MacBook computers are the most reliable machines for personal and work purposes. Its user-friendly interface ensures you can navigate the system without a fuss. Hence, printing on a Mac isn’t that big of a deal. Everyone knows how to print on a Mac, as it is a matter of giving the print command (Command + P) or clicking the Print button.
But are you using all the print-related tricks on your Mac? Do you even know them? Keep scrolling to check.
Use Spotlight Search to Print
Do you want to print something but don’t know where it’s located on your Mac computer? You can use Spotlight Search to find the item, open them and print them. Alternatively, you can drag and drop the item from the Spotlight Search results onto the Print icon in your Dock and print it. The second option is significantly faster.
Print in Color or B/W
You can print in color by selecting the file you want to print and select Print. Choose the color printer from the list of installed printers > click on Copies & Pages > click on Imaging > select Full Color under Color Mode > choose Print.
But how to change to black and white printing on Mac? If you want to print an image in b/w, choose the file using Mac finder > right-click on the image and select Open With > choose Preview in the menu bar > select File when in Preview > in the print menu, select Black & White > select Print.
Use the Dock to Print
Wouldn’t it be great if you didn’t have to open the files or documents to print them? You can simply drag and drop the items to print them.
Open System Preferences > click Printers & Scanners > go through the Printers list and choose the printer you want to use > drag and drop the printer icon to the Dock > quit System Preferences.
Then, you can print items by dropping them on the print icon.
Beat the Queue
Are you working in a shared office space? If so, it is possible that you share a selection of printers on the network. This means your print job might get delayed and stuck in a lengthy queue.
Luckily, you can beat the print queue by creating a printer pool.
Navigate to System Preferences > Printers & Scanners > choose all the shared printers and click the first one > press the Command key while selecting additional ones > click Create Printer Pool and give it a name.
Whenever you print in the future, you can choose the pool, and the print will be completed using the printer that is available.
Do you want to print multiple copies of a file or document? The best solution will be to print each copy individually to the pool. The print job will be handled by the first available printer, and the copies will be printed simultaneously across the printer pool.
Print the Elements on the Screen
When it comes to printing the screen, there’s no print screen command you can use. But there is a workaround. If you want to print the contents of the entire screen, press Command + Shift + 3, and a picture of the desktop contents will be automatically saved to the Desktop. Then, you can print the file from inside Preview. Alternatively, you can drag it to the Dock.
The elements on the screen can also be printed by pressing Command + Shift + 4. This command will let you define the area to capture. If you want to capture a specific app window, the command is Command + Shift + 4 and Spacebar.
Print Multiple Items
Do you have a number of items to print? You can avoid opening each item before hitting print by printing multiple items simultaneously.
To print multiple items, open Printers & Scanners in System Preferences > choose the printer you want to use from the list of available printers > click the Open Print Queue button on the right of the list > the Print Queue for that printer will open > drag and drop the items you want to print and include it to the Print Queue. Then, your Mac computer is going to open each document and print them. Also, it will close the application.
There is a workaround, and you can choose all the items you want to print in the Finder app and then press Command + P. Your system will print multiple items.
The Bottom Line
So, these are the printing tricks that you must know, and they will make it easier for you to print images, documents, and other items on your Mac. You can print colored or black and white documents and images according to your preference. You can also beat the print queue and print multiple items at once.
Do you have any more printing hacks to share with fellow Mac users? Please share them in the comment below without hesitation.