Epson Stylus 1270, Stylus 870 Basic manual

EPSON Stylus Photo 870

EPSON Stylus Photo 1270

Printer Basics

Printed on recycled paper with at least 15% post-consumer content.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION. The information contained herein is designed only for use with this EPSON printer. EPSON is not responsible for any use of this information as applied to other printers.

Neither SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION nor its affiliates shall be liable to the purchaser of this product or third parties for damages, losses, costs, or expenses incurred by purchaser or third parties as a result of: accident, misuse, or abuse of this product or unauthorized modifications, repairs, or alterations to this product, or (excluding the U.S.) failure to strictly comply with SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION’s operating and maintenance instructions.

SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION shall not be liable for any damages or problems arising from the use of any options or any consumable products other than those designated as Original EPSON Products or EPSON Approved Products by SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION.

Trademarks

EPSON and EPSON Stylus are registered trademarks of SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION.

PRQ is a registered trademark and Micro Piezo, Epson Software, PhotoEnhance, and EPSON Store are trademarks of EPSON America, Inc.

General Notice: Other product names used herein are for identification purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners. EPSON disclaims any and all rights in those marks.

The E

NERGY STAR

emblem does not represent EPA endorsement of any product or service.

CPD-9806R2

WELCOME! 1

About Your Software

About Your Documentation

Warnings, Cautions, Notes, and Tips

Windows System Requirements

Macintosh System Requirements

ENERGY STAR Compliance

Important Safety Instructions

Ink Cartridge Safety Instructions

VIEWING YOUR ELECTRONIC PRINTER MANUAL 11

Accessing Your Electronic Printer Manual

Navigating Your Electronic Printer Manual

11 12

PRINTING FROM START TO FINISH 15

Printing with Windows

Loading Paper

Opening the Printer Software

15 15 16

3 5 5 6 7 8 8 9

Selecting Printer Software Settings

Controlling Printing

Printing on a Macintosh

Loading Paper

Opening the Printer Software

Selecting Printer Software Settings

Controlling Printing

17 19 20 20 21 22 23

iii

Using PhotoEnhance, Custom, and Advanced Settings 24

Using PhotoEnhance 24 Using Custom Settings 25 Using Advanced Settings 25

Using Advanced Color Management 26

Printing CMYK Format Files 26 Using Color Management Profiles 26

Using Special Papers 27

EPSON Premium Glossy Photo Paper 27 Matte Paper - Heavyweight 27 EPSON Photo Paper 28

Envelopes 30 Taking Care of Your Photographs 31 Selecting Your Paper Type 32

USING ROLL PAPER 33

Loading Roll Paper 33

Printing on Roll Paper 36

Roll Paper Basics 36

Printing Edge-to-Edge 4 x 6 Snapshots 37

Printing Panoramics or Banners on Roll Paper 50 Printing on Paper Cut From a Roll 54 Removing and Storing Roll Paper 56

MAINTAINING YOUR PRINTER 57

Cleaning the Print Head 57

Using the Head Cleaning Utility 58

Using the Control Panel to Clean the Print Head 59

Examining the Nozzle Check Pattern 60

Replacing an Ink Cartridge 61

Removing and Installing Ink Cartridges 62 Aligning the Print Head 64 Cleaning the Printer 65 Transporting the Printer 66

PROBLEM SOLVING 67

Diagnosing Printer Problems 67

Checking the Control Panel Lights 67

Running a Printer Check 69 Identifying Printer Parts 70 Problems and Solutions 71

Problems Setting Up the Printer or Installing Software 71

Problems with Printing 72

Problems Getting Good Print Quality 73

Problems with Paper Feeding 76

Solving Miscellaneous Printout Problems 77 Uninstalling Printer Software 78

Uninstalling Windows Software 78

Uninstalling Macintosh Software 78

Reinstalling Printer Software 78 Where To Get Help 79

EPSON Technical Support 79

EPSON Accessories 80

Bonus or Photo Software Technical Support 81

INDEX 83

Welcome!

With your EPSON Stylus® Photo printer, you can print anything from reports and resumes to photos and back light film with superior color results. Using EPSON’s specially formulated inks and lightfast Premium Glossy Photo or Matte Heavyweight paper, you can cherish your digital photographs for years to come, just like your traditionally printed photos.

