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 something 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 applications.

       Every time you print something, CUPS creates a job which contains the queue you are sending the print to,
       the name of the document 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 Administration 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 maintenance 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 operating system of choice.

ENVIRONMENT

       CUPS  commands  use the following environment variables to override the default locations of files and so
       forth. For security reasons, 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.

NOTES

       CUPS  printer drivers, backends, and PPD files are deprecated and will no longer be supported in a future
       feature release of CUPS.  Printers that do not support IPP can be supported using  applications  such  as
       ippeveprinter(1).

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 © 2007-2019 by Apple Inc.