HP 845C

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HP 845C

Hello,

I have an older printer here, but it still works very good and prints very cheap, so i want to keep it.
But I have a problem. I can print, but i can't choose how. Printing in draft (quick) mode f.e. is something i can't select. Also i can't print only in black.

Can someone help me? Where can i select those options? Or do i need another printer driver?
Anyway i'm a little disapointed in Mac. I'm a windows user and switched to mac, but i have a lot of problems.

Greetings, Koenraad.

Imac '08, Mac OS X (10.5.6)

Posted on Jan 5, 2009 12:49 PM

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Answer 1

Jan 5, 2009 1:58 PM in response to Boeli

You could try your HP DeskJet 845C printer with the printer drivers from GutenPrint: http://tinyurl.com/8ctlaw. You'll also want to download the high end USB backend for GutenPrint known as Usbtb: http://tinyurl.com/9mgm38. It should make your printer print much faster than it currently does since its superior to Leopard's built-in USB driver.

You'll also want GNU Ghostscript 8.61 for faster rasterizing of the pages before they actually get printed: http://tinyurl.com/4cwqlt. You'll also want to install HPIJS which is HP's Open Source driver for their printers when run under Unix or Unix-like OSes such as Leopard (Mac OS X 10.5.6): http://tinyurl.com/ayhp9z. You'll also need Foomatic-RIP which if I understand it correctly is a Open Source print spooler for Unix or Unix-like OSes such as Leopard: http://tinyurl.com/4ep5dv.

Once you have all the required software installed your printer should run/print faster & you should have more print options available like before. Unfortunately the drivers built into Leopard pale in comparison to the Open Source software offerings I just mentioned.

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Answer 2

Boeli Author

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Jan 10, 2009 11:19 AM in response to Craigwd_2000

Hello,

Thanks for the help. Now i can print again faster. The only thing that i couldn't find is to print on both sides of 1 page. But that is the least of the problem.

Thanks, Boel

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Answer 3

Jan 10, 2009 11:24 AM in response to Boeli

You'll probably also want to upgrade CUPS to v. 1.3.9 since the CUPS included with Leopard is outdated too: http://tinyurl.com/yuckcm. CUPS is actually an acronym for Common Unix Printing System: Linux & the Open Source BSDs use it too. CUPS is a backend that Leopard's Unix layer uses to send print jobs to your HP DeskJet 845C so it's very important to keep it up to date & current.

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