How to Make a Raspberry Pi Print Server

Most people can get by with an outdated laser or inkjet printer, but using it might be a pain in the posterior if yours lacks Wi-Fi. Yet it's simple enough to turn a Raspberry Pi into a wireless print server, letting you use any networked computer to print to your wired printer. Here's how to make a Raspberry Pi print server.

What You Need to Make a Raspberry Pi Print Server

The equipment required for this Raspberry Pi print server tutorial is listed below.

Recommended

• Raspberry Pi
• Micro SD Card or an SD card if you’re using an old version of the Pi.
• Ethernet Cable or Wi-Fi
• USB Printer

Optional

• Raspberry Pi Case
• USB Keyboard
• USB Mouse

How to Set Up a Raspberry Pi Print Server

1. On the Raspberry Pi, launch a terminal window or login via SSH.
2. Update the list of installable software.

sudo apt update

3. Install the Common Unix Print System (CUPS) software.

sudo apt install cups

4. Add the default user, pi, to the group of users who can use printers.

sudo usermod -a -G lpadmin pi

5. Create a static IP address so that the Pi can always be located on the network. 

sudo nano /etc/dhcpcd.conf

6. Add a static IP address and details of the router and DNS server to the bottom of the file. Depending on how your router is set up, these details may change. To save and quit, press CTRL + X, Y, and Enter after finishing.

interface wlan0
static ip_address=192.168.0.99/24
static routers=192.168.0.1
static domain_name_servers=192.168.0.1

7. Configure CUPS so that it is accessible across the network.

sudo cupsctl --remote-any

8. Setup SSH remote access to the Pi if it’s not already setup. Launching raspi-config (sudo raspi-config), enabling SSH under Interface Options->SSH, quitting, and restarting are the steps needed to do this.

9. Navigate to the Raspberry Pi’s IP Address, followed by: 631, on another computer’s browser. In our example, the IP address is 192.168.0.99.

192.168.0.99:631

Read More: How to Turn your Raspberry Pi into a Web Server

You'll see the CUPS web interface, from which we may administer the printer server.

10. Click on the Administration tab, and on the next screen, click Add Printer.

11. Upgrade your CUPs if you get an “Upgrade Required” warning, followed by a link to download.

12. Select Advanced and then Proceed if you receive a “Your connection is not private” warning.

13. Enter your username and password; by default, these are PI and raspberry.

14. Click on the radio button next to the name of your printer.

15. Select the model of your printer, and then click Add Printer. Typically, the first value returned should be correct.

16. Check the configuration of the printer before clicking on “Set Default Options“.

Read More: How to Run Google Stadia on a Raspberry Pi

17. Go to Printers and then click on your printer. To open the configuration screen for that printer.

18. Click on Print Test Page, found in the Maintenance menu, to print a test page and confirm that our printer is working properly.

Using the Raspberry Pi Print Server from a Windows device

Installing the printer on Windows 10 is a breeze. Simply make sure your Windows device is on the same network as the print server.

1. From the Start Menu, search for printers and click on Printers & scanners.
2. Click on Add a printer or scanner

3. Click on the print server.

4. Click on Add Device, and Windows will communicate with the print server.

5. Click on Manage to open the printer settings page.

6. Click on Print Test Page to test that Windows can successfully use the print server.

Conclusion

I hope that this tutorial has shown you how to set up a Raspberry Pi print server and that you haven't run into any issues.

If you have any feedback, tips, or issues to offer, please leave a comment below.