Q.How do I print pdf files from a Unix host?

A.The department printers accept only Postscript print jobs, so you cannot send a pdf file there directly with the lp command.You can use the acroread application (/usr/local/bin/acroread) on the Unix hosts to view and print the document, however, be aware that documents created under Microsoft will not always print successfully with Unix acroread. In that case you can use one of the following methods to print the document. Note that if the document is on a website and Unix acroread has automatically opened for you to read it, you will need to first save the document to a local file before using the following utilities.

1)/usr/local/bin/pdftops will convert the document to Postscript for you.
You can send it directly to the printer with the command:
pdftops <document.pdf> - | lp -d <printername>.

2) /usr/local/bin/xpdf is a utility which will both view and print a simple pdf document (one without embedded graphics).

3) Microsoft Acrobat - start up a session on the Windows emulator using /usr/local/bin/winnt. Log in with your department username and password. Launch Programs -> Utilities -> Acrobat Reader. Note that your document will need to be in your home directory which is mounted on the Windows emulator as drive H:. From the Windows Acrobat Reader you can send the document to any department printer.