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CUPS is a standards-based, open source printing system developed by Apple Inc. for macOS® and other UNIX®-like operating systems. CUPS uses the Internet Printing Protocol ("IPP") and provides System V and Berkeley command-line interfaces, a web interface, and a C API to manage printers and print jobs. It supports printing to both local (parallel, serial, USB) and networked printers, and printers can be shared from one computer to another, even over the Internet!

Internally, CUPS uses PostScript Printer Description ("PPD") files to describe printer capabilities and features and a wide variety of generic and device- specific programs to convert and print many types of files. Sample drivers are included with CUPS to support many Dymo, EPSON, HP, Intellitech, OKIDATA, and Zebra printers. Many more drivers are available online and (in some cases) on the driver CD-ROM that came with your printer.

CUPS is licensed under the GNU General Public License and GNU Library General Public License versions 2. See the file "LICENSE.txt" for more information.

Once you have installed the software you can access the documentation (and a bunch of other stuff) online at:

http://localhost:631/

If you're having trouble getting that far, the documentation is located under the "doc/help" directory.

Please read the documentation before asking questions.

If you have problems, READ THE DOCUMENTATION FIRST! We also provide two mailing lists which are available at:

https://lists.cups.org/mailman/listinfo

See the CUPS web site at https://www.cups.org/ for other resources.

CUPS includes a web-based administration tool that allows you to manage printers, classes, and jobs on your server. Open the following URL in your browser to access the printer administration tools:

http://localhost:631/admin/

Do not use the hostname for your machine - it will not work with the default CUPS configuration. To enable administration access on other addresses, check the "Allow Remote Administration" box and click on the "Change Settings" button.

You will be asked for the administration password (root or any other user in the sys/system/root/admin/lpadmin group on your system) when performing any administrative function.

CUPS works best with PPD (PostScript Printer Description) files. In a pinch you can also use System V style printer interface scripts.

CUPS includes several sample PPD files you can use:

Driver                         PPD Name
-----------------------------  ------------------------------
Dymo Label Printers            drv:///sample.drv/dymo.ppd
Intellitech Intellibar         drv:///sample.drv/intelbar.ppd
EPSON 9-pin Series             drv:///sample.drv/epson9.ppd
EPSON 24-pin Series            drv:///sample.drv/epson24.ppd
Generic PCL Laser Printer      drv:///sample.drv/generpcl.ppd
Generic PostScript Printer     drv:///sample.drv/generic.ppd
HP DeskJet Series              drv:///sample.drv/deskjet.ppd
HP LaserJet Series             drv:///sample.drv/laserjet.ppd
OKIDATA 9-Pin Series           drv:///sample.drv/okidata9.ppd
OKIDATA 24-Pin Series          drv:///sample.drv/okidat24.ppd
Zebra CPCL Label Printer       drv:///sample.drv/zebracpl.ppd
Zebra EPL1 Label Printer       drv:///sample.drv/zebraep1.ppd
Zebra EPL2 Label Printer       drv:///sample.drv/zebraep2.ppd
Zebra ZPL Label Printer        drv:///sample.drv/zebra.ppd

Run the "lpinfo -m" command to list the available drivers:

lpinfo -m

Run the "lpinfo -v" command to list the available printers:

lpinfo -v

Then use the correct URI to add the printer using the "lpadmin" command:

lpadmin -p printername -E -v device-uri -m ppd-name

Network printers typically use "socket" or "lpd" URIs:

lpadmin -p printername -E -v socket://11.22.33.44 -m ppd-name
lpadmin -p printername -E -v lpd://11.22.33.44/ -m ppd-name

The sample drivers provide basic printing capabilities, but generally do not exercise the full potential of the printers or CUPS.

CUPS also supports IPP Everywhere printers using the "everywhere" model, for example:

lpadmin -p printername -E -v ipp://11.22.33.44/ipp/print -m everywhere

CUPS provides both the System V "lp" and Berkeley "lpr" commands for printing:

lp filename
lpr filename

Both the "lp" and "lpr" commands support printing options for the driver:

lp -o media=A4 -o resolution=600dpi filename
lpr -o media=A4 -o resolution=600dpi filename

CUPS recognizes many types of images files as well as PDF, PostScript, and text files, so you can print those files directly rather than through an application.

If you have an application that generates output specifically for your printer then you need to use the "-oraw" or "-l" options:

lp -o raw filename
lpr -l filename

This will prevent the filters from misinterpreting your print file.

CUPS is copyright © 2007-2017 by Apple Inc. CUPS and the CUPS logo are trademarks of Apple Inc.

The MD5 Digest code is Copyright 1999 Aladdin Enterprises.

CUPS is provided under the terms of version 2 of the GNU General Public License and GNU Library General Public License. This program 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. See the "doc/help/license.html" or "LICENSE.txt" files for more information.