Epson Stylus Color 440 Basic User Guide

Printer Basics

Printer Basics

CPD 7045R1

How To Order EPSON Ink and Paper

To order EPSON ink cartridges, paper and other printing media, contact your
dealer or call EPSON Accessories at [phone] or visit our web site at
www. epsonsupplies. com (U.S. sales only). In Canada, please call [phone]
for dealer referral.

Here are the EPSON media and ink cartridges you can order:

Media name Size Part number

EPSON 360 dpi Ink Jet Paper Letter S041060

EPSON High Quality Ink Jet Paper Letter S041111

EPSON Photo Quality Ink Jet Paper Letter S041062

EPSON Photo Quality Glossy Paper Letter S041124

EPSON Photo Quality Glossy Film Letter S041072

EPSON Photo Paper 4 x 6 S041134

EPSON Ink Jet Transparencies Letter S041064

EPSON Photo Quality Ink Jet Cards A6 (4.1 x 5.8 inches) S041054

EPSON Photo Stickers Kit A6 (includes software) S041144-KIT
(CD-ROM/paper)
EPSON Photo Stickers (refill) A6 S041144

EPSON Iron-On Cool Peel Letter S041153 (10 sheets)
Transfer Paper S041155 (50 sheets)

EPSON Photo Quality Self A4 S041106
Adhesive Sheets

A4 S041059

A4 S041117

A4 S041061
Legal S041067

A4 S041126

A4 S041071
A6 (4.1 x 5.8 inches) S041107

Letter S041141
A4 S041140
Panoramic, pre-cut, 8.3 x 23.4 inches S041145

A4 S041063

8 x 10 S041122

Ink cartridge Part number

Black ink cartridge S020187
Color ink cartridge S020191

Contents

Contents

Introduction

Welcome 1

About Your Documentation 2

Warnings, Cautions, Notes, and Tips 2

System Requirements 3

Year 2000 Ready 3

ENERGY STAR Compliance 4

Important Safety Instructions 4

About Your Software

Your Creative Software Applications 6

Installing the Creative Software 7

Viewing Your Electronic Manual

Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT 4.0 9

How To View the Manual from the CD-ROM 9

If You’ve Copied the Manual to Your Hard Drive... 10

Windows 3.1x 10

Using Adobe Acrobat Reader 11

i

How To Print

Using the Guided Printing Exercise 12

Printing a Photograph 13

Getting Started 13

Choosing the Best Print Settings 16

Selecting the Correct Media Type 18

Taking Care of Your Printer

Running a Cleaning Cycle 19

Examining the Nozzle Check Pattern 21

Replacing an Ink Cartridge 22

Removing an Empty Ink Cartridge 23

Installing the New Cartridge 25

Running the Print Head Alignment Utility 27

Moving the Printer 29

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Problems? Need Help?

Diagnosing Problems 30

Checking the Control Panel Lights 31

Problems and Solutions 33

Software Problems 33

Print Quality Problems 34

Printer Problems 38

Uninstalling Printer Software 39

Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT 4.0 39

Windows 3.1x 39

Where To Get Help 40

EPSON Technical Support 40

PhotoMAX Family Pack Technical Support 41

Installing Software on Windows 3.1x

Installing Your Printer Software 42

Installing Your Electronic Manual 43

Printer Software Diskettes

Ordering Printer Software Diskettes 44

Installing the Printer Software from Diskettes 45

Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT 4.0 45

Windows 3.1x 46

Index

iii

Introduction

Introduction

Welcome

Your new EPSON Stylus® COLOR 440 is the perfect printer for small office or home
use. You can print anything from reports and resumes to photos and greeting cards.

EPSON’s award-winning ink jet technology makes everything you print look great.
All you have to do is:

■

Use the right paper.

■

Choose the right printer settings.

If you’ve used other printers before, you may be surprised at how much difference
your paper and printer settings can make. Plain paper is fine, but special ink jet
papers like the ones in your EPSON Media Pack are even better. You use printer
settings to tell your printer what kind of paper or media you’re using. Then your
printer adjusts itself so that you get the best print results for that type of paper.

