Connecting Ubuntu Linux to a networked printer

Hamish Taylor
Friday, 08 August 2008 13:43

Opinion and Analysis

I Click OK and then click Next. I can type in a printer name that makes sense, but I just use the one it has there already. Do I want to print a test page? No. I click Next then I click Finish.
 
It prompts me that the driver is not signed and what do I want to do? I click on Continue Anyway.
 
I wait a few seconds for the installation to finish. Finally I now have access to my networked printer.
 
So how difficult is this to do in Ubuntu Linux? Let me boot back into it and check it out.
 
I go to the System menu and go to Printing. I click on New Printer. I know that the printer is setup for HP JetDirect printing, as that is what I have just used to connect from Windows. I type in the Hostname, which is the IP address of the printer, in this case 10.0.0.1. It briefly searches for drivers. I have to select Samsung from the list.

This is where it gets interesting. It automatically selects the Samsung CLP-300 driver for me. The driver is pre-installed in Ubuntu Linux so there is no need to download or do anything else. I click on Forward.

I type in the Printer Name and a Description which it tells me is a human readable name. I type in CLP-300N for both of these. I click Apply.

That's it. The printer is now available for me to print to!

Under Printer Options I can select the default options that I want to have: whether it prints in colour, the resolution, the number of copies, etcetera. When I print I can also override these and change the settings.

Unsurprisingly, having used both the Windows and Ubuntu Linux driver installation methods, which method of printer driver installation do you think I prefer?
 
As always feel free to leave feedback and comments. I do appreciate them all.

In my next article I will try to chat about some of the more interesting things you can do with Ubuntu Linux. Let's have some fun!