Mac OS X Leopard: The Missing Manual

Making the Printout

The experience of printing depends on the printer you're using—laser printer, inkjet, or whatever. In every case, however, all the printing options hide behind two commands: File→Page Setup, which you need to adjust only occasionally, and File→Print, which you generally use every time you print. You'll find these two commands in almost every Macintosh program.

Page Setup

The Page Setup dialog box lets you specify some key characteristics about the document you're going to print: orientation, paper dimensions, and so on; see Figure 14-2.

The options here vary by program and printer. The Page Setup options for an Epson inkjet, for example, differ dramatically from those for a laser printer. Only your printer's user manual can tell you exactly what these choices do.

Tip

You must configure the Page Setup settings independently in each program you use. And by the way, to change the default paper size for all new documents, choose Save As Default from the Settings pop-up menu. (Mac fans in the UK: You're welcome.)

The Print Command

Although you can grow to a ripe old age without ever seeing the Page Setup dialog box, you can't miss the Print dialog box. It appears, like it or not, whenever you choose File →Print in one of your programs.

Once again, the options you encounter depend on the printer you're using. In Leopard, they also depend on whether or not you expand the dialog box by clicking the button; doing so reveals a lot of useful options, including a handy preview; ...