Translations by 6675636b796f75

ubuntu-doc@lists.ubuntu.com (Ubuntu Documentation Project)

Printing, Faxing and Scanning

Setting up and using a printer/fax machine.

Credits and License

This documentation is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AS DESCRIBED IN THE DISCLAIMER.

The Ubuntu Documentation Project

Printing

Most printers will be automatically supported by Ubuntu. The <application>Printer Configuration</application> application allows you to add printers, as well as modify their settings. You can also use this application to share the printer with other computers on a network, disable the printer, or restart it.

Local Printing

A local printer is one which is directly connected to your computer (as opposed to a network printer, discussed in the following section). To setup a new local printer:

Plug your printer into your computer and power it on. Most printers will automatically be detected an configured. Once detected, a printer icon will appear in the notification area and after waiting a few moments, you should get a popup with the text "Printer is ready for printing."

If your printer was not detected after a few moments, then you will need to follow these steps:

Obtain the model name of your printer.

Ensure the printer is turned on.

Choose <menuchoice><guimenu>System</guimenu><guimenuitem>Administration</guimenuitem><guimenuitem>Printing</guimenuitem></menuchoice>

Now choose <menuchoice><guibutton>New Printer</guibutton></menuchoice>.

Your printer should be automatically detected. If so, simply click <guibutton>Forward</guibutton> and then <guibutton>Apply</guibutton>.

Finally, you can enter in a description and location for your printer.

If your printer was not automatically detected, you can try to select the port and printer driver manually. Some printers need further setup. Search the databases at <ulink url="http://www.linuxprinting.org/">LinuxPrinting.org</ulink> or check the <ulink url="https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HardwareSupportComponentsPrinters">Ubuntu Wiki's Printer page</ulink> for possible information on your printer.

Network Printing

You can also configure your Ubuntu system to send print jobs to a remote print server. Remote printers are hosted somewhere on a network. To configure a remote printer:

If your printer is directly connected to a Windows machine on your network, choose <guilabel>Windows Printer via SAMBA</guilabel>. Otherwise, select the protocol your printer uses to communicate.

Insert the details of the network printer and click <guibutton>Forward</guibutton>.

Select the printer model and then click <guibutton>Apply</guibutton>.

If you do not know the protocol or details of your network printer, you should consult your network administrator.

Testing a Printer

To test whether a local or remote printer works correctly:

Select the printer's name in the list.

Under the <guimenuitem>Settings</guimenuitem> tab, Click <guibutton>Print Test Page</guibutton>. A page should then be sent for printing.

Faxing

<application>efax-gtk</application> can be used to send and receive faxes using a fax modem.

It also has an interface to provide a <quote>virtual printer</quote> for sending faxes from word processors and similar programs, can automatically e-mail a received fax to a designated user, and can automatically print a received fax.

You can install the <application>efax-gtk</application> package from the <quote>Universe</quote> repository (see <ulink type="help" url="ghelp:add-applications">Add Applications</ulink>).

To run <application>efax-gtk</application>, choose <menuchoice><guimenu>Applications</guimenu><guisubmenu>Office</guisubmenu><guimenuitem>Efax-gtk</guimenuitem></menuchoice>.

<application>efax-gtk</application> requires a supported fax modem to be installed for it to function correctly.

More information is available from the following locations:

Ubuntu Community support pages

Efax-gtk website

Scanning

Most scanners are automatically supported by Ubuntu, and should be easy to install and operate. This guide will walk you through how to use your scanner and what to do if Ubuntu cannot find your scanner.

Does my scanner work with Ubuntu?

There are three ways to see if you scanner works in Ubuntu:

Simply plug it in and try it! If it is a newer Universal Serial Bus (USB) scanner, it is likely that it will just work.

Check <ulink url="https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HardwareSupportComponentsScanners"> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HardwareSupportComponentsScanners</ulink> which is Ubuntu specific.

<ulink url="http://www.sane-project.org/sane-backends.html">SANE project listing of support scanners</ulink> - The SANE (Scanner Access Now Easy) project provides most of the backends to the scanning software on Ubuntu.

Using your scanner

Most of the time, Ubuntu will simply detect your scanner and you just be able to use it. To scan a document, you need to follow these steps:

Place what you want to scan on the scanner.