Printing, Scanning and PowerPoint Presentations

General Printing Issues

Printing from Unix

Printing from Network PCs

Scanning

Presentations

General Printing Issues

The list of available printers in applied maths can be found here.

To install one of these printers on a Solaris machine, run admintool (as root), and add "Access to Printer". The printer name is Unix name as per the table above, and the server is applied2.

To access these printers from Linux (assuming that your machine uses CUPS), ensure that your /etc/cups/cupsd.conf is of the form

  HostNameLookups On
  Browsing On
  BrowseShortNames Yes
  BrowseOrder Allow, Deny
  BrowsePoll applied2.shef.ac.uk:631

Then restart CUPS and run

  lpstat -a

and one should get something like

  lax:/# lpstat -a
  apc1 accepting requests since Mon 21 Aug 2006 14:51:32 BST
  apc1d accepting requests since Mon 21 Aug 2006 14:51:33 BST
  bij12 accepting requests since Mon 21 Aug 2006 14:51:34 BST
  bij12d accepting requests since Mon 21 Aug 2006 14:51:35 BST
  bij23 accepting requests since Mon 21 Aug 2006 14:51:36 BST
  clj455 accepting requests since Mon 21 Aug 2006 14:51:37 BST
  clj455d accepting requests since Mon 21 Aug 2006 14:51:38 BST
  jjg accepting requests since Mon 21 Aug 2006 14:51:39 BST
  lj132 accepting requests since Mon 21 Aug 2006 14:51:40 BST
  lj132d accepting requests since Mon 21 Aug 2006 14:51:41 BST
  lj5 accepting requests since Mon 21 Aug 2006 14:51:42 BST
  lj6 accepting requests since Mon 21 Aug 2006 14:51:43 BST
  lrw accepting requests since Mon 21 Aug 2006 14:51:44 BST
  mjt accepting requests since Mon 21 Aug 2006 14:51:45 BST
  mjtd accepting requests since Mon 21 Aug 2006 14:51:46 BST

New iprint method for Windows machines: You must have an ap1 username.   If you have an ap2 or ap4 username, find someone (anyone) with an ap1 username to do this for you.  Follow these instructions exactly or it will not work.   Using Internet Explorer, open www.shef.ac.uk/prchooser and log in with your ap1 username.  (For the first time only on each machine, download the iPrint client software from the link, and run it.  Reboot your computer and return to this point in these instructions.  Most existing machines will already have this installed.) Select "Academic Departments" in box 1, wait for the page to refresh automatically, then select "Maths-Applied" in box 2, wait for the page to refresh automatically, and select Hicks Building in box 3.   Click on the printer name and OK its installation.

Notes:

1. In general, you can print colour documents on the b/w printers; they will come out in greyscale. Usually these are fine to read (and are considerably cheaper than using the colour printers). Therefore everything apart from the final copy should really be printed out on the b/w to save resources.
2. Please see Shaun Quegan or Mari Bullock if you want to print on the SCEOS printer.
3. This is a DUPLEX printer, ie it prints on both sides of the paper.  If a sheet of paper is half-in, half-out (of the output side), it is quite likely it's printed one side and is about to print the other side.  Don't go pulling it out.  If you're unsure, see me.  The SIMPLEX Unix queue is bjs.  The DUPLEX Unix queue is bjd.  Unix printing is from the TOP TRAY.   Printing from Windows you can set up duplex/simplex, and the preferred tray, from the printer Properties options.
4. This is a DUPLEX printer, ie it prints on both sides of the paper.  If a sheet of paper is half-in, half-out (of the output side), it is quite likely it's printed one side and is about to print the other side.  Don't go pulling it out.  If you're unsure, see me.  The SIMPLEX Unix queue is ljs.  The DUPLEX Unix queue is ljd.  Unix printing is from the TOP TRAY.   Printing from Windows you can set up duplex/simplex, and the preferred tray, from the printer Properties options.  The lj2 queue is deprecated and maintained only for back-compatibility with dual-boot machines that spend all their time in Windows mode and thus never get updated.
   

How do I stop a printer printing garbage?

Press the Job Cancel button (HP Laserjet) or "X" button (HP Deskjet). Wait for the printer to print the last couple of pages of garbage still in memory.

Printing Transparencies

They may melt onto the rollers and kill the printer. Use printer transparencies specific for that make and model of printer (avoid cheap no-brand ones). There is no central departmental stock of these; you will have to buy your own. Make sure you feed them in the correct way; you should print on the rough side (if you print on the smooth side, it will take weeks...literally...to dry unless it gets onto your clothes and skin, in which case it takes milliseconds to dry permanently). If you want to print black/white transparencies, it is often more convenient (and faster) to print onto paper and then photocopy onto transparencies. 

Scrap Paper

Don't use paper that's already been printed (or photocopied) onto, either. The ink comes off and clogs the rollers, and because the paper's been passed through the hot fuse cycle (if it's been through a photocopier or laserjet) it won't be as receptive of nice clean lines.

Multiple Copies

It is considerably cheaper to photocopy than to print. Thus, when printing multiple black and white copies, please use the photocopier!

Replacement toner and paper

Paper (the same as for the photocopiers) is kept by the secretaries. Toner cartridges are kept in two places: a small cache in H10a, and a large store in the storage room beside the secretaries' offices. It is straightforward to replace the toner cartridges by following the instructions in the packets, but please remember:

1. If you take from the cache in H10a, please replace it with a new one from the store.
2. If you take the last one from the store please ask one of the secretarys to order some more, but don't over-order: see below.
3. Make sure the new cartridge is in date.
4. The larger cartridges are recycled by repacking them into the discarded packaging and sending to a Freepost address. The address label is in the packaging and all you need to do is drop the sealed package in the mail tray. Please recycle!

