Windows 10: The Missing Manual

Chapter 14. Printing, Fonts & PDFs

Technologists got pretty excited about “the paperless office” in the 1980s, but the PC explosion had exactly the opposite effect. Thanks to the proliferation of inexpensive, high-quality PC printers, the world generates far more printouts than ever. Fortunately, there’s not much to printing from Windows 10.

Since they seem like vaguely printing-related subjects, this chapter also covers Windows’ font technologies, and one of the best new features in Windows 10: The ability to turn any document into a PDF document with one click. OK, two.

Installing a Printer

A printer is a peripheral device—something outside the PC—and as such, it won’t work without a piece of driver software explaining the new hardware to Windows. In general, getting this driver installed is a simple process. It’s described in more detail in Chapter 15.

The good news, though, is that Windows comes with the drivers for thousands of printers, all different brands, ready to be installed. Read on.

USB Printers

If the technology gods are smiling, then here’s the entire set of instructions for installing a typical inkjet USB printer:

1. Connect the printer to the computer.

   That’s it. Turn on the printer—you’re ready to print. No driver operations, no setup. Next time you print something, you’ll see the printer’s name in the Print dialog box.

The backup plan

In certain situations, the printer doesn’t “just work” when you plug it in. Maybe it’s wireless. Maybe it’s older.

In that case, here’s your ...