Adding Printers in OS X
Public printers in the Physics Department are setup via print servers. All the public Sharp photocopiers are on their own print server called pcounter2.physics.ox.ac.uk and all the other printers are setup via printserver.physics.ox.ac.uk. The name of the printers should be on a label on the front of the printer, if there isn't please contact itsupport [at] physics [dot] ox [dot] ac [dot] uk and we will label the printer.
A list of public printers in Physics can be found here
Please Note: Please install the correct print drivers for the printer that you wish to print to, we have had numerous problems of printers hanging when printing via incorrect print drivers including the Generic PostScript driver. Printing to public printers without the correct settings will not make you popular with your colleagues.
Apple Systems setup by the IT department should already have the public printers installed for you. If not then you should be able to install them via the following method.
Manually installing public printers in OS X 10.5 and above
- Install the correct print driver for the printer you wish to install.
- Go to Apple Menu > System Preferences > Print & Fax
- Click "+" to add a printer
- Choose the IP tab Do not attempt to find the printer from the 'default' list
- For protocol, choose: LPD
- For addresss, enter: pcounter2.physics.ox.ac.uk for any of the Sharp copiers or printserver.physics.ox.ac.uk for all other printers
- For queue, enter the name of the printer: e.g. CLSharp171, tpmono3
- It does not matter what you enter under 'name', but enter something identifiable. e.g. 'Clarendon Sharp 171'
- Similiarly, what you enter under 'location' does not matter
- Under 'Print Using' choose 'Select Print Software' and choose the correct driver for the printer
- Click add. Your printer is now configured.
Setting Printer Preferences
If you are constantly selecting the same print options each time you print you may wish to setup printing presets for your printers. The print driver dialogue box shows you the various different settings that are available to you and it also enables you to create and edit your own list of presets. The default settings preset is called Standard, this cannot be easily changed instead you should setup a new preset:
- In the print dialogue box (File > Print from the Apple Menu bar) click the printer settings drop down (the small down arrow nest to the printer name). You should now be able to see the various printer options for the printer.
- Select the options for the printer that you wish to select e.g. switch off Two-Sided or select Colour
- Once you have the required settings. Click the Preset drop down list and choose Save As.
- Type the name of the profile in the Save Preset As dialogue box and click OK
- The new preset will now be available each time that you print from the drop down menu.
Setting the Default printer
To set the default printer go to Apple Menu > System Preferences > Print & Fax. There should then be an option to select your default printer from the drop down list of printers installed.
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