[sf-lug] Installing and configuring CUPS PDF printer (highly abridged instructions)

[Sameer Verma]

RBV wrote:
> Hi:
>
> At the last SF-LUG meeting I was asked how to enable "printing" to PDF files in Ubuntu.
>
> Here's a highly abridged condensation of the instructions as given in the book "Ubuntu Hacks".
>
> 1. Use "sudo apt-get install cups-pdf" to install the PDF printer.
>
> 2. In the System menu, choose Administration > Printing to display the "Add a printer" dialog box.
>
> 3. In the "Add a printer" dialog box, choose Printer > Add a printer.
>    The utility takes several seconds to read the printer database, then displays the first Add a Printer dialog box.
>
> 4. In the first Add a Printer dialog box, choose Local Printer, choose PDF Printer, then click Forward.
>    The Add a Printer dialog box displays a second dialog box.
>
> 5. In the second Add a Printer dialog box, in the Manufacturer list choose Generic, then in the Model area choose postscript color printer.
>
> 6.  Click Apply to assert the changes.
>
> Open a program, choose File > Print, then choose postscript-color-printer.  The printer driver will create a PDF and place it in <home>/PDF.
>
> Note that you can also use System > Administration > Printing to select the postscript printer and from there find your way to the printer's configuration menu so as to print a PDF test page.
>
> I find this method of printing to PDFs very useful...
>
> Cheers & hope this helps,
> Riley
> SFO
>
> _______________________________________________
> sf-lug mailing list
> sf-lug at linuxmafia.com
> http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug
>   

I usually check the "print to file" box in the Print dialog and print 
the file to a postscript file. Then I drop to a shell and use ps2pdf to 
convert to PDF.  Your approach is easier to use though once it is set up.

Sameer

-- 
Dr. Sameer Verma, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Information Systems
San Francisco State University
San Francisco CA 94132 USA
http://verma.sfsu.edu/
http://opensource.sfsu.edu/