Mac 101: Printing (Mac OS X v10.

6)
Learn about printing in Mac OS X v10.6 Snow
Leopard, which is easier and better than ever.
Note: For information about printing in OS X Lion, please see this
article instead.
Important: See this article for information about connecting a wirelesscapable printer to your wireless network.
Here's a quick summary of what's new for printing in Snow Leopard (read
below for more details):

Apple's Software Update will automatically provide you with third-party

printer software and updates.
"Nearby Printers" is a list of available printers that will appear right inside
your printer dialog box. Adding a nearby printer is just a selection away.
You can simply connect a USB printer and the print queue will be
automatically created.
You can create a PDF document from any application and have an
automated workflow process it.

Before you connect your printer

Run Software Update to check for the latest third-party printer software and
updates.
Make sure the printer is powered on, has paper, and doesn't have any
issues such as a paper jam or low ink.
Adding, managing, or removing print queues may require an administrator
account name and password--make sure you know one for your Mac.

If you are upgrading from Mac OS X v10.5, see "Upgrading Print

Queues..." in the additional information section below.

How to add a printer

To add a USB printer
Mac OS X v10.6 comes with software for many third-party printers, so simply
connect a USB printer and the print queue will be automatically created. If
you do not see your printer in the "Printer:" pop-up menu after connecting it,
go to the "To add a printer via the Print & Fax preference pane" section below.
To add "Nearby Printers"
With Mac OS X v10.6 you can quickly add a "Nearby Printer"--a nearby printer
is a printer connected to the USB port on a Time Capsule or AirPort base
station, a network capable printer that supports Bonjour, or a printer being
shared by another Mac. Snow Leopard uses Bonjour technology to find
nearby printers.
To add a Nearby Printer, all you have to do is select the Nearby printer you
want from the "Printer:" pop-up menu:

Snow Leopard will automatically create the Print Queue.

Note: Mac OS X v10.6 comes with software for many third-party printers. If an
additional or updated printer software is available, Software Update will offer it

to you. For more information about supported printers see this article. You can
also visit the printer vendor's website for printer software, or contact them for
technical support.
To add a printer via the Print & Fax preferences pane
Control-click the System Preferences icon in your Dock and choose "Print &
Fax" from the Dock menu. If the Print & Fax lock icon appears locked, click
the lock icon and enter an administrator name and password when prompted.
Click the + (plus) icon below the Printers pane on the left to open the Add
Printer application.

From the Add Printer toolbar you have these default tools:

1. Default - Used to get a list of all printers that your Mac can see via USB,
Bonjour, and so forth. Tip: If you have a long list of printers, use the search
field to find the printer you are looking for. Just click the printer in the list
that you would like to add and Snow Leopard will add the printer driver for
you.
Mac OS X v10.6 comes with software for many third-party printers. If an
additional or updated printer software is available, Software Update will
offer it to you. If you do not see your printer listed in the "Print Using:"
pop-up menu or a Generic printer driver is selected, then the printing
software may not be available from Apple. For more information about
supported printers seethis article. You can also visit the printer vendor's
website for printer software, or contact them for technical support.

Once the driver is set, click the "Add" button to create your Print Queue.

2. Fax - Used to add a queue for the Fax device connected to your Mac.
3. IP - Used to add your printer network printers that don't use Bonjour or are
on a different network subnet from your computer. Printers that support
the Internet Printing Protocol (IPP), Line Printer Daemon (LPD), and HP
Jetdirect (Socket) can be added in this manner. See your printer's manual
or support documentation for information about how to setup the printer to
use an IP-based printing protocol.
4. Windows- Used to add your printer being shared via the Windows printer
sharing protocol (CIFS). Tip: See Mac 101: File Sharing for details about
how to add your Mac to a Windows Workgroup. This is often needed to
see Windows printer shares.

Note: Any applications that are open before you add a printer will need to be
quit and re-opened, in order to see all the features of the new printer.

How to print
You can choose Print... from the File menu, or press Command-P, to print
something. A printing dialog sheet such as this will appear:

Simply click Print, or press Return, and the print job will begin.

Printing options
From the "Printer:" pop-up menu as shown above, there are the options to
select or add the printer you want to print to. From the "Presets:" pop-up
menu, you can select or save a preset of printer options. There is the PDF
workflow menu (see PDF section below for details). You can also click the
"Preview" button to preview the print out.
For more options, click the blue disclosure button (just to the right of the
"Printer:" pop-up menu). The print dialog sheet will expand:

