If you wish to edit the default print settings for your printer on your Mac, you will need to edit the CUPS (Apple’s printing software) settings. This is somewhat more complicated than applying custom print settings to your printer, however, it will be required for services such as Google Cloud Print.
First and foremost, you will need to make sure that your printer is properly installed on your computer. For further instructions on that, you can check our forum posts below:
- Setting up a Zebra Thermal Printer on your Mac
- Setting up a DYMO LabelWriter 4XL thermal printer on your Mac
Next, you’ll need to access the CUPS settings for your printer. To do so, simply type the following URL into your browser’s address bar:
http://localhost:631/printers
You may encounter an error that says Web Interface is Disabled,
To resolve this issue, you’ll need to open Terminal and type a command that enables the CUPS web interface. You can open Terminal, by going to Finder, then click on Go at the top and then navigate to Utilities,
Next, locate Terminal and open it,
Copy and paste the following command into your terminal window: cupsctl WebInterface=yes and this should enable the CUPS settings on your computer. Type the following url into your browser’s address bar to confirm:
http://localhost:631/printers
Next, a screen similar to the below screenshot should come up. You will need to first select your label printer to edit the default settings. For this example, we are using the Zebra LP 2844,
Then, click on the Administration drop down menu and choose Set Default Options,
Next, most likely, you will be prompted to enter your credentials, since these settings will affect all users on this computer,
Once you enter your admin credentials, you should see the Default Options. Change Media Size to ‘4.00×6.00’ and click Printer Settings at the top. Do not click Set Default Options just yet (If you accidentally clicked Set Default Options before choosing Printer Settings, you should be able to click the back button on your browser to return to the previous page and click Printer Settings).
On the Printer Settings page, please adjus the Darkness to 25 and the Print Rate to 2 inches / sec. Then click Set Default Options.
And that’s it! You should next see a message, similar to the one below,
