Help Index

This help file provides information on the topics listed below. Use the scroll bar to see index entries not currently visible in the Help window. Some print options shown here may not apply to your printer model.

See the documentation that came with your printer for more information on using your printer.

To print this or any other help topic, choose Print Topic from the Help File menu.

Help Topics

Automatic

Cancel

Default

EconoMode

Media

Media Size

Options

Orientation

Print Quality

Printing Status

Printout

Problem Solving

Version 4.0

© Copyright Hewlett-Packard Company 1990 - 1994

© Copyright Microsoft Corporation 1989 - 1990

All Rights Reserved


Automatic_mode
Automatic (Available only with color printer models)

Use the Automatic Printout mode to get the best quality printout. This is the recommended setting for all documents. Automatic uses HP's ColorSmart technology to automatically select the best printout mode settings for your documents. Use Automatic mode for both graphics and text.

In Automatic mode, ColorSmart analyzes the document you are printing and automatically selects the Halftoning, Intensity, and Color Control Options settings to provide the best quality printout of your document. Automatic is the default mode for color printer models and provides the best results for most documents.

The Options button is disabled in Automatic mode. All Option settings are selected by the printer driver.


Cancel

Click the Cancel button in the Printer Setup dialog box to cancel any changes you have made to settings and close the dialog box.


Default

Click the Default button to reset all printer settings to the factory default settings. The factory default settings are listed below:

Printer Setup Dialog

Setting	Default Setting

Printout:	Automatic (color printer models),

Black Text (black-only printer models)

Orientation:	Portrait

Print Quality:	Normal

Media:	Plain Paper

Media Size:	Letter (in US), A4 (in Europe)

Options Dialog

The default settings for Options dialog box settings (Intensity, Halftoning, and  Color Control) are dependent on the Printout mode your have selected. See the Default topic in the Options dialog help for more information on options defaults.


EconoMode

The HP DeskJet 520 and 560C printers have an ink saving mode for black printing. To print using less black ink with the HP DeskJet 520 and 560C printers, select Fast Print Quality mode and then press the EconoMode button on the printer control panel.


Media

Select the Media type you will use from the following:

Type	Description

Plain Paper	Use for bond or photocopy paper and envelopes.

This is the only media type available with the HP DeskJet 500, HP DeskJet Plus, and HP DeskJet printer models.

Note: The following media types are not available with the HP DeskJet 500, HP DeskJet PLUS, and HP DeskJet printer models:

 Transparency	Use for color and black printing on HP LX JetSeries Transparency Film. If you are printing more than one transparency at a time, the printer automatically allows several minutes between transparencies for them to dry.

Transparency (Extra Dry Time)	Use to stop printing after each transparency when you are printing more than one transparency at a time. You must manually reactivate the printing process between transparencies by clicking OK in the dialog box. This is necessary in high humidity environments, where transparencies may smudge if not allowed time to dry.

HP Glossy Paper	Use for color and black printing on HP LX JetSeries Glossy Paper to enhance color output. If you are printing more than one page at a time, the printer automatically allows several minutes between sheets for them to dry.

HP Glossy Paper (Extra Dry Time)	Use to stop printing after each page when you are printing more than one page at a time. You must manually reactivate the printing process between pages by clicking OK in the dialog box. This is necessary in high humidity environments, where glossy pages may smudge if not allowed time to dry.

LX JetSeries Paper	Use HP LX JetSeries Paper to enhance black or color output.

CX JetSeries Paper	Use for HP CX JetSeries CutSheet Paper to enhance color output. (Setting available only with color printer models)

See the documentation that came with your printer for information on selecting media for your printer.


Media Size

Select the appropriate Media Size for the Media you have selected:

Type	Size

Letter	8 1/2 in. x 11 in. (US letter)

Legal	8 1/2 in. x 14 in. (US legal)

Executive	7 1/4 in. x 10 1/2 in.  (US executive letter)

A4	210 mm x 297 mm (European letter)

No. 10 Envelope	4 1/8 in. x 9 1/2 in. (US No. 10 envelope)

DL Envelope	220 mm x 110 mm (European DL envelope)

Note:  Executive letter size and DL envelopes are available for use with the HP DeskJet 510, 520, 550C, and 560C printers only.

