Can I send a doc to a PC to be printed?

[sunsnewmac]

Hope I can phrase this question and still make sense...

A printer is connected to a desktop PC. I have a MacBook. If I want to print a document on my Mac right now I just go to the desktop PC, access the file remotely* and then print it out.
I was wondering if I can become even lazier, and print directly from my MB. Is there some software I can put on the PC that I can send a doc to (from the Mac) so that it will print automatically? Sort of like a print server?

*We have a wireless network router but it doesn't support a printer (just for internet).

 

[dannyss]

Yes you can print directly from your Mac to the PC's printer. That's the way I do it.
First enable "Windows Sharing", Go to Preferences ->Sharing->Services tab->Start Windows Sharing
On the PC; it should be setup for file and printer sharing.
On the Mac, connect to the Networked PC
Then on the Mac; go to Preferences->Print & Fax->+ to add printer, choose "more printers"->Windows printer (top)

Hope it helps,

 

[Viremia]

I had tried the quick and easy method described above when I got my MBP months ago. However, the printer attached to my PC was not postscript capable and there weren't any gimp drivers available for it on the mac. The documents would print, but I would either get endless pages of garbage or the entire page of text (or pictures) would be squeezed down into a corner of the printed page.

To get things to work effectively with my printer (HP Photosmart 8250), I had to install ghostscript, gsview, and unix print server on my XP machine. I simply followed the instructions on the following link:

http://iharder.sourceforge.net/current/macosx/winmacprinter/

It's a little out of date with a couple points (it was created pre-Tiger) but it worked fine and printouts look perfect.

So in short, try the easy method, but if that doesn't work try the longer, more involved method.