Brother HL-1208, HL-1218W User's Guide

User’s Guide

Brother Laser Printer

HL-1208

HL-1218W

!CAUTION Before using this product, read carefully these instructions for correct operation. Keep the User's Guide in a secure place for future reference.

You must set up the hardware and install the driver before you can use the machine.

Please use the Quick Setup Guide to set up the machine. You can find a printed copy in the box.

Please visit us at http://support.brother.com where you can get product support, the latest driver updates and utilities, and answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) and technical questions.

Version 0

CHN-ENG

To create a better environment

Please cooperate

Firstly, thank you very much indeed for using our Brother products!

Brother focuses on the earth environment concerned. And make a basic policy which is to concern about the earth environment, including any workflow from product development to discard. The local citizen should be responsible for local society and its environment during these environment protection activities.

Therefore, we hope you'll take part in this environment plan, and pay attention to environment protection points as below while discarding used consumables.

1Please deliver the used package materials to relevant waste disposaloffice for recycle.

2When you discard used consumables, please follow and carry on relevant local regulations properly.

3When the machine need replacing parts for the maintenance and repair, please discard used circuit boards, used electrical parts and products as disposed electrical materials.

4The power consumption is 0 W after you turn off the machine and unplug it from the AC outlet.

5Some parts in the machine can be used on the same series model machines which are produced by the same factory.

Note: If you want to replace the parts, please contact your local Brother repair station.

CHINA ENVIRONMENTAL LABELLING NOTICE

1Machines with an LWAd > 63.0 dB(A) are recommended to be set up in separate rooms due to their noise emissions.

2The machine can use recycled paper.

3Ensure that during use the machine is used in a well ventilated area.

4Brother will accept machines and consumables for recycling. For details of the return scheme please refer to the webpage http://www.brother.cn/company/info/declaration/20090304.html.

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Brother numbers

IMPORTANT

For technical and operational help, you must call the country where you bought the machine. Calls must be made from within that country.

Register your product

Please complete the Brother Warranty Registration or, for your convenience and most efficient way to register your new product, register on-line at

http://www.brother.com/registration

To search Frequently asked questions (FAQs) /ASCs /Drivers/Manuals, etc, please visit our service website:

www.95105369.com

To search for where you can purchase consumables, please visit the official website of BROTHER (CHINA) LTD.:

www.brother.cn

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User’s Guides and where to find them?

	Which manual?	What's in it?	Where is it?
			Windows users	Macintosh users
	Product Safety Guide	Read this Guide first.	For Chinese:	For Chinese:
		Please read the Safety
		Instructions before you set
		up your machine. See this
		Guide for trademarks and
		legal limitations.	http://support.brother.com	http://support.brother.com
			For English:	For English:
				http://support.brother.com

		http://support.brother.com
Quick Setup Guide	Follow the instructions for For Chinese:		For Chinese:
	setting up your machine
	and installing the drivers
	and software for the
	operating system and
	connection type you are	http://support.brother.com	http://support.brother.com
	using.
		For English:	For English:
			http://support.brother.com

		http://support.brother.com
User’s Guide	Learn the print operations,	http://support.brother.com
	how to replace
	consumables, and
	performing routine
	maintenance. See
	troubleshooting tips.	http://support.brother.com
Network User’s	This Guide provides useful	http://support.brother.com
Guide	information about wireless
(HL-1218W)	network settings and
	security settings using the
	Brother machine. You can
	also find supported	http://support.brother.com
	protocol information for
	your machine and detailed
	troubleshooting tips.

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	Which manual?	What's in it?		Where is it?
			Windows users		Macintosh users
	Mobile Print/Scan	This Guide provides useful	http://support.brother.com
	Guide for Brother	information about printing
	iPrint&Scan	from your mobile device
	(HL-1218W)	and scanning from your
		Brother machine to your
		mobile device when
		connected on a Wi-Fi®
		network.

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Using the documentation

Thank you for buying a Brother machine! Reading the documentation will help you make the most of your machine.

Symbols and conventions used in the documentation

The following symbols and conventions are used throughout the documentation.