Envelope Orientation

The HP DeskJet 500 Series Printer Driver automatically selects the correct Orientation when you select an envelope media size. The Orientation controls in the Printer Setup dialog box are disabled. You may need to select printing orientation in your software application.

Some applications use a print setup dialog provided by Windows to select common printer settings. This dialog will not automatically default to the correct orientation for envelopes. If the Orientation settings are not disabled (grayed out) when you select envelopes, you must manually select the correct orientation in the Print Setup dialog box.

Select Landscape orientation  for the HP DeskJet 510, 520, 550C, and 560C printer models. Select Portrait orientation for other HP DeskJet 500 Series printer models.

See the documentation that came with your printer for information on loading envelopes into your printer.


Options

Click the Options button in the Printer Setup dialog box to select Intensity settings, Halftoning methods, and Color Options (HP DeskJet 500C, 550C and 560C printers). Click the Help button in the options dialog box for more information on Options settings.

Note:  When Automatic or Black Text Printout mode is selected, the Options dialog box is disabled.


Orientation

Select the appropriate print Orientation for your document(s):

Orientation	Description

Portrait (vertical)	Refers to printing across the width of the page
(letter-style).

Landscape (horizontal)	Refers to printing across the length of the page
(spreadsheet-style).

Envelope Orientation

The HP DeskJet 500 Series Printer Driver automatically selects the correct Orientation when you select an envelope media size. The Orientation controls in the Printer Setup dialog box are disabled. You may need to select printing orientation in your software application.

Some applications use a print setup dialog provided by Windows to select common printer settings. This dialog will not automatically default to the correct orientation for envelopes. If the Orientation settings are not disabled (grayed out) when you select envelopes, you must manually select the correct orientation in the Print Setup dialog box.

Select Landscape orientation  for the HP DeskJet 510, 520, 550C, and 560C printer models. Select Portrait orientation for other HP DeskJet 500 Series printer models.

See the documentation that came with your printer for information on loading envelopes into your printer.


Print Quality

The Print Quality settings available for your printer may include: Normal, Presentation, and Fast.

Normal	Letter quality printing. Normal is the default setting for most Media.
Presentation	Highest quality printing. This mode prints slower than Normal mode for most documents.
Fast	Fast printing. This mode provides quicker return-to-application time for the HP DeskJet 520 and 560C printers. For printing drafts of color documents (on color printer models), you may wish to select Fast with a Printout mode which prints using the black print cartridge. This will usually print faster, using grayscale instead of color. For fastest printing, you can print with Black Text which prints images in black and white.
Printer Resolution

The following table lists the printer resolution in dpi for the different print quality modes.

	Printer Resolution (dpi)
Printer Model	Normal	Presentation	Fast
HP DeskJet 560C	600x300 black 300x300 color	600x300 black 300x300 color	300x300 black 300x300 dpi color 150x300 EconoMode
HP DeskJet 550C HP DeskJet 500C	300x300 black 300x300 color	300x300 black 300x300 color	150x300 black 300x300 color
HP DeskJet 520	600x300 black	600x300 black	300x300 black 150x300 EconoMode
HP DeskJet 510	300x300	300x300	150x300
HP DeskJet 500 HP DeskJet Plus HP DeskJet	300x300	300x300	150x300


Printing Status

The Printing Status window displays information about the document currently printing.

Printout	The Printout mode for the document that is currently printing.

Page Number	The page that is currently printing.

% Complete 	Percentage complete of the page that is currently being processed.

An animated activity symbol indicates that the computer is processing information.


Printout

Select the Printout mode you will use from the following:

Automatic	Use the Automatic Printout mode to get the best quality printout. This is the recommended setting for all documents. Automatic uses HP's ColorSmart technology to automatically select the best printout mode settings for your documents. Use Automatic mode for both graphics and text.(Available only with color printer models)

In Automatic mode, ColorSmart analyzes the document you are printing and automatically selects the Halftoning, Intensity, and Color Control Options settings to provide the best quality printout of your document. Automatic is the default mode for color printer models and provides the best results for most documents.

The Options button is disabled in Automatic mode. All Option settings are selected by the printer driver.

Black Text	Use for documents that contain only black text, such as letters. Black Text is the default mode for black-only printer models.

