- Sharing printer with classic mac os how to#
- Sharing printer with classic mac os drivers#
- Sharing printer with classic mac os driver#
- Sharing printer with classic mac os download#
Both downloads will be in the format of OS X disk images.
Sharing printer with classic mac os download#
From the same page, download the ESP Ghostscript package.
You'll see several download options I recommend the one that says "newest final release" (as opposed to the one that says "newest pre-release," which means it's still in testing).
Sharing printer with classic mac os how to#
Here's how to install both:ĭownload the Gimp-Print package from. In fact, once you install it, it operates invisibly and you never even know it's there. ESP Ghostscript, another free, open-source product, fills this need. This causes problems for the Gimp-Print drivers, so a third-party PostScript interpreter is needed as a go-between. Some applications, such as Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, and Apple's own AppleWorks, generate their own PostScript code. The second is installing a package called ESP Ghostscript.
Sharing printer with classic mac os drivers#
The first is installing the drivers themselves. Installing the Gimp-Print package actually involves two steps. Although I'm prevented by space constraints from doing the same for the various packages, rest assured that they work in much the same way, and include detailed documentation to guide you through the process.
Sharing printer with classic mac os driver#
In the section that follows, I'm going to show you how to install and use the Gimp-Print driver package. In case you're wondering, the answer is yes: by using these open-source drivers, many Windows-only printers are instantly usable on your Mac! You'll notice that the lists of printers supported by Gimp-Print and the drivers include many "Windows-only" printers. (If a particular printer model isn't listed, you can even submit a request for a driver there's no guarantee, but there's a good chance someone will try to help you out.) What's more, since many printers work well with drivers for closely related models, even if your printer isn't listed, it's worth a try before you go out and buy a new one. The Gimp-Print page even shows the degree of current support for each printer: fully operational, operational, needs testing, or untested. You can see the complete lists of supported printers at http :///p_Supported_Printers.php3 and. Gimp-Print drivers are supplied as a single installer package that provides support for over 300 printers (mostly inkjet but also many laser printers), whereas the drivers are provided in smaller packages based on printer brand/type: Brother, Hewlett-Packard, Apple ImageWriter, PostScript Level 1, and Samsung. The two main sources for CUPS-compatible printer drivers are the Gimp-Print Project ( ) and ( ). For example, many Epson printers support borderless printing, but some of the official Epson drivers don't allow it the open-source drivers do.
In addition, even some printers that are officially supported in OS X are better supported through open-source drivers. By installing these drivers, you can instantly gain support for hundreds of additional printers: older inkjet printers, LocalTalk printers, QuickDraw printers, PostScript Level 1 printers, large-format printers, dot-matrix printers, and even new, "Windows-only" printers.
The end result is that there are developers all over the world who are writing printer drivers for Unix computers that use CUPS. In addition, because of the popularity of Unix among techies, there is a talented pool of programmers who spend their time (often without compensation) working on open-source projects. One of the advantages of Apple's decision to use CUPS as its core printing technology is that as an open-source system, CUPS is easily extensible. If your printer is one of them, don't give up and buy a new printer just yet: you may be able to add support for it on your own. However, the truth is that there are a lot of other printers out there-some old, some new, some that were extremely popular, and even some that were touted as being "Mac-compatible"-that aren't officially supported under OS X 10.2 and later. I mentioned at the beginning of this chapter that OS X provides built-in support for a large number of printers.
0 kommentar(er)