		WARNING	WARNING indicates a potentially hazardous situation which, if not avoided,
			could result in death or serious injuries.
IMPORTANT			IMPORTANT indicates a potentially hazardous situation which, if not avoided,
			may result in damage to property or loss of product functionality.
NOTE			NOTE specifies the operating environment, conditions for installation, or
			special conditions of use.
			Prohibition icons indicate actions that must not be performed.
			Electrical Hazard icons alert you to possible electrical shock.
			Fire Hazard icons alert you to the possibility of fire.
			Hot Surface icons warn you not to touch machine parts that are hot.
Bold			Bold style identifies keys on the machine control panel or computer screen.
Italics			Italicized style emphasizes an important point or refers you to a related topic.

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Accessing Brother Utilities (Windows®)

Brother Utilities is an application launcher that offers convenient access to all Brother applications installed on your device.

a (Windows® XP, Windows Vista®, Windows® 7, Windows Server® 2003, Windows Server® 2008 and Windows Server® 2008 R2)

Click

(Start) > All Programs > Brother > Brother Utilities.

(Windows® 8 and Windows Server® 2012)

Tap or double-click (Brother Utilities) either on the Start screen or the desktop. (Windows® 8.1 and Windows Server® 2012 R2)

Move your mouse to the lower left corner of the Start screen and click (if you are using a touchbased device, swipe up from the bottom of the Start screen to display the Apps screen). When the

Apps screen appears, tap or click (Brother Utilities). b Select your machine.

c Choose the operation you want to use.

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Table of Contents
1	Printing Methods	1
	About this Machine ....................................................................................................................................	1
	Machine overview................................................................................................................................	1
	Acceptable paper.......................................................................................................................................	2
	Recommended Paper..........................................................................................................................	2
	Paper capacity of the paper tray..........................................................................................................	2
	2-sided printing ..........................................................................................................................................	3
	Guidelines for printing on both sides of the paper ...............................................................................	3
	Manual 2-sided printing .......................................................................................................................	4
2	Driver and Software	5
	Printer driver ..............................................................................................................................................	5
	Printing a document.............................................................................................................................	6
	Printer driver settings...........................................................................................................................	7
	Windows® ..................................................................................................................................................	8
	Accessing the printer driver settings....................................................................................................	8
	Features in the Windows® printer driver..............................................................................................	8
	Basic tab..............................................................................................................................................	9
	Advanced tab.....................................................................................................................................	15
	Print Profiles tab ................................................................................................................................	21
	Device Settings tab............................................................................................................................	23
	Support ..............................................................................................................................................	24
	Uninstalling the printer driver.............................................................................................................	25
	Status Monitor ...................................................................................................................................	26
	Macintosh ................................................................................................................................................	28
	Features in the printer driver (Macintosh)..........................................................................................	28
	Choosing page setup options ............................................................................................................	28
	Removing the printer driver ...............................................................................................................	35
	Status Monitor ...................................................................................................................................	35
	Software ..................................................................................................................................................	37
	Remote Printer Console (Windows® HL-1208 only)..........................................................................	37
	Software for networks (HL-1218W only)............................................................................................	37
3	General Information	38
	Control panel ...........................................................................................................................................	38
	LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) ............................................................................................................	38
	Service call indications ......................................................................................................................	43
	Power On/Off key ..............................................................................................................................	44
	Print a Printer Settings page....................................................................................................................	45
	Using the Power On/Off key ..............................................................................................................	45
	Using the printer driver ......................................................................................................................	45
	Ecology features......................................................................................................................................	46
	Toner Save ........................................................................................................................................	46
	Sleep Time ........................................................................................................................................	46
	Deep Sleep mode..............................................................................................................................	46
	Auto Power Off ..................................................................................................................................	47
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A	Troubleshooting and other information	48
	Consumable items...................................................................................................................................	48
	Toner Setting ...........................................................................................................................................	49
	Identifying your problem ..........................................................................................................................	50
	Error messages in the Status Monitor .....................................................................................................	51
	Improving the print quality........................................................................................................................	52
	Paper jams...............................................................................................................................................	56
	If you are having difficulty with your machine ..........................................................................................	60
	Cleaning and Checking the machine .......................................................................................................	62
	Machine Information ................................................................................................................................	63
	Default settings..................................................................................................................................	63
B	Specifications	65
	General ....................................................................................................................................................	65
	Print media...............................................................................................................................................	67
	Important information for choosing your paper........................................................................................	68
	Printer ......................................................................................................................................................	69
	Network (LAN) (HL-1218W only).............................................................................................................	70
C	Index	71

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1 Printing Methods

1

About this Machine

Machine overview

5

1

3

4

2

1Top cover

2Control panel

3Face-down output tray support flap (support flap)

4Paper tray

5USB port

NOTE

For details about how the LEDs show the machine’s status, see LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) on page 38. For the Power On/Off key functions, see Power On/Off key on page 44.

