OT: print a pdf from command line

[Dan Coutu]

Bob Rasmussen wrote:

>So the word is, you can simply tell Linux to print a PDF file, and it
>works. My question is, "How?"
>
>Presumably, an output filter or something similar would react to the file
>extension, send the job to Acrobat, and output the result. Is this done by
>CUPS? Somebody please fill me (and others) in.
>  
>
The 'How' is: print filters. UNIX printing systems have had for ages now 
the concept of print filters
that detect the type of data being sent to the printer and then convert 
it to whatever the printer needs.
In the past this often meant conversion of text to PostScript, for example.

Nowadays Linux systems tend to use very sophisticated print filtering 
and do things like convert to PCL
or PostScript or possibly other things (usually for specialty printers).

So for example if you try to print a gif file it will be first converted 
to PCL (possibly by ImageMagick)
and then sent to the printer. There are a collection of standard print 
filters in place and if you really
dig into things you can create your own print filters and add them to 
the mix. Chances are that you
won't have to though because someone else already made the one you need.

Richard D. Williams wrote: Dan and Alan,

 > That was the first  thing I tried and got a bunch of garbage.  I had 
to kill the print job and turn off the printer.
 > I am using an standard HP-4020 laser jet.  I think the RH driver is 
set-up to Text.  Should I change it to Raw?
 >
 > Richard

Chances are that changing the printer driver to Raw will work. On the 
filePro instance that I work with
filePro outputs PCL directly. So the print queues all need to be set to 
Raw so that the PCL is passed
directly to the printer.

Dan

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