By Graham K. Rogers

Apple's OS X which was recently updated to version 10.8, Mountain Lion has many changes to System Preferences. Print & Scan preferences has a panel closely similar to the one in OS X 10.7, Lion. There have been a number of minor changes in the way printers may be connected although familiar methods are available for those with more complex needs, such as in an office.

The Print & Scan preference panel allows users to control the setting up and use of printers, scanners and suitable fax machines attached to the computer or that the computer may access via a network.

Clicking on the printer icon in System Preferences reveals a three-part panel. On the left, any installed printers are shown. When one is highlighted, details appear in the main panel, where there is also a box to check if the printer is to be shared with other users on the network (LAN). This works in conjunction with the Shared printer box in Sharing Preferences. A button to the right allows direct access to Sharing.

Also in the information panel are buttons allowing us to open the Print Queue and "Options and Supplies" (see below). At the bottom of the panel are a button to select the default printer and a button to select the default paper size.

The default printer may be set to "Last Printer Used" or any specific printer available to the user. In my installation these are a generic printer on a network; an HP Color Laser printer on a LAN at my office and an old USB printer that I used in the past. Although that is no longer available, I keep the settings for printing PDF files.

Important controls in the left side panel are the plus (+) and minus (-) signs for adding or deleting printers, fax machines and scanners. When we select Add, any printer visible to the computer is shown and may be added. When testing this, the Print & Scan Add feature recognised the HP Color LaserJet CP 3505 as it was on the same network. I was able to add this with one click as the printer was able to take advantage of "Bonjour", Apple's Zero Configuration Networking feature.

A panel appeared indicating that it was setting up the printer and the process was completed automatically, albeit a little slowly. The printer was added to the list of those available and the icon was automatically added as well.

This is not the same as the Print & Scan preferences panel in OS X 10.7. In that case the Add button brought up a panel. With 10.8 the same panel is opened if there is no printer immediately found.

The panel has four icons: Default, Fax, IP, and Windows.

• With a USB printer connected and on, the Default window should display any printer recognized although this seems to have been made redundant by the instant recognition with Mountain Lion. A printer can be added in a matter of seconds.

  If printer sharing is on, a printer connected to another computer on the same LAN -- for example a home network -- can also be discovered and added. The same should be true for a fax machine or scanner although some older devices may not be accessible.

• The Fax installation utility brings up a panel that is almost identical to the Default printer window (although slightly smaller). This depends on a suitable device being connected to the computer.

• A common method of connecting a printer, particularly in an office environment, uses the panel opened when pressing the IP (internet protocol) icon. The panel has been redesigned and now requires an Address (IP number) entered first.

  Finding the IP number may need the co-operation of someone responsible for maintaining the printer. When an IP number is entered, the panel immediately searches for, then lists any IP printers online. However (as above), there may be a certain redundancy here as more printers become available with Zero Configuration Networking (Bonjour). If no printer is identified, Generic PostScript Printer settings are used. In this case, a menu also offers Auto Select, Generic PCL Printer, Select Printer Software and Other.

  There are three connection methods revealed by a button marked, Protocol:

  • The Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) first needs entering of a valid IP number and selection of a printer from a menu. Again, there are printer choices offered;

  • Line Printer Daemon (LPD) is similar to the IPP method although this may integrate better with OS X.

  • The other IP connection method shown is HP JetDirect Socket, which may be needed when a printer from Hewlett-Packard is used.

• The final method in the Add panel is "Windows". Clicking on this brings up a split panel. This panel may show networks accessible and devices (including computers) listed. When a printer is found (easier if the device details are known), clicking on it allows a connection to be made.

When a printer is highlighted in the main Print & Scan panel, we may access two buttons: Open Print Queue and Options & Supplies. The first reveals a panel with icons for device management: Pause and Settings. This is greatly simplified from the 6-button panel before. The panel also indicates if the printer is available or not connected.

Options & Supplies has different panes depending on the printer highlighted. Two were on all of the printer settings I have: General, with information about the printer; and Supply Levels, such as ink (also available in the Open Print Queue panel). Other options are Driver, which shows any available information about the current driver; and Utility which has a button that opens a separate printer-specific application when pressed. Not all printers will have this.

Notes

As more printers use Bonjour (Zero Configuration Networking) the setting up may be easier. On the same network as the Bonjour-equipped HP printer, there was a Canon that was not visible to me. With the right IP number, that would have been seen and could then have been added.

I was able to test with a USB printer and IP printers, but had no fax machine or scanner available. Previous experience suggests these are recognised in a similar way to how a printer is seen by the system.

The icon for Print & Scan is an example of the thorough way in which Apple prepares OS X. While we see only a small icon in the System Preferences panel there is a 4 MB image available and if enlarged there is readable text (Lorem ipsum. . .) in the upside down page exiting the printer.

Graham K. Rogers teaches at the Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol University in Thailand. He wrote in the Bangkok Post, Database supplement on IT subjects. For the last seven years of Database he wrote a column on Apple and Macs.