Easy Mac OS X Lion - Kate Binder [34]
Click the Add button below the Printers list.
Choose a printer from the pop-up menu.
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Tip: Missing Pieces
To work with your printer, the Mac has to have access to the printer drivers (the software) that came with the printer. Your Mac can automatically download many printers’ drivers, but if it doesn’t find them, you’ll need to dig out the disc that came with the printer or visit the manufacturer’s website to download the latest drivers.
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Click Download & Install to install the printer software on your Mac.
Click Options & Supplies to change settings for the printer’s features.
Choose options for your printer.
Click OK when you’re done.
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Note: Close Enough
If you don’t have the correct printer driver for your printer, you can usually get away with using one that’s similar. Just choose the closest model available.
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Tip: Two for One
If your printer doesn’t have its model name and number on the front, check the manual that came with it. Sometimes multiple similar models share a driver, and in that case, all the similar models should be listed in the manual.
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Switching Printers
If you have more than one printer, you want to make sure you send each document to the right printer. You can choose a printer each time you print, or you can change the default printer to ensure that the next time you click Print, the desired printer will be chosen. Start by choosing File, Print in any program and then follow these steps.
To change printers on-the-fly as you prepare to print, choose a different printer from the Printer pop-up menu at the top of the Print dialog box.
To change default printers ahead of time, choose Apple menu, System Preferences.
Click the Print & Scan button to see your choices.
Choose a printer from the Default Printer pop-up menu.
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Tip: Who’s Who?
If you’re not a fan of printer names like “SuperPrint PhotoJet XL67825 Pro v8.5.1c,” click your printer in the Print and Scan preferences, and then click Options & Supplies to change its name to whatever you like.
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Tip: Printing Success
If a friend or family member will be using your computer and you’re not confident of that person’s ability to select the right printer on-the-fly, set the default printer ahead of time so the right printer is preselected in the Print dialog.
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Printing a Document
For all practical purposes, the actual process of sending a document to the printer works the same in Mac OS X as it has in previous generations of the Mac OS. You can exert greater control if you want by inspecting each pane of the Print dialog box and adjusting the settings you find there, or you can just click Print and go.
Choose File, Print (or press ) to display the Print dialog box.
Choose a printer from the Printer pop-up menu and then click the arrow button to reveal more settings menus.
Check the settings in each pane of the Print dialog box using the pop-up menu and make changes as needed.
Click Print.
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Tip: The Print Dialog Box
The Print dialog box’s panes vary according to the printer, but they always include Layout (how many pages to print on each sheet of paper), Paper Handling (which paper tray the printer should use), and one for program-specific features.
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Sending a Fax
If you have a fax modem, you’ve probably spent some time wrestling with third-party fax software, which never seems to work right with either the system software or all the programs from which you want to fax. Those days are over; fax sending capability is built in to Mac OS X, and it’s as close as the Print command.
Open the document and choose File, Print.
Choose your fax modem from the Printer pop-up menu.
Type the name and fax number of the person you want to fax. If the fax recipient’s name is in the Address Book, the fax number is filled in automatically and won’t show.
Type a dialing prefix (such as 1 for long distance or a long distance