cups(1)                                                        Apple Inc.                                                        cups(1)

NAME
       cups - a standards-based, open source printing system

DESCRIPTION
       CUPS  is the software you use to print from applications like word processors, email readers, photo editors, and web browsers. It
       converts the page descriptions produced by your application (put a paragraph here, draw a line there, and so  forth)  into  some‐
       thing your printer can understand and then sends the information to the printer for printing.

       Now, since every printer manufacturer does things differently, printing can be very complicated.  CUPS does its best to hide this
       from you and your application so that you can concentrate on printing and less on how to print. Generally, the only time you need
       to  know anything about your printer is when you use it for the first time, and even then CUPS can often figure things out on its
       own.

   HOW DOES IT WORK?
       The first time you print to a printer, CUPS creates a queue to keep track of the current status of the  printer  (everything  OK,
       out  of  paper,  etc.)  and any pages you have printed. Most of the time the queue points to a printer connected directly to your
       computer via a USB port, however it can also point to a printer on your network, a printer on the Internet, or multiple  printers
       depending  on the configuration. Regardless of where the queue points, it will look like any other printer to you and your appli‐
       cations.

       Every time you print something, CUPS creates a job which contains the queue you are sending the print to, the name of  the  docu‐
       ment you are printing, and the page descriptions. Job are numbered (queue-1, queue-2, and so forth) so you can monitor the job as
       it is printed or cancel it if you see a mistake. When CUPS gets a job for printing, it determines  the  best  programs  (filters,
       printer  drivers,  port monitors, and backends) to convert the pages into a printable format and then runs them to actually print
       the job.

       When the print job is completely printed, CUPS removes the job from the queue and moves on to any other jobs you have  submitted.
       You can also be notified when the job is finished, or if there are any errors during printing, in several different ways.

   WHERE DO I BEGIN?
       The easiest way to start is by using the web interface to configure your printer. Go to "http://localhost:631" and choose the Ad‐
       ministration tab at the top of the page. Click/press on the Add Printer button and follow the prompts.

       When you are asked for a username and password, enter your login username and password or the "root" username and password.

       After the printer is added you will be asked to set the default printer options (paper size, output mode, etc.) for the  printer.
       Make  any changes as needed and then click/press on the Set Default Options button to save them. Some printers also support auto-
       configuration - click/press on the Query Printer for Default Options button to update the options automatically.

       Once you have added the printer, you can print to it from any application. You can also choose Print Test Page from  the  mainte‐
       nance menu to print a simple test page and verify that everything is working properly.

       You  can also use the lpadmin(8) and lpinfo(8) commands to add printers to CUPS.  Additionally, your operating system may include
       graphical user interfaces or automatically create printer queues when you connect a printer to your computer.

   HOW DO I GET HELP?
       The CUPS web site (http://www.CUPS.org) provides access to the cups and cups-devel mailing lists,  additional  documentation  and
       resources, and a bug report database. Most vendors also provide online discussion forums to ask printing questions for your oper‐
       ating system of choice.

ENVIRONMENT
       CUPS commands use the following environment variables to override the default locations of files and so forth. For security  rea‐
       sons, these environment variables are ignored for setuid programs:

       CUPS_ANYROOT
            Whether to allow any X.509 certificate root (Y or N).

       CUPS_CACHEDIR
            The directory where semi-persistent cache files can be found.

       CUPS_DATADIR
            The directory where data files can be found.

       CUPS_ENCRYPTION
            The default level of encryption (Always, IfRequested, Never, Required).

       CUPS_EXPIREDCERTS
            Whether to allow expired X.509 certificates (Y or N).

       CUPS_GSSSERVICENAME
            The Kerberos service name used for authentication.

       CUPS_SERVER
            The hostname/IP address and port number of the CUPS scheduler (hostname:port or ipaddress:port).

       CUPS_SERVERBIN
            The directory where server helper programs, filters, backend, etc. can be found.

       CUPS_SERVERROOT
            The root directory of the server.

       CUPS_STATEDIR
            The directory where state files can be found.

       CUPS_USER
            Specifies the name of the user for print requests.

       HOME Specifies the home directory of the current user.

       IPP_PORT
            Specifies the default port number for IPP requests.

       LOCALEDIR
            Specifies the location of localization files.

       LPDEST
            Specifies the default print queue (System V standard).

       PRINTER
            Specifies the default print queue (Berkeley standard).

       TMPDIR
            Specifies the location of temporary files.

FILES
       ~/.cups/client.conf
       ~/.cups/lpoptions

CONFORMING TO
       CUPS conforms to the Internet Printing Protocol version 2.1 and implements the Berkeley and System V UNIX print commands.

SEE ALSO
       cancel(1),  client.conf(7), cupsctl(8), cupsd(8), lp(1), lpadmin(8), lpinfo(8), lpoptions(1), lpr(1), lprm(1), lpq(1), lpstat(1),
       CUPS Online Help (http://localhost:631/help), CUPS Web Site  (http://www.CUPS.org),  PWG  Internet  Printing  Protocol  Workgroup
       (http://www.pwg.org/ipp)

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright © 2007-2017 by Apple Inc.

16 April 2014                                                     CUPS                                                           cups(1)