Epson Stylus C42 User Manual

EPSON Stylus® C42 Series

User’s Manual

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.

A Note Concerning Responsible Use of Copyrighted Materials

Digital cameras and scanners, like photocopiers, conventional cameras, and ink jet printers, can be misused by improper copying and reprinting of copyrighted material. While some countries’ laws permit limited copying of copyrighted material in certain circumstances, those circumstances may not be as broad as some people assume. EPSON encourages each user to be responsible and respectful of the copyright laws when using digital cameras, scanners, and ink jet printers.

Trademarks

EPSON, EPSON Stylus and EPSON Photo Stickers are registered trademarks of SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION.

EPSON SoundAdvice is a service mark, and PhotoEnhance is a trademark 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.

WELCOME! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

About Your Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Warnings, Cautions, Notes, and Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

PRINTING FROM START TO FINISH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Loading Paper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Printing in Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Selecting the Settings You Use Most Often . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Printing on a Macintosh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Macintosh OS X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Macintosh OS 8.5.1 to 9.x . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Printing on Envelopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Selecting the Correct Paper Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

12 12 12 17 20 22

MAINTAINING YOUR PRINTER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Cleaning the Print Head . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Running the Head Cleaning Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Examining the Nozzle Check Pattern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

23 24 25

5 6

8 9

Replacing an Ink Cartridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Ink Cartridge Precautions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Removing and Installing Ink Cartridges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Aligning the Print Head . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Cleaning the Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Transporting the Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

25 26 27 29 30 31

Contents

SOLVING PROBLEMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Printer Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Diagnosing Printer Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Running a Printer Check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Problems and Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Setup and Software Installation Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Printer Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Print Quality Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Paper Feeding Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Miscellaneous Printout Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Uninstalling and Reinstalling Printer Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Macintosh OS 8.5.1 to 9.x . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Macintosh OS X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Where To Get Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

33 34 35 36 36 37 38 41 42 43 43 43 44 45

REQUIREMENTS AND SPECIFICATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Windows System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Macintosh System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

47 48

WHERE TO PURCHASE EPSON INK AND PAPER . . . . . . . . . . 50

INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Contents

Welcome!

Printing with your EPSON Stylus® C42 printer is easy, friendly, and fast. Simple enough for even the most inexperienced user, the Stylus C42 prints everything from school reports to family photos with great results.

For added value, it supports a wide range of EPSON® special media, including Glossy Photo Greeting Cards, Photo Stickers,® and special photo papers in a variety of sizes and finishes. You’ll find a list of available papers at the end of this manual.

It’s a good idea to check EPSON’s support web site periodically for free updates to your printer software. Visit http://support.epson.com. Download instructions are posted for your convenience.

About Your Documentation

To set up your printer and install its software, see the Start Here sheet. This book contains information about:

Printing with Windows® or on a Macintosh®

■

Maintaining the printer

■

Solving basic problems

■

System requirements and printer specifications

■

For system requirements, safety instructions, specifications and other important information, see the EPSON Stylus C42 Series Notices and Warranty booklet.

Welcome!

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.

Welcome!

Printing From Start to Finish

Before you start, make sure your printer software is installed as described on the Start Here sheet.

No matter what you print, you need to remember two things:

Use the right paper.

■

For the best-looking photos, most vivid colors, and sharpest text, always use EPSON ink jet papers.

Choose the right Paper Type setting (Media Type setting on the Macintosh).

■

Your printer automatically adjusts itself for each type of paper. That’s why this setting is important. It tells your printer what kind of paper you’re using. So remember to check your Paper Type setting every time you print. If you’re not sure which setting to use with your paper, see page 22.

Follow the instructions in these sections:

Loading Paper on page 8

■

Printing in Windows on page 9

■

Printing on a Macintosh on page 12

■

Printing on Envelopes on page 20

■

Selecting the Correct Paper Type on page 22

■

Printing From Start to Finish

Loading Paper

Make sure your printer and computer are turned on.

1. Place your paper against the right edge of the sheet feeder, behind the tab.

2. Press in the locking tab on the left edge guide and slide it against the paper.

Load paper behind the tab

Press the locking tab and slide the left edge guide against the paper

3. Pull out the output tray extension.

Follow these guidelines when loading paper:

Always load the short edge first, even when you’re printing landscape oriented

■

documents.

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.

■

Load the following media types one sheet at a time: Photo Quality Self Adhesive

■

Sheets, Photo Stickers,, and Panoramic Photo Paper.

If you’re using special media, follow the instructions that came with the media.

■

Printing From Start to Finish

Printing in Windows

Here’s what to do to print a basic document—such as a newsletter or school project. Make sure you have paper in the printer, as described on page 8. After you create your document in a software program, follow these steps to print.

1. From the File menu, click different):

Select your printer here

2. Make sure

3. Click the

Options

EPSON Stylus C42 Series

Preferences or Properties

button, click it. Then click

. You see a Print window (your window may look

Click here to open your printer software

is selected.

button. (If you see a

Properties

Preferences

Setup, Printer

on the next screen.)

, or

Printing From Start to Finish

You see your printer Properties (or Preferences) window.

2 Choose your

paper type . . .

3 and paper size

4. Select the type of document you’re printing:

1 Choose your

document type

4 Click here

■ Draft

■ Text

: For rough drafts on plain paper. Saves ink.

