Selecting a Printer Type

For a local PostScript printer, use a printer type of either PostScript (PS) or Reverse PostScript (PSR). If your printer supports PostScript, choose PS or PSR even if the specific printer type is listed in the terminfo database.

If your PostScript printer prints pages face up, documents appear to be printed backwards—the first page is at the bottom of the stack and the last page is on the top. If you specify the printer's type as PSR, the LP print service reverses the order of the pages before sending them to the printer. The last page is printed first, and the pages are stacked in forward order. However, the LP print service can reliably change the page order only for PostScript files that conform to the Adobe® Document Structuring Conventions in Appendix C of the PostScript Language Reference Manual (written by Adobe Systems Incorporated, and published by Addison-Wesley, 1990).

If a printer can emulate more than one kind of printer, you can assign it several types by using the lpadmin -T command. If you specify more than one printer type, the LP print service uses the type that is appropriate for each print request.

You might not find the printer type in the appropriate terminfo directory. The type of printer is not necessarily linked to the manufacturer's name on the printer. For example, for any type of PostScript printer, you can use the PS or PSR entry (found in the /usr/share/lib/terminfo/P directory) instead of an entry specific to manufacturer or product names.

If you have an unusual type of printer, you might need to try different entries before you can determine whether a particular terminfo entry works for your model of printer. If possible, find an entry in the terminfo database that works for your printer. It will be much easier than trying to create an entry. If you have to create your own entry, Adding a terminfo Entry for an Unsupported Printer contains some useful tips.