Q My daughter, whose Mac still runs OS X 10.6.8, obtained a Canon Pixma MG4250 printer. Although this prints one page perfectly, it will not print any further. On my Mavericks system I have been unable to install the printer properly. Should I use Apple’s drivers, or Canon’s?

A In the first instance, try OS X’s printer drivers supplied via Apple and Software Update.

With the printer connected but powered down, uninstall any Canon-supplied drivers using their installer, and remove any Canon printer installed in the Printers & Scanners pane, selecting it and clicking the – button. Power the printer up, restart, and open the Printers & Scanners pane.

Add the printer using the + button. Once added, run Software Update or select Updates in the App Store and install the latest Canon driver updates. If that does not work well, remove that printer, download a CUPS driver package from Canon’s website, and install them.

For your Mac those should be version 10.84.2.0 or later, but your daughter’s Mac will need version 10.67.2.0 for OS X 10.6.x. If an app is reluctant to print properly, you can work around that by saving as PDF and printing that from Preview.

Updated from the original, which was first published in MacUser volume 30 issue 3, 2014.