13/08 Setting up a (networked) Canon ip4500 on Kubuntu 8.04 (Hardy Heron)

This turned out to be the easiest non-Postscript printer installation I have ever performed on Linux. YMMV, especially if you use a 64-bit distribution.

1. Download the ip4500 driver software from Canon - I used version 2.80, available here. You'll need both the "cnijfilter-common_2.80-1_i386.deb" and "cnijfilter-ip4500series_2.80-1_i386.deb" files.


2. Install both these packages, starting with "cnijfilter-common_2.80-1_i386.deb". I got no error messages at this stage.


3. Restart the CUPS subsystem - from a command prompt enter "sudo /etc/init.d/cupsys restart"


4. Launch the KDE "System Settings" application and select "Printers".


5. Select "Add Printer/Class" from the "Add" menu.


6. Click "Next" and choose an appropriate backend. My printer was plugged into a Buffalo Linkstation on my local network, so I chose "Remote LPD queue" and then entered the hostname and queue name ("lp") appropriately. If you have a firewall installed on your machine, you'll need to enable outgoing lp traffic before doing this.


7. In the "Printer Model Selection" dialog, select "Other", and then choose "/usr/share/ppd/canonip4500.ppd".


8. This would be a good point to print a test page, as offered by the printer installation wizard. You may also wish to enable the duplex unit or change other printer settings at this stage, using the "Settings" button.


9. Click swiftly through the banner, user access and quota dialogs (unless you're special) and then enter a name for your printer - this is what it will be known as on the local machine.


10. You're done. To set the printer as the default for all applications, right click it in the "Printers" system settigns panel and select the appropriate option.

So far, setting up this printer has been astonishingly painless on both Windows and Linux.