OS X Mountain Lion Bible

Printing

Using a printer is typically easy once it's set up on your Mac: Choose File⇒Print or press +P from the application you want to print from. Sometimes, the application may have a Print icon button as well in a toolbar. After you select any options for your print job and click Print, the Mac works with the printer behind the scenes so you can get back to work.

Using the Print settings sheet or dialog box

When you print, a Print settings sheet or dialog box, such as the one shown in Figure 30.5, appears. The basic layout for the dialog box or settings sheet is the same for most applications, though you may see some slight layout and visual differences such as where the print preview displays (or if it does) and how preview pages are navigated.

The standard options include controls over which printer to use, how many pages to print, how many copies of those pages, and whether to print collated and/or two-sided pages. The pop-up menu at lower left lets you “print” the file to a PDF file or to a fax modem (if you have one installed), and sometimes do other actions such as e-mail the file, as Figure 30.5 shows.

The Print settings sheets and dialog boxes in many applications can be expanded to show more controls, as shown in Figure 30.6. Apple's applications typically use the Show Detail button to display the expanded Print settings sheet or dialog box. Many other applications have ...