How to: Print on a Riso RP Directly from Mac OS X

Riso Driver Installation

The drivers we tested successfully are for the MZ 9 Series, version 2.08(B02), packaged inside an archive named: cd_108abc_mac.zip, on Riso's US driver download page.

To find and download this archive, navigate to:
Print drivers for Embedded Controllers > 02_Duplicator > 13_Mac Driver for Duplicator

Regions other than US might not be able to access this download page, or the URL might differ.
Install the downloaded driver.
Restart your Mac.

Connecting your RP to your Mac

If your RP is fitted with a network card, you can connect it to your Mac using a router and an ethernet cable. If your RP does not have a network card you’ll have to connect it to the USB port of your Mac or router using a parallel port to USB adaptor.

Ethernet Connection
Connect your RP printer to the router networked to your Mac.
Proceed to add the RP in the same way you’d add any other printer:
Go to System Preferences > Printers & Scanners
Click [+] to add printer and the following window will appear:

Fill in the fields like so:
Address: Enter the IP address of your RP machine.
Protocol: Choose Line Printer Daemon - LPD
Queue: Leave blank
Name: Name your printer however you like. Avoid unusual characters.
Location: Leave blank or choose your computer’s name. Useful if you are on a network.
Use: Click on this drop down menu and choose Select Software…

You’ll be presented with a new window showing a list of available printer drivers. Type riso on the search box to find the driver you just installed. It should show up as Riso MZ 7U Series, unless you’ve accidentally or purposefully installed a different driver, or you already have other Riso drivers installed on your machine.

Select Riso MZ 7U Series driver
Click the Add button.
Done.

Notes on ethernet connection:
The IP of your printer can be obtained trough the printer settings.
To confirm the IP address is correct, type the IP address of your RP on your web browser and you should see a Riso printing page.

USB Connection
Find a IEEE 1284 parallel port to USB adaptor
Using this cable, connect your RP printer to your Mac or router’s USB port.
Go to System Preferences > Printers & Scanners
Click [+] to add printer.
You should now see your connected RP showing up on the list as whatever the name of your adaptor’s controller is, in this case Prolific Technology Inc. IEEE-1284 Controller:

Name: Name your printer “Riso RPXXX” or whatever you like.
Location: Leave blank or choose your computer’s name. Useful if you are on a network.
Use: Click on this drop down menu and choose Select Software… You’ll be presented with a new window showing a list of available printer drivers. Type riso on the search box to find the driver you just installed. It should show up as Riso MZ 7U Series, unless you’ve accidentally or purposefully installed a different driver, or you already have other Riso drivers installed on your machine.

Select Riso MZ 7U Series driver
Click the Add button.
Done.

Notes on USB connection:
The parallel to USB adaptor works fine when connected directly to the Mac or via a USB hub. However, I've tried connecting it to the router in my Mac's network and I couldn't get it to work, although other USB printers connected to it work just fine.

Printing

Open a document on any app and hit Print.
You should now have access to the default OS X print dialogue shown below:

Select your newly created RP in the Printer drop down menu.
Clicking on the printing options menu, showing the Layout options by default, will give you access to the standard OS X print options menu. The new Riso printing options should be appended right below them:

Go ahead and select the Coloring option:

This is where all your Riso printing settings are, you shouldn’t worry about the other menu options.
From here you can print using all the printing methods available for this driver:

Photo Mode, 43lpi Screen

Photo Mode, 71lpi Screen

Photo Mode, 106lpi Screen

Line Mode, Screen-covered

Line Mode, Grain-touch
and
Line Mode, Solid-look

Make sure Mono-color print is selected, and you are ready to hit Print.
After a few seconds, your RP should be ready to burn a new master for the submitted print. In both RP machines we tested, we’ve seen the following message on their displays every time we sent a print job:

This is actually a good thing, it means that the machine is adjusting the resolution as needed. This screen often appears when submitting jobs from a PC with settings different than those accepted by the machine.
Press Start on your RP to override the message. The screen should now just read Ready to Make Master.
Press Start one last time to start making the master and printing.

-----------------------
Notes on printing:
Riso’s Mac drivers are known for not having all the options available on PC drivers, but you are still getting the same options available to all MZ printers on a Mac.
Each program (e.g. Adobe Photoshop, Acrobat, etc.) has different print dialog layouts. You will need to navigate them and find the Coloring option.
The customized PPD mentioned on the opening paragraph can be found here. The folder name indicate the location on your Mac where the PPD must be copied into. This DMG also includes a customized driver which you shouldn’t need to install.

-----------------------
This guide, as well as the experimentation that led to the capabilities here described, were originated by Mariano Hernán Spina, with the help & assistance of Frank Cesar Ramirez.

This document has been made public for anyone who wants to use it. Its creators see no gain other than the satisfaction of sharing with others something they find useful. If the procedures described herein have a negative effect on your system and/or equipment, it's solely your own responsibility.

Riso Kagaku Corporation of Japan owns all their usual copyrights and trademarks.

How to: Print on a Riso RP Directly from Mac OS X

Steps

Related Articles