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The Emacs manual says:

M-x print-buffer

Print hardcopy of current buffer with page headings containing the file name and page number.

M-x lpr-buffer

Print hardcopy of current buffer without page headings.

M-x print-region

Like print-buffer but print only the current region.

M-x lpr-region

Like lpr-buffer but print only the current region.

[...]

To specify the printer to use, set the variable printer-name. The default, nil, specifies the default printer.

How do we specify the printer to use?

For example, a PDF printer, which is not shown in the output of

lpstat -p -d

Thanks.

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1
  • You would need to install cups-pdf package, then follow the instructions here: wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/CUPS#PDF_virtual_printer (there isn't much to do, but be warned it is very likely that your user isn't allowed to print anything at all... CUPS is a fundamentally user-ugly system. So, you would need to log in as root (or find a way to make your user eligible for printer management, and no, it is not enough to be a sudoer). Then you can print just as you intended to. But (as I commented on your other question), PS and then ps2pdf will look nicer.
    – wvxvw
    Commented Feb 18, 2015 at 22:14

2 Answers 2

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10

If you are on Linux you can install gtklp and set

(setq lpr-command "gtklp")
(setq ps-lpr-command "gtklp")

to give you a graphical print wizard. This doesn't actually give you print-to-file (unless you have a virtual pdf printer set up in CUPS), but it generally allows for easy printing from emacs.

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3

The printing happens to the printer name set in the environment variable PRINTER.

For example:

  • I would first set the env var PRINTER to my-printer
  • Then launch emacs in that terminal
  • Then do M-x ps-print-buffer-with-faces
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3
  • So you have to restart Emacs to select a different printer?
    – Supernormal
    Commented Dec 7, 2016 at 19:19
  • Ah, no: doing customize-apropos printer name lets you type in the name of the printer to use.
    – Supernormal
    Commented Dec 7, 2016 at 19:22
  • @Supernormal printer-name works if the user hasn't set the PRINTER env variable name, I believe, as per this... Note that the PRINTER env var gets the highest precedence.
    – Kaushal Modi
    Commented Dec 7, 2016 at 19:29

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