• export the documentation into multiple HTML files using make html and then send the relevant html files one-by-one to the printer, which is insanely inconvenient, or
• export the documentation to LaTeX format and then use a tex-to-pdf converter in order to merge the documentation files into a single file, which I would finally send to the printer. It should be noted that in this case, the tex-to-pdf converter had some other dependencies which summed up to 130+MB. Compressed. That’s insanely too much for converting the documentation to single-file form!!!

So, I ended up using grep to scan the sphinx source code for expressions like single, single file etc. I soon hit singlehtml! Fortunately, there is a builder, named singlehtml, that produces a single HTML document for documentation that is split into multiple files. Hooray!!

I used the sphinx-build utility directly to generate a single HTML document containing the entire documentation. After changing to the documentation’s root directory, I issued the command:

sphinx-build -b singlehtml . zzz

I finally had a single HTML file at zzz/index.html, which I sent to the printer and got some nice documentation in-print.

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The Postscript output can be piped to lpr for printing in a CUPS printer. The following example prints the iptables manual page to the HP690C printer:

$ man -t iptables | lpr -P HP690C

Alternatively, the output can be saved to a postscript file:

$ man -t iptables > iptables.ps

More on using a CUPS printer from the CLI can be found here.

Those who have the Yelp GNOME application installed, can take advantage of its internal man page parser and HTML converter. For example, in order to display the iptables man page in Yelp, launch it like the following:

$ yelp man:iptables

From there, you can use the GNOME print dialog to print the iptables manual.

I tend to prefer the quality of the man page when it has been printed through Yelp.

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Requirements

The following software is required so that this backend functions correctly:

1. Python (http://www.python.org)
2. CUPS server (http://www.cups.org/)
3. Ghostscript (http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/)
4. a postscript printer’s PPD file. (see Installation section)
5. Email server, on which usernames from the LAN workstations either match the users on the email server or proper mappings (aliases) have been set.

Installation

Put the “pdf2email” file in /usr/lib/cups/backend/ and set the executable bit:

chmod +x /usr/lib/cups/backend/pdf2email

Configuration

Open the script in a text editor and set a couple of settings:

1. Set the email server’s hostname:

SMTP_Server = "mail.example.org"

2. Set the email address of the sender as it will appear in the email:

print_admin = "admin@example.org"

3. (Optional) Set the path to a text file that contains PDFmarks. If you don’t know what PDFmarks are, you should leave this variable empty. (see some more info in the PDFmarks section):

pdfmarks_file = ""

Configure a CUPS Printer

This section describes in brief all the required actions in order to add a printer that uses this backend to CUPS.

• Decide the printer’s name, eg “TestPDFprinter”.
• Decide the directory, where the PDF files are saved temporarily. This directory must be writable by the users. Usually, /tmp is perfect for this. Note, that no PDF files are left in this directory. This piece of information is used in the Device URI of your CUPS printer. For example, provided that the /tmp directory will be used, the Device URI would be: pdf2email:/tmp
• Get a postscript printer’s PPD file. You can find such files at:
  • Your printer manufacturer‘s web site.
  • Linux Printing
  • Adobe’s download center

WARNING: It is your exclusive responsibility to examine the printer driver’s license prior to using the PPD file. NO PPD FILES ARE SHIPPED WITH THE pdf2email BACKEND.

Finally, add a new printer that uses this backend, either by using lpadmin from the command line or by using the web-based administration interface of CUPS or by using any other CUPS Server management software.

Using lpadmin from the shell

As root issue the following command:

lpadmin -p TestPDFprinter -E -v pdf2email:/tmp -P /path/to/myprinter.ppd

Using CUPS web-based interface or other software

Use the provided “Add Printer” facility. Some notes that might be useful:

• In the device dropdown box, select the following:
  Direct PDF Printing/Delivery to user email
• In the device URI box use the writable directory, eg:
  pdf2email:/tmp
• If asked about the type of the print queue, use “RAW“.

USAGE

Make this printer available to the LAN through the IPP, SAMBA or any other protocol and add it to your printer list in your client machines. Whatever you send to that printer will be converted to a PDF document and will be emailed to your user’s email address.

Trouble?

If any error occurs during the PDF creation process, there will be a failure notice in your inbox and a message in syslog (/var/log/messages).

In case you receive no email after requesting a print, check syslog for any error messages. If there aren’t any, the check CUPS error log.

Finally, note that if you use a security layer like SELinux, then you might need to further adjust it so it lets 3rd party CUPS backends to function. This is beyond the scope of this document.

PDFmarks

If you do not know what pdfmarks are, please do a web search about them. This backend can include PDFmarks in the final PDF document. Do not expect anything spectacular, as this script cannot process the document for bookmarks, links etc. What it can do is to add pre-defined pdfmarks to all PDF documents.

