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Canon FAQ

General Questions

Where can I find a **table** of working Canon printers?

Is there vendor support for Japanese?

ftp://download.canon.jp/pub/driver/bj/linux/ (includes cups sources for S300 and S500 )http://mland98.rc.kyushu-u.ac.jp/pub/TurboLinux/TurboLinux/ia32/Workstation/8/additional/Canon/

The main problem is that there is no source for the driver library and the driver is checking the libs version and I dont know how to recalculate a libs checksum after editing it.

Printer families

There are few Canon printer families:

  • UFR II/UFR II LT (Ultra Fast Renderer)
    • to be defined …
  • LIPS LX (abbreviation?)
    • to be defined …
  • CARPS (Canon Advanced Raster Printing System)

Printers

Which driver works?

The GhostScript driver bj200 has been reported not to work. The bj600 driver has working. Color printing with the bj600 driver is untested.

The provided PPD file should work fine.


Canon BJC-5100

Does it work?

No. This is a GDI “WinPrinter”.

Does it work with Windows?

This printer will work with Windows 95/98, but not NT,2K, or XP. It may be possible to emulate a postscript printer and share it across a LAN with SAMBA. SeeNetworking the HP LaserJet 3100


Canon BJC-6000

What resolution and CUPS settings work consistently?

The CUPS settingCanon BJC 6000,CUPS + Gimp-print Raw CMYK 360×360 DPI


Canon BubbleJet M70

Which driver provides the best black and white output?

The bj10vh driver prints black and white really fast and high quality, but will not print color graphics.

Which driver is best for color graphics?

The BJC 85 Ghostscript+gimp-print with the follwing settings: gamma=.72 or .75; Saturation=2.0; Density = 1.25. It's quite slow, but the quality is good.


Canon CP660PS

Does the printer work with free software?

No.

How do I print through Windows?

It may be possible to emulate a postscript printer and share it across ta LAN with SAMBA. SeeNetworking the HP LaserJet 3100 Supply a username (without a password), instead of (anonymous) on most windows servers (even with full acces granted). Try making smbspool work from command line first. In cups, specify the .ppd file CN660A10.PPD Now you should have access to all the fancy stuff, brightness, duplex, trays etc.


Canon i320

Is this printer supported with free software?

No.


Canon i550

Which driver do I use?

The BJC-7100 driver should work.

Where can I find information about printing Japanese text?

Does the turboprint driver work?

Canon i810

Does it work with free software?

Not directly. It may be possible to emulate a postscript printer and share it across a LAN with SAMBA. SeeNetworking the HP LaserJet 3100


Canon i850

Which driver is the best to use?

The best so far is the BJC 7004 @ 600 X 600 DPI. See theCanon BJC 7004 Database Entry for driver information.

How do I set this printer up with Debian?

The BJ 7004 driver works acceptably using foomatic, however as has been reported elsewhere, the colors are slightly off. The canon drivers hosted athttp://cweb.canon.jp/drv-upd/bj/bjlinux220.html work better, but since they are rpms, getting them working on debian is not obvious. Here are the general steps to make them work.

1. Go to the webpagehttp://cweb.canon.jp/drv-upd/bj/bjlinux220.html

2. Download the bjfilterpixus and bjfiltercups rpms.

3. Use alien to convert the rpms to either debs, or .tar.gz files.

4. Either untar the .tar.gz files, or dpkg -i

5. alien doesn't preserve the symlinks that are in the rpm. This prevents thecups-filter from running, and there are no messages detailing what was wrong. . To fix this, add these symlinks in /usr/lib:

