Academic and Research Computing
QUICK STUDY #16
November 2002
Printing from RCS UNIX Systems
Public printers are located in many places across campus,
including the VCC and the computer lab/classrooms.
For a list of
printer names, locations, and features, go to the ARC homepage, click on
Printing, then RCS Public Printers.
Each computer location has a default printer. For example, if you are
in one of the computer classrooms/labs, the default printer will be
the one in that room.
| Black & White |
|
Color |
|
|
Onesided (self-service) |
6 cents /page + 2 cents /job
|
Phaser 350/850 (paper) |
40 cents /page + 20 cents /job |
|
Onesided (vclw) |
5 cents /page + 2 cents /job
|
Phaser 850DP (twosided: vcph3let) |
40 cents /page + 20 cents /job |
|
Twosided (vclw) |
8 cents /sheet + 2 cents /job
|
Phaser 750 (paper) |
50 cents /page + 20 cents /job |
|
Onesided B-size (vcblw) |
8 cents /page + 2 cents /job
|
Phaser 750 (transparency) |
$1/page + 20 cents /job |
|
Twosided B-size (vcblw) |
5 cents /page + 2 cents /job
|
Phaser 780B (B-size paper: vc780b) |
70 cents /page + 20 cents /job |
|
Labels (vclbl30) |
25 cents /page + 10 cents /job |
|
|
At the start of each fall and spring semester, each user
receives a free allocation of $12.50 for black & white printing.
(The allocation is $6.25 for each
summer session.) After this allocation is used up,
charges are added to your (or your department's)
monthly Bursar bill from Rensselaer.
Charges for color printing
are always charged to your Bursar bill. To check the status of your printing
account, see
http://www.rpi.edu/dept/cct/apps/rcsaccinfo.html. Before clicking on
``Start the Application,'' scroll down and read the section on
``Print Usage.''
Alternatively, you can issue the UNIX
pagestatus command from a UNIX window or via a SecureCRT session.
RCS printers are POSTSCRIPT printers that also print plain text,
dvi files, and man pages. Printing man pages and dvi files are special cases
described below.
The standard UNIX printing commands are:
|
lpr filename |
To print a text (ASCII) file or a POSTSCRIPT file |
|
lpq |
To check on the status of jobs in the print queue |
|
lprm nnn |
To delete your job, numbered nnn, from the print queue
|
The above commands assume the default printer.
You can verify the name of the
printer used by looking in the ``Messages" window after issuing the lpr
command. To display the default printer name before using lpr,
use the Verbose option on the lpq command: lpq -V
If you are using a UNIX workstation, you can select your printer
by using the printerchooser application from the RCS Applications menu.
Alternatively, all the above printing commands accept the -P option to
specify a printer other than the default.
For example, to print the file myfile
on the duplex POSTSCRIPT printer in the VCC:
lpr -Pvclw myfile
To check on the status of your job, issue the command lpq. If you
have used a printer other than the default, you must include the -P option
to specify the printer (for example, lpq -Pvclw).
The lpq command also takes the option -V,
which provides a more verbose response, including the printer's full name,
its current status, and a list of the queued jobs.
To cancel a job, first use the lpq command to find your job number.
Then issue the command: lprm nnn,
replacing nnn with your job number.
If you did not use the default printer,
be sure to include the -P option on the lprm command.
The VCLW duplex (twosided) POSTSCRIPT printer is located in the VCC,
with output filed in the output racks near the VCC South lab in that building.
This printer has some special options accessible via the -X
option on the
lpr command, including the following, where all the options on the
same line are synonyms:
| onesided |
twosided=no |
duplex=no |
|
| twosided |
twosided=yes |
duplex=yes |
(default) |
| duplex=tumble |
twosided=tumble |
|
(prints back of sheet upside down) |
The cost is 8cents per two-sided sheet. If you choose to print one-sided
sheets by specifying -Xonesided on the
lpr command, the cost is 5cents per page. An additional charge of 2cents per job
applies in both cases.
You can print a man page (as plain text) by ``piping''
the output from the man command to lpr.
For example, to print the man page describing the
psnup program (described below):
man psnup | lpr
DVI files are device independent files generated by the programs
TEX and LATEX.
To print a DVI file on an RCS POSTSCRIPT printer,
use the POSTSCRIPT driver dvips. The command
dvips myfile
sends the file myfile.dvi to the default printer. It is
also possible to specify a printer with the -P option.
Other dvips
options include landscape printing, selection
of pages, placing output in a file, and changing the magnification.
For a complete description of dvips, see the man page for dvips.
The VCC printer named VCLBL30 is dedicated to printing labels from RCS.
Each label sheet contains 30 labels in a 3x10 format, and a LATEX-based
program on RCS enables you to prepare your labels in the correct format.
By default, the program puts five lines on a label, although you can fit
six lines maximum. The cost is 25cents per page plus 10cents per job,
and output is placed in the VCC output racks.
Detailed instructions are in Quick Study #27,
Printing
Mailing Labels From RCS, available at the Help Desk in the VCC.
It's also available on-line via the Quick Studies and Memos
link from the
Academic & Research Computing homepage in RPInfo.
Two utility programs allow you print in landscape orientation
and/or print multiple pages on one sheet of paper: the program
enscript
reads plain text files; the program
psnup
reads POSTSCRIPT files.
Below are two examples. See the man pages for these
programs for complete information.
The following command prints a two-up landscape (rotated) listing of the
file myprogram.c (enscript also accepts the -P
option for selecting a printer).
enscript -2r myprogram.c
In the command below, psnup reads a POSTSCRIPT file called printfile.ps
and formats it as 2x2 pages in portrait orientation. Note that the file
must be piped to lpr to be printed.
psnup -n4 printfile.ps | lpr
Published by Academic and Research Computing, RPI, Troy, NY 12180
Send comments to consult@rpi.edu.