So remember to check your printer settings every time you print. It’s easy to do—
just follow the instructions in this guide.

1

About Your Documentation

To set up your printer, see the Start Here card. For instructions on installing the
software, go to the following sources:

■

See the Start Here card for Windows® 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT® 4.0.

■

See page 42 of this guide to install the software on Windows 3.1x.

■

See page 45 of this guide if you need to install the printer software from
diskettes (you can’t install your creative applications from diskettes).

This guide shows you how to begin the Guided Printing Exercise, an electronic
tutorial that steps you through the entire printing process. It also provides basic
maintenance and troubleshooting information, and shows you how to use Adobe
Acrobat

®

Reader to read your electronic printer manual.

For details about advanced printing options or troubleshooting, see your electronic

EPSON Stylus COLOR 440 Manual.

Warnings, Cautions, Notes, and Tips

Please follow these guidelines:

2

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.

System Requirements

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

■

An IBM® compatible PC with at least a 386/25 MHz (for Windows 3.1x),
486/25 MHz (for Windows 95 or Windows NT 4.0) or 486/66 MHz (for
Windows 98) processor (Pentium

■

Windows 3.1x, Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows NT 4.0

■

At least 16MB of RAM (32MB for Windows 3.1x, 95, or 98, or 64MB for
Windows NT 4.0 recommended)

■

At least 50MB of free hard disk space for storing images (100MB
recommended)

■

VGA, Super VGA, or better display adapter and monitor

■

Double-speed CD-ROM drive (quad-speed or faster recommended)

■

A high-speed, bidirectional, IEEE-1284 compliant parallel cable (6 to 10 feet
long) to connect your computer to the printer; the cable must have a D-SUB,
25-pin, male connector for your computer and a 36-pin, Centronics
compatible connector for the printer.

Note:

If you don’t have a CD-ROM drive, you can get the printer driver
software on diskettes or download it through your modem. See
page 44 for details.

®

processor recommended)

®

Year 2000 Ready

Your EPSON printer is Year 2000 Ready. However, be sure the other parts of your
computer system are also ready for the year 2000.

3

ENERGY STAR Compliance

As an ENERGY STAR Partner, EPSON has determined that this product meets the
E

NERGY STAR guidelines for energy efficiency.

The EPA E

NERGY STAR 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.

■

Always use the power button to turn the printer on or off. Never use an
external switch—such as a power strip—to turn off the printer.

■

Turn off and unplug the printer before cleaning. Clean with a damp cloth
only. Do not spill liquid on the printer.

■

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

■

Do not block or cover the openings in the printer’s cabinet or insert objects
through the slots.

■

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.

4

■

Place the printer near a wall outlet where it 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 of all devices plugged into
the wall outlet does not exceed 15 amperes.

■

Except as specifically explained in this guide, 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 cabinet 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.

■

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

■

Under normal circumstances, ink will not come out of the cartridge. If it
does get on your skin, wash it off with soap and water. If it gets in your eyes,
flush them immediately with water.

■

Keep ink cartridges out of the reach of children.

■

Do not dismantle the ink cartridges or try to refill them. This could result in
damage to the print head.

■

Once you install an ink cartridge, do not open the clamp or remove the
cartridge except to replace it with a new one. The cartridge may become
unusable otherwise.

■

Install the ink cartridge immediately after you remove it from its foil
package. Leaving the cartridge unpacked for a long time before use may
result in reduced print quality.

■

Do not use an ink cartridge beyond the date printed on the cartridge carton.
For best results, use up the ink cartridges within six months of installing them.

■

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

■

Always turn the printer off using the power button. When this button is
pressed, the
printer or turn off the power to the outlet until the

■

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

power light flashes briefly, then goes out. Do not unplug the

power light is off.

right position and the ink cartridges are in place.

