short paper edge.  Folding the
printed paper along the middle turns your document into a nice pamphlet.</para>

<para>If you are stuck with using a simplex-only device, you can do the
same, using two different filters and a few additional steps.</para>

<para>Depending on your model, first use the filter for printing the
<quote>odd</quote> pages, then insert the paper in the correct order
back into the paper tray to get the even pages printed on the reverse
side.  These can then be folded to make a pamphlet.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

</variablelist>

</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="cups-plugin">
<title>&CUPS; Support: the Most Important Module in &kdeprint;</title>

<para>&kdeprint; contains a module for &CUPS;.  &CUPS;, the
<quote>Common &UNIX; Printing System</quote> (<ulink
url="http://www.cups.org">http://www.cups.org/</ulink>), is the most
advanced, powerful and flexible of all print subsystems on &UNIX; and
other &UNIX;-like operating systems.  It is still quite new on the
horizon, but is based on <acronym>IPP</acronym>, the Internet Printing
Protocol, the newly emerging standard for the future of network
printing. &CUPS; is clearly the print system of choice for Michael
Goffioul, the principal &kdeprint; developer.</para>

<para>Experienced &kde; users may already be familiar with Michael's
utilities <application>qtcups</application> and
<application>kups</application> (co-developed with Jean-Eric Cuendet).
These were, up until now, the graphical
&GUI; front ends for &CUPS; with a strong relation to &kde;.</para>

<sect2>
<title><application>qtcups</application> and
<application>kups</application> &mdash; The Predecessors</title>

<para>Both utilities are probably still widely used. For those
not familiar with them,
here are brief explanations.</para>

<para><application>qtcups</application> was a graphical front end for
the <command>lp</command> or <command>lpr</command> print commands as
installed by &CUPS;. Using <application>qtcups</application> opened a
dialog.  This dialog let you comfortably select your printer and the
print job options. <application>qtcups</application>
worked from the command line, or from
within applications, when the application in question had a configurable
print command.</para>

<para><application>kups</application> was a graphical wrapper to do the
administration tasks for your &CUPS; server, and the &CUPS; daemon at
the heart of it.  You could add, delete, modify, configure, start, and
stop printers.  You could cancel, delete, move, stop and restart print
jobs, and you could change the settings of the daemon, start, stop, and
restart it.</para>

</sect2>

<sect2>
<title>&kdeprint; &mdash; The Heir</title>

<para>The &CUPS; Module in &kdeprint; now contains all (and more)
functions that were provided by <application>qtcups</application> and
<application>kups</application> in former &kde; versions.</para>

<para>Instead of <command>qtcups</command> you can now use the
<command>kprinter</command> command.  And in place of
<command>kups</command> you will probably use
<command>kcmshell printers</command> from now on.
</para>

<para>The &kdeprint; module for &CUPS; also lets you fully administer
the print subsystem, just like <application>kups</application> did
before. It can start, stop and configure your &CUPS; daemon. It can also
start, stop, add and delete <quote>printers</quote> (&ie; printer
queues) and printer <quote>instances</quote>.  Printer instances are
printer queues that point to the same physical output device but with a
different default setting of print options.</para>

</sect2>

<sect2>
<title>&kprinter; &mdash; Graphical Print Command</title>

<para>&kdeprint;'s &CUPS; module gives you access to a <quote>graphical
print command</quote>, like <application>qtcups</application> did
before.</para>

<para>Use &kprinter; in any application, even a non-&kde;
application, that lets you configure your print command.  Examples of
these are &Netscape; and <application>StarOffice</application>, but
<emphasis>not</emphasis> most pre-&kde; 2.2 programs.</para>

<para>A screenshot how to use the new <command>kprinter</command>
print command instead of the old-fashioned <command>lpr</command>...
Of course you need to have <command>kprinter</command> in your
$<envar>PATH</envar>, or give the full path in the dialog; &eg;
<userinput><filename>/opt/kde/bin/kprinter</filename></userinput>.
&Netscape; will remember this and with further print jobs you will get
the <command>kprinter</command> dialog to configure your printouts.</para>

