printing to windows from mac os x or linux (ubuntu)

If you have a Windows-shared printer and you would like to print to it from your Mac OS X or Ubuntu Linux, the following instructions should help you get started.

First, in Windows XP, you must set up TCP/IP Printer for Unix:

1. Go to Start -> Control Panel


2. Double-click Add/Remove Programs


3. Click Add/Remove Windows Components


4. Look for Other Network Files and Printer Services


5. Select Print Services for Unix


6. Wait for Windows XP to install


7. Go back to Control Panel


8. Double-click Administrative Tools


9. Double-click Services


10. Double-click TCP/IP Print Server


11. Set it to turn on Automatically, and start the server if it isn't already started

If you haven't already set the printer to be shared, please do so now:

1. Go to Printers from the Start menu


2. Right-click on a printer you want to share and select Sharing


3. Click to Share the printer. You may want to change the name to something more memorable.

You are almost done. The next instruction is for Mac OS X 10.4:

1. Go to Preferences, click on Printer and Fax


2. Click the + to add printer.


3. Click on "More Printer"


4. The top selection box should say "Windows Printer"


5. The second selection box should say Network Neighborhood, if not, select that.


6. Look for the printer's name in the Network Neighborhood and double-click to add.


7. You will need to enter the username and password of the Windows computer.


8. You may not have the correct driver for the printer because you do not want to select Generic Postscript at all. You will need to go to <a href="http://gimp-print.sourceforge.net/">Gutenprint</a> to download the printer drivers and install.


9. Select the correct printer driver from the list


10. You should be able to print now.

For Ubuntu 7.04:

1. Go to System -> Administration -> Printing


2. Double-click New Printer


3. Click on Network Printer


4. Change the selection box on the right to Windows printer (SMB)


5. You may get a dialog box that says Authentication required, you will need to enter the username and password that you have on the Windows PC.


6. For Host name, enter the name of the Windows PC on the network


7. For Printer, enter the name of the printer share.


8. For Driver, find the name of the printer for the driver. Select simple Gimp-print or Gutenprint CUPS. Gimp-print is already available in Ubuntu because it comes with Gimp, the photo-editing software.