Cant Print In OS X Help!

mikec11169

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Im a recent "newbie" to the OS X world, having used os 9.2 for a while, I was the lucky soul to be the guinea pig for our company's new toy! Everything was going smoothly until it came to printing, which I couldn't. I use programs such as Adobe Illustrator v.10, Adobe Photoshop v.7, Freehand 10, and Quark 5(rarely). Please let me know if Im adding the printer correctly:

1. Select print center
2. click "add " from the printer list window.
3. Select the printer needed via appletalk, and add.
4. Select my matching printer description in system/library/printers/contents/resources/en.lproj/"my ppd", open, and add.
5. Just to make sure my ppd is correct, in the printer list, I will select the printer i need, show info,and in the priinter info window, check my printer printer model.
6. In theory under printer model, the PPD I chose should show up here, but it doesnt. If I manually select it from here and "apply changes" to my printer, it defaults to "local system v printer", instead of the current PPD I selected.

What am I doing wrong? does anybody have a solution or a step by step process for me to follow that could solve my printing problems? Any help would be appreciated.
 
The Printer(s) are on a network, which the other computers (using OS 9) can see, read,and print to. ALL my programs do not recognize the printers/ppds at all, and was wondering if i may have ppds that arent OS X compatible, or is it possible that I have a bad print center? Im totally confused and would love any help to solve this problem.
 
What kind of printer is it?

Have you loaded drivers for the printer for OSX?

Have you tried entering the IP number for the printer into the printer control panel?
 
You need to be specific about your printing problem.

1. Are you on a network trying to print?
2. If you are a network, is a Windows network?
3. Is it a bubble jet or laser?
4. Does the printer work for others?

Here you some suggested sites to read about printing in a mixed enviroment:

MacWindows

Xlr8yourmac

Puddingbowl


i could go on but just go to Google and do a search on SMB and looke at the results. Good luck.
 
Yes I am on a network trying to print, it is running thorugh a Unix based rip, and a best color rip. the printers Im having proiblems sending to are a Dupont Cromalin prooofer, and Epson 9600, and a HP laserjet5000, printers. These printers work great for everyone else, but me being the test subject for OS X , cant print, let alone set up printer descriptions...

Finding OS X compatable drivers was mentioned before, can I find these on the proofer company's websites, or would this be something I would have to call and contact the manufacturer for?

Thanks for the help so far guys, I know this is going to probably be baby steps for me, but any progress is good progress...
 
Be sure to investigate the GimpPrint project if you need printer drivers and can't obtain them elsewhere.

Doug
 
Sounds like a partial solution(only one of my proofers is supported), with no support for Dupont proofers, and one of our HP laserjets...Im still looking, for a COMPLETE solution for printing, and unfortunatelt I dont think GIMP print is going to do it.
 
I am supprised to hear you're having problems with the HP laserjet5000. I have one at work and it prints perfectly.

Might I suggest (at least when setting up the HP) to NOT manually select the PPD. Let OSX grab one for you. It will no doubtably select "generic" which in OS9 was a bad thing, but I've found it much more acceptable.

This doesn't provide an "all-in-one" solution, but at least you have one printer printing.

I like to use CUPS when I first set up printers. As a way of validating my selections and even managing my printers directly from a browser.

From any OSX browser go here:

http://127.0.0.1:631/

You should see the CUPS interface. (Common UNIX Printing).

Click on "Manage Printers" and try to print a test page from there.

Just a thought. :)
 
Printing in Mac OS X, whether Apple will admit it or not, is more of an adventure than in classic Mac OS, even though the Chooser was not the most intuitive of printing utilities. <--- MHO, of course.

One thing about printing in Classic applications is that you still use the Chooser when printing from those apps, not the Mac OS X Print Center. I notice Quark is on your list, and that is a Classic application. Are the others on your list all Mac OS X apps?

I don't use any of the apps you mentioned, but I have tried printing from other applications running in Classic. I couldn't get them to print at first. I finally discovered that if you go to the Chooser in the Classic Apple Menu (which you can still access when a Classic app is active), you can select and set up a printer just as you would in Mac OS 9. That did the trick for me, at least.

GIMPprint has enabled me to print to my Epson Color Stylus 640 in Mac OS X. That tip about using CUPS to manage printers through a browser is new to me and seems awfully cool!

2¢ PC
 
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