<screenshot>
<screeninfo>A screenshot of the <command>kprinter</command> print
command in action.</screeninfo>
<mediaobject>
<imageobject>
<imagedata fileref="kprinter-as-netscape-printcommand.png" format="PNG"/>
</imageobject>
<textobject>
<phrase>Here's a screenshot showing how to use the new
<command>kprinter</command> print command
instead of the old-fashioned <command>lp</command> or
<command>lpr</command> in &Netscape;.</phrase>
</textobject>
</mediaobject>
</screenshot>

<para>You can also use <command>&kprinter;</command> from the
command line and see the resulting dialog box pop up:</para>

<screenshot>
<screeninfo>Screenshot of the <command>kprinter</command> command</screeninfo>
<mediaobject>
<imageobject>
<imagedata fileref="kprinter.png"
format="PNG"/></imageobject>
<textobject>
<phrase>Screenshot showing use of the <command>kprinter</command> command
from the command line.</phrase></textobject>
</mediaobject>
</screenshot>

<note><para>Just make sure you give at least the file to be printed
from the command line as well: <userinput><command>kprinter</command>
<option>/usr/share/doc/packages/cups/sam.pdf</option></userinput>.
This will hand over the &CUPS; Software Administrator Manual to the
<command>kprinter</command> dialog, which will then pop up with the
default printer pre-selected.</para>

<para>To pre-select a specific printer from the command line, use the
<option>-d</option> option, &eg;:
<userinput><command>kprinter</command> <option>-d
DANKAcolorC2000</option>
<option>/home/kurt/linuxtag2001-paper.ps</option></userinput>.  You
can still de-select the printer <option>DANKAcolorC2000</option> and
choose a different one.</para>

<para> You <emphasis>cannot</emphasis> however call
<userinput><command>kprinter</command></userinput> 
without a print file and hope to open a file selection
dialog box from the &kprinter; window. This is a feature that will be
implemented only in the next version.</para>
</note>

<para>Using <command>kprinter</command> you are able to <quote>ring
all the bells and blow all the whistles</quote> of your printer.  You
will need a device-specific so-called &PPD; (&PostScript; Printer
Description) to enable &CUPS; to make this nice tandem team do this
for you.  Read more about this in <xref linkend="ppd-files"/>.</para>

</sect2>

</sect1>

<sect1 id="future-plans">
<title>Plans for Future Development</title>

<para>What you have now is the first, already very feature-rich
version of &kdeprint;. This version is, of course, fully usable for
printing. You might even think that <quote>it was never so
easy</quote> (not even back in the days when you had to use
&Microsoft; &Windows;).</para>

<para> In the future, &kdeprint; will become even better. It will do a
better job of <quote>detecting</quote> your installed print subsystem
itself. Already &kdeprint; is doing quite well in automatically
sensing if you have &CUPS; on your system. But in many cases you will
have to tell &kdeprint; what you are using, if you want to keep a
legacy print system.</para>

<para>The most important improvement in the near future will be a
completion of the <application>LPRng</application> plugin.  This at
present is still very basic.  It is restricted to the pure classical
<acronym>LPD</acronym> part of
<application>LPRng</application>.</para>

<para>Also, you may be able to add printers directly from the print
dialog to your system <quote>just in time</quote>, without going to
&kcontrol; first.</para>

<para>Some smaller improvements already planned are:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>add a file selection dialog from the &kprinter; window
to allow combining of additional files to the present
printjob</para></listitem> <listitem><para>add a
<quote>history</quote> button to the
<application>KJobViewer</application> window and also a column to show
the number of pages &CUPS; calculates for the job.</para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<para>Finally, there will be an <quote>IO slave</quote> that will give
you access to your print subsystem, via &konqueror; for example.  With
this you will soon be able to browse your print subsystem from
&konqueror; through a &URL; like shortcut such as
<userinput>print://printers/printername</userinput>.  A KPart will add
a virtual folder to the services section of the &konqueror; navigation
panel, giving a nice integrated way to browse and manage your print
system via the &URL; <userinput>print:/manager</userinput>.</para>

<para>Please contact Michael Goffioul at <email>kdeprint@swing.be</email>
with any further user or developer suggestions.</para>

</sect1>
</chapter>