In Black Text mode, the Options button is disabled and the printer driver optimizes the Option settings for black text.

Color Graphics	Use for documents that contain solid graphics to be printed in color, such as business graphs and charts.
(Available only with color printer models)

Color Photo	Use for documents that contain complex graphics to be printed in color, such as scanned images and photographs.
(Available only with color printer models)

Grayscale	Use for documents that contain solid graphics, such as business graphs and charts, to be printed in gray tones.

For grayscale printing of color images, use grayscale mode. With grayscale imaging, different colors and saturation levels of color are represented as different shades of gray.


Problem_Solving
Problem Solving

This topic covers common printer problems and suggests solutions. If your printer is not operating properly, select the topic from the following list that describes your printer's problem and follow the suggestions.

Note:  If your printer's problem is not covered here or you need additional help, see the problem solving sections of the documentation that came with your printer for more detailed troubleshooting information. See the README.TXT file on your HP DeskJet 500 Series Printer Software Disk for information on known problems with software applications. Also see the documentation that came with your software application.

Print Quality Problems

Ink is smearing

Print is faint

Print is fuzzy

Color Print Quality Problems (HP DeskJet 500C, 550C, and 560C printers)

Bands of light and dark color appear in the printout

Black areas appear green in color printout

Black ink is mixing with color ink

Colors appear washed out

Colors in printed output are not what you expect

Misaligned text or white spaces in graphics

Printed colors don't match screen colors

Document Printing Problems

Documents print in incorrect orientation

Documents print with differences in line length and character spacing from screen

Envelope Problems

Envelopes do not advance into the printer

Printer ejects envelope before printing

Other Problems

Alert messages such as "Not enough memory to print" are displayed

Printing is slow


Bands of light and dark color appear in the printout

Cause	Solution
Sometimes the printer can print information faster than the computer can send it. When the printer is waiting for information, the print cartridge pauses and a banding effect may occur.	Select Presentation in the Print Quality option, and print your document. If the results are unsatisfactory, print your document to a file in Windows, and copy the file to the printer in DOS. 1. Open the Main group window, the Control Panel, and the Printers icon. 2. Click Connect. 3. Click FILE in the Ports list box to direct printing to a print file, then click OK. 4. Close the Printers dialog box, then close the Control Panel. 5. Choose Print in your application 6. Click OK in the Print dialog box, type your file name and location in the Print to File dialog box (C:\REPORTS\QUARTER1 for example). 7. Exit Windows and return to the DOS prompt (C:\ for example). 8. Change to the directory where your file is located (C:\REPORTS for example). 9. Type COPY \B QUARTER1 port: "Port" is the port to which you connected your printer (LPT1 or COM1 for example).


Black areas appear green in color printout (HP DeskJet 500C only)

Cause	Solution
The wrong Halftoning mode is being used.	Select Automatic Printout mode. Select Color Photo Printout mode with any Halftoning mode, Select Presentation print quality. Use HP Special Paper.


Black ink is mixing with color ink (HP DeskJet 550C and 560C printers only)

Cause	Solution
Printer settings need adjustment.	Try making the following changes in the sequence in which they are listed. Try each one before adding the next: 1. Use Presentation Print Quality mode. 2. Use Color Photo Printout mode. 3. Try printing on a higher quality media.


Colors appear washed out

Cause	Solution
The Intensity slider in the Options dialog box is set too low.	Select Automatic Printout in the Printer Setup dialog box or move the Intensity slider to the right to increase the amount of ink used.
Empty or clogged print cartridge.	Clean or replace the print cartridge. See the documentation that came with your printer for more information.


Colors in printed output are not what you expect

Cause	Solution
Intensity settings may cause changes in color hue.	Select Automatic Printout in the Printer Setup dialog box or readjust the Intensity slider in the Option dialog box.
Wrong Color Control setting is selected.	Select a different Color Control Setting.


Misaligned text or white spaces in graphics (HP DeskJet 550C and 560C printers only)

Cause	Solution
Print cartridges are out of alignment.	See the instructions for aligning the print cartridges in the documentation that came with your printer.