Here you can see a live preview of your print job. You can set the number of
copies, select a range of pages, set your paper size, set orientation to portrait
or landscape, scale the print job and choose application / printer options from
the application pop-up menu (called "Safari" in this example).
Once you have selected the various printer options you like, from the "Preset:"
pop-up menu you can select "Save As..." to save those options as a printer
preset. You will be given an option to have the preset available for all printers
or just for your current printer. In future print jobs you can enable all of those

options with the single step of selecting your saved preset from the "Preset:"
pop-up menu. You can create as many of these presets as you like. Also
from the "Preset:" pop-up menu you also have the options to rename or delete
the selected printer preset.
PDF
You can preview your print job as a PDF, or even save it as a PDF file (with
metadata if you wish).
Click the "PDF " button in any printer dialog box and the PDF workflow menu
will drop down with these options:
1. Open PDF in Preview - A generated PDF of your print job will be opened in
the application Preview.
2. Save as PDF... - Creates a PDF of your print job to a destination of your
choice. With options to add meta data to the PDF (Title, Author, Subject
and Keywords). This meta data can be a big help when you use Spotlight.
Clicking "Security Options..." button will open the PDF Security Options
dialog box. Where you will have these options:
1. Require password to open document
2. Require password to copy text, images and other content
3. Require password to print document
3. Save as PostScript... - Generates a PostScript file of your print job to a
destination of your choice.
4. Fax PDF - A generated PDF of your print job is sent to your Fax device for
transmission.
5. Mail PDF - A generated PDF of your print job is attached to a new email
document. All you have to do is add recipients and send it.
6. Save as PDF-X - Generates a PDF-X of your print job to a destination of
your choice. PDF-X files follow a series of printing related requirements
not found in standard PDFs, and are used by professional print shops.
7. Save PDF to iPhoto - A generated PDF of your print job will be imported
into iPhoto.

8. Save PDF to Web Receipts Folder - A generated PDF of your print job will
be saved to your "~/Documents/Web Receipts" folder.
9. Edit menu... - Let you add / remove printing Workflows. See Automator on
how to create new printing workflows.

The print queue and Dock printer icon

When you start a print job, you will see your printer icon appear in your Dock.
Click the Printer icon to open the print queue, which is a list of print jobs that
are printing, on hold, or paused. The print queue will also display messages
sent from the printer.
You can alternatively open the print queue from the Print & Fax pane of
System Preferences.

In the Print Queue toolbar you have these buttons:

1. Delete - Deletes the selected print job.

2. Hold / Resume - Will hold / resume the selected print job.

3. Job Info - Shows details of the selected print job, such as job name, status,
Completed, Job Message, and so forth.
4. Pause / Resume Printer - To Pause / Resume the Print Queue.
5. Supply Levels - Will drop down the Supply Levels sheet showing you the
levels of ink / toner your printer has.
6. Printer Setup - Lets you configure the printer's name and location details.
7. Printer - Sets the Print Queue window into Printer mode.
8. Scanner - Visible if you have a multi-function printer connected via
USB. Click it to set the Print Queue into Scanner mode.
You can see what your print job looks like with Quick Look. Click the arrow on
the print job just to the left of the Status column or select the print job and
press the Spacebar.
From the Print Queue menu bar, the "Printer" menu has these additional
options:
1. Customize Toolbar... - Used to add and remove item from the Print
Queue's toolbar.
2. Make Default - Will set the printer pertaining to this Print Queue your
default printer.
3. Print Test Page - Will send the CUPS Printer Test Page to your printer.
4. Network Diagnostics - Will bring up the Network Diagnostics application,
used to check each layer of your network connection.
5. Log & History - Used to open the Console application and show you the log
entries for your current and past print jobs.
6. Show Printer List - Will open the Print & Fax System Preference showing
you the list of Print Queues.
From the Print Queue menu bar, the "Jobs" menu has these additional
options:

1. Show / Hide Completed Jobs - Will alternate Show / Hide in the Print
Queue all completed printer jobs and completed functions, like checking
the supply levels of your printer.
2. Show Everyone's / My jobs - Will alternate showing Everyone's / My print
jobs.
You can control-click (or right-click) your printer icon in the Dock for this
convenient menu:

From the Dock menu you can see your printer's status, toggle Pause and
Resume Printer, Auto Quit (once print job completes) on / off, and from the
Options sub-menu you can toggle Keep in Dock on / off.

Print & Fax System Preferences and printer

status
To open, control click or right click the System Preference Dock icon and
select Print & Fax from the Dock menu.

The "Printers" pane on the left side, shows you your list of Print Queues and
their status. A green dot indicates no issues. A yellow dot indicates a minor
issue, such as it's out of paper. A red dot indicates a significant issue, such as
the printer is offline.
Clicking "Options & Supplies..." produces a sheet with these tabs:
1. General - You can name your printer and enter location details. You can
also see Queue Name, Driver Version and URL.
2. Driver - You can assign the printer driver to your print queue and if present,
driver options.
3. Supply Levels - Show the level of ink / toner that your printer has.
4. Utility - If present, opens the printer utility supplied by the printer vendor.

Check "Share this printer on the network" will enable your print queue to be
shared. Note: If Printer Sharing is not enabled, you will be notified that Printer
Sharing is off and see this icon: . See below for more printer sharing
information.

