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Printing Tips
How To Print Your Outlook Express Address Book
If you want a printed, hardcopy of the contacts in your Address Book, here's how:
Note: the Outlook Express email program address book and Windows address book are one and the same.
Open Outlook Express and click on "Tools", select Address Book. Click "File" then click "Print". A printer dialog window will open. Under the "print range" section select "All". Select the number of copies and click "OK".
If you just want to print telephone numbers:
Click "Selection". Click "Phone list", Select the number of copies then click 'OK'.
Another way to print out your Address Book is to first export it to a text file, then print the text file. Here's how:
1. Open your address book. You can either open it while using Outlook Express, or click on "Start", point to "All Programs", then point to "Accessories" and then click on "Address Book".
2. In the Address Book window, click on "File" and then select "Export" and click on "Other Address Book".
3. In the Address Book Export window, click to select "Text File" (Comma Seperated Values) and then click on the "Export" button.
4. A new window will open. Click on the "Browse" button to select a place to export the file to. This will open the "Save As" window.
5. In the "Save As" window, select the location where you want to save the file (My Documents is a good place). Type a name for your file in the "File Name" section. When you are finished, click the "Save" button. This will take you back to the previous window.
6. Click "Next" in the CSV Export window. You will be asked to select the fields you want to export. Make sure there is a check mark in front of the things you want to save and print like "Name", "E-mail Address", "Phone Number", etc.
7. Click the "Finish" button and close the windows.
8. Go to your "My Documents" folder (if that's where you saved it) to locate the file that you just created. Double click to open it, select File/Print from the the toolbar and print it out!
Expand Your Printer's Allowable Printing Area
Printing the "unprintable"... (no, not "that" forbidden text!)
Most printers have an "unprintable" border area for each page printed. Check your printer's manual for its minimum settings and make sure they match the settings listed in Windows under "Unprintable Area."
Click Start > Settings > Printers to open the printer's dialog box. Select your printer, choose File/Properties, then click the Paper tab. If the settings are too high, lower them to increase the printable area. ** Don't lower them past what your printer manual calls for. Experiment to get the printable area you want.
How To Print Only the Part You Need
Here's a tip to help you save on ink and paper...
Want a printed copy of only part of the information on a web page and don't want to copy the entire page or multiple pages? There are a couple of options:
1) Highlight the part of message desired, then copy and paste to a blank email and print it without sending the message. Cancel the email and you have a copy of the desired information.
2) If you are using Internet Explorer: From the web page you are on, highlight the text you want to print. Click on File/Print. In the print dialog window, under "Print range" click on "Selection" and then click the "OK" button at the bottom. Only the text you have highlighted will print.
Print Preview: Add it to your browser's tool bar.
Printouts don't always come out looking like you'd expect,
especially when printing from the Web. For instance, when printing directions from Google Maps, I usually get a page at the end of the print out with nothing but a header and footer containing the site's url, date, time, etc.(what a watse of paper!). When this happens it pays to use your
browser's Print Preview function to make sure what you see is what you'll get.
You can always go to the File section of your browser's tool bar and select Print Preview to determine what going to be printed from the Web, but adding the Print Preview button to your browser's toolbar will make it even easier to use. Here's how:
In Internet Explorer select View -> Toolbars -> Customize.
In the "Available toolbar buttons" box, select the "Print Preview" line,
click on "Add", then "Close."
How To Clear PC Memory Space For Printing
Are you getting a "Not Enough Disk Space to Print" message on your PC screen? Memory, or lack of it, could be the problem. Here are some steps you can take to clear up space:
-Click the desktop Start button.
-Select Find and then Files or Folders.
-Type "*.TMP" in the Named box.
-Type "C:\" in the Look In box.
-Make sure that the Include Subfolders box is checked.
-Click the Find Now button.
-Highlight any temporary files returned in the Search
Results list by choosing Edit and then Select All.
-Click File and then Delete to delete the files. *If any
of the files are necessary to Windows, then Windows will
not allow them to be deleted.
-Double-click the Recycle Bin to open it.
-Click on File and then Empty Recycle Bin to remove the
files from your system.
