Once you’re connected to a printer, you may need to set up your computer to print to it. After you do this, any application you use will be able to print to the printer.

Mac OS X automatically sets up most printers that connect to your computer using a Universal Serial Bus (USB) cable. Once you connect a USB or FireWire printer, you should be able to choose it in the Print dialog when you print a document. The same is true for printers on your local network or subnetwork that use Bonjour technology to make themselves accessible to your computer.

Other types of printers connected to your network, such as AppleTalk, Bluetooth, Open Directory, and IP printers, as well as printers shared by other Mac OS X or Windows users, may require a few easy setup steps before you can use them.