(It's not critical now that I've got a router with two built-in wireless networks, but going your route will turn my Base Station into a dedicated print server, leaving me unable to use it for Internet,
I understood you were installing the printer using a
SPARE Internet Express not an Airport Base Station, Airport Express that you are using to create your network.
What I am proposing requires a
dedicated Airport Express or other print server to work. If you are not attempting to use a dedicated AE then lets drop the whole matter. If my initial understanding was correct then...
I was getting absolutely nowhere with the instructions, though, and was just about to throw in the towel when I realized that, as I invariably do, I had forgotten to turn my printer on.
You too
Glad I'm not the only one that pulls that trick.
The going was smoother after that, except in step 1, AirPort Utility asked me to choose a network (to join) from its drop-down, and the printer wasn't on the list, nor was I able to find a way to get it there.
The printer should
NOT be on the list of networks to join. You want the Airport Express to join the same network your Mac is connected to. That should be on the list unless it is a "hidden" network. If that is the case your will have to type in the network name.
The newly added printer shows up as an option in a "Print" pane, but I've got no idea how to get macOS to connect to it.
If the printer was previously installed on your Mac via USB...
- delete USB connected printer by selecting it in System Preferences > Printers & Scanners and clicking on the minus sign (-) at the bottom of the list of printers and acknowledging you want to delete the printer
- after the USB connected printer is deleted, click on the plus (+) sign at the bottom of the list and selecting the networked printer from the list of available printers that will appear. It will have a name something like "Cannon IP4500" and a type of "Bonjour"
- click on the "Add" button and wait while the printer installs.
- The next time you click on Print or Command+P your Canon should appear on the list of available printers,
- Select it and click on the Print button.
