macOS Catalina: The Missing Manual

Chapter 15. Printing, Scanning, Fonts & Graphics

The Mac may be only the 10 percent solution in the mainstream business world, but in the graphics and printing industries, it’s the 800-pound gorilla. You’d better believe that when Apple designed macOS, it worked very hard to keep its graphics and printing fans happy.

This chapter tackles printing, scanning, fonts, graphics, ColorSync, and PDF, which macOS uses as an everyday exchange format—one of the biggest perks of using a Mac.

Mac Meets Printer

MacOS used to come preloaded with the printing software for every conceivable printer model from every conceivable printer company—Epson, HP, Lexmark, Canon, and others—several gigabytes’ worth. Most people wound up with wads of printing software they’d never use.

When you install macOS these days, though, you get only the drivers for the printers you actually have, or are nearby on the network. If you ever encounter a different printer model later, macOS offers to download it for you on the spot.

Setting Up a Printer

Setting up a printer is incredibly easy. The first time you want to print something, follow this guide:

1. Connect the printer to the Mac, and then turn the printer on.

   Inkjet printers and laser printers hook up either to your USB jack or to your network (Ethernet or wireless).

2. Open the document you want to print. Choose File→Print. In the Print dialog box, choose your printer’s name from the Printer pop-up menu (or one of its submenus, if any, like Nearby Printers). See ...