Troubleshooting steps you can use if there

is an issue
1. Ensure the printer is connected, has power, has ink / toner, paper, and no
alerts on its built-in display.
2. Network based printers should be on the same subnet; you shouldn't have
to worry about this if your printer is on your home network.
3. Use Software Update for the latest available updates.
4. Delete the affected printer from Printer & Fax System Preferences, then readd the printer.
If the issue persists, try these additional steps:
1. Reset the printing system (see below). Then, add the printer again.
2. If the issue persists, reset the printing system again. Download and install
your printer's drivers fromhere. Then, add the printer again.
3. If the issue still persists, contact the printer vendor or visit their website for
further assistance.
Default printer menu
Last Printer Used - Mac OS X will automatically set the default printer to the
last printer and preset used from the network you are connected to. This
makes for a seamless default printer selection when you move from your
home to your office, for example.
Or, you can select a specific printer to set as your default printer, regardless of
the network you are connected to.
Default paper size menu

The default is set based on the "Region" you choose in the Formats tab of the
Language & Text preference pane. You can also choose your default paper
size from a list that is based on your printer capabilities.

Print Sharing
Control-click or right-click the System Preference Dock icon and select
Sharing from the Dock menu.

To enable printer sharing, simply check the Printer Sharing checkbox found in
the Service list pane on the left.

You can choose which print queue to share by selecting its check box in the
middle Printers: pane.
By default, Any user (Everyone group) can print to your shared Print
Queue. If you would like to control access to your printer share, click the +
(plus) button below the Users pane on the right. A users sheet will drop down,
highlight one or more users or groups and click "Select" to add them. Once
added, the Everyone group access will be set to "No Access".

Printer status
Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard makes it easier than ever to see the status of
your printers; you can even see your status in the Printer dialog box. Open the
Print Queue to see details, such as messages sent from the printer.
With the printer online and ready to print, your printer dialog box and printer
Dock icon will have no numbers or symbols, and the Dock menu of the printer
icon will show a Status of "Printer Ready".

When your printer is online and processing a print job, the Print Queue Dock
icon will display a red number that represents the number of jobs in the
queue.

You can pause your print queue to suspend print jobs. When you do this,
your printer dialog box will display an alert icon (!), and the printer's Dock icon
will display a green pause icon.

If there is a message from your printer, the dialog will show an alert icon (!),
and you will see a yellow message icon on your Dock. Click your printer's
Dock icon to see the printer message.

If your USB printer is disconnected or powered off, your printer dialog box will
display an offline icon, and the printer's Dock icon will display a yellow offline
tag.

If your printer has other issues, your printer dialog box will display an alert
icon (!) and the printer's Dock icon will display a red alert icon. If you are
unable to resolve the printer's issue, please contact the vendor of the printer
for technical support or visit the vendor's web site.

Learn more
To delete a Print Queue
1. Click the print queue you would like to remove from the list in the "Printers"
pane.

2. Click the - (minus) button below the "Printers" pane.

3. Click "Delete Printer" in the "Are you sure..." confirmation sheet.
To reset the printing system (if necessary)
1. Control-click or right-click a print queue in the "Printers" pane.
2. Choose "Reset printing system..." from the contextual menu.
3. Click "OK" in the "Are you sure..." confirmation sheet.
AppleTalk-based printers
AppleTalk is a protocol that is not supported in Mac OS X v10.6. Many
network printers have support for IP-based printing protocols that can be used
instead of AppleTalk. Please see the "To add a printer via the Print & Fax
preferences pane" section for information about how to add a printer using
IP. Or, visit your printer vendor's website or contact your printer vendor for
technical support.
If your printer can only use the AppleTalk protocol, the printer can be used if it
is connected to, and shared by, an appropriate AppleTalk-capable printer
server. Snow Leopard can then use that print share to print via a supported
IP-based protocol. See the "How to add a printer" section above for details
about how to connect to a shared printer to your Snow Leopard-based Mac.
Upgrading print queues from Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard
When you update from Mac OS X v10.5 to Mac OS X v10.6, Mac OS X v10.6
will replace all printer software and recreate print queues for any printer from
these printer vendors:
HP, Canon, Epson, Brother, Lexmark, Samsung, Xerox, FujiXerox, Ricoh
(includes Gestetner, Infotec, Lanier, NRG, Savin)
If you have a printer that is not from one of these vendors, Mac OS X v10.6
will migrate your printer queue from Mac OS X v10.5 when you upgrade.

If the print queue that you migrated from Mac OS X v10.5 has an issue,
try these steps
1. Ensure the printer is connected, has power, has ink / toner, paper, and no
alerts on its built-in display.
2. Network based printers should be on the same subnet; you shouldn't have
to worry about this if your printer is on your home network.
3. Use Software Update for the latest available updates.
4. Delete the affected printer from Printer & Fax System Preferences, then readd the printer.
If you still have an issue, try these extra steps:
5. Reset the printing system (see above). Then, add the printer again.
6. If the issue persists, reset the printing system (see above). Download and
install printer drivers fromhere. Then, add the printer again.
7. If the issue still persists, contact the printer vendor and/or visit their website
for printer software and support.
Links