Apple - How to install cups-pdf?

I've tested instructions provided at Bitbucket, but doesn't seem to work on High Sierra as per:

This package is incompatible with this version of macOS and may fail to install.

See: OSX 10.11 (El Capitan) Package Installation Failed.

So instead, I've followed the instructions at farmerswife article and installed PDFwriter instead:

  1. Download and install the Lisanet PDFwriter installer as per instructions
  2. After installing the PDFWriter package, go back and Show Package Contents.
  3. From the installer, uncompress Archive.pax.gz and copy PDFwriter.ppd file into /Library/Printers/PPDs/Contents/Resources.
  4. Now go to the Printers dialog and add the printer, choosing the Lisanet driver as explained in the documentation.

Source: PDF printing results in "empty" or "zero bytes size" PDF.


Have you tried installing it from this Bitbucket repository

There the following instructions are given:

Installation (10.6+)

  • Install the package.
  • Open System Preferences and go to Printing.
  • Click on Add Printer (the + at the bottom).
  • "CUPS-PDF" should be in the list, select it.
  • Select "Postscript" from the "Print Using" menu and pick "Generic postscript color printer"
  • Click Add

If your OS is incompatible with the package version, install anyway. Then follow the steps in here to setup a null printer and follow the steps in here to add this null printer to the printer list.