1

Printing Methods

Acceptable paper

1

Print quality may vary according to the type of paper you are using. For best results, follow the instructions below:

DO NOT put different types of paper in the paper tray at the same time because it may cause paper jams or misfeeds.

For correct printing, you must choose the same paper size from your software application as the paper in the tray.

Avoid touching the printed surface of the paper immediately after printing.

Before you buy a lot of paper, test a small quantity to make sure that the paper is suitable.

Recommended Paper

Plain paper	APP Blue Flag Ship 70g/m2
	APP Gold Flag Ship 80g/m2
	Advanced Agro Double A 80g/m2

Paper capacity of the paper tray

Paper size	Paper types	No. of sheets	Paper weight
A4, Letter, Legal, Folio 1,	Plain paper and	Up to 150 sheets (80 g/m2)	65 - 105 g/m2
A5, A5(Long Edge),	Recycled paper
B5(JIS), Executive, 16K

1 Folio size is 215.9 mm x 330.2 mm.

2

Printing Methods

2-sided printing

1

The supplied printer drivers all enable 2-sided printing. For more information about how to choose the settings, see 2-sided / Booklet on page 12 for Windows® and 2-sided Printing on page 34 for Macintosh.

Guidelines for printing on both sides of the paper

If the paper is thin, it may wrinkle.

If paper is curled, straighten it and put it back in the paper tray. If the paper continues to curl, replace the paper.

If the paper is not feeding correctly, it may be curled. Remove the paper and straighten it. If the paper continues to curl, replace the paper.

When you use the manual 2-sided function, it is possible that there may be paper jams or poor print quality. (If there is a paper jam, see Paper jams on page 56. If you have a print quality problem, see Improving the print quality on page 52.)

3

Printing Methods

Manual 2-sided printing

		1
	If you are using the Macintosh Printer Driver, see Manual 2-sided Printing on page 34.

Manual 2-sided printing with the Windows® printer driver

a Choose the following settings from each drop-down list of the printer driver.

Paper Size

You can use all the paper sizes specified for the tray you are using.

Media Type

You can use all the media types that are specified for the tray you are using.

2-sided / Booklet Choose 2-sided (Manual).

2-sided Type in 2-sided Settings

There are four options for each orientation. (See 2-sided / Booklet on page 12.)

Binding Offset in 2-sided Settings

You can specify the offset for binding. (See 2-sided / Booklet on page 12.)

For any other settings, see Driver and Software in Chapter 2.

b Send the print data to the machine. The machine will print all the even-numbered pages on one side of the paper first. Then, the Windows® driver instructs you (with a pop-up message) to reinsert the paper to print the odd-numbered pages.

NOTE

Before reinserting the paper, straighten it well, or you may get a paper jam. Very thin or thick paper is not recommended.

4

2 Driver and Software

Printer driver

2

A printer driver is software that translates data from the format used by a computer to the format that a particular printer needs. Typically, this format is page description language (PDL).

The printer drivers for the supported versions of Windows® is on the CD-ROM we have supplied and for Macintosh it is on the Brother Solutions Center website at http://support.brother.com. Install the drivers by

following the steps in the Quick Setup Guide. The latest printer drivers for Windows® and Macintosh can be downloaded from the Brother Solutions Center website at:

http://support.brother.com

For Windows®

 Windows® printer driver (the most suitable printer driver for this product)

For Macintosh

 Macintosh printer driver (the most suitable printer driver for this product)

For Linux® 1 2

LPR printer driver

CUPS printer driver

1For more information and to download the printer driver for Linux please visit your model page at http://support.brother.com or use the link on the CD-ROM we have supplied.