-Click the X in the upper right corner of the Recycle Bin
to close it.
Note: Before printing large, graphics-intensive documents, close other programs to free up virtual memory space and don't mess with your computer during large print jobs. ;)
Watermarks... Add some class to your Word documents!
Watermarks, images barely visible behind text, add a touch of class to your Microsoft Word documents. Inserting a watermark once took some effort, leading many users to buy paper with preprinted watermarks. But Word 2002 makes it very simple to print pages with your own custom background images and text. Here's how:
1. Choose Page Layout from the View menu.
2. Go to the Format menu, click Background and choose Printed Watermark. * For picture watermarks, click Picture Watermark and Select Picture. Find the image you want to use on your hard drive and click Insert. * For text watermarks, choose Text Watermark and type the text you'd like to use.
3. Tweak your options and press Apply.
The process is not as obvious in Microsoft Word 97 and 2000 but still possible.
1. Choose Page Layout from the View menu.
2. Choose Picture from the Insert menu, find the image you want to use on your hard drive, and click Insert.
3. Click Format and Picture.
4. Under the Picture tab, go to Image Control and choose watermark as the color.
5. In Word 97, choose None from the Wrapping tab. In Word 2000, set Behind Text as the wrapping style under the Layout tab.
6. Press OK.
The watermark will print in the background of every page of the document.
How To Copy A Page from Adobe Acrobat Into MS Word -
(so you can make changes, add things and print your changes)
Some Adobe PDF files will allow you to copy text while others are protected and will not. If your file is not protected, you can click on the "Edit" menu and then click "Select All". This will highlight all the text in the PDF file. Then click on "Edit" again from the toolbar and select "Copy". This puts it into your browser's clipboard. When you are ready to transfer the text into Word, click on "Edit" and select "Paste".
Another way is to click on the "Text Select" button on the Adobe toolbar (it has the capital letter T or an I on the button). This will turn your cursor into an I-beam shape instead of a hand shape and will allow you select only the text within the PDF you want to copy. Highlight the text you want and selct Copy as above to paste to your new Word document.
Note: I always open a new Word document BEFORE starting this procedure. - Phil
Print Multiple Pages On A Single Sheet in Adobe Reader
Here's how:
1. Open a PDF document in Adobe Reader.
2. Go to File > Print.
3. Click "Page Scaling" drop box under Page Handling section.
4. Click "Multiple pages per sheet".
5. Select the number of pages per sheet. *If the border for each page is needed, check the box for "Print page border" then click "OK".
Note: If you are using an older version of Adobe Reader it might not have the function to print multipages (download latest version of Adobe Reader at no cost).
You can get the same results in older versions of Adobe Reader by going to Print>Properties(next to Printer Name), Finishing or Page Layout or Layout(depends on the printer), Multipages, Page per sheet, etc.
Should You Use the Print Spooler, and If So, When?
Here's another way to improve your printing speed:
Windows defaults to spooling print jobs. The Print Spooler is a background program that writes data to temporary files in your C:\Windows\Temp directory. Although this lets you perform other tasks while you print, it does slow printing. On most printers, you can turn off the spooler by going to Start > Settings > Printers. Right-click on the icon of the printer you're using. Click Properties and select the Details tab. Click on the Spool Settings button at the bottom of the dialog box. Select the Print Directly to Printer option. This will tie up your application until the printer has all the data, but your print job should finish more quickly. Printing directly to the printer will also come in handy if your print spooler crashes and you need to print before you reboot your PC.
Print Documents Faster the Second Time Around! (Win 2000/XP only)
Windows 98 and ME deletes your print jobs from the printer spool as soon as they print. So the following won't work for those systems. A little-known and handy setting found only in Windows 2000 and XP allows you to keep your print documents for later and print them faster. For Win 2000, turn on the option in your printer's Properties dialog box. Go to Start > Settings > Printers. In XP, open Control Panel, click on Printers and Other Hardware, and select View Installed Printers. Right-click your printer and select Properties. Click the Advanced tab, check Keep Printed Documents and click OK. To create a shortcut to the printer spool: In the Printers or Printers and Faxes window, either right-click the printer icon and send the shortcut to your desktop or drag & drop the icon to your desktop or your Start menu. To reprint a document, just launch the printer shortcut, right-click the document file and select Restart.
