Ever wanted to print a document of just about any sort to a virtual printer that would then turn it into a PDF? It’s pretty easy to do in Ubuntu. In fact you’ll need just 5 steps and about as many minutes of your time to set this up.
Step 1. Get cups-pdf installed. Open up a terminal session (or use Synaptic) and type the following:
sudo apt-get install cups-pdf
Step 2. Go to System -> Administration -> Printing and then Printer ->Add Printer.
Step 3. Take a good look at this screen. You won’t have to change anything, but it sure is nice to see. Click the Forward button.
Step 4. Set the Manufacturer to Generic and the Model to PostScript. Click the Forward button.
Step 5. Set the name to something simple and easy to remember, like “LeChicArsGeekPDFPrinterMakerThingy”. Click the Apply button and you are done.
Now you can happily churn out PDFs to share with your friends, family and co-workers.
Technorati Tags: ubuntu, pdf, virtual printer, print to pdf, le chic
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May 17th, 2007 at 9:58 am
Well, I actually found out that pdf printers are not really necessary under linux, you just check the box “print as a file” (not sure about the translation) and it will be saved as a .ps file. Next, you use ps2pdf on it.
Anyway, great tip!
May 17th, 2007 at 10:05 am
That’s one way to do it. It all depends on where you want to take the steps.
May 17th, 2007 at 11:39 am
Thanks for the information. I love PrimoPDF for our Windows machines, this will give us the same functionality on our Linux boxes.
May 17th, 2007 at 11:51 am
Hey Jason, thanks for the comment. It’s nice to have something work in a similar way across platforms, isn’t it? Makes it so much easier on users who are used to a particular way of doing things.
AG
May 17th, 2007 at 2:26 pm
I pick up ArsGeek using Bloglines as a feed reader - and this post shows up with all the images of things like “Help I’m stolen” and three deer rutting (yes, there are evidentially gay deer in the wild).
I can see the value of image protection so other sites don’t just point right to your image content online, but how about letting feed readers like google and bloglines off the hook?
May 17th, 2007 at 2:33 pm
Hey Jon,
It appears that it only transmitted my slightly changed images for a short while - while the post was in transition. Any blog reader that picked up the post in the first hour or two of it’s life may have the new images in place of the old.
Other than that, bloglines, google, yahoo and MSN all show the proper images. At least, for me, with new subscriptions.
AG
May 17th, 2007 at 3:39 pm
it’s working great for me again as well - thanks!
And I must say, the Jon Lovitz looking guy picking his nose picture was pretty hilarious.
May 17th, 2007 at 9:07 pm
While that pic is in my top 4, I almost fell off of my seat when I saw the storm trooper on his throne.
Glad to see that various rss readers have caught up.
For those wondering what we’re talking about, see this link
May 30th, 2007 at 12:31 pm
Thanks. In my Windows days I had Adobe Acrobat installed and used the ‘print to PDF’ option a lot. It’s been one of the options I’ve missed since switching to Ubuntu/Kubuntu, though not enough to motivate me to actively search for a solution. However all good things come to he who waits, and this hint falls into that category.
May 30th, 2007 at 1:05 pm
If your like me and wondering where the file went, look under: Places Home Folder PDF
June 15th, 2007 at 3:35 am
Files created by pdf printer does not open in Acrobat Reader on Windows. Has someone experienced the same problem? To me it looks the file created is a PS file which I can easily create with the installed (defualt) Postscript printer.
June 15th, 2007 at 10:23 pm
Hi,
Is there a way to do this in pclinuxos. I tried finding cups-pdf in Synaptic and it wasn’t found and I can’t do apt-get in pclos.
This worked really well when I was running Ubuntu and I woulds like to use it with the latest build of pclos.
July 26th, 2007 at 2:58 pm
Thanks for the great tip! And for the comment regarding its location. Opening fine for me in Acrobat Reader (at least the one for Linux) and xpdf.
one more step closer to Mac OS X …
August 6th, 2007 at 10:35 pm
Thanks for the tip. Works great and now I can print to PDF in Linux, woohoo!
August 15th, 2007 at 8:08 pm
Hi AG,
Thanks for this great post, but seems like this is not working in my feisty. actually, i cant find the pdf-ed files. any tip?
ok, i just found it, there’s a PDF folder in my home directory and contains the converted files. any idea to change the default location?
August 15th, 2007 at 8:10 pm
ok, i just found it, there’s a PDF folder in my home directory and contains the converted files. any idea to change the default location?
August 19th, 2007 at 5:25 am
Thank you, just what I needed.
September 16th, 2007 at 2:37 pm
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/PDFPrinting
If you are using Ubuntu 6.06 (due to bug 42147) it is necessary to manually change one file in order to add the PDF printer:
$ sudo chmod +s /usr/lib/cups/backend/cups-pdf
September 29th, 2007 at 5:04 pm
Hi there,
Very helpful stuff. I always wondered how pdf printing could be done. And now I know.
October 7th, 2007 at 2:24 pm
Hey,
thanks for the easy 5 Step How To. It worked for me on the first try. Now i can print PDF with one click
Thanks
October 8th, 2007 at 12:12 pm
I thought that 5 steps to create a PDF printer (print to PDF) in Ubuntu was very interesting. I found you searching on Apply Online Credit Card Instant Monday Thanks for the nice post!
October 15th, 2007 at 3:28 am
Great how to - (must be the shortest how to I have ever followed) works perfectly, thanks.
November 13th, 2007 at 2:29 pm
November 26th, 2007 at 9:01 am
Great howto. Is there a way to get it to ask for a filename before it prints? Thanks
December 3rd, 2007 at 12:31 am
I concur! Great how-to - simple and effective. Thanks again. To Rudy: If you check the box marked print to file, you can give it a name.
August 17th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
great tips.am definitely going to bookmark this page on my browser.thanks
September 27th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
Hello,
I am using Ubuntu 9.04 The Jaunty Jackaloupe. I believe your instructions do not work so well with this newer version. I do like that your instructions, they are the easiest to understand that I as a newbie have seen. But, your screen shots and steps do not seem to correspond with the newer version. I hope to see an ubdate on here in the future.
October 10th, 2009 at 10:24 pm
Hello
I am new to Linux. I cannot figure out how to open the terminal session or find the program Synaptic.
I tried to use the terminal server client and added the “sudo apt-get install cups-pdf” to every field I can think of but it will not connect.
I tried connect to server and it will not do it either. Can anyone post instructions on how to accomplish the first step.
Thanks,
Pierre
November 22nd, 2009 at 2:25 am
It’s very nice for you, i like work easy, thank you very much!, in karmic koala the print is create automatically
January 8th, 2010 at 2:17 pm
Excellent info. Using a Windows application in Crossover I could not print a pdf file. The sudo command installing the cup-pdf was all that was required. The pdf printer was then available in the Windows application (Quickbooks) as a choice.
January 18th, 2010 at 5:33 pm
In Ubuntu 9.10, it is a one-step process, the first step mentioned:
apt-get install cups-pdf
does it all. I’d far prefer it I could get it to ask me where to save and what to name the pdf. It only goes to the $HOME/pdf folder, which is NEVER where I would like it to go and so after creating each pdf, I need to move it and rename it. To the poster who mentioned the print to file option - this is NOT the same. .ps is not as universal a file format and having to convert it manually after each printing is an equally onerous task if one is doing this constantly. I typically make 10 or more pdfs each day, sometimes more. I want an automated single step process, not one with multiple steps. I wish that Adobe made a full Acrobat Distiller Pro for Linux, but it’s expensive…