Making Initial Preparations

Before you can do anything, you need to make sure your system is set up with the right printer driver and printer description files ‚ without these, your output will likely not match your needs or expectations. It's important to set these up before you use the Preflight tool because the Preflight tool checks your document against the printer settings you have active (such as color separations), and you can't have selected printer settings until the printer is set up.

Platform Difference ‚  

The Mac and Windows handle printing differently, so in this chapter I've divided all system-specific printing information, such as the coverage of drivers, into platform-specific sections.

Cross-Reference ‚  

Chapter 38 covers the different kinds of printers available

Setting up Macintosh printers

Although you choose the printer type in the Setup pane of the InDesign Print dialog box, you still need to set up the printer on your Mac before you can use it. To do that, the Mac has a program called the Print Center, which is well hidden (it's in the Utilities folder in the Applications folder). The Print Center will list any installed printers. Make sure the printer you want to set up is connected to your Mac (directly or via the network) and turned on. (If you're using a network printer, make sure the right network protocols, such as IP and AppleTalk, are turned on via the Network control panel in the System Preferences dialog box, which you access by choosing ‚ System Preferences.)

To install a printer, you typically run a program that comes with the printer. Such programs often add the printer to the Print Center utility's Printer List. If not, click the Add button and locate the printer driver for your printer (again, usually found on a CD that accompanies the printer).

Figure 30-1 shows the Printer List that appears when you open the Print Central application.

Figure 30-1: The Mac's Print Center utility shows which printers are installed, and lets you configure them, as well as add additional printers.

Configuring an installed printer varies based on the software provided with the printer. In some cases, a printer's configuration software is accessible via the Configure button in the Print Center utility. In other cases, you need to run a separate utility that came with the printer or use controls on the printer itself.

Note ‚  

You may need to install a PostScript Printer Description (PPD) file that contains specific details on your printer; this file should come on a disk or CD with your printer and is often installed with the printer's setup program. Otherwise, download it from the printer manufacturer's Web site. These files should reside in the PPDs folder in the Mac's System\Library\Printers folder. Note that Mac OS X pre- installs some for you, particularly those for Apple-branded printers and some Hewlett-Packard printers.

If you're installing a printer not connected to your computer or network, such as the imagesetter used by your service bureau , you'll need to install the PPD files so InDesign knows what its settings are. Installing the printer software isn't necessary.

Mac OS X supports multiple printers, but it also lets you define the default printer ‚ the ones used unless changed via a button or pop-up menu in an application's Print dialog box. (InDesign uses a pop-up menu called Printer to change the printer from the default setting.) In the Print Center utility, choose the printer you want to be the default, and then click Make Default button.

Setting up Windows printers

To set up a Windows 2000 or XP printer, use Start ‚ Settings ‚ Printers. (Some XP users will have to choose Start ‚ Control Panel ‚ Printers and Other Hardware.) You'll then see a window with a list of existing printers and an icon labeled Add New Printer. Double-click the printer to set up, or double-click Add New Printer (you'll likely need a disk that came with the printer, or the Windows CD-ROM, if you add a new printer because Windows needs information specific to that printer). Note that some printers have their own setup software that you should use instead of the Add Printer utility in Windows.

Note ‚  

If you're setting up a printer connected via the network, you usually should select the Local Printer option during installation. The Network Printer option is for printers connected to a print server, as opposed to printers connected to a hub or router. (A print server is a special kind of router, but it's typically used only for printers that don't have networking built in, such as many ink-jet printers.) In some cases, even if your printer uses a print server, you'll still install the printer as a local printer and then create a virtual port that maps to a network address (Hewlett-Packard uses this approach, for example, as Figure 30-2 shows).

Figure 30-2: The Device Settings pane in Windows set up for PostScript devices. It's the key pane in the Properties dialog box for a Windows printer. (Not all panes appear for all printers, depending on the printer type chosen and the network protocols installed.)

If you're installing a printer not connected to your computer or network, such as the imagesetter used by your service bureau, you'll need to install the PPD files so InDesign knows what its settings are. You don't need to install the printer software.

When you open an existing printer, use Printer ‚ Properties to get the dialog box shown in Figure 30-2.

One pane matters greatly: The Device Settings pane is where you specify all the device settings, from paper trays to memory to how fonts are handled. For PostScript printers, this pane has several key options as follows :

• The best (and default) setting is to have the printer translate TrueType fonts such as Arial to PostScript fonts such as Helvetica. The Font Substitution Table option opens a list of available fonts and lets you select how any TrueType fonts are translated to PostScript. (The Windows standards of Arial, Times New Roman, Courier New, and Symbol are set by default to translate to the PostScript fonts Helvetica, Times, Courier, and Symbol. PostScript fonts are set by default to Don't Substitute.)

• Be sure to select Add Euro Currency Symbol to PostScript Fonts in this pane, so the euro symbol ( ) is available in all output.

  Tip ‚  

  I strongly recommend you use Adobe's PostScript driver rather than Microsoft's. The Microsoft driver often doesn't send fonts to the printer, and it often prints extra blank pages at the end of a job. The Adobe Universal PostScript driver doesn't have these issues. You can download the Adobe driver from www.adobe.com/support/ downloads/main.html in the PostScript Printer Drivers section. When you install the driver, it gives you the option of converting your existing PostScript printers to the Adobe driver. You can also run this program again to install new printers using the Adobe driver ‚ using the Add Printer wizard automatically installs the Microsoft driver for those new printers ‚ or you can use the Drivers pop-up menu in the Advanced pane of the printer's Properties dialog box.

  Note ‚  

  You may need to install a PostScript Printer Description (PPD) file that contains specific details on your printer; this file should come on a disk or CD with your printer and is often installed with the printer's setup program. Otherwise, download it from the printer manufacturer's Web site. (Windows places PPD files in the Windows\System32\spool\drivers\w32x86 folder.)

To set a printer as the default printer, right-click the printer in the Printers window (Start ‚ Settings ‚ Printers), and select Set Default Printer from the context menu that appears. (Some Windows XP users will need to choose Start ‚ Control Panel ‚ Printers and Other Hardware.)