For example, if, for example, you want to fill some of the document properties, save the following in a file:

[/Title ()
/Author ()
/Subject (blah blah)
/Keywords (keyword1, keyword2, blah)
/DOCINFO pdfmark

By default the author’s property is filled with the username that requested the print.

Finally, add the path to the pdfmarks file in the configuration section of the backend, as described in the configuration section:

pdfmarks_file = "/path/to/pdfmarks.file"

This feature has not been tested thoroughly.

License

This project is released under the terms of the GNU General Public License.

Download

All versions of the software, including the latest stable release, are available from the development web site’s download area.

Donate

This software is released as free software. Nevertheless, its development requires time and effort. A small donation, as a sign of appreciation of the effort, is welcome. Please, use the following button to visit the Donations page. Thank you.

Support

This software is released as free software without any warranties or official support. You can still get first class support from the community of users.

Bugs and Feature Requests

Found a bug? Want to suggest a new feature for the upcoming release? Feel free to file your requests in the issue database on the development website.

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Prerequisites

This document assumes that you have already set up your CUPS printer. This task is rather easy. Here is a list of software that can assist you in installing the printer in Fedora:

• CUPS Web Interface – Point your web browser to http://localhost:631
• printconf-gui or printtool – Graphical programs.
• printconf-tui – The same programm running in text-mode.
• lpadmin – Shell program for non-interactive printer setup.

Print a document

As a user, in order to print to the default printer, issue the command:

# lpr filename

Print to specific printer:

# lpr -P printer filename

Print multiple copies. For example, in order to print 4 copies:

# lpr -P printer -#4 filename

CUPS status information

As a user, issue the lpstat command with proper options:

# lpstat <options>

Options can be:

• -t : show all CUPS info
• -d : show default printer
• -p : show all printers
• -a : show all printers that accept jobs
• -o : show active print jobs

Cancel a print job

As a user, issue the command:

# lprm <job-id>

Only the jobs that have been submitted by the same user can be canceled.

Setting options for a specific print job

Sometimes, the user needs specific print options. A general way to define specific options for a print job is:

# lpr -P printer -o option1=value -o option2=value filename

Modify the default print options

A user can define his own options for all his print jobs for a specific printer. They are saved in the ~/.lpoptions file and override the default options that have been defined by the system administrator for this specific CUPS printer.

Add or modify print options

A user can set his own default options for a specific CUPS printer by issuing the command:

# lpoptions -p printer -o option1=value -o option2=value

Remove print options

Previously defined print options can be removed from ~/.lpoptions by:

# lpoptions -p printer -r option1 -r option2

List a printer’s options

To list print queue’s current options:

# lpoptions -p printer

To list print queue’s current options:

# lpoptions -p printer -l

Create sets of options – Printer Instances

A very useful CUPS feature is that sets of options can be defined. These can be system-wide if they are set by root, or user specific if they are set by a user. Printer instances are extra options for a specific printer that are saved as an extra printer in the form printer/set. This virtual printer’s settings override the default options.

To create a printer instance, as a user issue the command:

# lpoptions -p printer/set1 -o option1=value -o option2=value

To delete a printer instance issue the command:

# lpoptions -x printer/set1

The printer instance is listed as a printer in lpstat.
The user can send a document to the printer instance:

# lpr -P printer/set1 filename

Appendix I – Common print options

Some common print options are listed below. If an option accepts a value, then it is listed in the form option=value:

• landscape – for landscape printing
• media=A4 – check your ppd file for possible media values
• Collate=true | false – useful when printing multiple copies
• sides=two-sided-short-edge – used for landscape prints [the default is sides=one-sided]
• sides=two-sided-long-edge – used for portrait prints [the default is sides=one-sided]
• page-ranges=1-4,7,9-12 – print specific pages or page ranges
• page-set=odd | even – print only odd or even pages
• outputorder=normal | reverse – the pages are printed from first to last or the other way around
• cpi=10 – characters per inch
• lpi=6 – lines per inch
• columns=2 – format the text in two or more columns
• page-left=value – specify the left margin in points [1pt = 1/72inch]
• page-right=value – specify the right margin in points [1pt = 1/72inch]
• page-top=value – specify the top margin in points [1pt = 1/72inch]
• page-bottom=value – specify the bottom margin in points [1pt = 1/72inch]
• job-sheets=none – front and back cover pages
• job-sheets=standard
• job-sheets=classified,classified

Further Reading

Read the full CUPS user manual at http://www.cups.org/doc-1.1/sum.html

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1. Print your document to a postscript file using the normal gnome-print dialog from within the application
2. Select the postscript file and run the script on it from the right-click menu
3. Select your printer instance and page range (leave blank for all pages)

Version: 0.2
Requires: Zenity

Download the script from the link below:
ps_print_gui.tar.gz

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