Rules for connecting the printer to the computer

The printer is an indispensable assistant in the office or at home, especially if you are a student. Even schoolchildren successfully print a large number of essays and reports on it. But, having purchased this unit, many users face the problem of interaction between the computer and the device for printing. In this article we will look at possible ways to connect and configure the printer for printing, as well as the problems that arise.

Connecting the printer to a PC with Windows 7 - 10

Manufacturers of inkjet and laser printers have not yet been able to develop the same algorithm for connecting a printing device to a computer. Since the operating systems of PCs are constantly changing, the ways to connect peripherals with each update may differ slightly.

To connect the printer to a computer with Windows 7, you will need to perform the following steps.

• Connect the device to the mains using a special cable.
• Connect the machine to the computer using a USB cable. Usually it comes bundled with the unit, but if it is not there, then the cord can be bought in an electronics store. There are different connectors at different ends of the cable. The connector shown on the left should be connected to a laptop or PC, and the one on the right should be connected to the printer.

With the installation disk

After connecting all the cables, you need to install a program (driver) that will control the operation of the device. Usually, if you install an inkjet or a laser under Windows 7 - 8, then the drivers will be installed automatically if they are in the system.. In the case when the OS does not find the driver, you will need to install it from the disk that should be included with the printer.

Insert the disk into the optical drive of the PC, after which the automatic installation of the program will begin. Everything is simple here - follow the installer’s instructions until the process is complete. A situation may arise when installation wizard will not start when placing the disk in the drive. In this case, go to “My Computer”, select the disk located in the optical drive from the list, and after its contents open, you should find the file called “Setup” and click on it. After that, the installation of the driver will begin.

If there is no driver disk

The equipment can be connected without the installation disk. If you do not have software for the printer, you can download from the internet. To do this, it is enough to know the model of the device (you can peep from the back of the case). Knowing the model, type it in a search engine, and download the driver on the PC. In the folder with the downloaded data may be the installation file “Setup”, which you need to click to start. If this file does not exist, do the following:

• connect the printer to the computer (via USB cable);
• go to “Control Panel” - “Device Manager”;
• in the list of equipment that the OS has identified, one unknown device will be visible, opposite which there will be an exclamation mark;
• right-click unknown hardware and select “Update Driver”;
• You will see a window in which you are offered to choose a driver from the Internet or to find it on this computer - click the last one;
• a window will open where you can select the folder with the drivers downloaded from the Internet and click “next”;
• As a result, the installation of software for the equipment will occur.

Connect a network printer

If you have already become familiar with the local connection of equipment for printing, then it is easy to set up printing over the network.

• Go to “Devices and Printers” through the “Start” menu.
• Click on “Add Printer”, then click on “Add Network…”.
  

• The system will search for connected equipment. If you know the name of your jet (lasers), then select it from the list provided by the OS.
  

• The result of your actions above will connect the device to the network and install the necessary drivers for it. If they are not installed by “automatic”, pay attention to system messages on this occasion. For example, a window may appear with the “Install Driver” button. In this case, you will need to install the software in manual mode, as mentioned above. After successful completion of the procedure, a message box will appear, as shown in the figure below.
  

Installing the printer in the Windows 10 OS follows the same algorithm and is intuitive, even if the names of the items are slightly different.

Connecting via Wi-Fi and Bluetooth

There are models of multifunction printers, strujniki and lazerniki that support connection using wireless technologies. For example, you can take the jet Canon PIXMA G3400, which feature is the ability to connect it via Wi-Fi. It should take into account a small nuance: this unit connects to a Wi-Fi router using WPS technology. Therefore, it is necessary to buy a router with WPS support, and this feature should be enabled on it. The following figure shows how to enable WPS on a D-Link DIR-615 router.

Next, in order to connect the Canon PIXMA G3400 to a wireless network on Windows 10, you will need to follow these steps.

• Turn on the device in the network and click on the button labeled “Wi-Fi”, located on it. Hold it pressed until the orange LED flashes once. After that, the blue Wi-Fi indicator will flash, indicating that the device has started searching for a wireless network.
• At this stage, you will need to connect the router to your struynik (lasers). Click on it WPS button and hold it until the blue light on the chip stops flashing and glows evenly. This will indicate that the printer has connected to the Wi-Fi network.
• Next, you need the OS to see the hardware. To do this, use the “Start” menu, select the “Settings” tab, and a new window will open.
  

• Select the “Devices” section and click on “Add Printer or Scanner”. The system will start searching for equipment and, ultimately, will display the link “Required printer is not in the list”, which will need to be clicked.
  

• Next, you should install a marker near the item, as indicated in the following figure.
  
• Pressing the “Next” button will start the search for equipment (Bluetooth or Wi-Fi printer). Select the desired equipment found and click on “Next”.
  
• After that, the necessary drivers will be installed, and the equipment will be ready for operation.

Connect a printer to a MacBook with Mac OS

In addition to the usual Windows, there is a fairly common operating system Mac OS, which is used in computers manufactured by Apple. Since the interface of both operating systems is very different, you will need to follow these steps to connect the printer to your MacBook.

• Use a USB cable to connect both devices (MacBook and printer).
• At the bottom of the screen in the Dock, select the “System Settings” option and go to this menu.
• A new window will open in which you should click on “Printers and Scanners”.
  
• The window that opens will show the equipment previously connected to the computer. But if you first install press the “+” button.
  
• After clicking on “+” in the window that opens, select the equipment you need.
  

Do not forget about drivers. The system may ask you to connect to the Internet to download the necessary software, or it will offer to insert a driver disk.

Network Device Connections to MacBook

Printing equipment can also be connected to your MacBook as a network. To do this, you need to know which IP address assigned to it in your network. Go to the printer settings and select the “Print network settings” option, where the IP will be registered.

