User manual EPSON LX-300+II - annexe 1

® User's Guide NPDxxxx-00 Copyrights and Trademarks Copyrights No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Seiko Epson Corporation. The information contained herein is designed only for use with this Epson printer. Epson is not responsible for any use of this information as applied to other printers. Neither Seiko Epson Corporation nor its affiliates shall be liable to the purchaser of this product or third parties for damages, losses, costs, or expenses incurred by the purchaser or third parties as a result of: accident, misuse, or abuse of this product or unauthorized modifications, repairs, or alterations to this product, or (excluding the U.S.) failure to strictly comply with Seiko Epson Corporation's operating and maintenance instructions. Seiko Epson Corporation shall not be liable for any damages or problems arising from the use of any options or any consumable products other than those designated as Original Epson Products or Epson Approved Products by Seiko Epson Corporation. Trademarks EPSON® and EPSON ESC/P® are registered trademarks of Seiko Epson Corporation. Microsoft®, Windows®, and Windows NT® are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. IBM® is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation. 2 General Notice: Other product names used herein are for identification purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners. Epson disclaims any and all rights in those marks. Copyright © 2006 Seiko Epson Corporation. All rights reserved. 3 Safety Instructions Warnings, Cautions, and Notes w c Warnings must be followed carefully to avoid bodily injury. Cautions must be observed to avoid damage to your equipment. Notes contain important information and useful tips on the operation of your printer. Hot Parts Caution Symbol This symbol is placed on the print head and other parts to indicate that they may be hot. Never touch those parts just after the printer has been used. Let them cool for a few minutes before touching them. K Important Safety Instructions Read all of these safety instructions before using the printer. In addition, follow all warnings and instructions marked on the printer itself. When setting up the printer Do not place the printer on an unstable surface or near a radiator or heat source. Place the printer on a flat, stable surface. The printer will not operate properly if it is tilted or placed at an angle. 4 Do not place this product on a soft, unstable surface like a bed or a sofa, or a small, enclosed area, as this restricts ventilation. Do not block or cover the slots and openings in the printer's cabinet, and do not insert objects through the slots. Use only the type of power source indicated on the printer's label. If you are not sure of the power supply specifications in your area, contact your local power company or consult your dealer. Connect all equipment to properly grounded electrical outlets. Avoid using outlets on the same circuit as photocopiers or air control systems that regularly switch on and off. Do not use a damaged or frayed power cord. The power cord should be placed to avoid abrasions, cuts, fraying, crimping, kinking, and other damage. If you use an extension cord with the printer, make sure the total ampere rating of all devices plugged into the extension cord does not exceed the cord's ampere rating. Also, make sure the total ampere of all devices plugged into the electrical outlet does not exceed the electrical outlet's ampere rating. Use only the power cord that comes with this product. Use of another cord may result in fire or electric shock. This product's power cord is for use with this product only. Use with other equipment may result in fire or electric shock. 5 When maintaining the printer Unplug the printer before cleaning it, and always clean it with a piece of damp cloth only. Do not spill liquid onto the printer. Except as specifically explained in this guide, do not attempt to service the printer yourself. Unplug the printer and refer servicing to qualified service personnel under the following conditions: i. If the power cord or plug is damaged. ii. If liquid has entered the printer. iii. If the printer has been dropped or the cabinet damaged. iv. If the printer does not operate normally or exhibits a distinct change in performance. Do not use aerosol blowers which contain flammable gas inside or around this product. Doing so may cause fire. Adjust only those controls that are covered by the operating instructions. If you plan to use the printer in Germany, observe the following: To provide adequate short-circuit protection and over-current protection for this printer, the building installation must be protected by a 16-amp circuit breaker. Bei Anschluss des Druckers an die Stromversorgung muss sichergestellt werden, dass die Gebaudeinstallation mit einer 16 A-Sicherung abgesichert ist. 6 When Handling the paper Because labels are sensitive to temperature and humidity, use them only under normal operating conditions described below: Temperature: 15 to 25°C (59 to 77°F) Humidity: 30 to 60% RH Do not leave labels loaded in the printer between jobs; they may curl around the platen and jam when you resume printing. Do not load paper that is curled or has been folded. When operating the printer Adjust only those controls that are covered in the user documentation. Improper adjustment of other controls may result in damage requiring extensive repair by a qualified technician. Whenever you turn off the printer, wait at least five seconds before turning it back on; otherwise, you may damage