Save Each Favorite Printer Setting by Tricking Your Computer
If you frequently use different printer settings when using your printer, such as black & white drafts versus color documents, you've no doubt found out it is a real hassle to change these settings each time you print. Why not trick Windows into thinking you have two different printers? "Install" the same printer twice, then set the Properties for each to match your most commonly used settings. From then on, the only setting change you'll have to make is selecting the printer you want to use.
Here's how:
To install a second version of your printer, select Start > Settings > Printers and click Add Printer. Be sure to give this "other" printer an appropriate name, such as "ColorPrinter". When the installation is complete, you'll see two different printer icons in the Printers window, and you can adjust their properties accordingly. Then just right-click on the printer icons and create a shortcut to your desktop. **You can also drag and drop documents to be printed onto the shortcut for instant printing!
One Simple Trick To Print Faster AND Cheaper!
Speed up your printer's output and save money! You can trick an inkjet into speeding up, and save a few bucks in the process: Turn off the color. Yep, it's that simple. See, unless color is crucial for your document, you're wasting ink and slowing down the printer if you output in color.
Don't believe us? Test it... Print a color page, then print it again in grayscale. To do this, go to Start > Settings > Printers and right-click on the printer's icon. Go to Properties and find the tab that lets you change from color to grayscale. Now, print the page again. The file I tested took more than 2 minutes to print in color; the grayscale version took only 35 seconds. When you do need color, simply change the settings back.
How to Print Your Screen Using the "Print Screen" Keyboard Button
Have you ever noticed that button on your keyboard marked "Print Screen"? It's usually located on the top right of your keyboard. You would expect that when you press it, you might get a printout of what's on your screen.
It does sound logical but when you press it, nothing seems to happen right? Is it broken? Nope.. It's not broken, but there are a couple of steps you need to do after you press that button.
If you wanted to print a web page, you can always click the Printer icon or select File/Print from the text menu. But, if you want to print exactly what's on the screen (pictures, colors and all) this is how you would do it:
When you press the "Print Screen" (or "Prnt Scrn") button, Windows 'captures' the whole of your screen content and copies it to a temporary area like the clipboard. To see anything, you need to paste the copied screen data to a program on your computer that can handle graphics.
For example, you can paste it into Microsoft Word, Excel, Paint, Adobe Photoshop, or similar other program that can you can paste graphics into.
Try this:
1. Press "Print Screen" button.
2. Open Microsoft Word.
3. Paste the contents by pressing Ctrl-V. (or right click and choose "Paste")
Lo and behold! The image of the screen will magically appear.
This includes everything - any open windows, title bars and other stuff that was on the screen when you pressed the Print Screen key.
Now, if you want to modify what's copied, you have another option. If you only want to copy the contents of the active window (not everything else on the screen), all you have to do is hold down the "Alt" button while you press the Print Screen button.
Give it try, if you like. Just follow the 3 steps above, except hold down the "Alt" key this time.
So, now that you've learned how to do a screen capture, the only thing left is to print it. All you have to do is use your normal print function. Either clicking the "Print" icon, or going through the menu bar to File/Print.
Cool Tricks for Printing Web Pages (and more!)
Most people know how easy it is to print out a Web page while visiting a site. But Internet Explorer makes it even easier by allowing you to print out the Web pages in your Favorites menu without even visiting the site itself! Just right-click the page from the Favorites menu and select Print from the pop-up menu. Internet Explorer will send the Web page directly to your printer.
If a site uses frames (where sections of the page scroll independently of each other), you can quickly print a single frame. In Internet Explorer, just right-click inside the frame, then select Print.
Reader Tip...
"Hi, About a month or 2 ago you mentioned printing from web pages and suggested copy and paste to Word and then printing from Word... well, my niece taught me a better trick and I wanted to share it with y'all. I use the "print selection" to pick what I want to print and then it prints just what I selected from the web page. Now, it would depend on how much of the web page you actually want... you'll have to decide what works best." - Linda
Thanks, Linda, for sharing your tips. If you have a tip for us to post here, please send us an e-mail. Don't be shy folks, help us spread a little knowlege!
