EPSON Inket Printers Common FAQs

Q: How does Micro Piezo technology compare to thermal technology?

A: Epson's Micro Piezo (M.P.) technology outperforms thermal technologies in all areas: pressure method - electromechanical (M.P.) vs. boiling (thermal), print head life - permanent (M.P.) Vs. disposable (thermal), ink flexibility range - wide (M.P.) Vs. limited (thermal), potential for improvement - significant (M.P.) Vs. Limited (thermal). Micro Piezo technology provides the highest resolution, smallest dot size, precise dot volume, precise dot shape, precise dot placement, and fastest head firing times. Thermal technology creates satellites and misting which Micro Piezo technology eliminates.

Q: Can the Epson ink cartridges be refilled or can 3rd party ink cartridges be used without voiding the warranty?

A: EPSON does not recommend refilling or using 3rd party ink cartridges. If these 3rd party products cause a failure, the repair of that failure will not be covered under warranty.

Q: What is the correct procedure when installing printer driver? Is there any precaution?

A: Before installing printer driver to your Windows system, disable any active programs / applications. This includes virus scan or any startup programs (as appeared on the window taskbar). If Anti-Virus software called "PC-Cillin"is found in the computer system, please uninstall the software totally. You may have to uninstall the PC-Cillin software under Safe Mode setting in your PC. It means that when the PC boots up, you press F8 to go to Safe Mode setting and then go to "Add/Remove Programs"in the Control Panel to remove the software.

Q: How do I remove the printer driver from Windows 95/98/NT 4.0?

A: If the Status Monitor 2 is running, disable it by right-clicking on its icon in the task bar and selecting "Stop Monitoring Now". Click on the Windows 95/98 "Start" button, select "Settings", select "Control Panel", and then double-click on "Add/Remove Programs". Using the "Add/Remove Programs Properties" window, remove "EPSON Printer Software" and "Status Monitor 2". Then, delete the EPSONEPIIFE3T.INF and EPSONEPXLPTET.INF files from your "Windows" directory. Once these two files are deleted, restart Windows (Windows NT 4.0 does not require the removal of these two files).

Q: The colors of my image on my monitor do not match the output from my printer. What is wrong?

A: First you must have an understanding of how color is produced. A monitor displays color by transmitting Red, Green and Blue (RGB) light into your eyes. A printer uses existing light to reflect Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and black (CYMK) light into your eyes. It is virtually impossible to have these two different color types (transmissive and reflective) to match perfectly. Also, due to its transmissive nature, the monitor is able to display a much wider range of colors than a reflective product, such as a piece of paper with ink on it. Second, most monitors are not calibrated for correct color display out of the box, they have to be calibrated to produce accurate colors. Adobe PhotoShop includes a basic monitor calibrator to do this; it is the Adobe Gamma utility. This utility is contained in the Control Panel in Windows and on the Macintosh. Some of the higher-end monitor calibrators use a suction cup device that sticks on the monitor and reads a range of colors displayed on the monitor. These hardware/software combination devices create much more accurate color profiles than the strictly software solutions. Also, what type of color matching system (CMS) are you using when printing your image? The color matching system can greatly affect the output color of your image. For information on how to use the various color management systems available, please check the CMS user documentation or the website of the manufacturer. To ensure that the images your Epson Color printer produces are as close as possible to the images displayed on your monitor you should do the following: calibrate your monitor, experiment with various Color Management Systems, try using the ICM (Windows 95 or 98) or ColorSync (Macintosh) setting.

Q: A portion of my image doesn't print when I'm printing from my Macintosh.

A: Your system may not have enough available memory. Close any other applications you are running and turn off background printing. You may need to increase the memory allocation for your application, the EPSON Monitor3, or both.

Q: The printer sounds like it is printing, but no ink is on the paper. What's wrong?

A: The print head nozzles may be clogged. From the Utility Section found in the EPSON printer driver, clean the print heads by performing a head cleaning followed by printing a nozzle check pattern. A head cleaning and nozzle check must be performed as a cycle. After printing a nozzle check, examine the printed dot pattern. Each staggered horizontal and straight vertical line should be completed, with no gaps in the dot pattern. If there are gaps in the dot pattern, continue with another cycle. Perform up to 3 cycles if necessary. If the nozzle check is not printing completely, and if the head cleanings do not help the nozzle check pattern to print completely, try replacing the ink cartridge.