the printer. Do not turn off the printer while it is printing the self test. Always press the Pause button to stop printing and then turn off the printer. Do not reconnect the power cord to an electrical outlet that has the wrong voltage for your printer. Never replace the print head yourself; you may damage the printer. Also, other parts of the printer must be checked when the print head is replaced. You need to move the print head by hand to replace the ribbon cartridge. If you have just used the printer, the print head may be hot; let it cool for a few minutes before touching it. 7 For United Kingdom users Use of options Epson (UK) Limited shall not be liable against any damages or problems arising from the use of any options or consumable products other than those designated as Original Epson Products or Epson Approved Products by Epson (UK) Limited. Safety information w Warning: This appliance must be earthed. Refer to the rating plate for voltage and check that the appliance voltage corresponds to the supply voltage. Important: The wires in the mains lead fitted to this appliance are coloured in accordance to the following code: Green and yellow -- Earth Blue -- Neutral Brown -- Live If you have to fit a plug: As the colours of the mains lead of this appliance may not match coloured markings used to identify the terminals in a plug, please proceed as follows: The green and yellow wire must be connected to the terminal in the plug which is marked with the letter E or the Earth symbol (G). The blue wire must be connected to the terminal in the plug marked with the letter N. The brown wire must be connected to the terminal in the plug marked with the letter L. 8 If damage occurs to the plug, replace the cord set or consult a qualified electrician. Replace fuses only with a fuse of the correct size and rating. For United Kingdom, Singapore, and Hong Kong users Replace fuses only with fuses of the correct size and rating. Safety requirements Mains plug: Use a 3-pin mains plug that is registered with the Safety Authority. Flexible cord: Use a double insulated flexible cord that is certified* to the relevant IEC or BS standards. Appliance connector: Use an appliance connector certified* to the relevant IEC or BS Standards. * certified by member of IECEE CB Scheme. ENERGY STAR® compliance As an ENERGY STAR® Partner, Epson has determined that this product meets the ENERGY STAR ® guidelines for energy efficiency. The International ENERGY STAR® Office Equipment Program is a voluntary partnership with the computer and office equipment industry to promote the introduction of energy-efficient personal computers, monitors, printers, fax machines, copiers, scanners, and multifunction devices, and in an effort to reduce air pollution caused by power generation. Their standards and logos are uniform among participating nations. 9 Contents Copyrights and Trademarks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Copyrights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Trademarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Safety Instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Warnings, Cautions, and Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hot Parts Caution Symbol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Important Safety Instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . For United Kingdom users. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . For United Kingdom, Singapore, and Hong Kong users . . . . Getting to Know Your Printer Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Paper Handling Printing on Continuous Paper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Printing with the push tractor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Removing a printed document from the push tractor. . . . . . Switching back to single sheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Printing with the pull tractor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Adjusting the top-of-form position. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Advancing the paper to the tear-off edge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Printing on Single Sheets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Loading single sheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Printing on Special Paper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Adjusting the paper thickness lever . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Multipart forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Labels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Envelopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Printer Software About Your Printer Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Using the Printer Driver with Windows Me and 98 . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 15 15 19 20 20 25 28 31 32 33 34 35 35 36 2 2 2 4 4 4 4 8 9 10 Accessing the printer driver from Windows applications . . .40 Accessing the printer driver from the Start menu. . . . . . . . . .42 Changing the printer driver settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43 Using the Printer Driver with Windows XP, 2000, and Windows NT 4.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44 Accessing the printer driver from Windows applications . . .45 Accessing the printer driver from the Start menu. . . . . . . . . .48 Changing the printer driver settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49 Printer Driver Settings Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50 Using EPSON Status Monitor 3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53 Setting up EPSON Status Monitor 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53 Accessing EPSON Status Monitor 3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55 Installing EPSON Status Monitor 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56 Setting Up Your Printer on a Network. