The PrintMonitor application program included with Macintosh system software is an example of a background printer or spooler. Background spooler software runs on the Macintosh computer and temporarily stores, or spools, documents to be printed on the computer's hard disk. The computer must remain connected to the network until the print job is finished, but it can perform other tasks during that time.
The PrintMonitor program opens automatically whenever a user prints a document with background printing turned on. When a print command is issued, PrintMonitor spools the document to a file in the PrintMonitor Documents folder. It then waits for the selected printer to become available, establishes a network connection, and sends the document to the printer.
Aside from the convenience provided by PrintMonitor, it also provides users with additional management control in printing their documents. With PrintMonitor users can:
- See the name of the document that is currently being printed, the document's status (for example, how many pages still need to be printed), and the name of the printer being used
- Cancel a document currently printing or waiting to print
- Specify a date and time to print a document or postpone a job indefinitely
- Monitor paper supply
- Signal when to feed paper manually
PrintMonitor's icon blinks at the right end of the menu bar when the printer is out of paper or to signal that you must confirm a manual operation. It can also be set to display an alert message. To change the notification method, use the program's Preferences command in the File menu.