Where are the printer driver settings on Big Sur as on Win 10

I've just switched over from Windows 10, very happy with my decision, apart from one thing, and that is photo printing.


Whin printing under Windows, I could select 'Printer Settings' and be able to choose from lots of options, including saved presets, colour options, paper handling options etc... see screenshots/ Printing using Big Sur, I haven't been able to find these types of options (most importantly the colour options, which allow me to tweak the photo colours)


I've had to resort to my Win laptop for photo printing.





Mac mini 2018 or later

Posted on Feb 21, 2021 7:14 AM

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Feb 21, 2021 7:51 AM in response to bernfrom lb

You cannot depend on a printer vendor to create precisely the same print panel for the same device on two entirely different operating systems. The libraries and implementation tools for the vendor are different. By clicking the Show Details on that image you posted of the print panel, you will see more configuration options.


For the Expression XP760, Epson released a version 10.85 driver in early Nov 2020, which was still before Big Sur was released by Apple. They also released a version 5.8.9 Image Capture driver (ICA) in Jan 2021. These are the only two Epson drivers that would be compatible with Big Sur. No other Epson software was released recently enough (e.g. Scan 2, etc.).


The act of installing a driver does not automatically associate it with the Epson device. You need to visit System Preferences > Printers & Scanners panel, right-click on the XP760 entry, and choose Reset printing system… This will allow you to re-add the XP760 with the newly selected Epson drivers. Apple's Image Capture should detect the scanner on this device, if you installed the ICA driver (also on the linked driver page above).


If the Expression XP-760 is networked (wireless/wired), it is also supported by Apple's built-in AirPrint drivers which eliminate the need for any Epson drivers. During the Printer re-add process described above, you would choose AirPrint instead of the Epson XP-760 drivers.



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Feb 21, 2021 7:26 AM in response to Barney-15E

I'm using the Mac version of the same printer driver that I showed screenshots from, it's an Epson XP760.


>> Popup menu that normally shows the App name that you are printing from


Can you be more specific, this is what I see when I try to print from any application, this is the Photo app.



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Feb 21, 2021 8:11 AM in response to VikingOSX

ok thanks, but it says it will reset all printers and scanners


I've found that the printer driver is version 3, where did you see a version 10.85, are you sure you wasn't looking at the supported Mac version numbers? I followed the Epson link you sent, but I couldn't see any driver version numbers.


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Feb 21, 2021 8:39 AM in response to bernfrom lb

Well, I have always ignored that dialog as I have just one device, but it does sound quite ominous in its wording, and possibly overstepping what it will actually do in practice. It should only apply to the selected device, despite what it says.


The link goes to the default Epson driver page for the XP-760, and you have to change the default operating system detection selector to Big Sur, and then the driver I referenced above will appear:




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Feb 21, 2021 8:53 AM in response to VikingOSX

Hmm, that's strange, the Big Sur option isn't present in the o/s list that I see.


Anyway I re-installed the Epson v10.85 driver, it still shows as version 3 though and hasn't made any difference.


Thanks for your help though, but it looks like I'll have to stick to printing photos from my Win laptop.


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Feb 21, 2021 8:00 AM in response to VikingOSX

Thanks very much for the detailed reply.


I'm loath to reset the printing system as I have another printer, plus the scanner works fine.


I only installed the Epson driver a few weeks ago, so I'm pretty sure I have the latest one, is there a way to see the driver version number installed on Big Sur? If I don't have the latest then yes, I will re-install the driver.





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Feb 21, 2021 8:08 AM in response to bernfrom lb

When you select the XP-760 in the Printers list, only it is reset, not other devices. On the Printers & Scanners panel, select the XP-760, and a panel will appear with [Open Print Queue…] and [Options & Supplies…] buttons. If Epson provides these, click the latter and the driver version is shown on the resulting panel.

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Where are the printer driver settings on Big Sur as on Win 10

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