Q: If I want to clear the printer's memory, what should I do?

A: Make sure that you cancel the print job from the computer before you try to clear the printer's memory. Also, make sure the printer is no longer printing. After canceling the print job from the computer, turn the printer off, wait 10 seconds, and then turn on the printer again.

Q: The black or color Ink Out light is flashing or on solid.

A: If the light is flashing, the ink supply is getting low and you will need to replace the cartridge soon. If the light is on solid, the ink cartridge is completely empty and will need to be replaced in order to continue printing. Make sure you only remove the yellow tape seal from the top of any ink cartridge you install into the printer.

Q: When I send to print, an error message "Epspmgr4 - An error has occurred to your program" appears on the screen. My OS is Win98.

A: Check whether your PC has an Anti-Virus software called "PC- Cillin". If yes, please uninstall the software and then send to print again. You may have to uninstall the PC-Cillin software under Safe Mode setting in your PC. It means when the PC boots up, you press F8 to go to Safe Mode setting and then go to "Add/Remove Program" in the Control Panel to remove the software.

Q: Only garbled text is printing. Why?

A: The interface cable may not be securely connected. Turn off the printer and computer. Disconnect and reconnect the cable on both the printer and computer. Make sure the printer is directly connected to the computer and not through a pass through device such as a switchbox. Try printing a screen from a DOS prompt. If the DOS print screen is garbled, try using a different printer cable. If you are only experiencing the issue when trying to print from Windows (but the DOS print screen prints OK), make sure you are using the correct driver or reinstall the driver.

Q: The printer won't feed paper. What should I do?

A: Power the printer on and press the Load/Eject button to see if paper will load. If no paper loads, make sure the paper isn't curled or creased, isn't too old, isn't loaded above the arrow on the left edge guide, and that the paper isn't jammed in the printer. If the Paper Out light is on solid, reload the paper, making sure the paper edge guide is adjusted to fit the paper's width, and then press the Load/Eject button again to see if the paper will now load. If the Paper Out light is flashing, turn the printer off, reload the paper, turn the printer back on, and try pressing Load/Eject again to see if the printer will now successfully load the paper. If the printer still will not load paper, power the printer off, remove the printer cable, and make sure all of the packing materials are removed. If the problem persists, the printer may need to be sent in for service.

Q: My printouts are missing color and/or black print. How can I resolve this issue?

A: If the printer is printing blank pages, make sure you are using the correct printer driver and make sure the paper size is correctly selected in the driver. If the printer is printing black only, the Ink Option in the printer driver may be set to Black instead of Color or a setting in the software may be set to print black only. Also, the print head nozzles may be clogged. From the Utility Section found in the EPSON printer driver, print a nozzle check and examine the printed dot pattern. Each staggered horizontal and straight vertical line should be complete, with no gaps in the dot pattern. If there are gaps in the dot pattern, clean the print heads by running the head cleaning utility in the printer driver. Then, print another nozzle check. The nozzle check and head cleaning are recommended to be performed as a cycle in order for the cleaning cycles to be most effective. If there are still gaps in the dot pattern, continue with another cycle. Perform up to 6 cycles if necessary. If the nozzle check is not printing completely, and if the head cleanings do not help the nozzle check pattern to print completely, try replacing the ink cartridge. Also, make sure you are using a genuine EPSON ink cartridge which has an EPSON label on top of it. If head cleanings still do not help the nozzle check pattern to print completely, your printer may require service and you should contact Epson HelpDesk at 8323111.

Q: Why are the colors in my image incorrect?