When you print out web pages, do you get annoyed at all the header and footer info that gets printed on each and every page? You know, the web address, title, etc? With Internet Explorer, you can get that taken right out of there, even customize it. Here's how:
1. In the menu bar click the File menu, choose Page Setup
2. Find the "Headers & Footers" area and remove all the funny looking characters in the respective fields. Hit OK and you're done.
Now, that will keep the computer from printing all of your
header and footer info, but what if you want some of it? Well, you can do that too, using the parameters below in the header and footer fields:
&w Window title
&u Page address (URL)
&d Date in short format (as specified by Regional Settings in Control Panel)
&D Date in long format (as specified by Regional Settings in Control Panel)
&t Time in the format (as specified by Regional Settings in Control Panel)
&T Time in 24-hour format
&p Current page number
&P Total number of pages
&& A single ampersand (&)
&b The text immediately following these characters as centered.
&b&b The text immediately following the first "&b" as centered, and the text following the second "&b" as right-justified.
For example, if you want the header to have the window (page) title and the URL, you would type: &w &u
If you wanted to make it so it also specified you were the one who printed it, you could put something like: &w &u Printed by Phil on &d
The only thing you need to keep an eye on is the spacing. To get a single space between items (like &w&u) you need to hit the space bar twice. Experiment and you'll get it! NOTE: Don't worry about the changes you make, it only applies to that particular print job. The Headers and Footers default settings (web address, date and time, etc.) will reset after the print is done or by closing your browser.
Printer Friendly Web Page Printing:
"Many of your newsletter articles are excellent and worth saving but, unless I'm missing it, there is no "Printer Friendly" version. Each page prints with the extraneous material on either side and uses up much more paper and a lot more ink (a situation which is diametrically opposite of what we are both trying to do, i.e. high quality printing at more reasonable cost. I am downloading the articles to a floppy but would rather have nicely printed copies. I hope you can do this. I enjoy your news letter and your products are recommendable." Bob Miller.
Here's a quick way to print only the newsletter content without printing the extraneous material on the sides of the web page:
Place your mouse cursor at the beginning of the newsletter text you want to have printed. Left-click on the mouse and drag it all the way to the end of the content. Next release the left mouse button and right-click anywhere on the highlighted copy and choose 'print' from the menu. When the print dialog box comes up look in the "Page Range" section and tick the one that says "selection" then click the Print button at the bottom of the box.
Another way would be to highlight the text as described above and right-click on the selected text and choose "copy". Next, open up Notepad or a Word document. Right click on the blank page and select 'paste'. From there you can edit out and print what you want.
Our friends over at Cloudeight Information Avenue have provided a quick and easy interactive tutorial on how to Copy/Paste.
Do you know how many web pages your about to print?
Maybe you want the full page of information to print, but you don’t know how many pages it will be. Clicking the "print" button on your browser could result in lots of additional, unwanted pages. Here's how to find out the number of pages your going to print:
Go to the File menu on your browser's tool bar and select "Print Preview". This will allow you to see how many pages
will print and where the page breaks fall. Adjust the margins to get any lone lines to print on the previous page with the rest.
To do this, select "Page Setup" under the File menu to adjust your margins. Once you know what you want to print, under the "print dialog box", you can select just the current page or a range of pages.
Make Your Printers Work More Efficiently on Your Network
Here's some cost-cutting advice. If you have two or more computers networked together, don't forget that each computer doesn't necessarily need its own printer. Both Windows and the Mac OS support simple printer sharing. That means Junior can print his book report on your laser printer, and you can print that pie chart for your sales presentation on his color inkjet.
Managing Print Jobs on the Fly
Did ya know?... When you print, a printer icon appears in your system tray until the printing has completed. Double-click this icon and a window for the printer opens. You can see a list of the print jobs waiting to print and the status of the current job that's printing. Want to pause or cancel a job in the list? Right-click on it and make your selection from the menu. If you want to change the priority of a job in the list, simply drag it up or down in the list.