2Depending on Linux distributions, the driver may not be available or it may be released after the initial release of your model.

5

Driver and Software

Printing a document

When the machine receives data from your computer, it begins printing by picking up paper from the paper
tray. The paper tray can feed plain paper and recycled paper to the machine. (See Paper capacity of the	2
paper tray on page 2.)

a From your application, choose the Print command.

If any other printer drivers are installed on your computer, choose Brother HL-XXXX (Where XXXX is your model name.) as your printer driver from the Print or Print Settings menu in your software application, and then click OK or Print to begin printing.

b Your computer sends the data to the machine. The Ready LED () will blink.

c When the machine finishes printing all the data, the Ready LED () finishes blinking.

NOTE

•You can choose the paper size and orientation in your application software.

•If your application software does not support your custom paper size, choose the next largest paper size.

•Then adjust the print area by changing the right and left margins in your application software.

6

Driver and Software

Printer driver settings

You can change the following printer settings when you print from your computer:

	 Paper Size	2
	 Orientation
	 Copies
	 Media Type
	 Print Quality (For HL-1208)
	Resolution (For HL-1218W)
	 Print Settings
	 Multiple Page
	 2-sided / Booklet
	 Print Preview
	 Scaling
	 Reverse Print
	 Use Watermark
	 Header-Footer Print
	 Toner Save Mode
	 Administrator
	 Density Adjustment
	 Improve Print Output
	 Skip Blank Page
	 Print Text in Black
	 Print Archive
	 Print Profile

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Driver and Software

Windows®

Accessing the printer driver settings

2

a (For Windows® XP and Windows Server® 2003) Click Start, and then Printers and Faxes.

(For Windows Vista® and Windows Server® 2008)

Click the	(Start) button, Control Panel, Hardware and Sound, and then Printers.
(For Windows® 7 and Windows Server® 2008 R2)
Click the	(Start) button, and then click Devices and Printers.

(For Windows® 8)

Move your mouse to the lower right corner of your desktop. When the menu bar appears, click Settings, and then click Control Panel. In the Hardware and Sound group, click View devices and printers.

(For Windows Server® 2012 and Windows Server® 2012 R2)

Move your mouse to the lower right corner of your desktop. When the menu bar appears, click Settings, and then click Control Panel. In the Hardware group, click View devices and printers.

b Right-click the Brother HL-XXXX icon (where XXXX is your model name) and select Printer properties (Properties), and Brother HL-XXXX if necessary. The printer properties dialog box appears.

c Choose the General tab and then click Preferences... (Printing Preferences...).

Features in the Windows® printer driver

For more information, see the Help text in the printer driver.

NOTE

•The screens in this section are from Windows® 7. The screens on your PC will vary depending on your operating system.

•To access the printer driver settings, see Accessing the printer driver settings on page 8.

8

Driver and Software

Basic tab

You can also change the Page Layout settings by clicking the illustration on the left side of the Basic tab.

2

1

3

2

4

a Choose the Paper Size, Orientation, Copies, Media Type, Print Quality 1 or Resolution 2 and Print Settings (1).

b Choose Multiple Page and 2-sided / Booklet (2). c Confirm your current settings in the window (3).

d Click OK to apply your chosen settings.

To return to the default settings, click Default, then OK.

1For HL-1208

2For HL-1218W

NOTE

If you want to preview your document before printing, check the Print Preview check box (4).

Paper Size

From the drop-down list choose the Paper Size you are using.

9

Driver and Software

Orientation

Orientation selects the position of how your document will be printed (Portrait or Landscape).

Portrait (Vertical)	Landscape (Horizontal)	2

Copies

The copies selection sets the number of copies that will be printed.

Collate

With the Collate check box selected, one complete copy of your document will be printed and then repeated for the number of copies you selected. If the Collate check box is not selected, then each page will be printed for all the copies selected before the next page of the document is printed.

Collate checked

Collate non-checked

Media Type

You can use the following types of media in your machine. For the best print quality, select the type of media that you wish to use.

Plain Paper

Recycled Paper

Print Quality (For HL-1208)

You can choose the print quality as follows.