A: Due to the fact that your monitor and printer use different technologies to represent colors, your printed colors cannot exactly match the colors you see on your monitor screen. Check the ink setting in the printer driver and make sure it is set to Color, not Black. Make sure the Media Type setting matches the paper or media loaded. Let the printer driver automatically select other settings for the best quality. Check to see that the paper is loaded correctly by removing the paper and reloading it, making sure that the printable side is face up. You can also adjust various color settings in your printer driver and possibly your application software to correct color problems in your image. Also, the print head nozzles may be clogged. From the Utility Section found in the EPSON printer driver, print a nozzle check and examine the printed dot pattern. Each staggered horizontal and straight vertical line should be complete, with no gaps in the dot pattern. If there are gaps in the dot pattern, clean the print heads by running the head cleaning utility in the printer driver. Then, print another nozzle check. A nozzle check and head cleaning must be performed as a cycle in order for the cleaning cycles to work. If there are still gaps in the dot pattern, continue with another cycle. Perform up to 6 cycles ifnecessary. If the nozzle check is not printing completely, and if the head cleanings do not help the nozzle check pattern to print completely, try replacing the ink cartridge. Any ink cartridge installed into the printer must have an EPSON label on top of it. If head cleanings still do not help the nozzle check pattern to print completely, your printer may require service and you should contact the Epson HelpDesk at 8323111

Q: Why are my margins incorrect?

A: The paper may be loaded incorrectly. Make sure that the left and right edge guides are flush against both sides of the paper. Make sure the margins are set correctly in your software application (margins are not adjustable via the printer driver), and make sure you are not trying to print outside of the printable area of the page for your paper size (printable area of the page specifications are available in the User's Manual). Make sure the correct paper size is selected in the printer driver settings.

Q: The power light is on, but nothing prints.

A: Make sure the printer cable is connected. Turn off the printer and computer. Make sure the printer cable is securely connected to the printer and computer ports. Turn on the printer and try printing again. If the cable was not the issue, turn off the printer and computer, disconnect the interface cable and run a self-test. If the self-test works, check the application software for correct installation. Make sure your computer has enough memory to handle the data in your print file. You may want to try reducing the resolution of your image, select fewer colors to print. If you are still having difficulty printing and you are using Windows, try checking the Spool Manager to see if it is on hold or if there are stalled print jobs. If you are using a Macintosh, make sure your Spool Folder is empty. If the printer sounds like it is printing, but there is no ink on the paper, The print head nozzles may be clogged. From the Utility section found in the EPSON printer driver, clean the print heads by performing a head cleaning followed by printing a nozzle check pattern. A head cleaning and nozzle check must be performed as a cycle. After printing a nozzle check, examine the printed dot pattern. Each staggered horizontal and straight vertical line should be complete, with no gaps in the dot pattern. If there are gaps in the dot pattern, continue with another cycle. Perform up to 6 cycles if necessary. If the nozzle check is not printing completely, and if the head cleanings do not help the nozzle check pattern to print completely, try replacing the ink cartridge. If head cleanings still do not help the nozzle check pattern to print completely, your printer may require service and you should contact the Epson HelpDesk at 8323111 for further assistance.

Q: When I try to print in Windows 95 or 98, the message "The printer is out of paper" or "The printer is off-line" appears in the despooler. What do I do?

A: Examine the printer's control panel to make sure the printer does not show a paper out error. Also, the interface cable may not be securely connected. Turn off the printer and computer. Disconnect and reconnect the cable on both the printer and computer. Try printing a screen from a DOS prompt. If the DOS print screen does not print or is garbled, try using a different printer cable. Also check the printer's control panel to make sure the printer does not show ink-out error. If it did, then change the ink cartridge and try printing again.

Q: Color mismatch when printing bitmap images placed in Office 97 (Word and Power Point).

A: Word and Power Point perform color correction in the application itself and the printer driver also performs color correction. Double color correction was done resulting in inaccurate colors on the printout. To rectify the color mismatch problem, select "No Color Adjustment" from the printer driver under the "Mode" option in the "More Settings". If the printout is still not satisfactory try the following : Delete ICM file from "Windows" - "System" - "Color" directory. Make sure the ICM file that you delete belongs to EPSON (EPSON ICM files starts with Exxxx). Check the file properties "profile description" tab for the necessary information before deleting the ICM file Note that the ICM Color Matching from printer driver and application cannot be used if ICM file is absent from the above-mentioned directory.

