In Mac OS 9, printers were set up using the Chooser. In Mac OS X, printer browsing and setup are controlled by a utility called Print Center. Print Center can be located in the following path:

OS X > Applications > Utilities

Opening Print Center will bring up a window similar to the image above.

To add a new printer:

1. Click on the Add icon. This will bring up a new window. The pop-up menu at the top of this window contains various options for setting up printers. Just as Chooser could be used to set up AppleTalk printers, so can Print Center. Simply click on the pop-up menu and pull down to AppleTalk, as shown in the image below.

 

2. Now, all of the AppleTalk printing devices in your zone will show up as a list in the center of the window.

3. Select a printer and the Add button in the lower-right corner will light up.

4. Click the Add button. Print Center will find the printer and make it available to you for printing.

NOTE: Unlike the old Mac OS, OS X does not place printer icons on the desktop. They are now stored and managed only in Print Center. If you have questions when using Print Center, you can click on the Help menu at the top of the screen and click on Print Center Help.

TCP/IP Printing

An alternative to printing using the AppleTalk protocol is to print using TCP/IP. One advantage of TCP/IP is that it allows printing over a wireless connection, unlike AppleTalk.

Before setting up the computer to print using TCP/IP, you need to obtain the IP address of the printer you intend to use. To find the IP address on an HP 4000 series laser printer, go to the printer and follow these steps.

1. Push the right side of the Menu button once. The display will now read, “Information Menu.”

2. Push the right side of the Item button twice. The display will now read, “Print Configuration.”

3. Push the Select button. The printer will now automatically print out two pages of information about your printer.

4. Look on the second page under the Protocol Information heading. The second item in the TCP/IP section will list an IP Address. It will be a series of four numbers separated by periods (Example: 10.11.110.111). This is the number you will need.

To set up the computer to print using TCP/IP:

1. Open Print Center, and click the Add button.

2. Select IP Printing from the pop-up menu, as shown below.

3. In the field labeled Printer’s Address, type in the IP address that you found in the previous section, as shown below.

 

4. Click on the pop-up menu labeled Printer Model, and select the printer model, as shown below. (In this case it is an HP 4100)

 

5. Click the Add button. The computer will now be configured to print to the printer using TCP/IP.

If the name of your printer model does not show up in the list, if you have an older printer model, or if you encounter other issues during setup, contact the Computer Support Department at ext.3832 or send an e-mail to “Computer Support” on FirstClass.

NOTE: To print from an application in Classic mode, you must create a desktop printer in Classic mode, just as you would in OS 9.

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With any further questions about printing in OS X, contact Computer Support at x3832.

More OS X Tutorials. >>