Difference between revisions of "Adding printer to OS X"

Revision as of 14:39, 27 April 2018

All network printers in the ECE Department can be accessed through our central print server, ECE-PRINT-03. If you have any questions about the print server or experience any problems setting up a printer, please email ecehelp@ncsu.edu.

If you experience issues not covered by these directions or due to version differences, please email us with a description of your problem and which OS version you are using.

Add printers in Mac OS X

STEP 1 - Download and install the appropriate driver

If you are adding a basic black & white printer, then the generic driver should work fine.

However, if you are adding a color printer, large format printer, or a multi-function printer (like the Wolfcopy units), you should use the model-specific driver. Check the manufacturer's website for OS X drivers and be sure to install them before attempting to add the printer.

Again, you must install the driver before adding the printer.

If you cannot locate an appropriate driver or have difficulty installing it, contact us for assistance.

STEP 2 - Opening the Printers & Scanners window

To add printers in OS X, first open System Preferences either from your Dock icon, or from the Apple menu -> System Preferences. From there, choose Printers & Scanners under the Hardware section.

See Figure 1 below. Once in the Printers & Scanners window, click the + button to begin adding a new printer.

Fig 1 - Printers & Scanners window

STEP 3 - Enter server and printer information

Once the Printer Browser window opens, click on the IP icon at the top. Then fill in the information for the network printer you wish to add.

Address should be "ece-print-03.ece.ncsu.edu", Protocol should remain "LPD", and Queue is the name of the printer (this should be labeled on the printer). Name is how the printer will appear in your printer list, and we recommend again using the printer name. If you do not know the queue name for your printer, please email ecehelp@ncsu.edu.

In Figure 2 below we have used a placeholder name as an example.

Fig 2 - Network server and printer information

If you're not using a model-specific driver (like for a basic B&W printer), you can go ahead and click Add to finish the process. If you are using a driver, continue to Step 4.

STEP 4 - Selecting a specific driver

If you are adding a color or multi-function printer, we recommend using a model-specific driver provided by the vendor. You must have already downloaded and installed the driver before now. If you have not, cancel the add printer wizard and install the driver, then add the printer again.

After you have filled in the server and printer information, click the blue button (with up/down arrows) for the Use field, then click Select Software as shown in Figure 3.

Fig 3 - Choose Select Software for the Use field

This will bring up the list of installed drivers shown in Figure 4. Use the Search field to narrow the list and select the appropriate driver, then click OK.

Fig 4 - Searching for installed driver

Then click Add.

STEP 5 - Options

After adding the printer, OS X will search for installable options such as two sided printing, extra paper trays, etc. You should leave these options as the defaults unless you are certain of options that should be changed or will not be used. Most importantly, you should activate the Duplex or Two-Sided Printing option if you know the printer has that option. Once the options are set, click Continue to finish the process.

Final Notes

You should now to able to print to the printer through your OS X applications.

One last note is that if you need to change any settings for the printer, you may do so by going back into the Print & Fax, choosing the printer in the list, and clicking the "Printer Setup" button. However, you may only change installable options and Name and Location. However, changing the print server, print queue, or the driver requires you to remove the printer and re-add it.

