Sunday, November 10, 2002

Simulate desktop printers using CUPS

In the old days of Desktop Printers, I could drop the file icon on the printer icon, and, at least for some file types, the procedure was simplified. This option was not available in OS X (to my knowledge). But as of 10.2, it's CUPS to the rescue! For more info on CUPS, which is standard on Mac OS X 10.2, see several previous hints or point your browser to http://localhost:631/. To print without using the originating application, open the Terminal and navigate to the file's directory and enter: 

% lp filename
Replace 'filename' with the name of the file to print. The file prints without opening an application. This works for text, PDF, PostScript, and many graphics files. You can also type
% lp[space]
where [space] represents hitting the space bar. Then, drag the file icon to the terminal, and hit Return. The file will print regardless of your directory.

posted at 11:44:51 PM — permalink