TechNote

Issue

When you try to print or open Page Setup in Photoshop CS4, you see the error message, "Before you can perform printer-related tasks such as page setup or printing a document, you need to install a printer."

Details

This errors occurs even though a printer installed and functional on the computer.

Solution

Do one or more of the following:

Solution 1: Reset printer from Photoshop's page setup (Windows).

1. Choose File > Print.
2. Change the printer to another standard printer, such as Adobe PDF, or XPS Printer, which is installed with Microsoft Office.
3. Choose Page Setup, and reselect the paper size. Click Done.
4. Perform steps 1-3 again, but select the printer you want to print to and the paper size you want to use.

Try to print from Photoshop. If you still get an error, perform the next set of steps:

1. Choose File > Page Setup.
2. Select Printer, and choose a different printer from the Name pop-up menu.
3. Select Properties and choose a different paper size from the appropriate tab and pop-up menu.
4. Click OK until you've closed all dialog boxes.
5. Perform steps 1-3 again, but select the printer you want to print to and the paper size you want to use.

Solution 2: Restart Photoshop and then try to print.

Solution 3: Recreate the preference files for Photoshop.

Solution 4: Make sure you have the most recent printer driver installed.

Contact your printer manufacturer for the most recent printer driver.

Solution 5: Remove and reinstall the printer driver. 

Contact your printer manufacturer for instructions on how to remove and reinstall your printer driver.

Corrupted printer driver preferences can create this error.

Solution 6: Create a new image and copy the layers from the old image to the new image.

1. If your image contains a Background layer, double click the Background layer in the Layers panel, and click OK in the New Layer dialog box.
2. Choose Select > All Layers.
3. Choose Layer > Duplicate Layers.
4. Select New in the Document field.
5. (Optional) Type in a name for the new document.
6. Click OK.

Solution 7: Create a new user account and run Photoshop as that user.

To create a new user account in Mac OS X v10.5:

1. From the Apple menu, choose System Preferences.
2. Click Accounts.
3. Click the plus sign at the bottom-left corner. (If the plus sign is inactive, click the Lock icon to make changes.)
4. Type a user name (such as Test)and a password that you'll remember.
5. Select Allow User To Administer This Computer. This makes the test user an administrator.
6. Close the Accounts window.
7. Choose Log Out from the Apple menu.
8. When the log in screen displays, choose the test user.

To create a new user account in Windows XP, see "To add a new user to the computer" in Windows Help.

To create a new local administrator account, see "Create new local administrator account (Windows Vista)" (TechNote KB404912) for details.

Solution 8: Set up a printer.

To set up a printer in Mac OS X v10.5:

1. From the Apple menu, choose System Preferences.
2. Click Printer & Fax.
3. Click the plus sign at the bottom-left corner. (If the plus sign is inactive, click the Lock icon to make changes.)
4. Click the Default icon.
5. With the appropriate drivers installed, any available printers are listed.
6. Select a printer and click Add.
7. Close the System Preferences window.