Creating a Local Frontend Printer or Desktop Printer

Local or frontend printing is sometimes confusing in concept but actually very easy to understand. As a rule, local printer is simply another way of saying that the user is going to print to the default printer designated on his/her workstation. You probably do this all the time with Windows to printerspreadsheets, Word documents, etc without thinking about it. You can do the same thing using SAP.

1. Log on to any client in the appropriate SAP system.

2. Go to transaction SPAD.

3. On the Spool Administration: Initial Screen screen, click the Output Devices

button.

4. On the Spool Administration: List of Output Devices screen, click the

Change button and then the Create button.

5. On the Spool Administration: Create Output Device screen, fill in the

Output Name and Short name – I normally use a short name of “DESK” for

“Desktop Printing” but alot of people use a Short name “SWIN” or “LOCL”

as well. Use the following DeviceAttributes fields:

Device type = SWIN
Device Class = standard printer

And the following Access Method fields:

Host spool access method = F: Printing on frontend computer Host printer = __DEFAULT. That is _ _ D E F A U L T

Save the printer.

6. You may now leave the SPAD transaction.

Using this printer will cause print to go to SAPLPD which will use the default printer of the current workstation.