Here's how to quickly cancel an outgoing Word print job:
How many times have you sent a document to the printer, only to realize that you need to make a correction to it and then print it again? If you have quick fingers, you can easily use Word to cancel a print job that you've already sent to the printer. The method you use depends on whether Background Printing is active. This feature uses additional system memory to allow you to continue working in Word while a document is being printed.
However, it usually takes a little bit longer for documents to print when Background Printing is turned on. To check whether Background Printing is active in Word, choose Tools | Options from the menu bar and then click on the Print tab. Select or clear the Background Printing check box in the Printing Options panel, and then click OK. When Word's Background Printing feature is turned off, you can cancel an outgoing print job simply by pressing the [Esc] key or clicking Cancel when Word notifies you that it's sending your document to the printer.
What Kind of Paper Should You Use?
Starch is used as a binder in the production of paper. It is the use of a starch coating that controls ink penetration when printing. Cheaper papers do not use as much starch, which is why your elbows turn black when you are leaning over your morning paper.
Stick to plain paper when you're not generating high-quality color images. Most inkjets make fewer passes when printing on uncoated stock.
Use "draft" or "economy" mode when top quality isn't needed. Doing so shouldn't degrade text quality much, and it may even produce output good enough for all but the final versions of your jobs.
Turn off resource-hungry halftoning, color-matching, and image-enhancement options when you don't need them.
Use the Proper Paper Settings:
Many people don't know that telling your printer what kind of paper you are using can have a dramatic effect on the finished print. Paper settings generally control the amount of ink that is put on the paper. Make sure you're using the right setting for your chosen paper. The Plain Paper setting uses the most ink, while Glossy Film and Photo Paper settings use the least. When you find a setting that works for a particular paper type, take note of the setting so you'll be able to get the same results when you use it again.
More Paper Resources:
Newsletter subscriber and customer Joe Nishikida writes:
"Could you explain the use of different types of ink on photo paper and how to print long lasting photos (what type of paper, type of printer, type of ink) and give some examples of each. Maybe a little history could be used to inform us. This could be used to help those interested in buying a photo printer and then not have the results that one expected."
That's a tall order to fill Joe so I'll try to provide some useful links to relevant info below. There are many types of paper used for printing. It all depends on what you want to achieve. For everyday text printing, most of the all-purpose papers found in the office supplies stores will do just fine. For printing photos, it's best to go with the printer manufacturer's recommended paper. Naturally, they want to push their own product but their inks have been tested for best results for those 'recommended' papers. - Phil
Paper Types and their Printing Properties.
Paper University - All About Paper.
Several articles from the guru of imaging permanence, Henry Wilhelm.
ZDNet's Tech Guide: Photo printing paper.
Photo Printing Paper: Choosing the Best.
Red River Paper's Info Center is not only a great place to get paper but there's lots of good info there as well.
Printing Shortcuts
Say you're in a big hurry to print a saved file. Finding and firing up the originating program (your word processor, for example) and, in turn, calling up the file, navigating to the program's print function and working through the print dialogue box can seem to take forever when seconds count. By taking advantage of Windows 95/98's shortcuts, you can let your computer do all the work. Here's how:
Click on the Start button, go to the Settings menu and choose Printers. Single-click on the printer of your choice, to highlight it. Right-click the highlighted printer and select Create Shortcut. Windows will tell you it can't create the shortcut here and ask if you want it placed on your desktop. Say Yes. Then whenever you want to print in a hurry, just highlight the file you wish to output and drag it onto the printer shortcut on your desktop. Windows will look up the program, open the file and start outputting right away.
Print Quickly: Push Control and P on your keyboard to open the Print Dialog. You can adjust lots of settings in there as well and you can access the printer's preferences (settings). Go ahead and look around in there, you'll be amazed at all the things you can find and adjust!
How To Print Captured Files (PRN files): Turn 'em loose!
All of us at, one time or another in our experience with computers, have said to ourselves while sitting at the print screen, "Print to File, what's that and, Why would I want to?"
Well, naturally we try it and we are left with this PRN file.
What The Heck Is A PRN file?