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57 Sharing the printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57 Setting up your printer as a shared printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58 Setting for the clients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62 Installing the printer driver from the CD-ROM . . . . . . . . . . .69 Canceling Printing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70 Uninstalling the Printer Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71 Uninstalling the printer driver and EPSON Status Monitor 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71 Control Panel Using the Control Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76 Control Panel Buttons and Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76 Selecting a built-in font . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78 About Your Printer's Default Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79 Changing default settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85 Troubleshooting Using the Error Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87 Problems and Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89 Power Supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .90 Printing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .91 Paper Handling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .96 Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .99 11 Correcting USB Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Printing a Self Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Contacting Customer Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Technical Support Web Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Options and Consumables Installing and Using Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cut-sheet feeder. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pull tractor unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Roll paper holder. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Color upgrade kit (LX-300+II only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Print server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Replacing the Ribbon Cartridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Genuine EPSON ribbon cartridge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Replacing the ribbon cartridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Product Information Printer Parts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Printer Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mechanical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Electronic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Electrical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Environmental . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Paper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Printable area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Paper alignment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Command Lists. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . EPSON ESC/P control codes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IBM 2380 Plus (for LX-300+II)/ IBM 2381 Plus (for LX-1170II) emulation control codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Standards and approvals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Safety Approvals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CE marking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cleaning the Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Transporting the Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 106 109 109 110 110 114 117 119 122 123 123 123 127 129 129 132 134 134 135 140 144 144 144 146 147 147 148 149 150 12 Glossary Index 13 Getting to Know Your Printer Features Your EPSON® LX-300+II/LX-1170II 9-pin dot matrix printer provides high-quality printing and superior performance in a compact design. Its features include: A variety of paper paths to suit your printing needs. The ability to handle a wide range of paper types, including continuous paper, multipart forms (with one original and up to four copies), labels, single sheets, and envelopes. High-speed printing of up to 300 cps (characters per second) at 10 cpi (characters per inch). Your printer comes packaged with the printer driver and other software, including the EPSON Status Monitor 3 utility for Microsoft® Windows® XP, Me, 98, 2000, or NT 4.0. The EPSON Status Monitor 3 utility lets you check the status of your printer quickly and easily. Note: The illustrations in this manual are from LX-300+II. LX-1170II is wider than LX-300+II. However, the explanations are the same. 14 Paper Handling Printing on Continuous Paper Your printer can handle continuous paper with the tractor. Depending on where you position the tractor, you can use it as a pull tractor or a push tractor. The following guidelines can help you decide where to position the tractor: Do you want to switch between printing on single sheets and continuous paper without removing the paper supply? Will you tear off continuous paper sheet-by-sheet? Use the tractor in the push tractor position. (The printer comes with the tractor installed in this position.) See the following section. Are you printing on labels, multipart forms, or other documents that require a precise print position? Use the tractor as a pull tractor. See "Printing with the pull tractor" for instructions. Printing with the push tractor When using the push tractor, it is a good idea to set the Auto tear off feature in the Default Setting mode to On. See "About Your Printer's Default Settings". Note: The illustrations in this manual are from LX-300+II. LX-1170II is wider than LX-300+II. However, the explanations are the same. Follow these steps to load continuous paper using the push tractor: 15 1. Make sure the printer is turned off. Remove the printer cover and the paper guide and place the paper release lever in the continuous paper position. 