Both the EPSON Stylus Photo 870 and EPSON Stylus Photo 1270 give you:

■ Resolutions up to 1440 by 720 dpi (dots per inch), even on plain paper

■ Six-color printing for PRQ

(photo reproduction quality) color and incredibly

smooth gradations

■ EPSON’s exclusive Micro Piezo

™

ink jet technology for cleaner “unvisible” dots

as small as 4 picoliters

■ Wide variety of ink jet papers to choose from, including Photo Paper, Premium

Glossy Photo Paper, Matte Heavyweight Paper, Photo Stickers, transparencies,

and more

■ Fast photo print speeds: approximately 48 seconds for a 4 × 6-inch photo or one

minute and 50 seconds for an 8 × 10 in Fine mode

■ Specially designed print engine for whisper-quiet operation

For more details about your printer model, see the next sections.

EPSON Stylus Photo 870

Your EPSON Stylus Photo 870 is the ideal printer for all your digital photography projects. Whether you get your photos with a scanner, digital camera, or digital photo processing service, or download them off the World Wide Web, you’ll get real photo lab quality results.

You’ll also get:

■ Great results on a variety of paper sizes from 3.5 × 3.5-inch up to 9.5 × 44-inch—

including letter, legal, envelope, card, and panoramic

■ Roll paper holder kit for using EPSON Premium Glossy Photo Paper to print

4 × 6-inch photo reproductions from a convenient roll

EPSON Stylus Photo 1270

Your EPSON Stylus Photo 1270 is the ideal printer for advanced photography and all your large format printing projects. Whether you’re creating over-sized panoramics, photography portfolios, client proofs, or enlargements, you’ll get professional, photo lab quality results.

You’ll also get:

■ Great results on a variety of paper sizes from 3.5 × 3.5-inch up to 13 × 44-inch—

including letter, legal, envelope, card, panoramic, A3, B, and Super B

■ Optional roll paper holder (part number C811062) for printing on 13-inch-wide

EPSON Photo Paper (for large panoramics) or 4-inch-wide Premium Glossy

Photo Paper (for 4 × 6-inch photo reproductions) loaded from a convenient roll

About Your Software

The printer software CD-ROM that came with your printer includes all the software you need for printing. (You must have a CD-ROM or DVD drive installed on your computer.)

■ Your printer driver runs your printer and lets you control

how your documents look. You can’t use your printer without it.

■ Your electronic Reference Guide gives you complete

information about your printer. (You need an HTML browser—such as Microsoft® Internet Explorer or Netscape® Navigator,® version 3.0 or later—to view the guide.)

■ Your bonus photo software:

EPSON Stylus Photo 870

EPSON Software Macintosh)

Photo management software that lets you organize, beautify, and print your photos in a flash.

Adobe for Macintosh

Easily bring photos into your computer, organize them in albums, and make repairs and improvements—then share them with friends via the World Wide Web.

It’s a good idea to check EPSON’s support web site periodically for possible updates to your printer driver. Visit www.epson.com and check the section for your product to see if there is a new driver available for downloading to your computer. To check the version number of your current driver, access the driver as described on page 16 for Windows or page 21 for Macintosh; the version number is shown below the EPSON logo.

PhotoDeluxe® (version 3.1 for Windows® or version 2.0

™

Film Factory™ (Full version; Windows and

)

EPSON Stylus Photo 1270

Adobe Photoshop® 5.0 LE (Windows and Macintosh)

World-standard photo editing software with the basic image editing tools preferred by graphic design professionals. You need to enter a serial number when you install Photoshop 5.0 LE. A sticker containing your serial number is attached to your CD-ROM sleeve. EPSON Stylus Photo 1270 owners have an exclusive upgrade price of $299 for the full version of Adobe Photoshop. To upgrade or for more information on this offer, call 1-800-492-3623 and mention Source Code 56100. The offer expires 9/30/01.

Monaco Systems

Powerful color management tool lets you build ICC device profiles for accurate color between scanned, displayed, and printed images. The offer is available at a discounted price for EPSON Stylus Photo 1270 owners, for a limited time. Call (978) 749-9944 to order from Monaco Systems. The color management package includes software, a target print, and a corresponding target file. You can install the software and target file from your printer CD-ROM. However, you won’t be able to use the software until you obtain the target print, available by mail when you purchase the color management package for $149 (U.S.)—that’s half off the retail price of $299. The offer expires 3/31/01.