A PRN file is a special type of file which contains instructions for a printer, it tells the printer what to print on the page and where as well as which paper tray to use, what the paper size is and a number of other controls. You can open a .PRN file in any text editor but what you'll likely see is your text surrounded by a whole bunch of "junk" which represents all the various printer codes necessary to set margins, special spacing, graphics, etc.
PRN files are usually created automatically by a printer driver, in fact this is the primary purpose of the printer driver; to translate the generic output from an application such as Word or Notepad into something the printer can understand and interpret. Normally this whole process of creating the PRN file is transparent, you print a document in your favorite application and the paper starts feeding through the printer.
There can however be some uses for intercepting and capturing a PRN file before it gets to the printer. Having the PRN file allows you to reprint the document without running or even having the original application that created the file. Print to File is perfect for being able to reproduce an exact print out time and time again, you just need to know how to print the PRN file, which is where PrnPrint enters the picture.
PrnPrint (386k - W9x/2k/XP) is a free program that allows you to easily print captured "Print to file" files, (*.prn), text files (*.txt) and postscript files (*.ps). You can even select an option in this application that will add a link in your Send To menu that points to PrnPrint.
One way you can configure your system is that when you right-click and "Send To" PrnPrint, it will wait in a dropped files tab until you tell it to print. Another option is to set PrnPrint to automatically print anything in the dropped files tab. This makes a great solution for printing out "read me" text files without having to open them on the screen first.
Another very similar and easy to use program for sending files to be printed directly to the printer
is PrintFile. It's also freeware. PrintFile is a Windows utility program that will enable you to print files fast and easily. The program recognizes plain text, PostScript, Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) and binary formats. Using this program can save you a lot of paper and thereby also saving valuable natural resources.
Print in a Flash
Most folks print a file by opening its application, then opening the file, choosing File, Print, and finally closing the application. To save on clicks and keystrokes, try the following technique instead.
Open Windows Explorer or My Documents and locate the file or files you want to print. Right-click the file or a group of selected files and choose Print. For most file types, the associated application will automatically open, send the file to the printer and close without further action.
Sometimes with image files the right-click Print command will launch a special process, such as the Photo Printing Wizard. This adds a few steps, but if you're printing with the default printer settings you can quickly move through the wizard without changing anything.
Add Your Printer to "SendTo" Menu
Print documents without opening them by adding your printer to the Win9x 'SendTo' menu (accessed when you highlight and right- click on any file in a Windows Explorer or My Computer window). Open C:\WINDOWS\SENDTO and create a shortcut there for your printer. Your printer will now appear the next time you access the 'SendTo' menu.
How To Edit Text When In Print Preview (Word 2002/2003)
As the name implies, Print Preview allows you to see what your document will look like when it is printed. However, what many people don't know is that you can still edit your text when you are in Print Preview.
Here's how to edit text in Print Preview:
- From the File menu, click the Print Preview option.
- Click the text that you want to change. Word will magnify the text.
- Click the Magnifier button on the tool bar. The pointer will change from a magnifying glass to an "I".
- Make the necessary changes to the text.
- When you are finished, click the Magnifier button and click the document.
- To exit out of Print Preview, click the Close button on the toolbar.
Save Paper In MS Word 2000
If you want to create a reference copy of a long document, why not print several pages on a single sheet of paper? Here's how: Open the document in Word 2000 and select File > Print, just as you normally do. When the Print dialog box appears, drop down the Pages Per Sheet in the bottom right corner, choose 4 pages, then click OK. Your document will print with four pages on each sheet.
Configure Word For Reverse Printing
When you print a Word document the document is printed from beginning to end. You can configure Word to reverse the order that the pages are printed in. This means Word will print the last page first and the first page last. To configure Word to reverse the print order complete the
5 steps below.
1 - Open a Word document.
2 - From the Tools menu, click Options.
3 - Click the Print Tab.
4 - Place a check beside the Reverse print order option.
5 - Click OK.
