Mac OS X For Unix Geeks, 4th Edition

Chapter 6. Printing

Mac OS X offers a rich and flexible set of tools for administering and using a wide variety of printers. Common Unix tools—such as lpr, lpq, and lprm—are here as well, along with a few new ones just for Mac OS X.

This chapter starts with a basic discussion of how to use the AddPrinter utility, a GUI tool for configuring local and network printers. Then we’ll move on to discuss the Mac OS X implementation of the Unix printing tools. In particular, we will discuss the Common Unix Printing System (CUPS).

AddPrinter

If you’re using a popular USB printer under Mac OS X, it is likely that all you’ll need to do is connect it to the USB port and choose the printer in the Print dialog when you want to print a document. However, there are some circumstances where it’s not so simple:

• Your USB printer might not automatically show up as an available printer in the Print dialog.

• You might want to share your printer with other computers on your LAN.

• You might want to use a network printer such as one listed in Open Directory, an AppleTalk printer, or a printer for which all you have is an IP address.

In Leopard, the utility for setting up a new printer is called AddPrinter. (In pre-Leopard releases of Mac OS X, it was called the Printer Setup Utility and was located in the /Applications/Utilities folder.) In most cases, AddPrinter is launched to add a new printer in Mac OS X in one of two indirect ways:

Using System Preferences

Open System Preferences, choose Print & Fax, click the ...