EPSON Software Film Factory (trial version)

Photo management software that lets you organize, beautify, and print your photos in a flash. Try it for 30 days—if you like it, purchase an unlock key at www.epsonsoftware.com.

™

MonacoEZcolor™ 1.5 (software offer)

About Your Documentation

To set up your printer and install its software, see the Start Here poster. This book contains system requirements, important safety information, and instructions on:

■ viewing your electronic printer manual

■ printing with Windows or on a Macintosh

■ using special papers

■ printing on roll paper

■ maintaining the printer

■ solving basic problems

For more details about printing with, maintaining, or troubleshooting your printer, see your electronic Reference Guide. For instructions on viewing it, see page 11.

Warnings, Cautions, Notes, and Tips

Please follow these guidelines:

Warnings must be followed carefully to avoid bodily injury.

Cautions must be observed to avoid damage to your equipment.

Notes contain important information about your printer.

Tips contain additional hints for better printing.

Windows System Requirements

To use your printer and its software, your system should have:

■ A Microsoft

Windows® compatible PC with a Pentium® processor, 200 MHz or

faster, recommended

■ Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows NT 4.0

■ 64MB of RAM (128MB or more recommended)

■ 100MB of free hard disk space (200MB or more recommended)

■ CD-ROM or DVD drive for installing the printer software

■ Parallel connection: an IEEE-1284 compliant parallel cable, up to 10 feet long

(3 meters).

USB connection: a computer running Windows 98 with a Windows 98

compliant USB port and a shielded USB “AB” cable up to 9.8 ft. (3 meters) long.

Using an improperly shielded USB cable—especially a cable more than 9.8 ft. (3 meters) long—may cause the printer to malfunction.

Macintosh System Requirements

To use your printer and its software, your system should have:

■ An Apple

■ For iMac: Mac

For Power Macintosh G3 or later: Mac OS 8.5.1 or later

■ 64MB of available RAM (more recommended)

■ 150MB of free hard disk space (200MB recommended)

iMac™ series, Power Macintosh,® G3, or G4 with USB port

OS 8.1 or later (Mac OS 8.5.1 or later recommended)

If you have an iMac, you may need to update your operating system before installing your printer software:

■ If you’re running OS 8.1, you must install iMac Update 1.0

■ If you’re running OS 8.5 or 8.5.1, Apple recommends

that you install iMac Update 1.1

Download the update for your system from the Apple web site. Contact Apple if you have problems installing an update.

To find out which operating system your iMac is running, select About This Computer from the Apple menu.

■ CD-ROM or DVD drive for installing the printer software

■ A shielded USB “AB” cable up to 9.8 ft. (3 meters) long.

Using an improperly shielded USB cable—especially a cable more than 9.8 ft. (3 meters) long—may cause the printer to malfunction.

NERGY STAR

Compliance

As an E

NERGY STAR

this product meets the E efficiency. The EPA E

Partner, EPSON has determined that

NERGY STAR

guidelines for energy

office equipment program is a voluntary partnership with the computer and office equipment industry to promote the introduction of energy-efficient personal computers, monitors, printers, fax machines, and copiers in an effort to reduce air pollution caused by power generation.

Important Safety Instructions

Before using your printer, read the following safety instructions to make sure you use the printer safely and effectively:

■ Be sure to follow all warnings and instructions marked on the printer.

■ Do not place the printer on an unstable surface or near a radiator or heating vent

or in direct sunlight.

■ Use only the type of power source indicated on the printer’s label.

■ Connect all equipment to properly grounded power outlets. Avoid using outlets

on the same circuit as photocopiers or air control systems that regularly switch on and off.

■ Place the printer near a wall outlet where the plug can be easily unplugged.

Placez l’imprimante près d’une prise de contacte où la fiche peut être débranchée facilement.

■ Do not let the power cord become damaged or frayed.

■ If you use an extension cord with the printer, make sure the total ampere rating of

the devices plugged into the extension cord does not exceed the cord’s ampere rating. Also, make sure the total ampere rating of all devices plugged into the wall outlet does not exceed the wall outlet’s ampere rating.

