# TIP: howto share printer from OSX to windhose/linux etc..



## arri (Dec 23, 2005)

hi all,

after having trouble printing from winXP to a shared printer on an OSX machine, i thought to post my findings, as i didn't really quickly find an answer on these fora, but found very helpfull info on a website.

*my problem:*
i wanted to print from a windowsXP machine, on a shared printer attached to an OSX machine (10.4.3)

*solution:*
i found the answer here:
http://members.cox.net/18james/osx_printer_sharing.html
this page deals with printer sharing from OSX to many other platforms.
what i was looking for (sharing with XP) was in short this:

*on OSX:*
- make sure 'Printer Sharing' is turned on (this starts CUPS...)
- enable 'Windows Sharing' (see security notes on above mentioned website)
|  both are found in 'System Preferences > Sharing'

*on WIN:*
- first make sure that any printer-setups from previous (eronous) attepts are removed (Start-menu > Settings > Printers and Faxes)
- go to "My Network Places"
- find the mac to which the printer is attached. (search in the right WorkGoup)
- open it, here you should find the shared printer. (in my case: 'Deskjet 5700')
- double-click the printer. windows say it's going to 'automatically install' drivers, agree
- you are then presented with a list of know drivers. 
*IMPORTANT:*
from http://members.cox.net/18james/osx_...bers.cox.net/18james/osx_printer_sharing.html


> In the pop-up, supply the driver to use: if the Mac printer is b/w, use Apple Laserwriter; for a color printer use Apple Color Laserwriter. You may have to insert your system disk or give the path to the printer drivers for ms-windows to find the driver.


maybe read the section on CUPS and PostScript on http://members.cox.net/18james/osx_printer_sharing.html​- so, select the driver 'Apple > Apple Laserwriter' or 'Apple > Apple Color Laserwriter' depending on your mac-printer.
- have XP automatically install the appropriate drivers.. 
- start printing from XP to you mac-printer!!

this was THE solution for me, and i am happily printing now.


* Bottom-line:*
the trick is to just select the _Apple Laserwriter_ - drivers when installing the network-printer in XP, because these drivers make XP send prints to OSX in PostScript-format, the format CUPS uses. So don't bother installing any funky drivers on XP, just use XP's built-in apple-drivers.

*conclusion:*
my intention was to give a brief summary on how to share you printer from a mac to a PC.
i recommend you to anyway read the above mentioned webpage. it contrains valuable information.


hope this helps anyone.

gr
\rri


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