Q: Why does my printout look blurry or smeared?

A: The thickness lever may be incorrectly set. Make sure that the thickness lever is set to 0 for regular paper and + for envelopes or thicker media. Make sure the paper is not damp. Verify that the printable side of the paper is face up, and check the type of paper being used. EPSON brand paper, which is specifically designed for the Stylus ink jet series of printers, delivers the best printed output. For those media which require a support sheet, you can also try loading one sheet at a time. Make sure the Media Type setting in the printer driver matches the paper or media loaded.

Q: Why is it that the printer driver gets deleted after printing from Freehand 7.0?

A: Under specific circumstances in Window 95 and Window 98, Freehand 7.0 caused the printer driver to be uninstalled after printing. This problem is corrected by Freehand 7.0.2 updater which can be downloaded from the MacroMedia website. USB, and iMac

Q: How can I verify that the iMac® Update 1.0 is installed or not?

A: From the iMac's desktop, select File, Find and type Mac OS ROM and click on Find. Highlight the Mac OS ROM and select File and click on Get Info. The created date should be August 28, 1998 or later. If it is not, you will need to download and install the iMac Update 1.0 from Apple at http://swupdates.info.apple.com.

Q: When I print from my iMac® the printer prints garbage. What should I do to resolve this situation?

A: If the USB cable is connected to the iMac's keyboard, try using the USB port on the right side of the iMac instead. This port is located behind a panel on the iMac. If you need additional USB ports we recommend obtaining a USB Hub.

Q: I installed the printer driver on my Macintosh®, but it isn't showing up in the Chooser. What went wrong?

A: The EPSON driver does not support QuickDraw GX. Therefore, this feature will need to be disabled. If you are using system version 7.5 or later disable this feature, go to the Apple menu, select Control Panels, then open Extensions Manager and deselect"QuickDraw GX." After restarting, the printer will appear in the Chooser. If Quickdraw GX is off and there is still no printer icon in the Chooser, verify your system meets the minimum system requirements.

Q: Why am I getting a memory error message when I try to print from my Macintosh®?

A: You may need to increase the memory allocation for your application, EPSON monitor, or both. If you have background printing enabled, you may want to try disabling it.

Q: Whenever I try to print from my Macintosh®, I get a type 11 error, my system locks up or a portion of my image doesn't print. What's wrong?

A: These issues are typically memory related errors. Check the available memory and its allocation. You may need to increase the memory allocation for your application, the EPSON monitor, or both. Insure that the needed system resources are available. If you have background printing enabled, you may want to try disabling it. Some printing issues can also be caused by conflicts with Extensions and Control Panels. Turn off all third party Extensions and Control Panels that have been added to the system and restart.

Q: Sometimes I get garbage when printing from my Macintosh®. Other times the printer will not print anything at all. What's wrong?

A: Your Spool Folder, which is opened every time you send a job, may be holding too many files. If there are files being held in this folder, you may have trouble printing. To check the Spool Folder, open your hard drive, go to the Systems Folder, then go to Extensions. In Extensions, open the EPSON Folder, then open the Spool Folder. If there are held jobs, trash the entire folder. Empty the trash and try printing again. This normally resolves the issue. Also, check the Chooser and confirm that AppleTalk is inactive if the printer is connected to the printer port.

Q: When printing from my Macintosh I always get a type -39 error. What should I do? My printer is an EPSON Stylus Photo EX.

A: Make sure that the printer is functioning normally by running a printer test page. If the test page prints fine, but still continue to get the error from the Macintosh, you may need to upgrade your system software. If you are running System 7.5.2, we would suggest that you upgrade to System 7.6.1 or higher. This is also suggested by Apple.

Q: I am getting the message "Sorry SP EX cannot be used" when I try to select the "SP EX" icon in the Chooser. What should I do?

A: This message indicates that there a problem with the driver or the way it was installed, and you will need to remove and reinstall the driver. To remove the driver, trash the "SP EX", "EPSON Monitor3", and "EPSON Folder" extensions from your "Extensions" folder (the "Extensions" folder is located in your "System Folder" folder in your hard drive). Then, restart your Macintosh and reinstall the driver. If you have printer drivers of other EPSON printers installed on your system, you may need to reinstall them after removing the Stylus Photo EX driver.