@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 ====STEP 1 - Download and install the appropriate driver====
-Printers work best in OS X when you have the specific driver for the model and your OS X version.  Check the manufacturer's website for OS X drivers and be sure to install them before attempting to add the printer.
+If you are adding a basic black & white printer, then the generic driver should work fine.
+However, if you are adding a color printer, large format printer, or a multi-function printer (like the Wolfcopy units), you should use the model-specific driver.  Check the manufacturer's website for OS X drivers and be sure to install them before attempting to add the printer.
+Again, you '''must''' install the driver before adding the printer.
 If you cannot locate an appropriate driver or have difficulty installing it, contact us for assistance.
-====STEP 2 - Opening the Print & Fax window====
+====STEP 2 - Opening the Printers & Scanners window====
 To add printers in OS X, first open System Preferences either from your Dock icon, or from the Apple menu -> System Preferences.  From there, choose '''Printers & Scanners''' under the Hardware section.
@@ Line 20: / Line 24: @@
 <table>
-<TR><TD>[[Image:mac_print.jpg|thumb|450px|'''Fig 1 - Print & Fax window''']]
+<TR><TD>[[Image:Macprint-start.jpg|thumb|450px|'''Fig 1 - Printers & Scanners window''']]
 </TD></TR>
 </table>
-====STEP 3 - Choosing the printing protocol====
+====STEP 3 - Enter server and printer information====
+Once the Printer Browser window opens, click on the '''IP''' icon at the top. Then fill in the information for the network printer you wish to add.
-Once the Printer Browswer window opens, click on the '''IP''' icon at the top.  This will allow you add a network printer through our department print server.
+Address should be "ece-print-03.ece.ncsu.edu", Protocol should remain "LPD", and Queue is the name of the printer (this should be labeled on the printer). Name is how the printer will appear in your printer list, and we recommend again using the printer name. If you do not know the queue name for your printer, please email [mailto:ecehelp@ncsu.edu ecehelp@ncsu.edu].
-See ''Figure 2'' below.  Make sure the Protocol option is set to "Line Printer Daemon - LPD".
+In ''Figure 2'' below we have used a placeholder name as an example.
 <table>
-<TR><TD>[[Image:mac_printer4.jpg|thumb|450px|'''Fig 2 - Setting printing protocol''']]
+<TR><TD>[[Image:Macprint-details.jpg|thumb|450px|'''Fig 2 - Network server and printer information''']]
 </TD></TR>
 </table>
+If you're not using a model-specific driver (like for a basic B&W printer), you can go ahead and click Add to finish the process. '''If you are using a driver, continue to Step 4.'''
-====STEP 4 - Setting up print server and queue====
-Now you must input the print server and the queue name for the printer you wish to use on your Apple machine.  In ''Figure 3'' below we have used a placeholder as an example, but you should use the name of the printer you wish to use (should be labeled on the printer).  If you do not know the queue name for your printer, please email [mailto:ecehelp@ncsu.edu ecehelp@ncsu.edu].
+====STEP 4 - Selecting a specific driver====
+If you are adding a color or multi-function printer, we recommend using a model-specific driver provided by the vendor. You must have already downloaded and installed the driver before now. If you have not, cancel the add printer wizard and install the driver, then add the printer again.
+After you have filled in the server and printer information, click the blue button (with up/down arrows) for the Use field, then click Select Software as shown in ''Figure 3''.
 <table>
-<TR><TD>[[Image:mac_printer5.jpg|thumb|450px|'''Fig 3 - Setting printer server and queue''']]
+<TR><TD>[[Image:Macprint-selectsoftware.jpg|thumb|450px|'''Fig 3 - Choose Select Software for the Use field''']]
 </TD></TR>
 </table>
-For Address, input "ece-print-03.ece.ncsu.edu", and for Queue, input the name of the printer you wish to use.
+This will bring up the list of installed drivers shown in ''Figure 4''.  Use the Search field to narrow the list and select the appropriate driver, then click OK.
-====STEP 5 - Setting options and driver====
-See ''Figure 4''.  Input the printer name for Name (this will become the name of the printer queue in your list of available printers), and set the Location if you desire.
 <table>
-<TR><TD>[[Image:mac_printer6.jpg|thumb|450px|'''Fig 4 - Setting name and location''']]
+<TR><TD>[[Image:Macprint-driverlist.jpg|thumb|450px|'''Fig 4 - Searching for installed driver''']]
 </TD></TR>
 </table>
-You then need to set the driver the OS X will use by filling out the Use option.  We recommend using the manufacturer-supplied drivers whenever possible.  Be sure to install these drivers ''before'' you try to add a printer.  Choose to select the printer software and then search for the model-specific driver you installed.  See ''Figure 5'' below.
+Then click Add.
+====STEP 5 - Options====
-<table>
+After adding the printer, OS X will search for installable options such as two sided printing, extra paper trays, etc.  You should leave these options as the defaults unless you are certain of options that should be changed or will not be used.  Most importantly, you should activate the Duplex or Two-Sided Printing option if you know the printer has that option.  Once the options are set, click Continue to finish the process.
-<TR><TD>[[Image:Mac_Printer_driver.Jpg|thumb|450px|'''Fig 5 - Searching for installed driver''']]
-</TD></TR>
-</table>
-If you couldn't locate or install a model-specific driver for your printer, you can try using the Generic Postscript or PCL Drivers, but be aware that some printers (particularly color and multi-function) will not function properly with these drivers.
+===Final Notes===
-After selecting a driver, OS X will search for installable options such as two sided printing, extra paper trays, etc.  You should leave these options as the defaults unless you are certain of options that should be changed or will not be used.  Most importantly, you should activate the Duplex or Two-Sided Printing option if you know the printer has that option.  Once the options are set, click Continue to finish the process.
+You should now to able to print to the printer through your OS X applications.
-You should now to able to print to the printer through your OS X applications.  One last note is that if you need to change any settings for the printer, you may do so by going back into the Print & Fax, choosing the printer in the list, and clicking the "Printer Setup" button.  However, you may only change installable options and Name and Location.  Changing the print server, print queue, or the driver requires you to remove the printer and re-add it.
+One last note is that if you need to change any settings for the printer, you may do so by going back into the Print & Fax, choosing the printer in the list, and clicking the "Printer Setup" button.  However, you may only change installable options and Name and Location.  However, '''changing the print server, print queue, or the driver requires you to remove the printer and re-add it.'''
 [[category:printing]]