2. Release the sprocket units by pulling the sprocket locks forward. 16 3. Slide the left sprocket unit using the scale on the printer as a guide. The printer prints to the right of the position marked 0. Push the sprocket lock lever back to lock it in place. Then slide the right sprocket unit to match the width of your paper, but do not lock it. Move the paper support so it is midway between the sprocket units. 4. Make sure your paper has a clean, straight leading edge. Open the sprocket covers. Fit the first holes of the paper over the sprocket pins and then close the sprocket covers. Slide the right sprocket unit to remove any slack in the paper and lock it in place. Now the paper is in the paper-park position. c Caution: Use the paper feed knob on the right side of the printer only to clear paper jams and only when the printer is turned off. Otherwise, you may damage the printer or cause it to lose the top-of-form position. 17 5. To separate the incoming paper from the printed paper, attach the paper guide by holding it horizontally and fitting its notches over the printer's mounting posts as shown below. Then slide the paper guide toward the front of the printer until you feel it click and adjust the edge guides to the width of the paper. 6. Turn on the printer. 7. Make sure the printer cover is closed. Press the LF/FF button to feed the paper to the loading position. When the printer receives data, it begins printing automatically. 8. After you finish printing, follow the steps in the next section to tear off your printed document. If the first printed line on your page appears too high or low, you can change its position by using the Micro Adjust feature. See "Adjusting the top-of-form position". c Caution: Never use the paper feed knob to adjust the top-of-form position; this may damage the printer or cause it to lose the top-of-form position. When you send more data, the paper automatically feeds back to the loading position. 18 Removing a printed document from the push tractor Follow these steps to remove the printed document: 1. Press the Tear Off (Font) button. Make sure the Tear Off (Font) lights are flashing. (This indicates that your paper is at the current tear-off position.) 2. Open the paper guide cover, then tear off the printed document using the tear-off edge of the paper tension unit. Note: If your paper's perforation is not properly aligned with the tear-off edge, you can adjust the tear-off position using the Micro Adjust feature. See "Adjusting the tear-off position". c Caution: Never use the paper feed knob to adjust the tear-off position; this may damage the printer or cause it to lose the tear-off position. 3. Close the paper guide cover. When you resume printing, the printer automatically feeds the paper back to the top-of-form position and starts printing. 19 To feed continuous paper to the standby position where you can remove the paper, press the Load/Eject button. Then open the sprocket covers of the tractor and remove the paper. c Caution: Always tear off your printed document before you press the Load/Eject button. Reverse feeding several pages at a time may cause a paper jam. Switching back to single sheets To switch to single sheets, press the Load/Eject button; the printer feeds the paper backwards into the standby position. Then, follow the steps in "Loading single sheets". c Caution: Always tear off your printed document before you press the Load/Eject button. Reverse feeding several pages at a time may cause a paper jam. Printing with the pull tractor To load continuous paper using the pull tractor, you must move the tractor to the pull tractor position, as described in steps 1 through 3 in this procedure. If your tractor is already installed in this position, make sure the printer is turned off and skip to step 6. c Caution: Use the paper feed knob on the right side of the printer only to clear paper jams and only when the printer is off. Otherwise, you may damage the printer or cause it to lose the top-of-form position. When using the pull tractor, set the Auto tear off feature in the Default Setting mode to Off; otherwise, the paper may jam. 20 1. Turn the printer off; then remove the printer cover and the paper guide. Next, remove the paper tension unit by squeezing the paper tension unit's lock tabs gently and pulling the paper tension unit away from the printer. Finally, pull the paper release lever forward to the continuous paper position. 2. Squeeze the tractor's lock tabs gently on both sides, and then rotate the tractor up to pull it away from the printer. 21 3. Move the tractor forward to the mounting slot at the top of the printer and tilt it into place as shown below. When you push the tractor onto the posts, you should feel the notches snap into place. 4. Release the sprocket units by pulling the sprocket locks forward. 