Printing to file or creating a print output file

Issue description

This article provides a quick summary of how to the create a Print Output file (*.prn).

Note:  You may need to generate a print file for testing driver and communication issues or for escalation purposes.

Capturing .prn via printer driver

Perform the steps below:

1. Click Start.



2. Click Settings>Control Panel >Printers and Faxes, or click on Devices and Printers.



3. Right-click on the print queue (for example: UPD v2 PCL5 driver).



4. Click on Properties or Printer Properties from the drop-down menu.



5. Go to the Ports tab, and click on "Add Port..." button. A Printer Ports dialog will appear.



6. Select Local Port, then click on New Port...



7. Enter the Port Name in the specified location (for example: d:\test.prn), click OK, and then close the Printer Ports window.



8. Click Apply, and then OK.



9. Open the test file and print the document using the modified print queue.

   Note:  The actual job file is generated in d:\test.prn, which was created in the Printer Ports window.

What to do next

Testing a driver or communication issue.

• Send the file to the printer using various methods based on printer connection method.
• USB cable ‑ Send the file to the printer using a piece of software such as the local printer setup utility (LPSU).
• Network connection ‑ Send the file to the printer using FTP, or in some instances you can send the file from the printer's embedded Web server.

Note:  Refer to the FTP example.

Submitting the *.prn for escalation purposes.

• Include the *.prn file with all other escalation materials requested by your technical support representative.

FTP Example

1. From a command prompt, open an FTP session to the adapter by typing ftp <TCP/IP_address>, where TCP/IP is the address of the printer, MFP, or print server.



2. Log in to the FTP server with a user name. (Pressing ENTER will allow an anonymous login.)IMPORTANT! If necessary, type cd.. to go to the root directory. Otherwise, make sure the listed directory is in the same location as the file. This may also be performed prior to Step 1.



3. Type bin and press ENTER to switch to binary transfer.



4. Type putc:<path filename> to transfer your file to the adapter so that it will be printed.



5. Type bye to close the FTP session.

Related FTP articles

• FTPing a File to a Lexmark C500
• FTPing a File to a Network Adapter