■ Turn off and unplug the printer before cleaning. Clean with a damp cloth only.

Do not spill liquid on the printer.

Always turn the printer off using the off the power strip or unplug the printer until the

■ Do not block or cover the openings in the printer’s case or insert objects through

Ppower button. Don’t switch

Ppower light is off.

the slots.

■ Except as specifically explained in this manual, do not attempt to service the

printer yourself.

■ Unplug the printer and refer servicing to qualified service personnel under the

following conditions:

If the power cord or plug is damaged; if liquid has entered the printer; if the printer has been dropped or the case damaged; if the printer does not operate normally or exhibits a distinct change in performance. Adjust only those controls that are covered by the operating instructions.

Ink Cartridge Safety Instructions

■ Keep ink cartridges out of the reach of children and do not drink the ink.

■ Do not shake an ink cartridge; this can cause leakage.

■ If ink gets on your skin, wash the area thoroughly with soap and water. If ink gets

in your eyes, flush them immediately with water.

■ Install the ink cartridge immediately after you remove it from its foil package. If

you leave a cartridge unpacked for a long time before using it, normal printing may not be possible.

■ Do not dismantle the ink cartridges. This could damage the print head.

■ Do not touch the green chip on the back of the cartridge. This may inhibit

normal operation and printing.

■ In these ink cartridges, the IC chip retains a variety of cartridge-related

information (such as the amount of ink remaining) so that a cartridge may be removed and reinserted freely. However, each time the cartridge is inserted, some ink is consumed because the printer automatically performs a reliability check.

■ If you remove an ink cartridge for later use, be sure to protect the ink supply area

from dirt and dust, and store it in the same environment as the printer. Note that there is a valve in the ink supply port, making covers or plugs unnecessary, but care is needed to prevent the ink from staining items that the cartridge touches. Do not touch the ink cartridge ink supply port or the surrounding area.

■ Do not use an ink cartridge beyond the date printed on the cartridge carton;

otherwise it may result in reduced print quality. For best results, use up the ink cartridges within six months of first installing them.

■ Store ink cartridges in a cool, dark place.

■ After bringing an ink cartridge inside from a cold storage site, allow it to warm up

at room temperature for at least three hours before using it.

■ Do not put your hand inside the printer or touch the cartridge during printing.

■ Do not move the print head by hand; otherwise you may damage the printer.

■ Before transporting the printer, make sure the print head is capped in the far right

position and the ink cartridges are in place.

Viewing Your Electronic Printer Manual

Your printer software CD-ROM includes an electronic Reference Guide for your printer. The manual is in HTML format, so you need a browser—such as Internet Explorer 3.0 or later or Netscape Navigator 3.0 or later—to view it. If you are using a different browser, the pages may not display correctly. (A browser is not included on the printer software CD-ROM.)

Accessing Your Electronic Printer Manual

You can view your electronic Reference Guide from the CD-ROM or copy it to your hard drive and view it from there. Follow these steps:

1. Insert your printer software CD-ROM.

2. Windows: Double-click My Computer, double-click your EPSON

CD-ROM or DVD drive icon, then double-click the EPSON icon.

Macintosh: Double-click the EPSON CD-ROM icon, then double-click the

EPSON icon.

The Main Menu appears:

3. Click View Electronic

Documentation

. The main screen

for your printer appears:

4. You can either view the manual

from the CD-ROM (View

Reference Guide

) or copy the

manual to your hard drive (Install

Reference Guide

) and view it from there. For details on viewing the manual, see the next section.

If you copied the manual to your hard drive, you can access it at any time, as follows:

Windows: Select Start, Programs, EPSON, and double-click ESP870 Guide or

ESP1270 Guide.

Macintosh: Open the EPSON Stylus Photo 870 or EPSON Stylus Photo 1270 folder and double-click View Reference Guide.

Navigating Your Electronic Printer Manual

When you first open the Reference Guide, you see this screen:

Click here to expand the table of contents

Click a topic on the left to expand the table of contents.

After expanding the table of contents, you can click on the topic you want to view.

If there’s a right arrow , click it to view subtopics, then click on a topic to go to it.

Click the down arrow to close a subtopic list.

