A typical setup

Here's a basic /etc/printcap file that you can modify:

lpt1|tpptr|printer in Docs department:\
  :lp=/dev/par1:\
  :sd=/usr/spool/output/lpt1:\
  :lf=/usr/adm/lpd-errs:\
  :mx#0:\
  :sh:

Each entry in the /etc/printcap file describes a printer. Comments start with a number sign (#). An entry consists of a number of fields delimited by colons (:). In the example above, each field is on a separate line, but you can string the fields together on one line as long as they each start and end with a colon.

Here's what each line means:

lpt1|tpptr|printer in Docs department:\
The known names for the printer, separated by | (bar) characters. The last name is the only name that can include spaces; it's a long name that fully identifies the printer.

Entries may continue onto multiple lines by giving a \ (backslash) as the last character of a line. Empty fields may be included for readability.

:lp=/dev/par1:\
The name of the device to open for output (the default is /dev/lp).
:sd=/usr/spool/output/lpt1:\
The spooling directory (the default is /usr/spool/output/lpd). Each printer should have a separate spooling directory; if it doesn't, jobs are printed on different printers, depending on which printer daemon starts first. By convention, the name of the spooling directory has the same name as its associated printer.
Note: Make sure you create the named spooling directory before you print.
:lf=/usr/adm/lpd-errs:\
A file to take printing error messages (by default, errors are sent to the console).
Note: Sometimes errors that are sent to standard error output don't appear in the log file. We highly recommend that you use the system-logger daemon, syslogd.
:mx#0:\
Remove the default limits on the size of the spooling buffer.
:sh:
Suppress the printing of the burst header, a page that lists the user ID and job information about the print job.