Q: When printing from my Macintosh® an error message comes up that says "The printer is not responding, ensure the printer is connected and on-line. Would you like to try again?". What should I do?

A: If your system version is 7.5, 7.5.1, or 7.5.2 and your computer is a PowerMac6100/60, PowerMac6100/66, PowerMac7100/66AV, PowerMac7100/80AV, PowerMac7200/90, PowerMac7200/120, PowerMac7500/100, PowerMac7600/120, PowerMac8100/80, PowerMac8100/80AV, PowerMac8100/100, PowerMac8115/110, PowerMac8500/120, PowerMac8500/132, PowerMac8500/150, PowerMac9500/120, PowerMac9500/132, PowerMac9500/150, Centris660AV, or Quadra840AV the file SerialDMA Ver.2.0.2 should be installed in the Extensions folder. If Serial DMA Ver. 2.0.2 is not installed in your Extensions folder and you have one of these Macintosh models, copy it from the "Disk 1" folder of the printer installation software. After the extension is in your system, you need to restart your Macintosh. Also, the Serial Port Arbitrator that ships as part of AppleTalk Remote Access conflicts with SerialDMA Ver.2.0.2 when running on Macintosh 7200, 7500, 8500 and 9500. Remove the Serial Port Arbitrator from the Extensions folder if it is installed and you have one of these Macintosh models.

Q: I have the printer Epson Stylus Color 800 connected to my PC and my Macintosh. It prints fine from the PC. Why won't it print from the Macintosh?

A: Print the Default Settings (Color Cleaning + Power-On) on the printer to verify that the I/F mode is set to Auto, not Parallel. The Auto setting allows the printer to automatically switch between the parallel, serial, and optional interfaces. If printing from both the PC and Macintosh, you may also want to consider changing the Auto I/F wait time to 30 seconds (default is 10 seconds). This sets the time period for the printer to wait for data from the current interface and not accept data from the other interface.

Q: The Epson StylusRIP user manual refers to an Updater that can only be installed one time. What if I need to reinstall my software due to a system crash or reformat my hard drive ?

A: The Updater writes a code to your EPSON printer not your hard drive. This only needs to be done once. The Adobe Postscript licensing agreement allows the user to license one and only one printer. You may install the EPSON StylusRIP software, as many times and on as many systems as you wish.

Q: I am unable to Update or License my printer connected to LPT2/LPT3. How can I Update or License my printer and does this mean my interface or cable is defective ?

A: The printer must be connected to the LPT1 port of the PC in order for the Updater or StylusRIP software to work.

Q: I switched ports and now I can't print anything to StylusRIP.

A: The EPSON StylusRIP software will only print to the LPT1 port. LPT2 and LPT3 ports are not supported by StylusRIP.

Q: When printing from PageMaker 6.X, I cannot center my text and graphics. I have adjusted my margins but no matter how I set them, my margins are not equal. How can I center my text and graphics when printing from PageMaker?

A: There are three factors that will affect where text and graphics will print on a page. The first is Document Setup. By default PageMaker's margins are not equal, the left or inside margin is greater and this shifts the print to the right. The second setting to check is located in the Print Menu, PPD. This should be set to your EPSON Stylus printer model. The third setting to check is also located in the Print Menu. Open the Print Menu and click on the Paper button. This will display a page with a letter "E" and the selected method for calculating offset. The options are to calculate based on printable area or paper size. Since the minimum setting for the bottom margin in portrait mode or the right margin in landscape mode is .56", selecting "Use Paper Size" for Offset Calculation may make it easier to center text and graphics. For further instructions on these settings, contact Adobe Technical Support.

Q: Why is the installer disk of StylusRip version 1.0 cannot be read in Win98? How can I use the updater in Win98?

