Mac OS X features a ’Windows’ tab in their ’Add a Printer’ dialog. Only problem: it doesn’t work. At least not for shared printers connected to Windows 7. Fortunately, that doesn’t mean you can’t print to a shared Windows 7 printer from a Mac OS X machine using a moderately simple workaround. The trick is to use the Line Printer Daemon/Line Printer Remote (LPD/LPR) protocol. In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to print documents to a printer connected to a Windows 7 computer from a Mac via a local network.

NOTE: Even though the guide was created on previous versions of OS X, it has been tested also on Mac OS X Lion and it works. Only some window titles have been changed. The procedure though, is exactly the same.

Begin by installing the printer on your Windows 7 machine and ensuring that it prints correctly. Next, share it on your network, using the steps detailed in this tutorial: How to Share a Printer with Your Network.

Turn on LPD and LPR Printer Services in Windows 7

Click the Start button and type ’Windows Features’ in the search box. Click ’Turn Windows features on or off’ when it appears. You can also find this by clicking ’Control Panel -> Programs -> Programs and Features’. It’ll be on the left-hand side.

Scroll down to ’Print and Document Services’ and expand it. Go ahead and check ’LPD Print Service’. Go ahead and check ’LPR Port Monitor’ as well. This latter option may not be necessary for your setup, but since it deals with Unix systems, it could help down the road if you have difficulties. Best to check it now just in case. Click OK when you’re done.

Next, we’ll add the printer to the Macintosh computer.

Printing to a Windows 7 Shared Printer from Mac OS X

If possible, begin by plugging the printer directly into your Mac. Install the drivers and ensure that the printer works properly when connected to the Mac via USB. If so, go ahead and reconnect it to your Windows 7 machine.

Open up ’System Preferences’ and click Print & Scan (in older versions of OS X, it is called ’Print and Fax’).

Click the ’+’ sign to add a new printer.

In the ’Add Printer’ dialog, click Advanced. But wait--there’s no Advanced button you say? No worries. Just right-click the toolbar and choose "Customize Toolbar".

Drag the Advanced icon to the toolbar and click Done.

Now, return to the Add Printer dialog and click Advanced. Enter the settings as follows:

• For Type, choose ’LPD/LPR Host or Printer’.
• Leave the Device as ’Another Device’.
• In the URL field, type in lpd://HOSTIPADDRESS/SHARENAME, replacing your Windows 7 box’s IP address for HOSTIPADDRESS and the share name of your printer for SHARENAME. For example, it would look something like this: lpd://192.168.1.7/shared
• Enter anything you’d like for the Name. This can be different from the actual share name of your printer. Make it something descriptive, such as ’Shared HP C4700 on Win7’.
• Leave Location blank.
• Print Using is a tricky option, one that may require some trial and error to get the best results. Ideally, you should choose the driver specific to your printer but not all manufacturer printer drivers support LPD/LPR network printing. If the manufacturer’s driver doesn’t work, try a Gutenprint version for your model, if it exists. (Gutenprint comes pre-installed with OS X 10.6. You can also download Gutenprint drivers from Sourceforge.net.)
  If those both fail, try the Generic PostScript Printer driver. The Generic PostScript Printer driver or one of the other generic Apple drivers work for most printers, but for some, it causes erratic behavior (for example, printing off ten blank pages for no reason).

Click Add when you’re finished.

After you add the printer, it will appear just like a local printer when you bring up the Print dialog. When you click Print, the document should be printed from the Windows 7 shared printer.

Conclusion

This workaround is one of the easiest ways to print to a Windows 7 shared printer from a Mac OS X, and pending a perfect solution from either Apple or Microsoft, it’s likely the best way to share a printer between a Macintosh OS X and Windows 7 computer. You may also want to try it the other way around, with the printer attached to the Macintosh machine. The Bonjour Print Service for Windows makes printing from a Windows 7 computer to a shared Mac printer fairly easy. Check out our tutorial Printing to a Macintosh OS X Shared Printer from Windows 7 for step-by-step instructions.

Related articles:

Printing to a Macintosh OS X Shared Printer from Windows 7
Access Windows 7 Shared Folders from OS X on a Home Network
How to Share OS X Folders with Windows 7
Installing a Shared Network Printer in Windows Vista
How to Customize Network Sharing in Windows 7