A+ Certification Guide Chapter 11 Printers
Chapter 11 Objectives Printing fundamentals. Laser printers Inkjet printers Thermal printers Impact printers. Printer Installation and Configuration Printer Maintenance Printer Troubleshooting Tools and Techniques
Terminology Print device: The hardware that controls ink flow. Print devices can be locally attached, connected to the network, or shared by another computer. Printer: The software that tells the hardware how to work. This software is usually OS-dependent. Also known as "the driver." Print spooler: Temporary data storage for print documents. Usually found on hard drive. But with newer high-end printers having their own RAM and UPS backup power, this is sometimes offloaded to the printer RAM. Print queue: System folder that saves print jobs until the device is ready.
Print Drivers Two types of software that control print device: Firmware Built into printer circuitry/systemboard. Software Installed into client system requesting the print job. This is referred to as the print driver. Windows supplies a printer subsystem on which major manufacturers, such as HP and Epson, build their print driver. This often allows a generic printer driver to be installed from the Windows preloaded system software to test basic functions. Manufacturer printer drivers should be periodically updated to access full functionality of the print device.
Print Process 1. An application program in the computer sends a print request to the Windows operating system. 2. Windows uses a print queue to manage print jobs, storing one or more print jobs in the default temporary directory until the printer is ready. 3. When ready, the print device receives a stream of data from the computer through its interface connector. The data stream commands select A page orientation and margins. Built-in fonts and typefaces (or loads them using system software) 4. If the data stream/printer driver is appropriate for the printer, printing works correctly. If not, a stream of garbage characters are printed. 5. The printer feeds a page and prepares to print the document from the top of the page. 6. When the page is complete, the paper is ejected and the process starts again with the next page of a multipage document or a new document.
Types of Printers Laser and LED: Use of light rays to create images for toner ink to adhere to Inkjet: Use of nozzles to spray exact amount of ink onto page Thermal: Use of heat sensitive paper to transfer image to paper Impact: Use of moving pins to imprint image onto an ink ribbon that is pressed onto paper during impact
Printer Specifics: Laser/LED Similar to photocopiers, both laser and photocopier use: Electrostatically charged drum to receive the image Powdered toner that can be heated to create permanent image Roller-based paths for paper to work through the print process Differences: PC laser printers are digital; copiers are analog. Computer print driver controls output versus copier being independent of PC and using a scanner to copy image. Laser printers use higher temperatures than copiers to bond the toner to the paper. LED and laser use the same light imaging process just different light sources.
Laser Print Process 1. Processing The printer receives data from printer driver and stores it in memory. 2. Conditioning The image drum is conditioned. 3. Exposing The page is written to the drum. 4. Developing The image is developed on the drum with the toner. 5. Transferring The toner image of the page is transferred to the paper. 6. Fusing The toner image of the page is fused permanently to the paper. 7. Cleaning The image of the preceding page is removed using a discharge lamp.
Laser Printing Operation
Color Laser Printer Operation
Laser Printers and Memory Basic text fonts are built into the printer. Printers have a limited amount of memory. Graphics require extra memory to feed data into the print process. If the print job requires more memory than the print device can process, the job may stall or print slowly. Solutions: Add more RAM (not possible on some models). Reduce the resolution of the print job. Reduce the size of photo images. Convert color images to black and white. Text resolution is not affected. Do not reduce to less than 600 dots per inch (dpi). These adjustments can be configured on the Printer Properties screen.
Toner Cartridges Contains a plastic-based powder that melts onto paper when heated. 80% of problems with laser printers can be fixed by replacing the cartridge. Cartridge is light-sensitive and needs to be kept in dark space. Inside printer or inside its protective packaging Comes with cleaning tool to keep reflective mirror clean. 80% of printing process is inside the cartridge. Use paper made for laser printing versus inkjet or impact. Especially applies to labels and envelopes. Transparency stock has special type for laser printers. Avoid paper with damaged or wrinkled edges. Align paper before loading it.
Inkjet Printers Also called ink dispersion printers. Popular in residential and small businesses Use tightly spaced nozzles to spray dots of ink onto paper: Might have 180 nozzles just for black ink Prints one line at a time Requires realignment of print head after changing ink cartridges: Can be done using printer software Ink cartridges: Come in black and several colors (CMYK) Composite color cartridge cheaper to buy, but often more expensive to use
Inkjet Print Device Components
Inkjet Print Process 1. The paper or media is pulled into position by a roller mechanism. 2. The printhead moves across the paper, placing black and color ink droplets as directed by the printer driver. 3. At the end of the line, the paper or media is advanced, and the printhead either reverses direction and continues to print (often referred to as Hi-Speed mode) or returns to the left margin before printing continues. 4. After the page is completed, the media is ejected.