22 5. Insert the paper into the bottom paper slot or into the rear paper slot as shown below, and pull it up. Position the paper using the scale on the printer as a guide. The printer prints to the right of the position marked 0. 6. Slide the left sprocket unit so that its sprockets match the position of the holes in the paper and lock the unit in place. Then slide the right sprocket unit to match the width of your paper, but do not lock it. Move the paper support midway between the two sprocket units. 7. Make sure your paper has a clean, straight leading edge. Open the sprocket covers. Fit the first holes of the paper over the sprocket pins and then close the sprocket covers. Slide the right sprocket unit to remove any slack in the paper and then lock it in place. 23 Note: Remove any remaining slack by gently pulling the paper from the rear or bottom. 8. To separate the incoming paper from the printed paper, attach the paper guide. Hold it horizontally and fit its notches over the printer's mounting posts. Then slide the paper guide toward the back of the printer until you feel it click and adjust the edge guides to the width of the paper. 9. Attach the printer cover and adjust the paper position with the paper feed knob. Turn the knob until the perforation between pages is just above the print head. Then turn on the printer. 10. Make sure the printer cover is closed, but with the paper guide cover open. When the printer receives data, it begins printing automatically. If you want to change the position where printing begins on the page, press LF/FF to advance the page to the next top-of-form position, and then see "Adjusting the top-of-form position" in the next section to adjust the loading position. To eject the paper, tear off the paper entering the printer; then press the LF/FF button to feed the paper forward. 24 Adjusting the top-of-form position The top-of-form position is the position on the page where the printer starts printing. If your printing appears too high or low on the page, you can use the micro adjust feature to adjust the top-of-form position. Follow these steps: c Caution: Never use the paper feed knob to adjust the top-of-form position; this may damage the printer or cause it to lose the top-of-form position. Note: Your top-of-form position setting remains in effect until you change it, even if you turn off the printer. The top margin setting made in some application software overrides the top-of-form position setting you make with the Micro Adjust feature. If necessary, adjust the top-of-form position in your software. 1. Make sure the printer is turned on. 2. If necessary, load paper as described in this chapter. 3. Remove the printer cover. 4. Hold down the Pause button for about three seconds. The Pause light starts flashing and the printer enters the Micro Adjust mode. 25 5. Press the LF/FF D button to move the top-of-form position up on the page, or press the Load/Eject U button to move the top-of-form position down on the page. * * plastic ribbon cover Note: The printer has a minimum and a maximum top-of-form position. If you try to adjust it beyond these limits, the printer beeps and stops moving the paper. When the paper reaches the default top-of-form position, the printer also beeps and stops moving the paper briefly. You can use the default position as a reference point when adjusting the top-of-form position. 26 To adjust the top-of-form position for continuous paper loaded on the pull tractor, see the following example: First mark a point 2.5 mm (0.1 inch) above the paper's perforation; then position the paper so that the mark is even with the top edge of the plastic ribbon cover. This gives you an 8.5 mm (0.33 inch) margin on the next page, meaning the printer starts printing 8.5 mm (0.33 inch) below the perforation. If you mark a point 2.5 mm (0.1 inch) above the perforation, you get a 8.5 mm (0.33 inch) margin on the next page. A B 2.5 mm (0.1 inch) 8.5 mm (0.33 inch) 6. After you set the top-of-form position, press the Pause button to exit the Micro Adjust mode. 27 Advancing the paper to the tear-off edge If you use the push tractor, you can use the tear-off feature to advance your continuous paper to the printer's tear-off edge when you finish printing. You can then easily tear off the printed document. When you resume printing, the printer automatically feeds the paper back to the top-of-form position so that you can save the paper normally lost between documents. As described below, you can use the tear-off feature in two ways: manually, by pressing the printer's Tear Off (Font) button, or automatically, by turning on the auto tear-off mode. c Caution: Never use the tear-off feature (as described below) to feed continuous paper with labels backwards; they may come off their backing sheet and jam the printer. Using the Tear Off button After the printer finishes printing your document, check that the Tear Off (Font) lights are not flashing. Then press the Tear Off (Font) button. The printer advances the paper to the tear-off edge. Note: If the Tear Off (Font) lights are flashing, the paper is in the tear-off position. If you press the Tear Off (Font) button again, the printer feeds your paper to the next top-of-form position. Advancing the paper to the tear-off position automatically To automatically advance your printed documents to the tear-off position, you need to turn on the auto tear-off mode and select the appropriate page length for continuous paper in the Default Setting mode. For instructions, see "Changing default settings". When auto tear-off is on, the printer automatically advances the paper to the tear-off position whenever it receives a full page of data or a form feed command followed by no more data. 28 Adjusting the tear-off position If your paper's perforation is not aligned with the tear-off edge, you can use the Micro Adjust feature to move the perforation to the tear-off position. Follow these steps to adjust the tear-off position: c Caution: Never use the paper feed knob to adjust the tear-off position; this may damage the printer or cause it to lose the tear-off position. Note: Your tear-off position setting remains in effect until you change it, even if you turn off the printer. 