27. Manage Printers and Scanners

Question 1

1. What does the Common UNIX Printing System (CUPS) do?

Answer 1

1. Common UNIX Printing System (CUPS) manages printing for macOS High Sierra, including local and shared printing.

Question 2

2. What are PostScript Printer Description (PPD) files responsible for?

Answer 2

2. PostScript Printer Description (PPD) files are printer driver files that instruct CUPS on how to communicate with specific printer models.

Question 3

3. What’s the best source for acquiring printer drivers for macOS High Sierra?

Answer 3

3. The Apple print drivers are the best source for configuring macOS High Sierra printers. One way to acquire printer drivers for macOS High Sierra is to let the software update system automatically download and install the appropriate printer drivers. Or you can manually download and install printer drivers from the Apple support website.

Question 4

4. Under what circumstances can a standard (nonadministrative) user configure a printer?

Answer 4

4. Assuming the default settings for macOS High Sierra, a standard user can configure only directly attached or local network printers from the Print dialog. Also, the appropriate drivers must be installed before the standard user configures the printer.

Question 5

5. How do you share printers with other users?

Answer 5

5. You can enable printer sharing from Print & Scan or Sharing preferences. Windows clients may need additional drivers to access Mac shared printers through the Internet Printing Protocol (IPP).

Question 6

6. How can you select a new printer driver for a configured printer?

Answer 6

6. It depends on the printer. From Printing & Scanning preferences, sometimes you can select a new printer driver from the Options & Supplies dialog. In many cases, to select a new printer driver for a configured printer, you must delete and then add the printer again.

Question 7

7. If it appears that all configured printers are having problems, what’s a potential quick fix?

Answer 7

7. If your printers are having problems, you can reset the printing system by Control-clicking in the printer list and then choosing “Reset printing system.”