Inkjet Maintenance Printheads and cartridges: Cartridge nozzles can become clogged. Use self-cleaning feature. Warm shallow water soak of nozzle tips. Preventative: Use printer power button to shut down printer. Do not use a power switch or unplug it. Printheads can become misaligned. Use self-alignment feature. Refilling cartridges: Wait until warranty period expires.
Thermal Printers Three methods: Thermal transfer Direct thermal Dye sublimation Thermal printers are mostly used in: Check-out machines to print receipts Some fax machines Important to choose paper based on correct thermal printing method.
Impact Printers Also called dot matrix printers: Use pins that strike an ink-saturated ribbon. Print quality depends on number of pins. 9 pin Commonly used in draft mode 24 pin Creates near letter quality print Often use tractor-fed perforated paper. Sprockets guide paper through print process. Printhead can become hot to the touch.
Printer Installation and Configuration Windows 7 Control Panel - Printer installation
Printer Options General Features the Print Test Page button. Printing Preferences button opens the Printer Preferences menu. Sharing Enables or disables printer sharing over the network. The Sharing tab also features the Additional Drivers button. When configured by the local user, this permits remote users to connect to the printer with other versions of Windows. Ports Lists and configures printer ports and paths to network printers. Advanced Schedules availability of printer, selects spooling methods, printer priority, print defaults (quality, paper type, orientation, and so forth), printer driver, print processor, and separator page. Security Enables you to select which users can print and manage print jobs and documents. Device Settings Selects default paper tray, font substitutions, page protection, font cartridges, and printer memory. Color Management Selects default color profile.
Printer Properties Options
Optimizing Printer Performance If there are two sources of paper, make sure the preferred source is selected. Paper/quality tab Printer Spooler should be set to automatic. My Computer management console Services Have enough RAM to accommodate not only the usual array of system services but also print jobs. Use task manager performance tab. Print a file/picture. Observe memory usage. Update Printer Firmware.
USB 2.0 Physical Printer Interfaces Used by most inkjet, solid ink, dye-sublimation, thermal, and laser printers Also used by most multifunction (all-in-one) units Parallel Used by legacy impact printers, as well as older inkjet and laser printers; also used by some all-in-one units RS-232 (serial) Used by legacy impact and laser printers SCSI Used by high-end Postscript laser printers Bluetooth Used by some recent inkjet and laser printers. Infrared Used by some legacy inkjet, impact, and laser printers Ethernet Used by inkjet and laser printers that are network-ready. IEEE 802.11 (wireless Ethernet) Often appears on newer network ready models FireWire (IEEE 1394)
Printer Sharing In Windows 7 Start Control Panel Network and Sharing Center Select Printer Sharing Select button labeled Turn On Printer Sharing
Troubleshooting Process Applies to Printers 1. Identify the problem. Identify symptoms. Review error codes and computer messages. 2. Establish a theory of probable cause. From simple to complex. Utilize manufacturer s knowledge bases (on websites). 3. Test the theory to determine cause. Print test page to test driver. Print power-on self-test to test print device hardware. 4. Establish a plan of action to solve the problem. 5. Verify full functionality and implement protective measures. 6. Document the problem, the actions you took to solve the problem, and the results.
Removing a Printer Sometimes you can simply delete the printer from the Printers folder, but This may not delete the driver or spooler. Components of driver or spooler may be.dll files. May want to use Add/Remove Hardware Why? Printers share the same printing subsystem: Windows drivers. Dynamic Link Library. Add/Remove hardware tracks these associations and adjusts for them.
What Have You Learned? Name three printer interfaces. Describe the laser printing process. How is a network-ready printer different from a local printer? Where would a technician go to check the print spooler? What are things to check should a printer perform slowly? What is a print queue, and where can a person monitor it?
Reflection 1. Riley calls to complain that her laser printer is printing pages with a wide blank spot running from the top of the page to the bottom. How would you start to troubleshoot this? 2. Rob calls to complain that his laser printer is printing papers with smudged ink and that the ink is exiting the printer still "wet." What do you think is wrong? 3. Becky calls to say that the printed pages are completely black, and after trying to print several documents, the pages got lighter and lighter, and now it prints nothing. A technician was dispatched with a new toner cartridge and is now calling you back to explain that the new cartridge did not work and that the pages are completely black again. You confirm that a test page goes through the machine, but there is nothing legible on it because it is completely black with toner. Should he come back and get another new cartridge?
Chapter 11 Summary Printing Fundamentals of Laser, Inkjet, Impact, and Thermal Printers. Printer and Scanner Control with Drivers and Firmware. Print Processes: The steps involved when printers print. Interface Types: The different ways of connecting a printer. Printer Installation. Demonstrate how to install printers properly. Optimizing Printer Performance. Setting up tray switching and working with the print spooler. It also describes the different ways to orient paper. Installing and Configuring Printer Upgrades. How to install RAM into a printer and how to update the printer s firmware. Printer Troubleshooting Tools and Techniques. Next Lesson: Chapter 12