1. Make sure the Tear Off (Font) lights are flashing (the paper is at the current tear-off position). You may need to press the Tear Off (Font) button to advance the paper to the tear-off position. 2. Open the paper guide cover. 3. Hold down the Pause button for about three seconds. The Pause light begins to flash and the printer enters the Micro Adjust mode. 29 4. Press the LF/FF D button to feed the paper backwards, or press the Load/Eject U button to feed the paper forwards, until the paper perforation is aligned with the tear-off edge. * * tear-off edge Note: The printer has a minimum and a maximum tear-off position. If you try to adjust the tear-off position beyond these limits, the printer beeps and stops moving the paper. 5. After you set the tear-off position, press the Pause button to exit the Micro Adjust mode. 6. Tear off the printed pages. When you resume printing, the printer automatically feeds the paper back to the top-of-form position and begins printing. 30 Printing on Single Sheets You can load single-sheet paper one sheet at a time using the paper guide of the printer. For specifications on the type of single-sheet paper you can use, see "Paper". Before printing on single-sheet multipart forms, envelopes, or other special paper, be sure to the set the paper thickness lever to the appropriate position. See "Printing on Special Paper" for details. Note: To load a stack of single-sheet paper, use the optional cut-sheet feeder. See "Installing and Using Options". For detailed specifications on the types of single-sheet paper you can use, See "Printer Specifications". You can use the paper guide to load single-sheet carbonless multipart forms that are fastened at the top by line gluing. Insert multipart forms in the paper guide, bound edge first and printable side down. The illustrations in this manual are from LX-300+II. LX-1170II is wider than LX-300+II. However, the explanations are the same. 31 Loading single sheets Follow these steps to load single sheets: 1. Make sure the printer is turned off. Also make sure that the paper release lever is pushed back to the single-sheet position and the paper guide is in the upright position, as shown below. 2. Slide the left edge guide until it locks in place at the guide mark. Next, adjust the right edge guide to match the width of your paper. 32 3. Slide a sheet of paper down firmly between the edge guides until it meets resistance. For normal use, turn on the printer without pressing any other buttons. When the printer receives data, it begins to print. c Caution: Use the paper feed knob on the right side of the printer only to clear paper jams and only when the printer is off. Otherwise, you may damage the printer or cause it to lose the top-of-form position. Printing on Special Paper Your printer can also print on a wide variety of paper types, including multipart forms, labels, and envelopes. For multipart forms, you should not print any closer than 13 mm (0.5 inch) from either side of the paper. For information on the printable area of envelopes, see "Printer Specifications". c Caution: When printing on multipart forms, thicker-than-normal paper, labels, or envelopes, make sure your application software settings keep the printing entirely within the printable area. Printing past the edge of these papers can damage the print head. 33 Adjusting the paper thickness lever Before printing on special paper, you need to change the paper thickness setting. Follow these steps to adjust the paper thickness setting: 1. Turn the printer off and open the printer cover. The paper thickness lever is on the left side of the printer. The numbers next to the lever indicate the thickness setting. 2. Use the table below to select the appropriate paper thickness. Paper type Standard paper (single sheets or continuous) Multipart forms 2-sheet 3-sheet 4-sheet 5-sheet Lever position 0 0 1 2 3 1 2 or 4 Labels Envelopes 3. Close the printer cover. 34 Multipart forms You can use continuous or single-sheet carbonless multipart forms of up to five parts (one original plus four copies). Before you print on the forms, set the paper thickness lever as described in the previous section. The following tips will help you get good results: Use only continuous multipart forms that are joined by spot gluing or side-crimping. Never load continuous multipart forms joined by metal staples, tape, or continuous gluing. Use only single-sheet multipart forms that are line-glued only at the top. Insert the forms glued edge first into the printer. Use only multipart forms that are free of wrinkles and waves. If you need to adjust the loading position, use your application software or change the loading position as described on "Adjusting the top-of-form position". When you use side-crimped continuous multipart forms, the copies may not align with the original. If this happens, raise the paper guide. Labels You must use the tractor as a pull tractor and load paper from the bottom paper slot to print on labels. Before you print on labels, set the paper thickness lever as described in "Adjusting the paper thickness lever". Keep the following tips in mind: Choose labels mounted on a continuous backing sheet with sprocket holes made for use with a tractor. Do not print labels as single sheets, because the shiny backing sheet almost always slips slightly. 