cups – OpenPrinting

OpenPrinting CUPS v2.5b1
========================

!Version
!Apache 2.0

> Note: This branch is tracking a future CUPS 2.5.x feature release. Check
> out the "2.4.x" branch for CUPS 2.4.x.

Introduction

OpenPrinting CUPS is the most current version of CUPS, a standards-based, open
source printing system for Linux® and other Unix®-like operating systems. CUPS
supports printing to:

• [AirPrint™][1] and [IPP Everywhere™][2] printers,
• Network and local (USB) printers with Printer Applications, and
• Network and local (USB) printers with (legacy) PPD-based printer drivers.

CUPS provides the System V ("lp") and Berkeley ("lpr") command-line interfaces,
a configurable web interface, a C API, and common print filters, drivers, and
backends for printing. The [cups-filters][3] project provides additional
filters and drivers.

CUPS is licensed under the Apache License Version 2.0 with an exception to allow
linking against GNU GPL2-only software. See the files LICENSE and NOTICE
for more information.

> Note: Apple maintains a separate repository for the CUPS that ships with macOS
> and iOS at .

[1]: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201311
[2]: https://www.pwg.org/printers
[3]: https://github.com/openprinting/cups-filters

Reading the Documentation

Initial documentation to get you started is provided in the root directory of
the CUPS sources:

• CHANGES.md: A list of changes in the current major release of CUPS.
• CONTRIBUTING.md: Guidelines for contributing to the CUPS project.
• CREDITS.md: A list of past contributors to the CUPS project.
• DEVELOPING.md: Guidelines for developing code for the CUPS project.
• INSTALL.md: Instructions for building and installing CUPS.
• LICENSE: The CUPS license agreement (Apache 2.0).
• NOTICE: Copyright notices and exceptions to the CUPS license agreement.
• README.md: This file.
• REPORTING_ISSUES.md: Instructions what information to provide when reporting an issue.

Once you have installed the software you can access the documentation (and a
bunch of other stuff) online at and using the man
command, for example man cups.

If you're having trouble getting that far, the documentation is located under
the doc/help and man directories.

Please read the documentation before asking questions.

Setting Up Printers

CUPS includes a web-based administration tool that allows you to manage
printers, classes, and jobs on your server. Open
in your browser to access the printer administration tools. You will be asked
for the administration password (root or any other user in the "sys", "system",
"root", "admin", or "lpadmin" group on your system) when performing any
administrative function.

The lpadmin command is used to manage printers from the command-line. For
example, the following command creates a print queue called "myprinter" for an
IPP Everywhere printer at address "11.22.33.44":

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

The -p option specifies the printer name. The -E option enables the printer
and accepts new print jobs immediately. The -v option specifies the *device
URI* for the printer, which tells CUPS how to communicate with the printer. And
the -m option specifies the model (driver) to use, in this case the IPP
Everywhere ("everywhere") driver that is used for AirPrint and IPP Everywhere
printers as well as shared printers and printers supported through Printer
Applications.

Legacy printers are supported using PPD (PostScript Printer Description) files
that describe printer capabilities and driver programs needed for each printer.
CUPS includes several sample PPD files for common legacy printers:

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

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

You can run the lpinfo -m command to list all of the available drivers:

lpinfo -m

Similarly, the lpinfo -v command lists the available printers and their device
URIs:

lpinfo -v

Once you know the device URI and driver name, add the printer using the
lpadmin command:

lpadmin -p PRINTER-NAME -E -v "DEVICE-URI" -m DRIVER-NAME

Printing Files

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:

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.

Contributing Code and Translations

Code contributions should be submitted as pull requests on the Github site:

http://github.com/OpenPrinting/cups/pulls

See the file "CONTRIBUTING.md" for more details.

CUPS uses [Weblate][WL] to manage the localization of the web interface,
command-line programs, and common IPP attributes and values, and those likewise
end up as pull requests on Github.

[WL]: https://hosted.weblate.org

Legal Stuff

Copyright © 2020-2025 by OpenPrinting

Copyright © 2007-2020 by Apple Inc.

Copyright © 1997-2007 by Easy Software Products.

CUPS is provided under the terms of the Apache License, Version 2.0 with
exceptions for GPL2/LGPL2 software. A copy of this license can be found in the
file LICENSE. Additional legal information is provided in the file NOTICE.

Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed
under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR
CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the
specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.