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Sierra print preference plist file?

I have 20 new iMacs running OS Sierra 10.12.3 in my business. I set up a disk image with all the settings and preferences we require and copied it to all the machines, which worked great apart from this one problem...when I create a new user for each employee, the printer preferences (presets) that I created on the original disk image do not carry across to each user?


I read that its possible to copy the plist file (com.apple.print.custompresets.forprinter.name.plist) from the preference folder to the same location in each user account? Though this file does not exist in the preferences folder from what I can see? The only print related plist file I can see in the preferences folder is 'org.cups.printers.plist'.


I copied this file as described above but it didn't change anything? Any help on how to copy the printer presets to each machine? I would hate to have to set the presets manually for each user.


Thanks in advance.

iMac, macOS Sierra (10.12.3)

Posted on Feb 18, 2017 5:43 PM

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Feb 19, 2017 2:30 AM in response to Plantpower

The file(s) you are looking for are not in


/Library/Preferences/


but the user's home directory:


~/Library/Preferences/


Printer preferences are complicated and difficult to deploy. Those are the per-user defaults, there are also per-application and per-document settings depending on the application.


My advice is to create a clear set of instructions for your users so they can set their own preferences and phocopy it 20 times...


C.

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Feb 19, 2017 1:30 AM in response to tygb

Thanks for your reply, though if I use that method what happens if the machine that is sharing the printer goes down?


All of the machines can print from the office printers, it is just the setting presets (eg. stapled pamphlet, b&w A3, color a4 etc) that I need duplicated across all machines. The main goal for my current setup is to have as little fail points as possible so having each machine work independently of each other is important.


I hope this makes sense.

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Feb 19, 2017 3:46 AM in response to Plantpower

what happens if the machine that is sharing the printer goes down?

It all stops working. That solution only makes sense if the printer being shared is directly connected to the Mac, e.g. via USB, or is hopelessly slow so a job queue is needed.


The most robust solution if the printer has its own network connection is to allow individual clients to connect directly to it, which is what you seem to be attempting.


The recommended way to configure your setup is to use 'Profile Manager', which comes with macOS Server. It may, however, be overkill if all you want to do is publish one set of default print settings that aren't going to change often.


Every sysadmin I know hates networked printers and printing.


C.

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Sierra print preference plist file?

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