35 Load labels the same way as you would load ordinary continuous paper. See "Printing with the pull tractor" for loading instructions. Because labels are especially sensitive to temperature and humidity, use them only under normal operating conditions. Do not leave labels loaded in the printer between jobs; they curl around the platen and may jam when you resume printing. To remove the labels from the printer, tear off the fresh supply at the bottom of the printer; then press LF/FF to advance the remaining labels out of the printer. c Caution: Never feed labels backwards through the printer; they can easily peel off the backing sheet and jam the printer. If a label does become stuck in the printer, contact your dealer. Envelopes You can feed envelopes individually using the paper guide. Keep the following tips in mind: Before loading an envelope, set the paper thickness lever to the proper position. See "Adjusting the paper thickness lever". To load an envelope, follow the steps in "Loading single sheets". Insert the wide edge of the envelope into the printer first, printable-side down. When you insert the envelope between the paper guides, push it firmly and hold it until it feeds into the printer. Use envelopes only under normal temperature and humidity conditions. 36 Make sure the printing stays entirely within the printable area. The print head must not go past the left or right edge of the envelope or other thick paper. (See "Printer Specifications" for specifications.) It's a good idea to print a test sample using a normal single sheet of paper before you print on envelopes. 37 Printer Software About Your Printer Software The Epson software includes the printer driver software and EPSON Status Monitor 3. The printer driver is software that allows your computer to control the printer. You need to install the printer driver so your Windows software applications can take full advantage of the printer's capabilities. EPSON Status Monitor 3 program allows you to monitor the status of your printer, alerts you when errors occur, and provides you with troubleshooting tips. EPSON Status Monitor 3 is automatically installed when you install the printer driver. If you want to install EPSON Status Monitor 3 later, see "Installing EPSON Status Monitor 3" for instructions. Note: Before proceeding, make sure you have installed the printer driver on your computer described in the Start Here. Make sure the software setting is set to ESC/P. The printer driver software and EPSON Status Monitor 3 can only function in ESC/P mode. 38 Using the Printer Driver with Windows Me and 98 You can access the printer driver from your Windows applications or from the Start menu. When you access the printer driver from a Windows application, any settings you make apply only to the application you are using. See "Accessing the printer driver from Windows applications" for more information. When you access the printer driver from the Start menu, the printer driver settings you make apply to all your applications. See "Accessing the printer driver from the Start menu" for more information. The screen shots in the following section are from LX-1170II. For LX-300+II users, substitute LX-300+II for the model name in the screen shots. The instructions are the same. See "Changing the printer driver settings" to check and change printer driver settings. Note: While many Windows applications override the settings made with the printer driver, some do not, so you must verify that the printer driver settings match your requirements. 39 Accessing the printer driver from Windows applications Follow these steps to access the printer driver from a Windows application: 1. Select Print Setup or Print from the File menu of your application software. In the Print or Print Setup dialog box displayed, make sure that your printer is selected in the Name drop-down list. 40 2. Click Printer, Setup, Properties, or Options. (The button you click depends on your application and you may need to click a combination of these buttons.) The Properties window appears, and you see the Paper, Graphics, and Device Options menus. These menus contain the printer driver settings. 3. To view a menu, click the corresponding tab at the top of the window. See "Changing the printer driver settings" for information on how to change the settings. 41 Accessing the printer driver from the Start menu Follow these steps to access the printer driver from the Start menu: 1. Click the Start button, and then point to Settings. 2. Click Printers. 3. Right-click your printer icon, and click Properties. The screen displays the Properties window, which contains the Paper, Graphics, Device Options, and Utility menus. These menus display the printer driver settings. 4. To view a menu, click the corresponding tab at the top of the window. See "Changing the printer driver settings" for information on how to change the settings. 42 Changing the printer driver settings Your printer driver has seven menus: Paper, Graphics, Device Options, General, Details, Utility, and Sharing. For an overview of the available settings, see "Printer Driver Settings Overview". You can also view online help by right-clicking items in the driver and selecting What's this? When you finish making printer driver settings, click OK to apply the settings, or click Restore Defaults to return the settings to their default values. Once you have checked your printer driver settings and made any necessary changes, you are ready to print. 