Most printers allow configuration of features such as print resolution, form selection, simplex or duplex printing, and so on. Common Printing encapsulates these printing attributes in the CgPrintJobAttributes class.

Print job attributes can be configured by the user in two ways: default attributes via printer configuration tools provided by the operating system, and job-specific attributes via the platform- and printer-specific setup dialog of a printer prompter. The application can obtain print job attributes by sending defaultJobAttributes to a CgPrinterScreen or by sending jobAttributes to a CwPrinterPrompter after the user has selected a printer. Attributes can also be saved between sessions. CgPrintJobAttributes can be passed to a CwPrinterShell in the create argBlock for the shell using the jobAttributes:; resource setting method.

Print job attributes are platform- and printer-specific, so a CgPrintJobAttributes object that works on one printer will not necessarily work on another printer, and will not work on a different platform. CgPrintJobAttributes objects know their platformName, deviceName, and driverVersion, and they can be asked whether they are compatible with a certain printer screen using isCompatibleWith:.