A: StylusRip for Windows has two versions (1.0 and 1.1). Current : Version 1.0 New : Version 1.1 StylusRip version 1.1 fully supports Win98, but StylusRip 1.0 has problem. The installer disk of StylusRip version 1.0 cannot be read in Win98. So "Updater" and "Installer" cannot be used. This is because StylusRip version 1.0 disk is detected by Win98 as copy protect. For user who need to register the license to the printer by "Updater", execute "Updater" from Win95 PC. EPSON StylusRip for Mac

Q: I am unable to Update or License my printer using an ethernet connection. How can I Update or License my printer and does this mean my interface or cable is defective ?

A: Some users have had difficulty with this and it does not mean there is a problem with the ethernet interface or cable. There are two solutions for this problem. The first is to quit the Updater, restart the computer, then go to the Chooser and select the EPSON Stylus Color (EX) or serial printer, close the Chooser and run the Updater If this fails, it is recommended that the Updater be run using a serial connection then switch back to ethernet.

Q: I am unable to select StylusRIP Server in the Chooser. I keep selecting the PSPrinter driver but StylusRIP Server does not appear in the printer window.

A: To select StylusRIP Server, StylusRIP must be running. Quit the Chooser, launch the StylusRIP Server application, then reopen the Chooser and select PSPrinter. StylusRIP Server will now be selectable in the printer window.

Q: I switched ports and now I can't print anything to the StylusRIP Server.

A: The EPSON StylusRIP will look for the printer on the previously used port. If you switched ports or type of connection to the printer, quit the StylusRIP application, remove the CPSPref file from the StylusRIP folder, restart StylusRIP and select the port or type of connection that you have switched to. This file is read every time the StylusRIP is launched.

Q: I am unable to print large files when communicating via ethernet. The Information of Server window shows a graph and there is an error message "No Response from Printer......". If I click the OK button on this error message, StylusRIP continues to print until the error message reappears. Why can't I print large files over the network ?

A: This error only occurs when printing via ethernet and can be corrected by upgrading to StylusRIP version 3.21. This upgrade can be obtained by contacting Epson HelpDesk at (800) 922-8911.

Q: Whenever I try to print from QuarkXpress to Epson StylusRIP, my system locks up as soon as I select Print from the File menu. Is Epson StylusRIP compatible with QuarkXpress ?

A: This is a known problem with QuarkXpress 3.3.2 and the Adobe PS Printer driver. The solution is to remove Balloon Help from the QuarkXpress folder. It is not sufficient to disable Balloon Help, it must be removed from the QuarkXpress folder.

Q: My Quark (PageMaker) document takes over an hour to print. Why is Epson StylusRIP taking so long to rip my document ?

A: Your document probably contains a placed image that was scaled, rotated. or modified in your page layout application. All image modifications should be done prior to placing the image. When placed images are modified in a page layout application, the image is processed twice. Once to rasterize and once to calculate the new location for each dot.

Q: When I try to select Page Setup options from Pagemaker 6.0X , the options for paper are not the same options that come up in other applications when I print with the Adobe PS Printer driver. How can I access the PS Printer Page Setup options?

A: To access the PS Printer Page Setup options hold down the Option key before opening the File menu and selecting Print. The Setup.... button will open the PS Printer Page Setup window. This is only necessary when printing from PageMaker 6.0 and 6.01.

Q: Printer was connected to the Macintosh via the Modem port. Now an additional Ethernet card has been installed. Connection has been changed and by using Stylus (AT) driver it's able to detect and print via the Ethernet card but when StylusRip is activated, the system will search for the printer, it will not be able to locate the printer and prompt you with an error message. How to solve this problem?

A: To solve this do the following: 1. Open the Stylus Rip folder 2. Trash away the "CPSPref" file 3. Double click on the StylusRip Server 4. Printer Connection Setting interface will appear 5. Under Printer Name select the correct model 6. Under Connection select the Ethernet card (Whatever you name your Ethernet card) 7. If you only see the Modem Printer port then click on Scan to detect the additional Ethernet card 8. High light the correct selection then click OK 9. This will start StylusRip and create a new "CPSPref" file If the Printer has been changed e.g. Stylus Color 800 to Stylus Color 1520. Follow all the above steps, and make sure the Printer Name make corresponds with current printer.

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