Print Out A List Of Word's Shortcut Keys
Shortcut keys allow you to initiate certain commands. For example, you can assign a shortcut key to launch the Word Count command instead of selecting the option from the Tools menu. The one big problem (at least for me) with using shortcut keys is that you need to remember the keystrokes that you have assigned to the various tasks. To make it easier you may want to print a list of shortcut keys for reference. You can do so by clicking the Print option from the File menu. Then use the drop down arrow beside the "Print what option" to select Key Assignments.
No fax machine? Use Windows XP to send and recieve faxes!
Not everyone has a dedicated fax machine in their home or office. Windows XP includes a fax service that provides you with complete faxing capabilities. Using your computer, you
can send, receive, track, and monitor faxes.
The Fax service is NOT installed with XP by default. If you want to use this feature, you have to install it. The process is pretty simple. To install the fax component:
- Click Start and click Control Panel.
- Double click the Add or Remove Programs applet.
- Click Add/Remove Windows Components.
- From the list of Windows Components, click Fax Services.
- Click Next. If prompted, insert the XP CD.
- Click Finish.
- Click Close.
Once you have the Fax service installed, you MUST configure it before you can start using it. To configure the Fax service:
- Click Start, point to All Programs, Accessories, Communications, Fax, and click the Fax Console. (this launches the Fax Configuration Wizard). Click Next.
- Type in the information that you want to appear on the fax cover page. Click Next.
- Select the modem that you want to use for faxing. Click Next.
- Enable Send is selected by default. Select Enable Receive if you want to receive faxes as well.
Click Next.
- In the TSID box, type in the Transmitting Subscriber Identification. Click Next.
- In the CSID box, type in the Called Subscriber Identification. Click Next.
Select the Print it on option if you want received faxes to be automatically printed. Select the printer where the faxes will be printed. Click Next. Review the summary and click Finish.
Whoa! Stop That Run-away Printer
Sometimes when you go to cancel a print job, the printer just keeps on printing. Usually, the easiest way to stop a runaway printer is to double-click its icon in the system
tray (on the bottom right - beside the clock) to open the "printer queue folder". Then highlight the documents you don't want and hit the Delete key on your keyboard.
If the above method does't work, try right-clicking the "queued" documents and select Cancel from the menu. If you don't have a system tray printer icon you can open the Printers & Faxes folder from the Start Menu or Control Panel
in XP. For folks using pre-XP Windows, you can do it from "My Computer". From there, double-click your printer and delete those stubborn jobs as described above. That should stop documents sitting in the queue from printing, and cancel the one that's going.
If you still can't seem to get the current print job to stop printing, just let it finish up if it's small. On the other hand, if you're printing something large, you will probably want to stop it...
Go back to the system tray icon or the Printers folder. Try right clicking the document and canceling the job again (sometimes the first try doesn't take). If that doesn't work, shut off the power to the printer... using the printer's on/off switch is the best way to go. Restart Windows, assuming everything you need is saved. That will usually kill any print job. If you get a warning about possibly losing a print job, acknowledge it and continue to shut down. When Windows restarts, it may ask if you want to cancel the print job - say yes.
How To Clear Incomplete/Stuck Print Jobs From Your Print Queue
How To Clear Incomplete/Stuck Print Jobs From Your Print Queue
When print jobs are initiated they are stored in a print job list, also called a print queue. If the printer does not complete the print job, due to a pause (the printer being off-line, or a failed print spooler,etc.), your print jobs will build up in the print queue causing it to become locked-up. Follow the steps below to clear your print queue of incomplete print jobs. (For Windows 98, Me, 2000 and XP).
Open the Printer folder by following the steps below. (For Window 98, Me, and 2000):
- Click Start.
- Click Settings.
- Click Printers.
For Windows XP:
- Click Start.
- Click Control Panel.
- Click Printers and Other Hardware or Printers and Faxes.
(NOTE: If you have the Printers and Faxes option in this screen, skip to step five, if not, continue to the next step.)
- Click Printers and Faxes.
- Select View Installed Printers.
- Double-click the Printer to open the print queue.
- Click Printer in the menu.
- Select Pause Printing if it is not already selected. This will stop all printing to the printer.
- Click Printer again and select Purge Print Documents or Cancel All Documents, then click Yes to confirm the action.
If there are any documents left in the queue, un-pause the print queue by clicking Printer then Pause Printing to resume printing.