Printed colors don't match screen colors

Cause	Solution
Color settings need adjustment.	Select Automatic Printout in the Printer Setup dialog box or select Match Screen in the Options dialog box.
In Match Screen mode, printed results may not be what you anticipate. For example, what may be a greenish-yellow color on your screen may print out as yellow with specks of green.	Review your printed results to determine whether using this feature is appropriate for your desired output. Try using different color settings.


Documents print with differences in line length and character spacing from screen

Cause	Solution
Printer font and screen font do not match.	Reformat your document with scalable fonts in your application.


Documents print in incorrect orientation

Cause	Solution
Printer Setup settings differ from your software application settings.	Select the Orientation in your software application that matches the Orientation selection in the Printer Setup dialog box. Software application settings override Printer Setup settings.


Print is faint

Cause	Solution
The Intensity slider in the Options dialog box is set too low.	Select Automatic Printout in the Printer Setup dialog box. (color printer models only) Move the slider to the right to increase the amount of ink used.
Fast Print Quality mode is selected.	Select Normal Print Quality mode in the Printer Setup dialog box.
Empty or clogged print cartridge.	Clean or replace the print cartridge. See the documentation that came with your printer for more information.


Print is fuzzy

Cause	Solution
The Intensity slider in the Options dialog box may be set too high.	Select Automatic Printout in the Printer Setup dialog box. (color printer models only) Move the slider to the left to decrease the amount of ink used.
Media may be affecting print quality	Change the type of media you are using. See the documentation that came with your printer for media information.
The print side of the media is not being used.	Turn over the media in the IN tray.


Envelopes do not advance into the printer

Cause	Solution
Media Size settings are incorrect.	Select an Envelope size from the Media Size selections in the Printer Setup dialog box and then select Print through your software application.
Envelopes are incorrectly loaded	See the documentation that came with your printer for information on loading envelopes into the printer.


Printer ejects envelope before printing
(HP DeskJet 500, 500C, and earlier model printers)

Cause	Solution
Microsoft Windows sends a page eject command to the printer before printing.	Enter the Print command before loading an envelope. When the Ready indicator starts blinking, load the envelope and press the Envelope button. Then press the Status (Ready) button.


Ink is smearing or paper is wrinkling

Cause	Solution
Too much ink is on the page.	Select Automatic Printout in the Printer Setup dialog box.  (color printer models only) Move the Intensity slider in the Options dialog box to the left to decrease the amount of ink used.
Media selection is inappropriate.	Try another type of media. See the documentation that came with your printer for information on selecting media.


Alert messages such as "Not enough memory to print" are displayed

Cause	Solution
System memory problems.	Close all other applications. Exit all applications and Windows. Restart Windows, then restart only the application you need. Purchase more RAM for your computer.


Printing is slow

Cause	Solution
System memory problems.	Close all other applications. Exit all applications and Windows. Restart Windows, then restart only the application you need. Purchase more RAM for your computer.
Presentation Print Quality mode is selected.	Presentation mode prints slower than normal mode. Slower printing is normal for this mode.
Transparency or HP Glossy Paper Media Type is selected.	The printer driver has drying times built-in for Transparency and HP Glossy Paper media types. Slower printing is normal for these modes.


printer driver

The software program that controls the printer and allows your software applications to access the printer's features. Your printer driver gives Windows important information about your printer, including details about printer features, the printer interface, and descriptions of the fonts.


Orientation

Orientation refers to the direction of print on the media. Printing across the width of the media is known as  portrait orientation. Printing across the length of the media is known as landscape orientation


Grayscale

Representing color in black and white. Different colors and saturation levels of color appear as different shades of gray.


dpi

Dots per inch. DPI describes the number of ink dots printed within one inch (horizontal x vertical). For example, 600x300 dpi is 600 dots across x 300 dots down.


Help Index

Information on the topics listed below is provided in this help file. Use the scroll bar to see index entries not currently visible in the Help window. Some driver options shown here may not apply to your printer model.

See the documentation that came with your printer for more information.

To print this or any other help topic, choose Print Topic from the Help File menu.

Help Topics

Color Control

Default

Halftoning

Intensity


Color Control

The topics described here apply to color printing only.

Match Screen

Match Screen adjusts printed colors to provide the best match in appearance to your screen using clear and vivid colors.

