Printing

• Computer Systems Lab Documentation
  • 1 Frequently Asked Questions
    • 1.6 Printing
      • 1.6.1 How do I check my printer quota?
      • 1.6.2 I need more paper! I've used up my paper quota!
      • 1.6.3 I'm over my quota. Do I have to pay for the sheets I already printed that went over my printer quota?
      • 1.6.4 Which printers do I have access to?
      • 1.6.5 Can I print to a color printer?
      • 1.6.6 How do I check the printer queue?
      • 1.6.7 How do I print a document?
      • 1.6.8 How do I change my default printer?
      • 1.6.9 I just got a message saying my print job printed. How do I keep from getting these messages?
      • 1.6.10 How do I remove a job from the printer queue?

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1.6.1 How do I check my printer quota?

Use lpquota to check your printer quota. Your printer quota is also displayed in the "Message of the Day" box on your screen each time you log in.

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1.6.2 I need more paper! I've used up my paper quota!

You need to purchase more paper. Go to the Systems Lab, 2350 Computer Science, to purchase more paper. Bring your checkbook or a money order; we can not accept cash.

Paper quota adjustments are normally processed in a few minutes.

Price	Pages
$2.00	50 sheets
$3.00	100 sheets
$4.00	150 sheets
$5.00	200 sheets
$6.00	250 sheets

The Systems Lab is open from 8AM to 5PM, Monday-Friday and can handle your paper purchase during those times. Unused purchased paper is carried over to the next semester.

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1.6.3 I'm over my quota. Do I have to pay for the sheets I already printed that went over my printer quota?

Yes.

Quotas are checked each time a job starts. If you're within quota when you start, even by only one page, you can submit the job to the printer.

The total pages printed updates after the job is complete. If the pages printed is greater than the number of pages left in your printer quota, you will go over. If you have more printing to do, you will have to purchase paper to cover those printed pages plus what you expect to have to print out after that.

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1.6.4 Which printers do I have access to?

Type lpquota -p to see a list of printers you have access to.

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1.6.5 Can I print to a color printer?

The department color printers are set up only for research users. Users are billed to a UW fund for any printouts generated on these printers.

Faculty, staff or graduate students who need access to the color printers should contact the Systems Lab with a fund number (and faculty advisor if appropriate) for billing purposes.

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1.6.6 How do I check the printer queue?

On UNIX systems:

Use the lpq command. To check on a specific printer, you will need to add the -Pprinter option.

Examples:

lpq	Checks the printer queue for the laser printer queue
lpq -P5b	Checks the printer queue for the 5b printer queue

On Windows NT systems:

1. Open the Printers list, either from My Computer or from Start Menu | Settings | Printers.
2. Double click on the printer queue you want to check

The print jobs in the queue should be shown on the screen now.

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1.6.7 How do I print a document?

On UNIX systems:

TEXT FILES

Use either the print or lpr. Use the -Pprinter to specify a specific printer queue with either command. print will reformat text into 2-column smaller-print text, where lpr will print 66 lines/page, 80 columns/line.

POSTSCRIPT FILES

Use the lpr command for printing PostScript documents. Warning: Do not use print to print PostScript documents.

FILES IN OTHER FORMATS

You will need to find some way to convert the document to PostScript; then you can submit the PostScript output to the printer queue using lpr.

On Windows NT systems:

1. Make sure the printer you want to print to has been added to your system.
2. Open the document you want to print.
3. Select File | Print.
4. Select the printer from the dialog box.
5. Click on Printer Options to turn on any special features that printer may support, such as duplexing, page orientation, etc.
6. Click OK.

Note: Not all printers have user-controllable printer options.

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1.6.8 How do I change my default printer?

Changing your default printer will allow you to print to the default printer without going through Windows NT print dialog menus or specifying the printer queue name each time when printing from a UNIX system.

On UNIX systems:

Set the PRINTER environment variable before running the print command.

On Windows NT systems:

You will need to set the default printer.

1. Open the Printers list, either from My Computer or from Start Menu  | Settings  | Printers
2. Double click on the printer queue you want to make the default
3. Select Printer  | Set As Default Printer

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1.6.9 I just got a message saying my print job printed. How do I keep from getting these messages?

Use the -h option to lpr when submitting your print job.

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1.6.10 How do I remove a job from the printer queue?

On UNIX systems:

Use the lprm command.

Examples:

lprm -Plaser 567	Removes job 567 from the laser printer queue
lprm -P3a tim	Removes all jobs from user tim form the laser printer queue

On Windows NT systems:

1. Open the Printers list, either from My Computer or from Start Menu | Settings  | Printers
2. Double click on the printer queue you want to check
3. Select the job you want to remove
4. Select Document | Cancel

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