Maximizing OS X Printing

Aside from the obvious ability to send faxes, a number of new features have been added to Mac OS 10.3 print capabilities. One of the most highly requested features to be added is the return of Mac OS 9’s Desktop Printer functionality. A Desktop Printer is an iconic representation of a print queue or a modem queue that can be accessed via the GUI. This icon can be saved anywhere the user account has access to. By clicking on the Desktop Printer you will be directly able to administer the queue that you want to manage, circumventing the need to first open the Printer Setup Utility and then selecting the queue that you want to administer. To make a Desktop Printer, click on the intended queue from within the Printer Setup Utility and select Create Desktop Printer... from the Printers menu. The queues that Desktop Printers represent also temporarily manifest themselves in the Dock when jobs are being printed to them. As with Mac OS 9’s Desktop Printers, Mac OS X’s allows for dragging a document to print. You can also open the Desktop Printer and drag the desired document into the print queue, as well as drag jobs between print queues.

Pooling printers

Also new to Mac OS X printing is the Pool Printers feature. Pool Printers enables you to create a collection of printers, called a printer pool. A printer pool helps avoid printing delays by channeling a print job away from a busy printer to one that is not. If all printers in a printer pool are busy, the print job prints to the first available printer. To make a printer pool, select two or more printers in the Printer List by clicking on a desired printer and subsequently z-clicking on any additional printers. Select Pool Printers from the Printer menu. Enter a name for the printer pool in the Printer Pool Name field. Drag the printers in order of priority to check for printing availability.

Checking for updates

One last printing addition to Max OS X worth noting is the Check for Printer Updates feature. Check for Printer Updates provides the ability to check for updated printer software from the Printer menu in the Print dialog. When selected, it will open up and run Mac OS X’s built-in software update mechanism. These updates are provided by Apple and are supplied via an Internet connection. If updates are found, you can select and install them. Software Update is covered in greater detail in Chapter 22.

Tip

An alternate way you can administer the print services of Mac OS X is via the CUPS Web interface. As mentioned at the beginning of this Chapter, CUPS (Common UNIX Printing System) is a cross-platform open-source printing architecture that is the heart of Mac OS X’s print services. The CUPS Web interface is accessed through a Web browser utilizing the internal host address of the system (127.0.0.1) on port 631. Although not as intuitive as the Printer Setup Utility, the CUPS Web interface provides another GUI way to administer Mac OS X print services.