lrwxrwxrwx  1 root  root   33 Jun 25 23:36 libcnbpcmcm156.so -> /usr/lib/libcnbpcmcm156.so.5.71.2
lrwxrwxrwx  1 root  root   35 Jun 25 23:37 libcnbpcnclapi156.so -> /usr/lib/libcnbpcnclapi156.so.2.2.0
lrwxrwxrwx  1 root  root   37 Jun 25 23:37 libcnbpcnclbjcmd156.so -> /usr/lib/libcnbpcnclbjcmd156.so.2.2.0
lrwxrwxrwx  1 root  root   34 Jun 25 23:38 libcnbpcnclui156.so -> /usr/lib/libcnbpcnclui156.so.2.2.0
lrwxrwxrwx  1 root  root   33 Jun 25 23:38 libcnbphtmg156.so -> /usr/lib/libcnbphtmg156.so.5.60.1
lrwxrwxrwx  1 root  root   29 Jun 25 23:39 libcnbpo156.so -> /usr/lib/libcnbpo156.so.1.0.6
lrwxrwxrwx  1 root  root   33 Jun 25 23:39 libcnbpsmth156.so -> /usr/lib/libcnbpsmth156.so.3.34.1
lrwxrwxrwx  1 root  root   32 Jun 25 23:39 libcnbpwcc156.so -> /usr/lib/libcnbpwcc156.so.5.41.1

6. Make a symlink for libpng.so.2. This can be done either by symlinking the current version of libpng ln -s /usr/lib/libpng.so.3 /usr/lib/libpng.so.2 or installing an older version of libpng apt-get libpng10

7. Install and use the printer as usual. Try kde printer-config tool, or follow the directions at inthis howto.

You can test the filter by /usr/lib/cups/filter/pstocanonbj 1 user filename 1 “” < some_file.ps If it is working, it will output something like:

GNU Ghostscript 7.05: Could not open the scratch file /var/spool/cups/tmp/gs_yjsmxL.
BJLSTART
ControlMode=Common
SetTime=20030625234233
BJLEND
BJFILTER ERROR :file access Error!
not support this image format

if it is broken, you may see something like:

/usr/local/bin/bjfilterpixus850i: error while loading shared libraries:
   libcnbpcmcm156.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory


Canon iR550

Does Canon provide some drivers?

Yes. Canon has a set of drivers available as a cost-free download.

http://canon.codehost.com/

The use of the drivers isvery restricted.


Canon ImageRunner iR

Canon iR Device URI's

Protokoll URI Comment
lpd: lpd://<hostname>/lpt1 -
HP JetDirect: socket://<hostname> -
ipp: ipp://<hostname>:631/ipp/?waitjob=false did not block the spooler
ipps: ipp://<hostname>:443/ipp/?waitjob=false secured (enable ssl on the machine)

How to use the mailbox-feature of Canon IR multifunctiondevices with a cups-printserver

Tested with

  • Black/White machines
    • iR 5000 iR3025 iR 3235
  • Color machines
    • iR 3100C iR 3170C iR C2880 iR C3080 iR C4080

expand the appropriate ppd-file (/usr/share/cups/model/) with the following lines of code:

*% === Job Control Language ==

*JCLBegin: "<1B>%-12345X@PJL JOB<0A>"
*JCLToPSInterpreter: "@PJL ENTER LANGUAGE = Postscript <0A>"
*JCLEnd: "<1B>%-12345X@PJL EOJ <0A><1B>%-12345X"

