PSU Mathematics Department - MD4 - Printing on Mathnet

	Eberly College of Science Mathematics Department
MD4 - Printing on Mathnet

Printers

The CSG maintains the following printers for general access through the departmental printer server descartes.math.psu.edu:

Name	Room	Type	Features
MB103	MB103	HP 4200DN	duplex
MB116	MB116	HP 4600DN	duplex,color
MB219D	MB219D	HP 4100N
MB219Dcolor	MB219D	HP 4700N	duplex,color
MB318D	MB318D	HP 4600DN	duplex,color
MB415	MB415	HP 4250N	duplex

In addition, the CSG also maintains many of the laser printers in offices around the department.

Printing

You can print from any Mathnet Unix workstation using the lpr command. Mathnet machines are configured with a default printer that is physically close. You can print to another printer by using the lpr -P option. For example the command:

        lpr -Pmb103 filename

will print the file filename to the printer MB321 regardless of the default printer.

Note that Mathnet printers, generally, print PDF, Postscript, and plain text files. If you have a file in a another format, you will have to convert it to Postscript before printing it. The most common formats are:

Format	Converter	Sample Command Line
DVI	dvips	dvips input.dvi -o output.ps

Many GUI programs on Mathnet Unix workstations allow you to print by pressing a button, usually labeled print. Almost universally, these are merely interfaces to lpr and to one extent or another will allow you to specify a printer to print to and options to supply to lpr. If you cannot speicify options to lpr directly, usually you have the option of printing to a postscript file. You can then print the postscript file using lpr.

Duplex Printing

Some printers can print on both sides of a page. This capability is called duplex printing. The printers that support duplex printing are: MB318D, MB116, and MB103. To print a file named filename in duplex under Solaris, give lpr the -Zduplex argument:

        lpr -Pmb103 -Zduplex filename

To print a file named filename in duplex under OS X or Linux, use the -o Duplex=DuplexNoTumble argument:

        lpr -Pmb103 -o Duplex=DuplexNoTumble

To force simplex printing under OS X or Linux, use the -o Duplex=None argument:

        lpr -Pmb103 -o Duplex=None

To make simplex printing the default under OS X, for a given printer, use lpoptions:

        lpoptions -p mb318d -o Duplex=None

This has the effect of modifying your ~/.lpoptions file.

Note: If you have a problem printing in duplex or forcing simplex printing when using OS X, send email to help and be sure to mention that you are using a Mac.

Color Printing

The available color printers are: MB318D, MB116.

Manual Feed

To print on special paper, for example, if you'd like to print a transparency, use the -Zmanual option of lpr when printing to one of the color printers using a Solaris workstation:

        lpr -Zmanual filename

When your job reaches the printer, the printer will stop and wait for paper or transparencies to be fed manually. To use the manual feed tray under OS X and Linux use the -oManualFeed option:

        lpr -oManualFeed filename

Although it is called manual, the manual tray accepts multiple sheets, about a quarter inch worth. You do not have to manually feed each individual sheet. The manual feed tray is accessed by opening the front panel (labeled 1). Please be gentle when opening the front panel. Please remember to close the front panel after you are finished with the manual feed tray.

Transparencies

To print transparencies, you must use the manual feed feature of the HP color printers as described above.

Transparency stock is located in a drawer beneath each of the color printers. Special transparency stock is required for the HP color printers since they operate at temperatures higher than some transparencies can withstand. Some transparency stock may melt and gum up the internals of the color printers requiring a costly cleaning. Please send email to help@math.psu.edu if the transparency stock is low. If you would like to purchase your own stock, please purchase HP stock that is designed for use with HP color laserjet printers, such as HP part number C2934A.

Media for Color Printers

The color printers have a fuser that operates at 190°C (374°F). It is very important that any medium used be stable at that temperature. Be sure to avoid any transparency stock that is designed for ink jet printers. Ink jet printers operate at much lower temperatures. The best option is to use HP media that is designed for use with HP color laserjet printers. However, any medium that can tolerate a temperature of 190 degrees celsius is acceptable.

Adding a printer to your Macintosh desktop or laptop

Open the System Preferences and click Print & Fax under the Hardware section.
Select the printing tab and click the + to add a new printer.
Enter the protocol and address for the printer. Here in the math department, the printers use the LPD protocol, and the address is descartes.math.psu.edu.
Add the printer queue you want. Usually, one of mb14, mb103, mb116, mb219d, mb318d, or mb415.
Fill in the name and location with whatever you like.
The operating system should autoselect the Generic PostScript Printer driver. Here, you can click the pull-down item and pick the correct model and series name as listed above. You'll also have the ability to add the duplex units and selections for additional paper trays.
Click Add.