Q: impact printers (dot matrix) and 10.6

Laser labels?

I don't know what the quality is you're seeing with the Epson & Oki, but perhaps I'm too used to seeing laser and modern inkjet output so all the DMP output I see is comparatively lower quality.  I have to work with a Epson DFX-8500 on my work PC daily.  In single-pass mode, you will see the individual pins.  (Impact printer needed due to government multipart forms. )  Even my old Apple Imagewirter LQ, which is 24 pin, only gets "high quality" in multi-pass.

What are the purpose of the labels?  If it's just for mailing, then is the quality good enough?  Mailings wouldn't need the greatest quality.  (And you won't see the labels again after they're mailed )

If this is for file folders or something, you may need to either live with it, or see if you can send a code to enable multi-pass (or whatever your printer will do for higher quality.)  Perhaps you need to figure out something more creative like a formed character printer (a.k.a.: daisywheel, if they still exist and you can get ribbons, etc.) or find some vendor that has a specialized printer.  Or outsource this.  My office will send out some mailings to a local printing service because someone ran the numbers and found that it actually was cost effective when you include the labor on our end.

I do sympathize.  My Imagewriter LQ is still hooked up by serial cable to a PC specifically to print envelopes and labels.  I still have half a case of labels and that is what I use for my side business because it's an obvious cost savings...and because I can.    Eventually, when I run out of Imagewriter LQ ribbons, I'll probably be switching to laser, but I'll cross that bridge when the time comes.

Check this Web site to see if they have a driver that supports your printer.

Macworld has an article on how to print to dot matrix printers from Snow Leopard that might be of some use.

I think you should try the resources of www.cups.org. They have some Epson LQ-xxx drivers there, and they have a mailing list support area with very knowledgable people.

There has been mixed success in using dot matrix printers in any version of OS X.  The one thing I do not see in your original post is the make and model you are trying to use.  It seems like you already have a printer and are trying to get it to work satisfactorily.  If you let us know what printer you have, we might be able to give you a more specific answer.

You might want to try a Google search for "dot matrix printers site:openprinting.org".  The OpenPrinting.org does have some drivers for various dot matrix printers.  The drivers are generally built in to Ghostscript.

Thanks.  Having the make and model number does help in sorting out your options.

When you tried the Epson 24 pin driver that comes with the printing system, did you try the various dpi settings under Printer Features in the print window?  The default is set for 120x60dpi, but the driver allows up to 360x360dpi.

The other altermative that would seem to fit the bill would be for you to try a driver from OpenPrinting.org.  To use that driver, download and insstall Foomatic-RIP and Ghostscript from http://www.linuxfoundation.org/collaborate/workgroups/openprinting/macosx/foomat ic. 

You will then need a PPD.  The manual for your 590 indicates that the LQ-2550 is compatible (see the section of the manual dealing with choosing a driver for DOS programs).  You can get a PPD for this model at http://www.openprinting.org/ppd-o-matic.php?driver=epsonc&printer=Epson-LQ-2550& show=1.  You can save the file to your Desktop or somewhere else and add the .ppd extension.  For this PPD to work properly on a Mac, you need to delete the line

*cupsFilter:     "application/vnd.cups-pdf 0 foomatic-rip"

and save the file.

As for some of the other suggestions that were offered here.  The Gutenprint/Gimp-Print drivers will not work for you.  They only support laser, inkjet, and some dye-sub printers.  I took a look at the LQ-300 model driver from cups.org as that was mentioned as a possible source for drivers.  It uses the same driver that is already on your system.  That is, it uses the rastertoepson filter from CUPS.  As far as I can tell, the PPD for the LQ-300 only differs from the generic driver in some of the media sizes offered. 

There is no need to use a computer that runs a lower version of OS X.  The only case where that might be a solution is if Epson offered a driver for Mac OS X 10.4.x or some such that would not work in OS X 10.6.x.

RobRR wrote:

 

(just as a note of interest, when I pick the highest resolution, the printer sets off its alarm and nothing happens, some software conflict I assume.)

It could be that your printer doesn't support 360x360dpi.  I will have to confess that I don't really understand the dpi settings for dot matrix printers.  I see no reference to such in the manual.  It's all about characters per inch (pitch).

I do wonder if the other option you gave me (using an OpenPrinting driver) might offer more options? For instance, the way this printer is working now, it only is printing in one direction and I know it is a bidirectional printer.

The driver from OpenPrinting.org does offer more choices for dpi settings but they don't go as high as 360dpi.

I doubt that the OpenPrinting driver will provide bi-directional printing.  Third party drivers that are written for many printers tend to be fairly generic in what they offer.  I do think it is worth trying the OpenPrinting driver. It is a driver written by a different developer.  It might therefore be better or worse that the driver from the CUPS developers.  It wouldn't take that long to install the software and give it a try.  Both the Foomatic-RIP and Ghostscript packages come with uninstallers, so you can easily back out of that effort if it doesn't work.

Rob:

I doubt that you're still following this post, but I'll ask anyway. Did you explore the OpenPrinting drivers?