*% Base JCL key code option
*JCLOpenUI JCLMailbox/Mailbox: PickOne
*OrderDependency: 10 JCLSetup *JCLMailbox
*DefaultJCLMailbox: None
*JCLMailbox None/No mailbox: ""
*JCLMailbox 0/0:   "@PJL COMMENT CANPJL SET DEVICE=MAILBOX <0A>@PJL COMMENT CANPJL SET MAILBOXNUMBER=0 <0A>"
*JCLMailbox 1/1:   "@PJL COMMENT CANPJL SET DEVICE=MAILBOX <0A>@PJL COMMENT CANPJL SET MAILBOXNUMBER=1 <0A>"
*JCLMailbox 2/2:   "@PJL COMMENT CANPJL SET DEVICE=MAILBOX <0A>@PJL COMMENT CANPJL SET MAILBOXNUMBER=2 <0A>"
*JCLMailbox 3/3:   "@PJL COMMENT CANPJL SET DEVICE=MAILBOX <0A>@PJL COMMENT CANPJL SET MAILBOXNUMBER=3 <0A>"
*JCLMailbox 4/4:   "@PJL COMMENT CANPJL SET DEVICE=MAILBOX <0A>@PJL COMMENT CANPJL SET MAILBOXNUMBER=4 <0A>"
*JCLMailbox 5/5:   "@PJL COMMENT CANPJL SET DEVICE=MAILBOX <0A>@PJL COMMENT CANPJL SET MAILBOXNUMBER=5 <0A>"
*JCLMailbox 6/6:   "@PJL COMMENT CANPJL SET DEVICE=MAILBOX <0A>@PJL COMMENT CANPJL SET MAILBOXNUMBER=6 <0A>"
*JCLMailbox 7/7:   "@PJL COMMENT CANPJL SET DEVICE=MAILBOX <0A>@PJL COMMENT CANPJL SET MAILBOXNUMBER=7 <0A>"
*JCLMailbox 8/8:   "@PJL COMMENT CANPJL SET DEVICE=MAILBOX <0A>@PJL COMMENT CANPJL SET MAILBOXNUMBER=8 <0A>"
*JCLMailbox 9/9:   "@PJL COMMENT CANPJL SET DEVICE=MAILBOX <0A>@PJL COMMENT CANPJL SET MAILBOXNUMBER=9 <0A>"
*JCLCloseUI: *JCLMailbox

this lines should be located between the header- and the optionlines

*ModelName: "Canon iR C2880/C3380"
*ShortNickName: "Canon iR C2880/C3380"
*NickName: "Canon iR C2880/C3380"

*% fill in here
*% <-----
*% fill in here

*% === Options and Constraints Begin ===
*OpenGroup: InstallableOptions/Attached Options
*OpenUI *Opt2CF/2-Cassette Feeding Unit: Boolean
*DefaultOpt2CF: False
*Opt2CF False/Off: ""

Now restart the cupsd-daemon, to reload the ppd, modify a existing printer or create a new one with this ppd.

After this the mailbox features is visible on the printer option menu. after the export to windows (cupsaddsmb/export to Samba) this feature is working on windows.

Canon iR2200

Does it work with free software?

The printer has been reported working flawlessly with the ljet4 driver, because it supports PCL5e.

If the iR is a Postscript printer then extrace the PostScript printer driver PPD file from the driver file on the Canon website.http://www.usa.canon.com/html/download/imagerunner2200_2800_3300.html


Where can I get a PPD?

the iR2200i model is reported to have a PPD from Canon on the included CD-ROM. To integrate the PPD with CUPS, see

http://www.openprinting.org/cups-doc.htmlhttp://www.openprinting.org/ppd-doc.htmlhttp://www.cups.org/sam.html


What if it is a PCL only printer?

If the iR is PCL only then the HP LJ 4 PCL printer included with most GNU/Linux distributions works partially.

Canon iR C2880

What if it is a PCL only printer?

If the iR is PCL only then the HP Color LaserJet 5000 Foomatic/cljet5 printer included with most GNU/Linux distributions works partially.

Canon iR6000

Does it work with free software?

This printer has been reported working. You must use the CUPS driver “HP Laserjet Series” over LPR/LPD. It works with 600dpi resolution, and dual-sided.

Where can I get a PPD?

Canon's SQue 9.3.1 Linux driver contains a PPD file ppd/cnir50e1.ppd in the tar archive. It is not known whether it works. Canon LBP 600

Does the printer work with free software?

Maybe. It's a “WinPrinter”, but there is some effort to write a driver.http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/doc/printer.htm The ljetplus driver should work with Canon LBP 600.

This printer is supposed to be a winprinter that uses CAPT.

Where can I download a driver?

You could try the following RPM cjet-0.8.9-1cl which is a Cjet PCL emulation for Canon CaPSL printers.http://speakeasy.rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/conectiva/Utilities.html (Untested) Canon LBP 810 laser printer

Does it work with free software?

No. You can probably print to it through a Windows machine.