Printing from the Unix Network

Printing Postscript documents

The command format is

lpr -Pprintername /path/to/filename.ps

lpr -Pps /home/richard/testfile.ps 

Printing ASCII text documents (from Solaris)

If you want to print an ASCII text document, you can use a Postscriptifier program such as mp. For example, the following code fragment is set up in the .cshrc5 file in my home directory on the Solaris system.:

alias print 'mp -o -l -s "`ls -l \!*`" \!* | lpr -Pps'

print filename.txt

mp -F | lpr -Pps

Printing images

This is possible if you can load the image into the xv image viewer (either type 'xv imagename' or simply 'xv' then park the cursor in the picture and type '?' (ie, shift-forwardslash) and use the Load button. You can then Save the image as a Postscript file. Be sure to select A4 paper (which is NOT the default), or some printers will pause for you to insert a sheet of Letter format paper. You can then print the resultant postscript file.

Printing MS formats (.doc, .xls, etc)

Print them from inside Open Office.

Printing from Netscape or Mozilla

Netscape has rather a clever set of document viewers and postscriptifiers hidden in it as plugins. Therefore, if you have a document on the screen in Netscape or Mozilla, you can print it directly. This is often handy if you have an image of dubious parentage that xv is refusing to load. Press the Print button and press Printer Properties. Type into the Print Command box lpr -Pps (or -Pdj or -Plj4 or -Pclj, etc). OK that, then press the (second) Print button.

Printing from OpenOffice

If you haven't set up your printers yet, open a terminal window and type /usr/lib/openoffice/program/spadmin.   Press the New Printer button.  Select Add a Printer.  Select Generic Printer.   Into the command line box, type lpr -Pps (or similar).  Give the printer a name and set as default if required. Select Finish.  The printer will now be available in the drop-down list of printers from within OpenOffice.

Edit your $HOME/.Xauthority file and add the following line, exactly as written.  This will print to the ps printer. 

AcroRead*lprCommand: lpr -Pps

Printing to the non-default paper tray

Unfortunately you can't (easily). Use a Windows ghostscript viewer and print from that. If there is no tray selection, upgrade to a more recent version. The Unix solution which is not yet implemented globally involves adding a postscript fragment like this to every job.

Printing from a Windows PC networked via Wintersett

Printing documents with embedded Postscript

Install the full version of Acrobat (Linda Wilkinson has a copy). This will install an Acrobat drop-down menu in MS-Word. Open your document in MS-Word and use the drop-down menu to Convert to Adobe PDF. This may be printed on a non-Postscript printer (you will also be able to view the result in Acrobat before printing).

How do I print two-sided on the duplex printers?

Bring up the Printers and Faxes window from the Control Panel, right-click on the printer, select Properties, and make your selections (simplex/duplex, orientation, etc) there.

Scanners

How to Scan

The department has a 1200 dpi colour scanner in H10a located on the table on the left. It may be utilised as follows (this is a very abbreviated howto list. A full description of all the bells and whistles of this program is beyond the scope of this document: consult the program Help for more information):

1. Log on via Wintersett with your Novell username and password.  The local username is 'User' and the local password is blank.  DO NOT CHANGE THIS.
   
2. Double click on the Irfanview icon on the desktop.
3. Insert your document face-down onto the glass platen and close the lid.
   • Select File -> Select Twain Source and make sure that "WIA Hewlett Packard ScanJet 5300C 1.0" is selected.  This should be, unless someone's been messing with it.
     
   • Select File -> Acquire and let the scanner warm up and scan a Preview scan.  If you only want to scan a small region of the image, drag the lines to select that region.  You can also select colour or grayscale at this point, and alter the scan quality (better quality = larger file).  When you are happy all is ready, click Scan 
4. Click on the Save button, and save it to a (local) file.  Then move it to your own disk(s).
   

• Please do not alter any of the default settings - or if you do, alter them back.
• Please do not leave images clogging up the hard drive(s) of this PC. Save them to your Butterley U:\ drive. I will periodically clean this disk up!
• Do not install any software on this machine. If you want anything that isn't already on there, please ask.

Presentations

How do I create a poster to print?

You can create the entire poster in Corel Draw, or in MS-Powerpoint, or in MS=Word. In the latter two cases, create it as a standard A4 page size (with proportionally small fonts) and Printing Resources can print it out up to A0 size. Remember to use high resolution graphics.

The problem of black in MS-Powerpoint.

The colour black in MS-Powerpoint isn't the same black as in any other package by a gnat's whisker. The result is that black background figures on a black background page (intended to blend in with the page) will look very slightly odd when printed out at the maximum sizes (A1, A0).

I want an electronic copy of the university crest.

Printing Resources may have more recent versions of these below: for more information contact s.mather@sheffield.ac.uk. The rightmost crest is very high quality and with a transparent background and we have been granted permission to use it in powerpoint presentations on university business. However, we're not actually allowed to display it here under penalty of diciplinary procedure (hence the broken link), so email me for it.

How do I hook up my laptop to a data projector?

Turn on the data projector and let it warm up until it displays the manufacturer's logo. Turn on the laptop. Plug in the lead to the laptop's VGA output (it'll be the only one where the lead fits!). Press Function-Fsomething, where Fsomething is the function key with the pictogram of a monitor (usually F7, but it varies) This usually blanks the monitor and puts the image on the projector. Press it again to get simultaneous displays on laptop and projector (useful so you're not addressing the screen throughout). When you're done, turn off the projector with the SOFT on/off switch. Do not turn off the power to the projector until the fan stops. This may take several minutes.

If the projector doesn't display the edges of your screen (ie, the screen seems too big for the projector) then bring the resolution down. Newer projectors can't usually display better than 1280x1024. Older projectors can't usually display better than 1024 x 768.