Problems printing from LR2 on Mac

[ShawWellPete]

Hi all,

I have a macbookpro with LR2, I rarely print out photos at home as I usually use photobox or something similar. I have an HP P1000 printer connected to a PC that runs XP and it is shared on the network.

The Mac found this printer fine and I have used it to print documents from the macbook without any problems.

Today I tried printing a photo from Lightroom 2 on the mac and it comes out very grainy. LR has the resolution set to 300ppi and I am using HP premium glossy A4 paper.

Any ideas?

[Marcel]

I'd either check the printer settings on the mac, or the printer driver settings on the PC. One of them will be set too low.

[ShawWellPete]

Thanks Marcel,

here are the settings on the mac...

http://villabegur.com/share/screenmac.png

The pc is set to normal resolution, but surely the mac's settings will overide them?

[Marcel]

Im not too sure.

The mac will send the request to the PC, which will then use the drivers and the driver settings to control output to the printer.

[theMusicMan]

I tend to agree - the printer driver used here will be that on the PC/XP based machine.

[erding]

Would suggest that you connect the Macbook Pro directly to your printer and print out using the same settings and compare the print output.

[cowasaki]

When a computer talks to another computer over the network in order to print the picture is sent as RAW therefore the settings on the target computer are not relevant. BUT that is the theory there are sometimes problems due to badly written drivers etc though I would be surprised if this was the case here as HP normally have reasonable drivers.

First I would download the latest drivers for BOTH machines and install them then restart the XP machine. Check the other settings on the MAC too. But the idea of attaching the MAC directly to the printer is definitely a sound idea (in order to test the seetings).

I had best results from my Samsung CLP500 colour laser when it was attached to a MAC and the PCs printed via the MAC. If you go with this option then you will need to download Bonjour (http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/bonjourforwindows.html).

One last thing for best results turn off colour management in the driver and let LR2 handle colour management.

[ShawWellPete]

Thanks for the advice guys, I'll do that.

[Craikeybaby]

That is something that I could never get to work at my parent's house, printing from Macs to to the printers on a windows PC...

[cowasaki]

It is easier under Tiger or Leopard than previously but it is definately easier the other way round because Apple actually supply the Windows software to automate the process (SEE ABOVE)

[ShawWellPete]

When a computer talks to another computer over the network in order to print the picture is sent as RAW therefore the settings on the target computer are not relevant. BUT that is the theory there are sometimes problems due to badly written drivers etc though I would be surprised if this was the case here as HP normally have reasonable drivers.

First I would download the latest drivers for BOTH machines and install them then restart the XP machine. Check the other settings on the MAC too. But the idea of attaching the MAC directly to the printer is definitely a sound idea (in order to test the seetings).

I had best results from my Samsung CLP500 colour laser when it was attached to a MAC and the PCs printed via the MAC. If you go with this option then you will need to download Bonjour (http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/bonjourforwindows.html).

One last thing for best results turn off colour management in the driver and let LR2 handle colour management.


The OS X drivers seem to be missing from the HP page (http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareList?os=219&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=uk&lang=en&product=61872), this is the problem, I guess.

[cowasaki]

The OS X drivers seem to be missing from the HP page (http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareList?os=219&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=uk&lang=en&product=61872), this is the problem, I guess.

No, not necessarily. If there are no OSX drivers then it is quite likely that the driver supplied with Mac OS is the latest driver. Windows drivers tend to be updated far more often due to finding incompatibilities with other equipment etc this happens far less with Mac OS as the hardware configuration list is considerably smaller. Just make sure you have the latest windows drivers and try again. If this does not work try attaching it to the Mac. If that is not an option I actually use Airport Expresses. You can pick one up on ebay for about £35-40 (you dont need the latest N type) then attach the printer to that. Windows machines can print to the printer using the bonjour software and apple machines will just pick the printer up. This has the added advantage of any computer being able to print without the other actually being switched on.

[ShawWellPete]

Thanks for the advice, I'll have a play when I get home

[erding]

A similar device to what cowaski is suggesting:

http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=22ZX&SearchType=1&SearchTerms=network+print+server&PageMode=3&SearchKey=All&SearchMode=All&NavigationKey=50542

Overall these type of devices are a better choice on networks than sharing printers over a network as there is no need for the sharing printer pc to be on.

[cowasaki]

A similar device to what cowaski is suggesting:

http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=22ZX&SearchType=1&SearchTerms=network+print+server&PageMode=3&SearchKey=All&SearchMode=All&NavigationKey=50542

Overall these type of devices are a better choice on networks than sharing printers over a network as there is no need for the sharing printer pc to be on.

No don't do it :bonk:

I have a box load of netgear printer servers in the attic. They work fine but only if you have Windows XP or earlier!

I have never got them to work with Mac OS properly. The express is about the same price and is guaranteed to work with either machine.

Also the express has a headphone jack that you can feed to your stereo and then you can use your iphone to control any computer in the house that has itunes and get its sound output sent across the network to the express and feed to your stereo. Its a bit flash :woot:

[erding]

They work fine but only if you have Windows XP or earlier!

I have never got them to work with Mac OS properly.

My own experience does not concur - either on my own networks or on clients networks where using OSX and XP machines.

[cowasaki]

My own experience does not concur - either on my own networks or on clients networks where using OSX and XP machines.

Which model of printer server I have a box load of PS110s and another one that I cannot remember the model number of that I can no longer use and they are not supported by Netgear. I have had this problem before with Netgear not updating their support because the device is no longer current. I actually like Netgear stuff and use their switches quite a bit. I find their consumer routers are not very realiable but the print servers were great on XP/2000/98 machines.

ADDED: In fact if you know how to get it working and the server is compatible he can have one for a donation to Talk Photography !

[erding]

The link I posted is to the PS101 which is a current model and hence supported by Netgear and also sourced in the UK.

[cowasaki]

The link I posted is to the PS101 which is a current model and hence supported by Netgear and also sourced in the UK.

The point I was making is that they don't support items that are not current nor do they quickly support newer oses. Obviously the PS101 is current so it should be ok with current oses (and I would be surprised if there were any problems at all) but if you go for something like the express it is likely to be supported for much longer.

Its personal choice in the end but like I said I have a load of only slightly older print servers sat in a box in the attic and unusable. So if a PS101 is bought today and they bring out a PS102 in January then Netgear will most likely pull all support. Then when the Macs are upgraded to Snow Leopard in June (or whenever) Netgear are unlikely to produce Snow Leopard compatible drivers and they are obsolete. That is just my experience of Netgear printer servers, like I said in an earlier post whilst they are still current and supported they worked VERY well! You could take a chance though as they are not exactley expensive (the PS110s were £100+)

[ShawWellPete]

So I have a confession to make: I have finally tried this again and it seems that the printer still doesn't print properly even when connected directly to the mac. Photos come out very low res with visible dots. The printer works fine on the PC so I have transferred the files over and printed them from the PC.

It would be nice to print from the Mac, I have googled to see if it is a common problem (it appears not) and I have downloaded the latest Gutenprint drivers.

Any ideas?

[cowasaki]

Printers often print like that on the Mac until you install the correct drivers even my R2400 did! It is a better than nothing mode whilst you download the latest drivers which is something you should do irrespective of which OS & which printer you have!

[ShawWellPete]

That seems to be the problem, HP don't have any drivers for it one their site!