From The Linux Foundation
Canon FAQ
General Questions
In which forum should I ask Canon related questions?
Forum: Printers from Canon
Where can I find a table of working Canon printers?
http://www.linuxprinting.org/printer_list.cgi?make=Canon
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.
Canon BJC-210SP
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. See Networking the HP LaserJet 3100
Canon BJC-6000
What resolution and CUPS settings work consistently?
The CUPS setting Canon BJC 6000, CUPS + Gimp-print Raw CMYK 360x360 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. See Networking 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?
http://cweb.canon.jp/drv-upd/linux/bjlinux210.html
Does the turboprint driver work?
Yes. http://www.turboprint.de/english.html
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. See Networking 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 the Canon 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 at http://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 webpage http://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 the cups-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 in this 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.
The use of the drivers is very restricted.
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.linuxprinting.org/cups-doc.html http://www.linuxprinting.org/ppd-doc.html http://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 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. See Networking 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?
Yes. Use official driver: http://software.canon-europe.com/products/0000524.asp
One more CAPT driver http://www.boichat.ch/nicolas/capt/
LIPS IVv
How do I install this printer using CUPS under debian?
http://www.e-aiyama.com/%7Etoshi/Computer/Linux/Cups.html
How do I print Japanese text?
http://www.e-aiyama.com/%7Etoshi/Computer/Linux/JPrint.html
What is the maximum resolution supported?
It has been reported that this printer can do 1200x1200 with free software.
Canon Smartbase Mulitpass 400
Does it work with free software?
This printer may be compatible with a BubbleJet 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. See Networking 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 driver bj8pa06n.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 the Canon S620 foomatic + 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. See Networking 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" or XPP.
Is this printer supported in commercial software?
Yes. TurboPrint.
Canon S300
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, require libpng.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?
Try the Canon BJC-8200 CUPS Gimp-Print print drivers and look here http://www.linuxprinting.org/pipermail/canon-list/2002q4/000651.html
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 from http://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,