Add Printer Wizard - Unix, Linux and Windows

The information provided below applies to installations of EasyCopy Printers.

If you have write rights to the EasyCopy installation directory the printers will be installed here for availability for all users. If you have no write rights to the EasyCopy installation directory the printer will be installed as a private printer:

On Windows in: C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\.easycopy\printers.

On unix in: $HOME/.easycopy/printers

The dialog is entered when you press the Add button in the Printer Selection dialog: Printers, which you find in the drop down menu under File..

Choose an Installed Printer if you have already the printer installed in your system.

Choose Other if not and follow the instructions.

Installed Printer

In the example below the choice is an installed printer and the dialog will show all detected printers.

Select your printer / plotter Manufacturer and the actual Model name /Driver.

In the dialog below you can enter / edit the description for your printer.

Optionally you can add the location for your device.

The name field will by default show you the selected print queue name, however, if you want to assign more than one logical printer to the same queue you will need to give each printer a unique name. This might, for example, apply if a printer can run in either PCL or PostScript mode. Only characters from A-Z, a-z and 0-9 are allowed. No spaces are allowed.

The Name will be used internally by EasyCopy and command line programs like ecprint.

Also with the Wildcard option in the File, Print dialog you can use the Name or part of the name to make a search.

Other Printers / Spoolers

SMB Protocol (Windows only)

Windows Network Printing (Samba/SMB)is quite similar to local printing. The printer is known to the local computer, but instead of being locally attached - it is shared from a network server, using the Microsoft SMB protocol.

Now select the Manufacturer and Model like described earlier.

Type in:

the Description
Location
and the EasyCopy internal Name

as earlier described.

LPR/LPD Network Printing (BSD)

LPR/LPD Network Printing (BSD)is the traditional UNIX way of printing. Many modern printers have a built-in LPR print system, and LPR is also available(as an option)on many Windows servers.

Unix dialog

Windows dialog

Unix and Windows dialogs further in the process are similar.

This option can also be used to print directly to your network printer. In this case use the internal print queue name for your printer.

Queue names like: PS, raw, PASSTHR and likes are names being used by many printer manufacturers.

Be aware that if you print more jobs just after each other, or if more client machines access the printer this way at the same time, the "eclpd" command will try to access the printer network interface at the same time.

Now select the Manufacturer and Model like described earlier.

Type in:

the Description
Location
and the EasyCopy internal Name

as earlier described.

JetDirect - TCP Protocol

Direct TCP/IP printing (Raw/JetDirect)a direct network protocol is available in many network connected printers. It was introduced by Hewlett Packard, and it is still primarily used in HP printers.

Now select the Manufacturer and Model like described earlier.

Type in:

the Description
Location
and the EasyCopy internal Name

as earlier described.

Custom Print Command

The 'Custom print command' options lets you freely and very flexibly define your print command. This is used to connect to non-standard print/plot interfaces and is very useful for interfacing to plot-management systems and any concievable custom print/plot system. A plot management system has most typical implemented its own (non-standard) print system. It is more complex to set up than BSD or TCP, but it gives you more control over the setup.

Integrating with CUPS, JustPlot, Plossys, ZEH you will find detailed information, a step by step guide on the EasyCopy HOWTO Look under Print and follow the instructions.
If you type in the Print queue name, you can use this ($PQ) for the Print command if you like. Otherwise the Print queue name is just used to name the EasyCopy printer.

In the Print command field, please type in the actual print/plot command, e.g. the name of your plot management client program like "pclient", or the name for you own command "plotmgtscript". The printer specific data will be taken from "standard in".

Now select the Manufacturer and Model like described earlier.

Type in:

the Description
Location
and the EasyCopy internal Name

as earlier described.

Printer Description File
The name of the printer description file (EPD, PPD, or PPE file) corresponding to the selected printer model is highlighted. You can also select printer by selecting the printer description file. This is for example useful if you added a new PPD file yourself, and you remember the PPD file name better than you remember the printer type description. Description
This field displays the text that identifies the printer in the menus and dialogs. A default description is constructed from the print queue name and the model name retrieved from the printer description file.

For example "h, Apple Color LaserWriter 12/600" results from selecting the print queue h and the printer with model name Apple Color LaserWriter 12/600.

You are free to edit the printer description to anything you think is appropriate, for example "Color Printer in Room 345". Utility Definition File
Enable this box if printer utilities are defined for the printer, and type the name of the UDF file.

The default is generic.udf. It defines the generic PostScript level 2 error handler. This option is by default enabled for PostScript level 2 and 3 printers, and disabled for other printers. You must prepare the UDF file by a text editor before you add the printer. Hints
Press Hints to get information and setup hints about the selected printer. This information is not available for all printers. Installable Options
This section of the dialog contains menus for all the installable options that are supported by a printer. The length and the contents of this list are printer specific. Refer to your printer's documentation to find information about the various installable options. This section does not appear in the dialog if there are no installable options defined in the printer description file.
How to Modify Installable Options
After you have installed the printer you may need to modify its installable options, for example if you upgrade the printer with another paper tray.
You can as System Administrator use the Printer Setup dialog to make the corresponding changes available in EasyCopy. The Installable options tab is only visible when you have started EasyCopy as System Administrator.

OK
Press OK to accept the selected printer and options and close the dialog. The new printer is now included in the list of available printers in the Printer Selection dialog. Cancel
Press Cancel to close the dialog without adding a printer.

Copyright © 2008, The EasyCopy Company, TEC & AGI, www.myeasycopy.com.