LPR Advanced Use

The printing options below can be used to set default options for future print jobs. Use the lpoptions command with the same arguments below. The options will be saved in the .lpoptions file in your home directory. The following example will set 1/2“ margins and make text smaller:

$ lpoptions -o page-left=36 -o page-right=36 -o page-top=36 -o page-bottom=36
$ lpoptions -o cpi=12
$ lpoptions -o lpi=7

Normally the default printer used by the system is the nearer to the workstation, but sometime you can desire a different behaviour. To change your default printer you use the lpoptions command. If you want change your default printer to cloud you can use:

  $ lpoptions -d cloud

By using options in the command line of the command lpr you can have output completely different from the onew with standard configuration. Using these options you can print until 32 pages of docs in a single sheet of paper, select the level of resolution, change the orientation of the page, and so on. Nobody is able to remember all the options available, so here are listed some useful option you can use.

$ lpr acrobatdocument.pdf

$ lpr -o sides=one-sided mydocument
$ lpr -o sides=two-sided-long-edge mydocument
$ lpr -o sides=two-sided-short-edge mydocument

$ lpr -o media=Transparency -o sides=one-sided mydocument
$ lpr -o media=Letterhead -o sides=one-sided mydocument

$ lpr -o sides=one-sided -o 1:media=Letterhead -o media=Plain mydocument

• The -o number-up=value option selects N-Up printing. N-Up printing places multiple document pages on a single printed page. CUPS supports 1, 2, 4, 6, 9, and 16-Up formats; the default format is 1-Up:

$ lpr -o number-up=1 filename ENTER
$ lpr -o number-up=2 filename ENTER
$ lpr -o number-up=4 filename ENTER
$ lpr -o number-up=16 filename ENTER

$ lpr -o page-set=odd mydocument
$ lpr -o page-set=even mydocument

$ lpr -o page-ranges=5 mydocument
$ lpr -o page-ranges=2-5 mydocument
$ lpr -o page-ranges=2-5,7-9 mydocument

• The -o page-border=value option chooses the border to draw around each page:

$ lpr -o page-border=double; draw two hairline borders around each page
$ lpr -o page-border=double-thick; draw two 1pt borders around each page
$ lpr -o page-border=none; do not draw a border (default)
$ lpr -o page-border=single; draw one hairline border around each page
$ lpr -o page-border=single-thick; draw one 1pt border around each page

• The -o number-up-layout=value option chooses the layout of the pages on each output page:

$ lpr -o number-up-layout=btlr; Bottom to top, left to right
$ lpr -o number-up-layout=btrl; Bottom to top, right to left
$ lpr -o number-up-layout=lrbt; Left to right, bottom to top
$ lpr -o number-up-layout=lrtb; Left to right, top to bottom (default)
$ lpr -o number-up-layout=rlbt; Right to left, bottom to top
$ lpr -o number-up-layout=rltb; Right to left, top to bottom
$ lpr -o number-up-layout=tblr; Top to bottom, left to right
$ lpr -o number-up-layout=tbrl; Top to bottom, right to left  * Setting the Output Order

• You can mirror a print using the -o mirror option:

$ lpr -o mirror filename ENTER

• The -o outputorder=order option to set the output order of all pages:

$ lpr -o outputorder=normal filename ENTER
$ lpr -o outputorder=reverse filename ENTER

$ lpr -o landscape mydocument

$ lpr -o brightness=120 mydocument

• Set the Gamma correction, 1000 is normal.

$ lpr -o gamma=1700 mydocument

$ lpr -n num_copies -o collate=True mydocument

With the collate option set True, the pages of your documents will be printed in this order: 1, 2, 3, 4 … 1, 2, 3, 4 … If you set the collate option to Off, the pages of your documents wil be printers in this order: 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4 …

• The -o raw option allows you to send files directly to a printer without filtering. This is sometimes required when printing from applications that provide their own “printer drivers” for your printer:

$ lpr -o raw filename ENTER

• The -l option can also be used with the lpr command to send files directly to a printer:

$ lpr -l filename ENTER

The -o media=xyz option sets the media size, type, and/or source:

$ lpr -o media=Letter,Transparency filename ENTER
$ lpr -o media=Letter,MultiPurpose,Transparency filename ENTER

The available media sizes, types, and sources depend on the printer, but most support the following options (case is not significant):

• Letter - US Letter (8.5×11 inches, or 216x279mm)
• Legal - US Legal (8.5×14 inches, or 216x356mm)
• A4 - ISO A4 (8.27×11.69 inches, or 210x297mm)
• COM10 - US #10 Envelope (9.5×4.125 inches, or 241x105mm)
• DL - ISO DL Envelope (8.66×4.33 inches, or 220x110mm)
• Transparency - Transparency media type or source
• Upper - Upper paper tray
• Lower - Lower paper tray
• MultiPurpose - Multi-purpose paper tray
• LargeCapacity - Large capacity paper tray

The actual options supported are defined in the printer's PPD file in the PageSize, InputSlot, and MediaType options. You can use the command

$ lpoptions -p <name of printer> -l 

to see all the options available

The following options apply when printing text files.

