Documentation Printing Beat

Printing

The system-config-printer UI has been overhauled to look friendlier and more in line with modern desktop applications. The system-config-printer package no longer needs to be run as root.

Other changes include the following.

   * The configuration tool window has been made easier to use. Instead of a list of printer names on the left and properties for the selected printer on the right, now there is just a box with icons representing printers. Double-clicking on a printer opens a properties dialog window.
   * The CUPS authentication dialog selects the appropriate user-name and allows it to be altered mid-operation.
   * When the configuration tool is running, the list of printers is updated dynamically.
   * All jobs queued for a specific printer can be seen by right-clicking on a printer icon and selecting ‘View Print Queue’. To see jobs queue on several printers, select the desired printers first before right-clicking. To see all jobs, right-click with no printers selected.
   * The job monitoring tool displays a message when a job has failed. If the printer has been stopped as a result, this is shown in the message. A “Diagnose” button starts the trouble-shooter.
   * The job monitoring tool now performs proxy authentication. When a job is submitted but the CUPS backend requires further authentication information from the user, it stops the job. In this situation, the job monitoring tool will now display an authentication dialog so that the job can proceed. 
   * The GTK+ print dialog gives more feedback about the status of printers, e.g. printers which are out of paper show a little warning emblem on their icon. Paused printers also show an emblem, and printers which are rejecting jobs are grayed out.