Closed list, click to expand

Click to go to topic

If you see an icon for a graphic when viewing your Reference Guide in Netscape Navigator, click the Reload button to load the graphic.

Printing from Start to Finish

Here’s what to do to print a basic document—such as a photograph, newsletter, or memo—from loading the paper to selecting print settings to controlling the print job. Follow the instructions in these sections:

■ “Printing with Windows” below

■ “Printing on a Macintosh” on page 20

If you’re already familiar with EPSON ink jet printing, you can skip ahead to these sections:

■ “Using PhotoEnhance, Custom, and Advanced Settings”

on page 24

■ “Using Advanced Color Management” on page 26

■ “Using Special Papers” on page 27

■ “Taking Care of Your Photographs” on page 31

Printing with Windows

This section describes the basic steps for printing with Windows. (To print on a Macintosh, see page 20.)

Loading Paper

Make sure your printer and computer are turned on.

Place your paper against the right edge guide and slide the left edge guide against the paper.

Load paper only up to this arrow

Slide paper against the right edge guide

Keep the following in mind when loading paper:

■ Load the printable side face up. It’s usually whiter or brighter than the other side.

■ Load letterhead or preprinted paper into the printer top edge first.

■ Don’t load paper above the arrow on the left edge guide.

If you’re printing on envelopes or other special paper sizes or types, see page 27 for loading instructions.

Opening the Printer Software

After you open your application program and create your document, you’re ready to select your printer software settings.

From the File menu, click

. You see your application’s Print dialog box:

Select your printer here

Click here to open your printer software

Make the following selections on the Print dialog box (your dialog box may look slightly different):

■ Make sure your

■ Click the

Properties

it. Then click

EPSON Stylus Photo

printer model is selected.

button. (If you see a Setup, Printer, or Options button, click

Properties

If you click the print icon on your application’s tool bar instead of selecting Print from the File menu, you may not get the option to change the printer software settings before printing.

on the next screen.)

Selecting Printer Software Settings

Once you click Properties, you see your printer software Properties dialog box.

The most important thing to remember is to select the type of paper you’re using. If necessary, click the Main tab to display the settings shown below:

Select the type of paper you loaded

Select the Ink color

Select Automatic mode

Select higher-quality or faster printing

Click OK

Make the following settings on the Properties dialog box:

■ Choose the paper you’re printing on (click the arrow

to scroll through the Media Type list). If you’re not sure which setting to select, see page 32.

■ Set the Ink option to

Color

to print a color

document. To print a black text document, click

Black

■ Set the Mode option to

Automatic

. It’s the easiest

way to get good printing results on all types of paper.

■ Set the slider in the Mode box to

Quality

Speed

to select high resolution or

faster printing. (The slider may not be available for your paper type.)

■ Click OK to return to your application’s Print dialog box.

Stylus Photo 1270 only

For more information about printer settings, click the Help button. Or you can right-click any item on the screen and then click What’s This?.

Selecting Windows Default Settings

The printer settings you make apply only to the application you’re currently using. If you usually print one type of document in different applications—for example, black ink on legal size paper—you can change the default printer settings for all your programs. You do this using the Windows Printer utility:

1. Click

Start

then select

, point to

Printers

2. Right-click your printer icon.

3. Select

Properties (Document Defaults

Settings

, and

EPSON Stylus Photo

Right-click your printer icon . . .

in Windows NT).

4. Click the

5. Select the default settings you want to use for all your applications. Click OK

Main

tab.

then click Properties

when you’re finished.

Remember, you can always change the default settings in your application when you want to print different types of documents.

Another way to select a group of settings quickly is to save them as a group; see your electronic Reference Guide (described on page 11) for details.

Controlling Printing

At the Print dialog box, click OK (or maybe Print) to start printing.

Click OK to start printing

After a moment, the Progress Meter appears and shows the progress of your print job. You can use the buttons to cancel, pause, or restart printing. You can also see how much ink you have left and view printing tips.

Click to cancel printing

Click to pause or resume

Does not appear if you are printing over a network

printing

The color of ink with the least amount left determines the level for all the colors shown

For more advanced printer settings, see pages 24 through 26. For more information on printing—for example, previewing your printout, changing the paper size, or adding a watermark—see your electronic Reference Guide (described on page 11).