PR(1)

📦
version 9.10 · 5 versions
, in ubuntu stonking

💖 PR(1) — the pr girlie pop manual 💖

okay so bestie, you just opened the manual page for pr, section 1 of the user commands, and honestly? she's a whole vibe. paginate, columnate, print — the full slay. let's get into it 🎀

✨ NAME ✨

pr — convert text files for printing 🖨️✨

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

pr [OPTION]... [FILE]...

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

Paginate or columnate FILE(s) for printing. that's the whole job. she takes your messy text and makes it page-shaped and cute. periodt.

if you give her no FILE, or if FILE is -, she reads from standard input. yes gurl, pipes count, we love a flexible icon 🫶

lowkey important, highkey mandatory: mandatory arguments to long options are also mandatory for the short options. no skipping, bestie.

here's the full menu of flags, no skips, no cuts, every single one 🍓:

  • +FIRST_PAGE[:LAST_PAGE], --pages=FIRST_PAGE[:LAST_PAGE] — begin printing with page FIRST_PAGE, and stop at LAST_PAGE. literally "start here, end there" energy 🎯
  • -COLS, --columns=COLS — output COLS columns and print them going down, unless -a is used. also balances the number of lines in the columns on each page, so it's giving very even, very symmetrical, very ✨aesthetic✨
  • -a, --across — print columns across instead of down. use it together with -COLUMN. she's the sideways queen 👑
  • -c, --show-control-chars — use hat notation like ^G and octal backslash notation. shows you the invisible gremlins 👻
  • -d, --double-space — double space the output. breathing room, we love to see it 😮‍💨
  • -D, --date-format=FORMAT — use FORMAT for the header date 📅
  • -e[CHAR[WIDTH]], --expand-tabs[=CHAR[WIDTH]] — expand input CHARs (TABs) to tab WIDTH (8) 🌈
  • -F, -f, --form-feed — use form feeds instead of newlines to separate pages. the difference: a 3-line page header with -F, or a 5-line header and trailer without -F 📄
  • -h, --header=HEADER — use a centered HEADER instead of the filename in the page header. -h "" prints a blank line. and listen — don't use -h"", fr fr 🙈
  • -i[CHAR[WIDTH]], --output-tabs[=CHAR[WIDTH]] — replace spaces with CHARs (TABs) to tab WIDTH (8)
  • -J, --join-lines — merge full lines. turns off -W line truncation, gets rid of column alignment, and --sep-string[=STRING] sets the separators 🧲
  • -l, --length=PAGE_LENGTH — set the page length to PAGE_LENGTH (66) lines. default number of lines of text is 56, and 63 with -F. implies -t if PAGE_LENGTH <= 10 📏
  • -m, --merge — print all files in parallel, one in each column, truncate lines, but join lines of full length with -J. it's giving group project but everyone actually shows up 🤝
  • -n[SEP[DIGITS]], --number-lines[=SEP[DIGITS]] — number lines, use DIGITS (5) digits, then SEP (TAB). default counting starts with the 1st line of the input file 🔢
  • -N, --first-line-number=NUMBER — start counting with NUMBER at the 1st line of the first page printed (peep +FIRST_PAGE) 💫
  • -o, --indent=MARGIN — offset each line with MARGIN (zero) spaces. does not affect -w or -W, and MARGIN will be added to PAGE_WIDTH 📐
  • -r, --no-file-warnings — omit the warning when a file cannot be opened. no drama, no notifs, we're unbothered 💅
  • -s[CHAR], --separator[=CHAR] — separate columns by a single character. default for CHAR is the <TAB> character without -w, and 'no char' with -w. -s[CHAR] turns off line truncation of all 3 column options (-COLUMN | -a -COLUMN | -m) except when -w is set ✂️
  • -S[STRING], --sep-string[=STRING] — separate columns by STRING. without -S: default separator is <TAB> with -J and <space> otherwise (same as -S" "). no effect on column options 🔤
  • -t, --omit-header — omit page headers and trailers. implied if PAGE_LENGTH <= 10 🙅‍♀️
  • -T, --omit-pagination — omit page headers and trailers, and eliminate any pagination by form feeds set in input files
  • -v, --show-nonprinting — use octal backslash notation 🔍
  • -w, --width=PAGE_WIDTH — set page width to PAGE_WIDTH (72) characters, for multiple text-column output only. -s[char] turns it off (72) 📏
  • -W, --page-width=PAGE_WIDTH — set page width to PAGE_WIDTH (72) characters, always, and truncate lines — except when the -J option is set. no interference with -S or -s 🚧
  • --help — display this help and exit 🆘
  • --version — output version information and exit 🏷️

👑 AUTHOR 👑

Written by Pete TerMaat and Roland Huebner. legends, honestly. thank you for your service 🫡

😭 REPORTING BUGS 😭

found a bug? spill, bestie:

🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

Packaged by Ubuntu (9.10-1ubuntu2). Copyright © 2026 Free Software Foundation, Inc. License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>. This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law. 💀 (yes, ALL CAPS NO WARRANTY, they really meant it)

and that's the whole page, bestie 🫶 go forth and paginate. this was GNU coreutils 9.10, dated August 2026, and you just read the PR(1) manual. mwah 💋 slay, stay gorgeous, and always check your --sep-string 🌈✨💖

📦 where this page comes from