Printing to a windows printer connected directly to network

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amstar

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Hi all. I have a printer question that I am unable to find any information about. At work, I am using one of the few macs on an Windows network. Down in the main office there is a big expensive digital printer/copier (Savin 2527) that is attached directly to the network (not through a computer). Everyone using PC's can link directly to the copier and print from their computers. I have the proper driver installed from Savin's webpage and I can send jobs to the printer but what prints is gibberish. According to the people who sold us the copier we need to install a $1,200 postscript card into the printer in order to make it mac friendly.

Does anyone know of a way I could send a signal to the printer that it would be able to interpret properly without having the card installed?

Thanks for your help
 
amstar said:
.... According to the people who sold us the copier we need to install a $1,200 postscript card into the printer in order to make it mac friendly.

Does anyone know of a way I could send a signal to the printer that it would be able to interpret properly without having the card installed?

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Click to expand...
If your printer requires a PostScript card it doesn't have one installed, then you can expect it to output garbage. You have two choices: 1. Install the $1200 PostScript card; or, 2. Hope that there is a CUPS driver available for the printer. Lucky for you, the Linux Foundation supports the Savin 2527. You may find its CUPS print driver for your printer here.
 
Thanks for the info. MisterMe. I had come across that webpage already but was not (and am still not) able to make sense of the documentation provided. Am I missing something obvious or is it fair to say that you need to be well versed in UNIX programing to install a CUPS driver on a mac? If so, than I fear I am out of luck.

Thanks again
 
Installing the Mac OS X packages from .dmg (disk image) files is just like any other standard OS X installer. Be careful - don't download the "source code."
 
Have you tried printing a pdf to that printer? If that works you know it's a postscript issue. If not, it's a network issue.

Have you talked to your IT person about your connection to that printer? Your mac might require a print server to communicate with it. We have a networked printer at my work and I'm connected to it with my mac through an IP address and installed driver.
 
Thank you for your comments

gsahi - I do not see any .dmg files. just .ppd files and links to not-for-the-novice instructions on installing foomatic-rip, ghostscript build-ins etc.

Natobasso - PDF's do not print. I am at a small PC-centric university so IT is not going to be any help. If working around the lack of a postscript card is beyond me (and I am beginning to think it is), then I am not going to be printing to the copier. I think the ability to print to an IP address with an installed driver would work if we had the $1200 card.
 
If PC computers can print to it then it's probably a driver issue. I found mac printer utility and ppd files here:
http://www.savin.com/savin/savin_comV4.nsf/SupportDrivers

You have to select the B/W copier option and then select your 2527 and then go down the list to Mac OS X. The next pop up window (no url, which is what I wanted to give you!) shows the PPD and driver. Install these and you should be able to print. The PPD file, by the way, gives you PostScript functionality so no need for an expensive PostScript card... ;)
 
Natobasso - This is where I started. I tried all of this before contacting the Savin sales person. I downloaded both the PPD and the Mac utility. The PPD allows me to print garbage to the printer and the Mac Printer utility does nothing. When I open the utility it loads then opens a window telling me to chose a printer from a list of network zones but says that no network zones are found.
 
Sorry, I missed that info in your first post.

Have you followed all instructions in the ReadMe files for the downloads?

You might have to connect to the printer either by IP address or Rendevous. Maybe if we could see your IT dept's instruction page for connecting to that printer that might help...

Usually when printing on a pc network there is a server domain that you first have to connect to, then you are given access to that network's printers.
 
amstar said:
... Am I missing something obvious or is it fair to say that you need to be well versed in UNIX programing to install a CUPS driver on a mac? If so, than I fear I am out of luck.

Thanks again
Click to expand...
CUPS is a part of MacOS X. Download Gutenprint (formerly GIMP-print) and read the documentation. It will tell you everything you need to know about using CUPS on your Mac.
 
MisterMe - Loading Gutenprint then using the generic PCL 5e printer CUPS+gutinprint worked!!

Thanks everyone for your advice!
 
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