: For text-only documents, like letters or reports. Delivers high-quality

text printing.

■ Text & Image

■ Photo

: For photos and graphics, when you want good quality with faster

: For documents that have both text and images, like newsletters.

printing.

■ Photo RPM

: For photos or graphics, when you need highest quality printing.

Because this setting increases resolution, it also increases print time.

5. Load the right paper for your document. See page 8 for loading instructions.

6. If you loaded special paper, choose the correct paper type (click the arrow to scroll through the

Type

list).

If you’re not sure which setting to select, see page 22.

7. Select your paper size (click on the arrow to scroll through the

Size

list).

Printing From Start to Finish

8. If necessary, select your page orientation:

Portrait

for documents that are longer than they are wide, or

documents that are wider than they are long.

9. You can also make these settings:

Landscape

for

■ PhotoEnhance

exposed photos. Does not work when

■ ICM

(Image Color Matching): Matches colors on your printout as closely as

: Improves the appearance of low-resolution and improperly

Black Ink Only

is selected.

possible to the colors you see using ICM-compatible monitors or scanners.

■ Black Ink Only

■ Reverse Order

: Prints using only black ink.

: Prints your document so that the pages are in the right order

when you retrieve them from the paper tray.

■ Print Preview

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

10. Click OK to return to the Print window. Then click OK (or

: Lets you see what your printout will look like before you print.

) to start printing.

After a moment, this window 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.

Click to cancel printing

Click to pause or resume printing

Printing From Start to Finish

When you’re finished using your printer, make sure you press the P power button to turn it off. Never use a power strip or external switch to turn off the printer.

Selecting the Settings You Use Most Often

Your printer settings apply only to the program you’re currently using. If you usually print one type of document in different programs—for example, color photos on letter-size paper—you can change the default printer settings for all your programs.

1. Right-click the printer icon on your taskbar (in the lower right corner of your screen).

2. Select

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

Remember that you can always change the settings in your program when you want to print different types of documents.

Printer Settings

page 10.

when you’re finished.

. You see your printer Properties window, as shown on

Printing on a Macintosh

This section explains how to use your EPSON Stylus C42 to print from a Macintosh running either OS X or OS 8.5.1 to 9.x.

Macintosh OS X

Here’s how to print a basic document, such as a newsletter or school project, if your Macintosh is running OS X. Make sure you have paper in the printer, as described on

page 8. After you create your document, follow these steps to print.

If you’re using an application that’s compatible only with Macintosh Classic mode, follow the steps on page 17

to print your document.

Printing From Start to Finish

1. From the File menu, select

Page Setup

. You see a screen like this:

Select your printer from the Format for pop-up menu

2. Select your printer from the

Format for

menu.

3. Select the Paper Size, Orientation, and any other settings you want to use and click OK.

4. Select

from the File menu. You see a screen like this:

Click here and select Print Settings

Printing From Start to Finish

5. Select this:

Print Settings

from the pull-down menu. You see a group of settings like

Select the type of paper you loaded

Select the ink color

Select Automatic mode

Select higher quality or faster printing, or an in-between setting (if available)

Click Print

6. Select the following settings:

Load the right paper for your document in the printer. If you loaded special

■

paper, choose the correct paper type in the Media Type list. If you’re not sure which setting to choose, see page 22.

Set the Ink option to

■

document, click

Set the Mode option to

■

Black

Color

results for most projects.

Set the slider to

■

Quality

printing, or an in-between setting (if available). (The slider may not be available for some paper types.)

For more information about settings, click Help.

to print a color document. To print a black text

Automatic

Speed

. It’s the easiest way to get good printing

to select high-quality printing, faster

Printing From Start to Finish

7. To select a specific print quality setting, click setting from the Print Quality menu:

Advanced Settings

and chose a

■ Economy

Economy Plus

only available if you select

■ Normal

■ Fine

■ Photo

■ Photo RPM

, for everyday printing needs

, when you want a higher resolution for printing text or text and graphics

, when you’re printing photographs

, when you want the highest resolution for your photographs and

, for printing drafts. Saves ink. (

Black

Economy Plus

you don’t mind the longer print time.

8. You can also choose other print settings by selecting these options in the pull-down menu:

■ Copies & Pages

■ Layout

■ Output Options

■ Color Management

, to select page layout options

, to select the number of copies or a page range

, to save your print job as a PDF file

, to select ColorSync® or adjust the color controls or

gamma setting

■ Summary

■ Save Custom Setting

, to view a list of all your selections

, to save your selections for future use.

9. When you’re ready to print, click on the bottom of your desktop.

. The Print Center icon appears in the dock

Printing From Start to Finish

If you click the Print Center icon and then double-click the

C42 Series (USB)

icon in

the Printer List, you see a screen like this:

Click to reorder print jobs

Select a print job, then . . .

click a button to Delete, Hold (pause), or Resume printing

From here you can monitor the progress of your print job or do one of the following:

Click the print job, then click

■

Click the print job, then click

■

Click a print job marked “Hold” and click

■

If multiple print jobs are listed, click a print job, then click the

■

Delete

Hold

to delete it

to pause printing

Resume

to resume printing

reorder the jobs

When you’re finished using your printer, make sure you press the P power button to turn it off. Never use a power strip or external switch to turn off the printer.

Priority

arrow to

Printing From Start to Finish

+ 37 hidden pages