ITS Tech Tips: OS Tips

Adding a Network Printer on a Mac

In order to hook up a network printer to your Mac, you will first need to know the following:

• Tag number of the printer
• Make and model of the printer.

You can look on the printer itself for the tag number or ask your department secretary.

• Click on the Apple menu and go to System Preferences.
• Click on the Print & Fax icon.

The Print & Fax window opens.

• Click on the + button.

A window appears with blank fields to fill out for adding a printer.

• Click on the IP button in the toolbar.
• Choose Line Printer Daemon - LPD in the Protocol field.

All printers on the network start with a "prn" prefix, followed by the tag number then a .l.cwu.edu suffix. And that's a small letter "L" not a number 1.

• Type in the full address, including the appropriate prefix and suffix, in the Address field. For example, to add the HP LaserJet 89713 to your printer list you’d type in the following:

prn89713.l.cwu.edu

After you've typed in the address, the network will be searched and you'll see right away if you've typed in a Valid and complete address. If you don't get this message just below the Address field, then recheck the address you've typed in to make sure it is correct.

The Print Using field should show up with the make and model of printer you are trying to access. If not, you can click on the drop-down arrow and select it from the list.

The settings in the screen shot below provide an example for adding an HP LaserJet 2200 printer with the tag number 89713.

Once you've filled in the necessar fields (Protocol and Address - the rest will fill in automatically unless they are not needed, then they will be blank),

• Click the Add button.

The printer appears in the list of available printers.

From any open program such as Word, you will see this printer from the print dialog box.

Page last updated 1/07/09. Send questions or comments to ITS Training.