# HOW TO: Go from ppd file to Printer Driver



## kilowatt (Mar 17, 2002)

Lots of people are complaining about the lack of printer drivers for Mac OS X.

Well, look no more!

Several manufactures provide 'ppd', or 'Postscript Printer Description' files for free.

A ppd file provides a generic description of how a printer works. While the functionality is rather limited, it will allow you to get your work done 

1) Download the ppd file for your printer. Either search the company's web site, OR:
go to this web site:
http://www.linuxprinting.org/driver_list.cgi
select your printer model (I will use epl2120 for my example), and scroll down to the 'PPD-O-Matic' section. 
Select the printer again from the pull down menu, and press 'Generate PPD file'

2) Save the file somewhere on your computer - /Library/Printers/PPDs/Contents/Resources/en.lproj
is the default location for English ppd files, but you can just put them in your home directory and select it later.

3) Open up the 'Print Center', which is located in:
/Applications/Utilities/

4) Select 'Add Printer...' from the 'Printers' menu.

5) Either select 'Apple Talk' or 'LPR Printers using IP'.

6) From the 'Printer Model:' pop-up menu, select 'Other...'.

7) Navigate to the ppd file you downloaded.

Va la!


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## kilowatt (Mar 17, 2002)

Another good place to look for ppd's is xerox's site.

You can either use the web-based search engine, or just do it manually:
ftp://ftp.xerox.com/pub/

They even have a few 'For OSX' ppd files. 

Sweet!

BTW, my HOW TO is based off a submission to http://www.nacisxhints.com/
by 'jwibi'. He also references an excellent pdf file from xerox:
http://www.xerox.com//2x/downloads/dc01cc0240.pdf


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## SuperMatt (Jun 18, 2002)

I was under the impression that OS 9 PPD files didn't work right under OS X.  Am I right here?  If they do work, then if I can see a printer under Appletalk, I could set the PPD to the OS 9 version, and it would work properly?  If this is the case, then why are there OS X PPDs at all?

Matthew


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## Airbrush (Jun 20, 2002)

...PPD´s, we use lots of prepress equipment and there is no new PPD´s, but the old ones works good for us. But all of our suppliers have their new ppd´s on the web for dowload.
If it works it works.


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