Draft

Normal

Fine

10

Driver and Software

Resolution (For HL-1218W)

You can change the resolution as follows:

 300 dpi

 600 dpi

2

 HQ 1200

Print Settings

You can change the print settings as follows:

Graphics

This is the best mode for printing documents that contain graphics.

Text

This is the best mode for printing text documents.

Manual

You can change the settings manually by choosing Manual and clicking the Manual Settings... button. You can set brightness, contrast and other settings.

Multiple Page

The Multiple Page selection can reduce the image size of a page allowing multiple pages to be printed on one sheet of paper or enlarge the image size for printing one page on multiple sheets of paper.

Page Order

When N in 1 option is selected, the page order can be selected from the drop-down list.

Border Line

When printing multiple pages onto one sheet, with the Multiple Page feature, you can choose to have a solid border, dash border or no border around each page on the sheet.

Print cut-out line

When 1 in NxN Pages option is selected, the Print cut-out line option can be selected. This option allows you to print a faint cut-out line around the printable area.

11

Driver and Software

2-sided / Booklet

When you want to print a booklet or do 2-sided printing, use this function.

 None

This disables 2-sided printing.

2

2-sided (Manual)

When you want to do 2-sided printing, use this option.

•2-sided (Manual)

The machine prints all the even numbered pages first. Then the printer driver will stop and show the instructions required to reinsert the paper. When you click OK the odd numbered pages will be printed.

When you choose 2-sided (Manual), the 2-sided Settings... button becomes available to choose. You can set following settings in the 2-sided Settings dialog box.

•2-sided Type

There are four types of 2-sided binding directions available for each orientation.

Portrait
Long Edge (Left)	Long Edge (Right)	Short Edge (Top)	Short Edge (Bottom)

Landscape
Long Edge (Top)	Long Edge (Bottom)	Short Edge (Right)	Short Edge (Left)

•Binding Offset

When you check Binding Offset, you can also specify the offset for binding in inches or millimetres.

12

Driver and Software

 Booklet (Manual)

	Use this option to print a document in booklet format using 2-sided printing; it will arrange the document
	according to the correct page number and allows you to fold at the centre of the print output without having
	to change the order of the page number.	2
	• Booklet (Manual)

The machine prints all the even numbered sides first. Then the printer driver will stop and show the instructions required to reinstall the paper. When you click OK the odd numbered sides will be printed.

When you choose Booklet (Manual), the 2-sided Settings... button becomes available to choose. You can set the following settings in the 2-sided Settings dialog box.

•2-sided Type

There are two types of 2-sided binding directions available for each orientation.

Portrait		Landscape
Left Binding	Right Binding	Top Binding	Bottom Binding

•Booklet Printing Method

When Divide into Sets is selected:

This option allows you to print the whole booklet into smaller individual booklet sets, it still allows you to fold at the center of the smaller individual booklet sets without having to change the order of the page number. You can specify the number of sheets in each smaller booklet set, from 1 to 15. This option can help when folding the printed booklet that has a large number of pages.

•Binding Offset

When you check Binding Offset, you can also specify the offset for binding in inches or millimetres.

13

Driver and Software

Print Preview

You can preview a document before it is printed. If you check the Print Preview check box, the Print Preview Viewer window will open before printing starts.

2

1

2

1Page List Area

The Page List Area displays the page numbers for the actual pages that will be printed. If you chose a page in this list, a preview of the print results for the page will be displayed in the Preview Area.

If you do not want to print a page, clear the check mark.

2Preview Area

The Preview Area displays a preview of the print results for the pages chosen in the Page List Area.

NOTE

If 2-sided (Manual) or Booklet (Manual) was chosen in the Printer driver settings, you cannot use the Print Preview function.

14

Driver and Software

Advanced tab

2

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Change the tab settings by clicking one of the following selections:

Scaling (1)

Reverse Print (2)

Use Watermark (3)

Header-Footer Print (4)

Toner Save Mode (5)

Administrator (6)

Other Print Options (7)

Scaling

You can change the print image scaling.

Reverse Print

Check Reverse Print to reverse the data from up to down.

Use Watermark

You can put a logo or text into your document as a watermark. You can choose one of the preset Watermarks, or you can use a bitmap file that you have created. Check Use Watermark and then click the Settings...

button.

15