• The -o cpi=value option sets the number of characters per inch:

$ lpr -o cpi=10 filename ENTER
$ lpr -o cpi=12 filename ENTER
$ lpr -o cpi=17 filename ENTER

The default characters per inch is 10.

• The -o lpi=value option sets the number of lines per inch:

$ lpr -o lpi=6 filename ENTER
$ lpr -o lpi=8 filename ENTER

The default lines per inch is 6.

• The -o columns=value option sets the number of text columns:

$ lpr -o columns=2 filename ENTER
$ lpr -o columns=3 filename ENTER

The default number of columns is 1.

• Setting the Page Margins

Normally the page margins are set to the hard limits of the printer. Use the -o page-left=value, -o page-right=value , -o page-top=value, and -o page-bottom=value options to adjust the page margins:

$ lpr -o page-left=value filename ENTER
$ lpr -o page-right=value filename ENTER
$ lpr -o page-top=value filename ENTER
$ lpr -o page-bottom=value filename ENTER

The value argument is the margin in points; each point is 1/72 inch or 0.35mm.

The -o prettyprint option puts a header at the top of each page with the page number, job title (usually the filename), and the date. Also, C and C++ keywords are highlighted, and comment lines are italicized:

$ lpr -o prettyprint mydocument.txt
$ lpr -o cpi=10 mydocument.txt
$ lpr -o lpi=8 mydocument.txt
$ lpr -o columns=2 mydocument.txt

• Setting Page Margins (in 1/72's of an Inch)

$ lpr -o page-left=72 -o page-right=72 -o page-top=72 -o page-bottom=72 mydocument.txt

• Image Printing Options

$ lpr -o position=center myimage {center,top,left,right,top-left,top-right, bottom,bottom-left,bottom-right}
$ lpr -o scaling=100 myimage (1-800%)
$ lpr -o ppi=300 myimage (dots per inch)
$ lpr -o hue=-10 myimage (-360 to 360)
$ lpr -o saturation=110 myimage (0-200%) 

• The -o position=name option specifies the position of the image on the page:

  center - Center the image on the page (default)
  top - Print the image centered at the top of the page
  left - Print the image centered on the left of page
  right - Print the image centered on the right of the page
  top-left - Print the image at the top left corner of the page
  top-right - Print the image at the top right corner of the page
  bottom - Print the image centered at the bottom of the page
  bottom-left - Print the image at the bottom left corner of the page
  bottom-right - Print the image at the bottom right corner of the page

• The -o scaling=percent, -o ppi=value, and -o natural-scaling=percent options change the size of a printed image:

$ lpr -o scaling=percent filename ENTER
$ lpr -o ppi=value filename ENTER
$ lpr -o natural-scaling=percent filename ENTER

The scaling=percent value is a number from 1 to 800 specifying the size in relation to the page (not the image.) A scaling of 100 percent will fill the page as completely as the image aspect ratio allows. A scaling of 200 percent will print on up to 4 pages.

The ppi=value value is a number from 1 to 1200 specifying the resolution of the image in pixels per inch. An image that is 3000×2400 pixels will print 10×8 inches at 300 pixels per inch, for example. If the specified resolution makes the image larger than the page, multiple pages will be printed to satisfy the request.

The natural-scaling=percent value is a number from 1 to 800 specifying the size in relation to the natural image size. A scaling of 100 percent will print the image at its natural size, while a scaling of 50 percent will print the image at half its natural size. If the specified scaling makes the image larger than the page, multiple pages will be printed to satisfy the request.

• The -o hue=value option will adjust the hue of the printed image, much like the tint control on your television:

$ lpr -o hue=value filename ENTER

The value argument is a number from -360 to 360 and represents the color hue rotation. The following table summarizes the change you'll see with different colors:

• The -o saturation=percent option adjusts the saturation of the colors in an image, much like the color knob on your television:

$ lpr -o saturation=percent filename ENTER

The percent argument specifies the color saturation from 0 to 200. A color saturation of 0 produces a black-and-white print, while a value of 200 will make the colors extremely intense.

The default saturation is 100.