If your computer is connected to a TCP/IP network, you can

•	let other Macintosh computers on the network print on a USB printer connected to your computer
•	print on a USB printer connected to another Macintosh on the network

Sharing your printer

To share a USB printer connected to your computer:

•	Open the USB Printer Sharing control panel, check the Start/Stop tab to make sure sharing is on, then click the Share checkbox next to the printer's name on the My Printers tab. Open the USB Printer Sharing control panel for me.

Tip: Drag your shared printer from the My Printers tab and drop it on your desktop to create an Internet location file that you can send to people. To preselect your printer, they drag the file to the Network Printers tab in their USB Printer Sharing control panel.

Your printer must be listed in a network neighborhood for USB Printer Sharing to work.

To set your network neighborhood (or find out which one your printer is already listed in):

•	Click the link below, then enter the neighborhood name in the dialog box that appears. Set my network neighborhood.

Using a shared printer

Before you use the Chooser or Desktop Printer Utility to select a shared USB printer, you must preselect the printer. You only need to do this once.

To preselect a printer:

•	Open the USB Printer Sharing control panel, click the Network Printers tab, then click the Use checkbox next to the printer's name. Open the USB Printer Sharing control panel for me.

If the printer you want to use is not listed: 

•	Click the Add button, open the neighborhood where the printer is shared, and choose the printer.

To print to a shared USB printer:

•	Select the printer using the Chooser or Desktop Printer Utility, then print as usual.

Troubleshooting

If the printer you want to use does not appear in the Chooser or Desktop Printer Utility: 

•	Make sure you have installed driver software for the printer on your computer.
•	Make sure you have used the USB Printer Sharing control panel to preselect the printer.

If you can't find the printer you want to preselect: 

•	Make sure you are looking in the correct network neighborhood. To confirm the neighborhood, click the link below. Set my network neighborhood.
•	Make sure the printer is shared. Go to the computer the printer is connected to, open the USB Printer Sharing control panel, and check the Start/Stop and My Printers tabs.
•	If the printer's neighborhood has recently been changed, it might take a moment for the change to be detected by your computer. Wait, then try again.
•	Make sure your computer is using TCP/IP to communicate with the computer that is sharing the printer. You cannot share USB printers over an AppleTalk network.
•	If your computer is not connected to the same subnet as the computer hosting the printer, make sure Service Location Protocol (SLP) multicasting is enabled on all intermediate routers.

To record a log of USB printer sharing activity: 

•	Open the USB Printer Sharing control panel, then click the Options button and turn on logging.
	The log is saved in the Preferences folder in the System Folder on your startup disk.

For more information on how SLP registers network services like shared USB printers, see the Network Services Location Manager Network Administrator's Guide. To view this guide, search for "Network Services Location Manager" at support.info.apple.com/manuals.