How do I make the Windows Printer act as a Postscript Printer, in Windows?

It may be possible to emulate a postscript printer and share it across a LAN with SAMBA. SeeNetworking the HP LaserJet 3100


Canon LBP 8III Plus

Does it work with free software?

Possibly. Try the lbp8 driver in Ghostscript. There is some old info here:http://www.ipd.bth.se/ska/sim_home/canonLBP4-linux.html

If you have CUPS installed, try these drivers:

  • LBP4+
  • LBP4U
  • LBP8A1


Canon LBP 1120 Laser Printer

Does it work with free software?

How do I install this printer using CUPS under debian?

How do I print Japanese text?

What is the maximum resolution supported?

It has been reported that this printer can do 1200×1200 with free software.


Canon Smartbase Mulitpass 400

Does it work with free software?

This printer may be compatible with aBubbleJet S630.


Canon Smartbase Mulitpass C600F

Does it work with free software?

No. This machine is a GDI “WinPrinter.” It requires a host-based software for which there is no current free software driver.

It may be possible to emulate a postscript printer and share it across a LAN with SAMBA. SeeNetworking the HP LaserJet 3100

Canon Mulitpass F30

Does it work with free software?

Yes, a little. It is compatible with the driver for a Canon BJC-8200. This corresponds to the driverbj8pa06n.upp.

There are some problems with margin settings. They can be controlled by setting margin parameters, but cannot be completely fixed yet.


Canon Mulitpass F50

Does it work with free software?

No, not directly. This printer does not work with free software.

It is possible to print to it through a Windows machine. Use theCanon S620foomatic + gimp-print driver and it should work.

How do I improve the print quality?

Change the resolution to 600x600dpi. This will probably require changing the resolution in several places.

Can it be used without Windows?

No. For more information about sharing it through Windows, see It may be possible to emulate a postscript printer and share it across a LAN with SAMBA. SeeNetworking the HP LaserJet 3100 Canon S200

Is this printer supportted in free software?

Maybe. You can try BJC-600 drivers without any color options: you should print only in grayscale at 360 dpi. Margins should be adjusted. You can use “alignmarins” orXPP.

Is this printer supported in commercial software?

Are there free drivers available?

Canon has released GPL'ed driver for S300 long time ago, but not many people know about it. The website is in Japanese, but all you need is to download a couple of files. The installation guide is also in Japanese, but you just need to see how to add the filters in /etc/printcap.

It also has nice GUI for configuring the printer.

Note that drivers are not adapted to work with CUPS, requirelibpng.so.2, and are a little outdated.

Note2: they updated the driver to version 2.11 (and removed 2.10). Not sure what is the difference, the browser here does not have translation software for Japanese

http://cweb.canon.jp/drv-upd/bj/bjlinux211.html


Canon S330

What configuration works?

Configure CUPS for S600,Foomatic +bj8pa06n.upp. Has minor formatting issues.


Canon S520

What alternate driver can I try?

How come it doesn't print, even though the data light is blinking?

Enable Send EOF in the driver options.

Does Canon offer a driver?

You may have some success with the bjfiltercups-2.2-0.i386.rpm and bjfilterpixus550i-2.2-0.i386.rpm drivers fromhttp://cweb.canon.jp/drv-upd/bj/bjlinux220.html and http://cweb.canon.jp/drv-upd/bj/other.html

These drivers depend on libpng.so.2. You may need to make a symlink if your system has libpng.so.3.

cd /usr/lib
ls libpng*
ln -s libpng$(yourversion) libpng.so.2

After installation, be sure to restart CUPS.

The name of the CUPS driver to select is “PIXUS550i”.


recnum: Canon-S600

Canon S600

Why does the printer have trouble printing colored text?

This problem has been resolved using the Gimp-Print driver for the BJC-8200.

Canon S720

Which alternate driver can I try?

Gimp-Print. Try the UPP file for the Canon BJC-8200,

openprinting/database/canonfaq.txt · Last modified: 2018/12/10 22:04 by Stuw 1