Mac OS X Panther in a Nutshell, 2nd Edition

Printer Drivers

Mac OS X supports PostScript Printer Description (PPD) files for PostScript printers and its own driver format for non-PostScript printers. All these files go into the /Printer folders of the system-wide Library hierarchy, as described in Chapter 7.

Tip

Apple chooses to make the Local/System domain difference a little fuzzy with the printer drivers it includes with Mac OS X. Drivers for Apple-branded printers go into /System/Library/Printers, and other vendors’ drivers go into the less-protected /Library/Printers directory—despite the fact that Apple’s installer software puts both kinds of drivers into place, and that Apple itself hasn’t sold printers in years.

Generally speaking, you probably don’t have to worry too much about having the right printer drivers, because Apple includes hundreds of drivers for several vendors’ printer models with Mac OS X and regularly adds to the list (and updates existing drivers) via the System Update application.

Gimp-Print

Among drivers included are those from the Gimp-print package, an open-source project that develops drivers for printers without vendor-supplied Mac OS X-compatible drivers. You’ll see the Gimp-Print drivers included in the list of available PPDs when you add a printer with the Printer Setup Utility. Gimp-Print drivers won’t always provide the full functionality of every printer, but they will at least allow you to print. For more information about Gimp-Print, visit http://gimpprint.sourceforge.net.