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slackware:cups [2009/06/05 13:40] – Two small typos alienslackware:cups [2010/02/14 21:46] (current) – Set the pfd script executable for all users (including user 'lp' which cupsd uses nowadays) alien
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   * Next, we are going the create the file that provides or "pdf backend" functionality. Defining a new backend is really no more than creating an executable file called in CUPS's backends directory ''/usr/lib/cups/backend'' - this file's name will become the name of the backend. So, for the "pdf" backend we create the file ''/usr/lib/cups/backend/pdf'' and make this a shellscript, the contents of which you can find in the section below - [[#pdf_printer_scripts|PDF Printer Scripts]]. Do not forget to make this new "pdf" script executable: <code>   * Next, we are going the create the file that provides or "pdf backend" functionality. Defining a new backend is really no more than creating an executable file called in CUPS's backends directory ''/usr/lib/cups/backend'' - this file's name will become the name of the backend. So, for the "pdf" backend we create the file ''/usr/lib/cups/backend/pdf'' and make this a shellscript, the contents of which you can find in the section below - [[#pdf_printer_scripts|PDF Printer Scripts]]. Do not forget to make this new "pdf" script executable: <code>
 chmod 755 /usr/lib/cups/backend/pdf chmod 755 /usr/lib/cups/backend/pdf
-</code> This backend will in turn call two other scripts which we shall place in the library directory ''/usr/lib/cups/pdf'' - see next bullet point.+</code> This backend will in turn call two other scripts which we shall place in the library directory ''/usr/lib/cups/pdf'' - see next bullet point.\\ The reason the script did not get world-executable permissions, is that the backend program needs to be run as the //root// user - CUPS will only do that if the program is not world-executable. Otherwise, the backend would be run using the unprivileged user account, typically "lp". //The script needs to run as root in order to be able to change ownership of the resulting PDF file to the user who printed it.//
  
-  * Now that we have the ''pdf'' backend file in place, the next step is to create the two helper scripts that our ''pdf'' script uses. One script does the conversion of PostScript to PDF, while the second does the actual email delivery. \\Install these two files called "''ps2pdf.cups''" and "''sendpdf''" into the cups library directory which we just created: ''/usr/lib/cups/pdf''. You can find these scripts in the section below called [[#pdf_printer_scripts|PDF Printer Scripts]]. Do not forget to make these files executable: <code>+  * Now that we have the ''pdf'' backend file in place, the next step is to create the two helper scripts that our ''pdf'' script uses. One script does the conversion of PostScript to PDF, while the second does the actual email delivery.\\ Install these two files called "''ps2pdf.cups''" and "''sendpdf''" into the cups library directory which we just created: ''/usr/lib/cups/pdf''. You can find these scripts in the section below called [[#pdf_printer_scripts|PDF Printer Scripts]]. Do not forget to make these files executable: <code>
 chmod 755 /usr/lib/cups/pdf/ps2pdf.cups chmod 755 /usr/lib/cups/pdf/ps2pdf.cups
 chmod 755 /usr/lib/cups/pdf/sendpdf chmod 755 /usr/lib/cups/pdf/sendpdf
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 <note>__Reminder__: If you don't use the email delivery feature, you do not need to install the '' sendpdf'' script, and you don't have to deal with the Perl software requirements!</note> <note>__Reminder__: If you don't use the email delivery feature, you do not need to install the '' sendpdf'' script, and you don't have to deal with the Perl software requirements!</note>
  
-  * CUPS uses //PPD// files (PostScript Printer Definition files) for the conversion of a submitted print job into PostScript print data which is correctly formatted for the printer backend. Usually the backend is a physical device (a printer) and the PPD file describes the device's capabilities. For our PDF backend which is not a physical device at all, we just need generic PPD file that can output color information in PostScript format (if you prefer grey-scale PDF files, you should of course get an appropriate non-colour PPD file).\\ Adobe wrote a PPD file ''distiller.ppd'' which you can freely download [[http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=204|at their web site]]. The Adobe site is often inaccessible, but fortunately there are many mirrors of that PPD file. Here is one: [[http://www.linux-als-server.de/download/destiller.ppd|destiller.ppd]]; note that for some unknown reason this file is called "d**e**stiller.ppd" instead. \\ \\ Another (really free) PPD file can be found on the [[http://www.physik.uni-wuerzburg.de/~vrbehr/cups-pdf/|cups-pdf]] web site, where you can find another implementation of a CUPS PDF print solution which I have not yet tried. The URL to this PPD file is [[http://www.physik.uni-wuerzburg.de/~vrbehr/cups-pdf/cups-pdf-CURRENT/extra/PostscriptColor.ppd|PostscriptColor.ppd]] \\ \\ Save either of those files in the CUPS ppd-collection directory, under the name of ''/usr/share/cups/model/pdfcolor.ppd'' - the name does not really matter, you can keep the original filename if you wish, but since I am using that name ''pdfcolor.ppd'' in the rest of this example, I refer to it here as well to avoid confusion. CUPS PPD files are gzipped - probably to save space. It is not a requirement to do so for our own PPD file, but we will do it anyway: <code>+  * CUPS uses //PPD// files (PostScript Printer Definition files) for the conversion of a submitted print job into PostScript print data which is correctly formatted for the printer backend. Usually the backend is a physical device (a printer) and the PPD file describes the device's capabilities. For our PDF backend which is not a physical device at all, we just need generic PPD file that can output color information in PostScript format (if you prefer grey-scale PDF files, you should of course get an appropriate non-colour PPD file).\\ Adobe wrote a PPD file ''distiller.ppd'' which you can freely download [[http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=204|at their web site]]. The Adobe site is often inaccessible, but fortunately there are many mirrors of that PPD file. Here is one: [[http://alien.slackbook.org/files/distiller.ppd.gz|distiller.ppd.gz]]. A copy of the file is available in this Wiki as well: {{:slackware:distiller.ppd.gz|distiller.ppd.gz}}\\ \\ Another (really free) PPD file can be found on the [[http://www.physik.uni-wuerzburg.de/~vrbehr/cups-pdf/|cups-pdf]] web site, where you can find another implementation of a CUPS PDF print solution which I have not yet tried. The URL to this PPD file is [[http://www.physik.uni-wuerzburg.de/~vrbehr/cups-pdf/cups-pdf-CURRENT/extra/PostscriptColor.ppd|PostscriptColor.ppd]] \\ \\ Save either of those files in the CUPS ppd-collection directory, under the name of ''/usr/share/cups/model/pdfcolor.ppd'' - the name does not really matter, you can keep the original filename if you wish, but since I am using that name ''pdfcolor.ppd'' in the rest of this example, I refer to it here as well to avoid confusion. CUPS PPD files are gzipped - probably to save space. It is not a requirement to do so for our own PPD file, but we will do it anyway inncase you did not download the "//.gz//" file: <code>
 gzip /usr/share/cups/model/pdfcolor.ppd</code> This creates the file ''/usr/share/cups/model/pdfcolor.ppd.gz'' which we will use in the ''lpadmin'' command further down. gzip /usr/share/cups/model/pdfcolor.ppd</code> This creates the file ''/usr/share/cups/model/pdfcolor.ppd.gz'' which we will use in the ''lpadmin'' command further down.
  
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