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From: Mladen Gogala <gogala.mladen@gmail.com>
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.misc
Subject: Re: redirecting printer output to file PDF
Date: Sat, 14 Feb 2015 21:38:18 +0000 (UTC)
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On Fri, 13 Feb 2015 21:34:54 -0800, pureheart wrote:

> I filled out an online PDF form with text in the fields as it allowed
> this.
> Before hitting the :send" button I tried to save a copy only to get the
> message that it was not allowed.
> 
> The form *did*, however, allow me to print it before leaving if I
> wished.
> 
> Is there a way I could have invoked the program from the command line so
> as to redirect the printer output to a file?
> 
> I have seen stderr redirection examples (stdin, stdout, stderr), but if
> there is no standard printer file  such as stdprn I guess I might be out
>  of luck.
> 
> Any ideas?
> 
> Pureheart

There is a cups-pdf package which allows you to print anything to 

mgogala@medo ~]$ rpm -qa|grep -i cups-pdf
cups-pdf-2.6.1-7.fc20.x86_64

Similar packages also exist for other distributions, too. I use the same 
trick on Ubuntu. When the package is installed, you get a corresponding 
printer:

[mgogala@medo ~]$ lpstat -t
scheduler is running
system default destination: Canon-PIXMA-MG3100
device for Canon-PIXMA-MG3100: lpd://lpt/0D88A3000000
device for Cups-PDF: cups-pdf:/
Canon-PIXMA-MG3100 accepting requests since Fri 13 Feb 2015 07:53:57 PM 
EST
Cups-PDF accepting requests since Fri 20 Jun 2014 07:21:42 PM EDT
printer Canon-PIXMA-MG3100 is idle.  enabled since Fri 13 Feb 2015 
07:53:57 PM EST
	Data file sent successfully.
printer Cups-PDF is idle.  enabled since Fri 20 Jun 2014 07:21:42 PM EDT

The printer is called Cups-PDF on my computer. You can then print to it:

[mgogala@medo ~]$ lp -d Cups-PDF ~/.bashrc
request id is Cups-PDF-127 (1 file(s))

Where will the printer put the output file, depends on your 
configuration. In my case, the PDF version of my ~/.bashrc ended up on my 
desktop. For the details, I recommend you doing what very few people do 
these days: read the documentation. It's available here:

http://www.cups-pdf.de/documentation.shtml

On Fedora, cups-pdf.conf is located here:

[mgogala@medo ~]$ locate cups-pdf.conf
/etc/cups/cups-pdf.conf


-- 
Mladen Gogala
The Oracle Whisperer
http://mgogala.byethost5.com
Je suis Charlie