The procedure for connecting network equipment is as follows.

• Perform the initial steps, as described above, and after clicking on the “+” button in the window that opens, click the “IP” tab. In the window that opens, in the “Address” line, you must enter the IP address of the machine you need.
  
• The fields “Protocol” and “Queue” can be left blank, leaving them empty.
• Next, you will need to select the necessary software according to the same principles that were mentioned earlier, and click on “Add”. In a moment, your printing equipment will be added to your MacBook.

Connecting a MacBook printer over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth

To connect the device to a MacBook by Wi-FiWhen you are logged in to “Printers and Scanners,” click on “+” to add hardware. From the list, select the equipment you need. It is important that its type be “Bonjour Multifunctional”.

After selecting a device, if it supports Airprint technology, in the “Use” line, select “AirPrint” and click “Add”.

After that, the search will start and pairing will occur between the computer and the device you have selected.
It is also recommended to update the software from the App store.
To connect the device via bluetooth, click on its icon at the top of the screen and turn on the “Turn Bluetooth On” receiver.

Make sure the printing machine is turned on in Bluetooth mode. In the window that opens, after searching for Bluetooth devices, the found ones will be displayed. Select the desired one and perform pairing by clicking “Create a pair”. When prompted to connect, click “Accept”.

What to do if the printer does not connect

There are cases when the OS does not see the MFP or other equipment for printing, and it does not connect. For example, if you take HP LaserJet 1010 lazer with such a problem, you will have to install it manually.

• Connect the device to the computer (via USB) and connect it to the network.
• In the “Start” menu, click on “Devices and Printers”.
  
• In the window that opens, select “Add Printer”.
  
• Now you need to decide which connection option suits you. In this case, select “Add local printer”.
  
• Next, the system prompts you to select a port. At this stage, it is better to leave everything unchanged, that is, the LPT1 port, and click “Next”.
  
• The next step is to install the driver for the MFP or another printer.As mentioned above, it can be installed from a disk, downloaded from the Internet, or installed via the Windows Update Wizard (if there is no disk or there is no optical drive in the PC).
  

What to do when there is no official software for the HP LaserJet 1010 in Windows, or you do not have an internet connection? You can temporarily get out of the situation by selecting from the list provided by the system, a laser worker from the same manufacturer. In this case, this is the HP LaserJet 3055 PCL5.
In the next window, give the name of the equipment to be installed, and then also click on “Next”.

Now you need to specify machine access parameters. Click “No sharing ...” if you are not going to connect the machine to the network, or “Allow sharing ...” to be able to print from other PCs. After clicking on the “Next” button, the installation of the peripherals is complete.

Setup of an inkjet (laser) for printing

To set up the device, you need to go to “Devices and Printers”, right-click on the necessary equipment and select “Printer Properties”. To test the machine, click on “Test Print”.

By pressing the “Print Settings” button, you can select the paper size and determine the page orientation as well as the print quality.

How to turn on the default printer

Sometimes it happens that the computer is connected multiple printing devices. But if you use one of them most often, it is very inconvenient to constantly choose it from the list. The problem is solved in a rather simple way: you need to add the desired jetting (lazernik) to the default devices:

• open the control panel:
• open the section “Printers and Faxes”;
• Double-click on the desired equipment and put a check mark next to “Use by default”.

For convenience, make a shortcut to the “Printers and Faxes” folder and place it on your desktop or pin it to the home screen in Windows 10.

Print queue setup

Print queue management allows the user to control all documents in her list. Thanks to this service, it is possible at any time to re-allocate and send a document for printing. It can also be placed in the “Favorites”, so that next time it does not send it to print.

There are 3 types of queues for printing:

• general - all PC users can perform any tasks;
• direct - you can print a document from the designated equipment;
• secure - printing a document will not be possible without authorization.

In the event of a malfunction, the inkjet (laser) can refuse to print documents from the queue, or it will print the same document without going to the next one. In this case the queue can be clearedby double-clicking on the icon of the desired machine in the control panel. Next, click on the “Printer” menu and select the “Clear print queue” line.

Color printing setup

Adjusting the color profile is a very important step for quality color reproduction during printing. You could see, for example, in the device settings for printing, the choice of either glossy paper or matte. For each type of photo paper there is a color profile in the form of a special file containing specific commands for the inkjet.

Color profiles for used ink or paper can be downloaded from the Internet and installed on a computer.

You can also customize color printing. manually, by trial and error, creating your profile for the best quality color reproduction. To do this, use the jet driver. For example, setting up a Canon jet driver will look like this.

• First open the printer driver window. Click one by one: “Control Panel” and “Devices and Printers”. After that, on the necessary equipment, right-click and select “Printer Properties”.
• Select the main (Main) tab and designate the manual (Manual) color setting, then click on “Set ...”.
  
• In the opened manual color adjustment window, put the bird next to “Print a pattern for color adjustment” and click on the “Pattern Print ...” button to set print parameters.
  
• After opening the next window, select the options as in the figure below. By the way, the paper size may be different, for example, A4. After the changes are made, click OK.
  
• Perform a test print by clicking OK on the (Main) tab. A sheet will be printed with several images in which the balance of colors will change.
  
• Looking at the result, you should choose the image with the best (natural) color and remember the values ​​that are written under it.
• In the color settings window, enter the color balance values ​​that were indicated below the picture opposite Cyan, Magenta and Yellow.
  
• Uncheck “Print a pattern for color ...” and print the image you need.
  

Now printing will be made taking into account color balance adjustments, and images will look more qualitative and realistic. Windows drivers for printers from different manufacturers may differ by a set of commands and button layout. But in general, the algorithm for adjusting the color balance is similar, and performing it will not cause any special difficulties.