Ade Malsasa Akbar contact
Senior author, Open Source enthusiast.
Monday, June 25, 2018 at 23:48


It is pretty easy. I use Canon MP160 as the printer here, as this inkjet printer mentioned as completely GNU/Linux compatible by h-node.org, so it’s automatically detected and no additional drivers needed on Ubuntu and Trisquel operating systems. You see how to print out documents (using LibreOffice), photos (using Shotwell/Image Viewer), and PDF (using Evince/Atril reader) on both systems. I hope this tutorial helps you both in printing and choosing best printer on GNU/Linux. Enjoy printing!

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The Printer


This is how PIXMA MP160 looks like.

Source: Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain)

UBUNTU




Ubuntu: LibreOffice


1) Turn on your printer, connect the USB cable to Ubuntu computer.

2) From LibreOffice: open up main menu File > Print (Ctrl+F) > Print dialog showing > select printer name (here: Canon MP160) > specify either All Pages or certain page only or certain range of pages > OK. See picture 1 below.

3) Ubuntu will print out your document using your printer.

To print in Grayscale mode (no color but only black and white), on the Print dialog, click Properties > dialog showing > Device > choose Color: Grayscale > OK > then continue to print it out. See picture 2 below.

To show the Print Queue, open up your desktop menu > find Printers > Printers dialog showing > Additional Printer Settings > right-click on your printer name (here: MP160) > View Print Queue > your print jobs showing. See picture 3 below.



Picture 1
Printing settings

Picture 2
Grayscale mode

Picture 3
Print queue

Ubuntu: PDF Reader


1) To print PDF file: double-click your PDF > Document Viewer program showing.

2) press Ctrl+P > PDF Printing dialog showing > choose printer name (here: Canon MP160) > choose whether print All Pages, or Current Page, or Range of Pages > press Print button.

3) Ubuntu prints it out.

To print in Grayscale mode, select Color tab > select Color: Grayscale > continue to print it out. 

To show print queue, go to desktop menu and find Printers > click Additional Print Settings > a dialog showing > right-click on your printer name > View Print Queue (Ctrl+F) > print queue showing. 



Picture 1
Printing dialog

Picture 2
Grayscale mode

Picture 3
Print queue

Ubuntu: Photos


For example, you want to print many photos in a sheet of paper. You can take sample photos from Ubuntu wallpapers at /usr/share/backgrouds. For convenience, use Shotwell built-in program to print.

1) Open up Shotwell > import pictures > all pictures imported.

2) Select photos you want to print out > go to menu File > Print (Ctrl+P) > printing dialog showing.

3) Go to Image Settings tab > select either 6 images per page, 8 images per page, 16 images per page, or so on > press Print button.

4) Ubuntu prints it out.

To see print preview, just click Preview button on title bar. See picture 3.

To select photos layout on paper, see Image Settings tab and select Autosize to 6 images per page, 8 images per page, or 16 images per page or so on.
 


Picture 1
Printing dialog

Picture 2
Image settings with 6 photos per page (to determine how many photos per page)

Picture 3
Print preview (showing 6 photos arranged per page)



TRISQUEL





Trisquel: LibreOffice



1) Turn on your printer and connect the USB cable to your Trisquel computer.

2) Open up your document with LibreOffice: go to menu File > Print > Print dialog showing.

3) Select your printer name (here: Canon MP160) > select whether to print All Pages, or certain single page only, or certain range of pages > OK.

4) Trisquel prints it out.




Picture 1
Printing dialog

Picture 2
Grayscale mode

Picture 3
Print queue


Trisquel: PDF Reader


You use Atril PDF Reader on Trisquel. The steps to print are just the same as Ubuntu's:

1) Open up your PDF book > Atril showing. 

2) Go to menu File > Print (Ctrl+P) > select your printer name



Picture 1
Printing dialog

Picture 2
Grayscale mode

Picture 3
Print queue

Trisquel: Photos


By default, not like Ubuntu, Trisquel 8.0 does not include Shotwell (although you can install it manually:  sudo apt-get install shotwell ). If you have Shotwell then follow section Ubuntu: Photos above. But if you don't have it yet, follow this instruction to print out photo with the default Image Viewer.

Note: for convenience, rather than using Image Viewer or Shotwell, I suggest you to copy your photos to LibreOffice Writer first, then arrange them in page, and finally print it out from there. 



Picture 1
Printing dialog

Picture 2
Page setup: choosing paper size (A4/A5), paper orientation (portrait/landscape)

Picture 3
Image settings: viewing page preview, determining image scale




This article is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.