Recommended for:

o  	Complex color graphics such as scanned images, photographs, and complex computer generated artwork.

Vivid Color

Use this setting to print clear and vivid colors for simple colored graphics such as graphs and business charts.

Recommended for::

o  	Simple, solid color graphics such as charts and graphs that require bright colors.

o	Applications supporting basic 8 colors (black, white, red, green, blue, cyan, yellow, and magenta.).


Halftoning

The halftoning method you choose determines how the dots are arranged to create a printed page using one of the following imaging methods. The HP DeskJet 500 Series Printer Driver for Microsoft Windows provides three halftoning methods; pattern, scatter, and cluster.

Experiment with the settings to achieve the results you desire. The table below summarizes the halftoning methods available:

Method	Definition	Recommended Use	Speed

Pattern

Color Printing	Uniform distribution of  	Color text.	Fast/Medium.

(Color printer	ink. Sometimes 	Line graphic images

models only)	produces noticeable  	Free-hand images.

 	geometric patterns	"Clip art" images.

in area fills.	Business graphics.

Grayscale Printing	Same as above.	Same as above without 	Medium.

(All printer models)	Grayscale.	color text.

Scatter

Color Printing	Uses an algorithm to produce	Complex graphic images.	Medium.

(Color printer	the appearance of a random	"Photographic" images.

models only)	distribution of ink.	Scanned images.

Grayscale Printing	Same as above.	Same as above.	Medium.

(All printer models)	Grayscale.

Cluster

Color Printing	Clusters dots of ink. 	Photographic images.	Medium.

(Color printer	Documents to be

models only)	 	photocopied.

Grayscale Printing	Same as above.	Same as above.	Medium

(All printer models)	Grayscale.

Note: When using Pattern halftoning and printing color pages, composite black or some colors may not always be optimal. Switching to either Cluster or Scatter halftoning may alleviate this problem.

Composite black may improve when either the Presentation Print Quality setting or HP Special Paper Media type is selected.


Intensity

Intensity selections control the amount of ink that is printed on the page. To produce lighter images, move the slider to the left. To produce darker images, move the slider to the right.

o 	More ink results in more intense (darker) color or grayscale images.

o  	For color printing, changing Intensity settings may produce hue changes in some colors.


Default

Default resets all controls of the Options dialog to the default values of the Printout mode selected in the Printer Setup dialog. The defaults for the different printout modes are listed in the following table:

Printout Mode	Halftoning	Intensity	Color Control

Automatic	Automatically selected	Automatically selected	Automatically selected

Black Text	Option not available	Option not available	Option not available

Grayscale	Scatter	Medium	Option not available

Color Graphics	Pattern	Medium	Vivid Color

Color Photo	Scatter	Medium	Match Screen

Note:  In Automatic mode, the printer driver analyzes the document you are printing and automatically selects the Halftoning, Intensity, and Color Control Options settings to provide the best quality printout based on the contents of your document. The Options button is disabled in Automatic mode because all Option settings are selected by the printer driver.

In Black Text mode, the Options button is disabled and the printer driver optimizes the Option settings for black text.

The Color Control Option button is not available with black-only printer models..


hue

Color or the gradation of color. Colors are named by hue: red, blue, green, etc.


pattern

A halftoning method used by the HP DeskJet 500 Series Printer Driver for Microsoft Windows where dots of ink are blended (dithered) into geometric patterns, then printed on the page to produce grayscale shades or millions of colors.


scatter

A halftoning method used by the HP DeskJet 500 Series Printer Driver for Microsoft Windows where dots of ink are blended (dithered) in random manner, then printed on a page to produce grayscale shades or millions of colors.


cluster

A halftoning method used by the HP DeskJet 500 Series Printer Driver for Microsoft Windows where clustered dots of ink are blended (dithered) to produce grayscale shades or millions of colors.


halftoning (also called dithering)

The method by which dots from the print cartridge are combined on the page to produce millions of colors or grayscale shades. The HP DeskJet 500 Series Printer Driver for Microsoft Windows uses Pattern, Cluster, or Scatter halftoning methods.


composite black

Composite black is created from a blend of the three primary colors (cyan, yellow, and magenta) in the color print cartridge. When these colors are blended, they appear almost black on the page.