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 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 configura-
       tion. 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 can-
       cel 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  Administra-
       tion 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.

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 (C) 2007-2017 by Apple Inc.

16 April 2014							       CUPS								   cups(1)