43 Using the Printer Driver with Windows XP, 2000, and Windows NT 4.0 You can access the printer driver from your Windows applications or from the Start menu. When you access the printer driver from a Windows application, any settings you make apply only to the application you are using. See "Accessing the printer driver from Windows applications" for more information. When you access the printer driver from the Start menu, the printer driver settings you make apply to all your applications. See "Accessing the printer driver from the Start menu" for more information. The screen shots in the following section are from LX-1170II. For LX-300+II users, substitute LX-300+II for the model name in the screen shots. The instructions are the same. See "Changing the printer driver settings" to check and change printer driver settings. Note: While many Windows applications override the settings made with the printer driver, some do not, so you must verify that the printer driver settings match your requirements. 44 Accessing the printer driver from Windows applications Follow these steps to access the printer driver from a Windows application: Note: The examples in the following section are from the Windows 2000 operating system. They may vary in appearance from what actually appears on your screen; however, the instructions are the same. 1. Select Print Setup or Print from the File menu of your application software. In the Print or Print Setup dialog box displayed, make sure that your printer is selected in the Name drop-down list. 45 2. Click Printer, Setup, Properties, or Options. (The button you click depends on your application and you may need to click a combination of these buttons.) The Document Properties window appears, and you see the Layout and Paper/Quality menus. These menus contain the printer driver settings. 46 3. To view a menu, click the corresponding tab at the top of the window. See "Changing the printer driver settings" to change the settings. 47 Accessing the printer driver from the Start menu Follow these steps to access the printer driver from the Start menu: Note: The screen shots used in this procedure are from the Windows 2000 operating system. They may vary in appearance from what actually appears on your screen; however, the instructions are the same. 1. Click the Start button, and then point to Settings. 2. Click Printers. 3. Right-click your printer icon, and click Printing Preferences (in Windows XP or 2000) or Document Defaults (in Windows NT 4.0). The screen displays the Document Properties window, which contains the Layout and Paper/Quality menus. These menus display the printer driver settings. 48 When you click Properties in the menu displayed by right-clicking the printer icon, the Properties window appears, which includes menus used to make the printer driver settings. 4. To view a menu, click the corresponding tab at the top of the window. See "Printer Driver Settings Overview" for information on how to change the settings. Changing the printer driver settings Your printer driver has two menus from which you can change the printer driver settings; Layout and Paper/Quality. You can also change settings on the Utility menu in the printer software. For an overview of the available settings, see "Printer Driver Settings Overview". You can also view online help by right-clicking items in the driver and selecting What's this? When you finish making your printer driver settings, click OK to apply the settings, or click Cancel to cancel your changes. Once you have checked your printer driver settings and changed them if necessary, you are ready to print. 49 Printer Driver Settings Overview The following tables show the Windows printer driver settings. Note that not every setting is available in all versions of Windows. Printer settings Settings Paper Size Explanations Select the size of the paper you want to use. If you do not see your paper size, use the scroll bar to scroll through the list. If your paper size is not included in the list, see "Definition of Custom Paper Size" for instructions. Select Portrait or Landscape. Select the paper source you want to use. Select the printing resolution you want. The higher the resolution you select, the more detailed your printout will be; however, increasing the resolution slows printing. You can leave this option set to Fine, which is the default setting, or select another dithering pattern depending on the kind of printout you want. Move the slider to make your printout lighter or darker. Select a print quality option from the Print quality list. If you set Hi-speed to On, you will enter bidirectional printing mode and printing speed will increase. Setting Hi-speed to Off will return the printer to unidirectional printing mode. Printing speed will decrease, but printing precision will improve. Printing with the default settings uses the settings stored in the printer. Click this button to set the brightness and contrast, input the RGB gamma, or make other settings. The Halftone Color Adjustment dialog box appears. For details, click the Help button in this dialog box. Select the type of halftoning to use when printing graphics. To let the printer determine the best halftone quality, use Auto Select. Orientation Paper Source Resolution/ Graphics Resolution Dithering Intensity Print Quality Halftone Setup.../Halftone Color Adjustment... Halftoning 50