Hello everyone,
I’m looking for a way to print an image in A4 format on plain paper using a Canon imagePROGRAF 1000 or 1100 via the CLI in Debian, without any user interaction. There is no GUI on this system.
Can I achieve this with TurboPrint, and if so, what do I need to configure?
Best regards, Christopher
Printing with TurboPrint via the CLI in Debian
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Stoffel_Hessen
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Thu Mar 19, 2026 8:43 pm
Re: Printing with TurboPrint via the CLI in Debian
Hello, it is no problem to use TurboPrint in a "headless" Linux system wihtout a graphical user interface.
Here is some information:
1. Installation of TurboPrint
Download the .tgz installation archive, extract the archive and execute
sudo ./setup.sh
within the installation folder.
2. Printer installation and configuration
To setup a printer, use the interactive command line tool "tpsetup"
To configure a printer, use the interactive command line tool "tpconfig"
There are man page that you can show with "man tpsetup" / "man tpconfig"
3. To install a license key, you can use
tpsetup --install <keyfile>
where <keyfile> is the name of the keyfile in the current directory or the full path name to the keyfile. Write access to /etc/turboprint is required.
4. You can use the standard CUPS / Linux commands:
To enumerate the currently attached printers, you can call the usb backend (as user "lp" or "root")
/usr/lib/cups/backend/tpu
The output is one line per printer, e.g.
direct tpu://Canon/iP4200 "Canon iP4200" "Canon iP4200 TP-USB #1" "MFG:Canon;MDL:iP4200 TurboPrint" ""
where the second entry is the printer URI, the third entry the printer model name.
To add a new printer, you can use the standard CUPS administration command lpadmin (as user "lp" or "root"), e.g.
/usr/sbin/lpadmin -p <printername> -D <printerdescription> -v tpu://Canon/iP4200 -P /usr/share/turboprint/ppd/Canon_PIXMA_iP4200.ppd
To start the print queue use
/usr/sbin/cupsenable <printername>
/usr/sbin/accept <printername>
and to configure the printer e.g.
lpoptions -p <printername> -o Resolution=600x600dpi -o MediaType=CanonPhotoPlusSemiglossSG101_4
(use "lpoptions -p <printername> -l" to list all possible options).
You can also query attached printers and add new printers via the CUPS WEB server
http://<ip-address>:631
Here is some information:
1. Installation of TurboPrint
Download the .tgz installation archive, extract the archive and execute
sudo ./setup.sh
within the installation folder.
2. Printer installation and configuration
To setup a printer, use the interactive command line tool "tpsetup"
To configure a printer, use the interactive command line tool "tpconfig"
There are man page that you can show with "man tpsetup" / "man tpconfig"
3. To install a license key, you can use
tpsetup --install <keyfile>
where <keyfile> is the name of the keyfile in the current directory or the full path name to the keyfile. Write access to /etc/turboprint is required.
4. You can use the standard CUPS / Linux commands:
To enumerate the currently attached printers, you can call the usb backend (as user "lp" or "root")
/usr/lib/cups/backend/tpu
The output is one line per printer, e.g.
direct tpu://Canon/iP4200 "Canon iP4200" "Canon iP4200 TP-USB #1" "MFG:Canon;MDL:iP4200 TurboPrint" ""
where the second entry is the printer URI, the third entry the printer model name.
To add a new printer, you can use the standard CUPS administration command lpadmin (as user "lp" or "root"), e.g.
/usr/sbin/lpadmin -p <printername> -D <printerdescription> -v tpu://Canon/iP4200 -P /usr/share/turboprint/ppd/Canon_PIXMA_iP4200.ppd
To start the print queue use
/usr/sbin/cupsenable <printername>
/usr/sbin/accept <printername>
and to configure the printer e.g.
lpoptions -p <printername> -o Resolution=600x600dpi -o MediaType=CanonPhotoPlusSemiglossSG101_4
(use "lpoptions -p <printername> -l" to list all possible options).
You can also query attached printers and add new printers via the CUPS WEB server
http://<ip-address>:631