- Click Printer again, then Cancel All Documents or Purge
Print Documents.
If there are still documents in the queue, restart the computer. Once the computer has restarted, check the print queue to insure that it is clear. In some instances the queue will still not be clear (most commonly this happens in Windows NT, Windows 2000 and Windows XP). If this is the case, stop, then restart the printer services by following the steps below.
For Windows XP:
- Click Start and then Control Panel.
- Select Performance and Maintenance.
- Select Administrative Tools.
- Select Services.
- Select Print Spooler to open the properties window.
- Click Stop to stop the service. Once the service is stopped click Start to restart the service.
- Click OK to close the Print Spooler Properties window.
How to print a Photo-Proof Sheet
Have you ever wanted to print picture thumbnails on one piece of paper? If you're using Windows XP, this is what I suggest:
1) Go to the folder where the photos are that you want to
print (usually saved in My Pictures).
2) Double click on one of the photos. The Windows Picture
and Fax Viewer will come up.
3) At the bottom, there's a group of icons. Double click
on the printer icon (fourth from right side).
4) This opens up the Photo Printing Wizard. Click Next.
5) Here you can select which photos you want to print
(Select All or just the ones you want to print). Click Next.
6) This brings you to Printing Options.
7) Select your printer and printing preferences. Click Next.
8) This brings you to the Layout Selection. One of the
options is Contact Sheet Prints, where you can print 35
prints per page. Click Next and your thumbnail pictures
will print.
Go ahead and play with it a bit. When you're happy with the layout, print it on good photo quality paper. Now you can take it with you to show family and friends. - Phil
What Happens When You Click "OK" to Print?
There is a sequence of events that take place, seemingly, in the blink
of a eye:
1. The software application you are using sends the data to
be printed to the printer driver.
2.The driver translates the data into a format that the
printer can understand and checks to see that the printer
is online and available to print.
3. The data is sent by the driver from the computer to the
printer via the connection interface (parallel, USB, etc.).
4. The printer receives the data from the computer. It
stores a certain amount of data in a buffer. The buffer can
range from 512 kilobytes random access memory (RAM) to
16 megabytes RAM, depending on the model. Buffers are
useful because they allow the computer to finish with the
printing process quickly, instead of having to wait for the
actual page to print. A large buffer can hold a complex
document or several basic documents.
5. If the printer has been idle for a period of time, it will
normally go through a short clean cycle to make sure
that the printheads are clean. Once the clean cycle is
complete, the printer is ready to begin printing.
6. The control circuitry activates the paper feed stepper
motor. This engages the rollers, which feed a sheet of paper
from the paper tray/feeder into the printer. A small trigger
mechanism in the tray/feeder is depressed when there is
paper in the tray or feeder. If the trigger is not depressed,
the printer lights up the "Out of Paper" LED and sends an
alert to the computer.
7. Once the paper is fed into the printer and positioned at
the start of the page, the print head stepper motor uses
the belt to move the print head assembly across the page.
The motor pauses for the merest fraction of a second each
time that the print head sprays dots of ink on the page and
then moves a tiny bit before stopping again. This stepping
happens so fast that it seems like a continuous motion.
8. Multiple dots are made at each stop. It sprays the CMYK
(Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black) colors in exact amounts
to make any other color imaginable.
9. At the end of each complete pass, the paper feed stepper
motor advances the paper a fraction of an inch. Depending
on the ink-jet model, the print head is reset to the
beginning side of the page, or, in most cases, simply
reverses direction and begins to move back across the page
as it prints.
10. This process continues until the page is printed. The
time it takes to print a page can vary widely from printer
to printer. It will also vary based on the complexity of
the page and size of any images on the page. For example,
a printer may be able to print 16 pages per minute (PPM)
of black text but take a couple of minutes to print one,
full colour, page-sized image.
11. Once the printing is complete, the print head is parked.
The paper feed stepper motor spins the rollers to finish
pushing the completed page into the output tray. Most
printers today use inks that are very fast-drying, so that
you can immediately pick up the sheet without smudging it.
So, now you know! Printers are truly a wonderful technology! - Phil
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