5

About Your Software

About Your Software

The EPSON CD-ROM includes all the software you need for photo-quality output:

■

Your printer driver runs your printer and lets you control how your
documents look. You can’t use your printer without it.

■

The creative software lets you create fun printing projects.

It also includes your electronic EPSON Stylus COLOR 440 Manual, which provides
detailed information about your printer.

If you haven’t installed your printer software yet, see the Start Here card for instructions.

Note:

The creative software is not available for Windows 3.1x.

Your Creative Software Applications

You can install these programs from your EPSON software CD-ROM:

■

EPSON Guided Printing Exercise

■

Polaroid® PhotoMAX™ Family Pack by ArcSoft®, including PhotoPrinter™,
PhotoFantasy

™

, and DogByte® Greeting Card Store

™

6

See the following section for instructions on installing the Guided Printing Exercise
and PhotoMAX Family Pack.

Note:

Look in the printer box for inserts about other software or World Wide
Web offers that might be available with your printer.

Installing the Creative Software

If you didn’t install the creative software when you installed the printer driver, you
can do it now by following these steps:

1. If you just installed the printer driver and the Main Menu is still on your
screen, go step 3.

If the Main Menu is not on your screen, insert your EPSON software CD-ROM

in your CD-ROM drive.

2. Do one of the following:

■

Click Start, point to Programs, Epson, and click EPSON Stylus
COLOR 440 Installer.

■

Double-click the My Computer icon on your desktop and double-click

the Epson [E:] icon (for your CD-ROM drive). Then double-click the

Epson.exe icon to start the installer.

You see the Main Menu for the EPSON Stylus COLOR 440 installation
program:

3. Select Install Creative Software. You see the Install Creative Software screen.

7

4. Select the item you want to install and follow the instructions on screen.

When you install PhotoMAX Family Pack, you can choose either a typical
installation—which installs ArcSoft PhotoPrinter, ArcSoft PhotoFantasy, and
DogByte Greeting Card Store—or a custom installation, which lets you select
the individual programs you want to install.

5. When you’re finished installing the software, click BACK and then EXIT to

close the installation program.

See page 12 for instructions on using the Guided Printing Exercise. To start
PhotoMAX Family Pack, double-click the PhotoMAX Family Pack icon on your

desktop. You can also click Start, point to Programs, Polaroid PhotoMAX by

Arcsoft and click PhotoMAX Family Pack or the individual application you want.

8

Viewing Your Electronic Manual

Viewing Your Electronic Manual

You can view your printer manual from the EPSON software CD-ROM, or copy it to
your hard drive so that it will be available at any time. Of course, you can print out
any part of it if you prefer printed copy.

Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT 4.0

To view the electronic EPSON Stylus COLOR 440 Manual, you need Adobe Acrobat
Reader installed on your system. The first time you view the manual from the
EPSON software CD-ROM, Acrobat Reader installs automatically, if it’s not already on
your system.

Note:

You must view the manual from the CD-ROM before you copy it to your
hard disk. Otherwise, Acrobat Reader won’t install on your system.

How To View the Manual from the CD-ROM

Follow these steps to view the manual:

1. Make sure the EPSON software CD-ROM is in the CD-ROM drive.

2. Click Start, point to Programs, Epson, and click EPSON Stylus
COLOR 440 Installer.

3. Click View Electronic Documentation on the Main Menu.

4. Click View Printer Manual.

If Acrobat Reader is not already on your system, it installs automatically.

You’ll see a message when Acrobat Reader finishes installing. Click View
Printer Manual again.

The manual opens in Acrobat Reader automatically. To copy the manual to your hard

drive after viewing it, close the file and Acrobat Reader. Then select Copy Printer
Manual to Hard Drive when you return to the EPSON installation program.

9

If You’ve Copied the Manual to Your Hard Drive . . .

Just click Start, point to Programs, Epson, and click View EPSON Stylus COLOR
440 Manual. The manual opens in Acrobat Reader automatically.

Note:

If you can’t open your manual from the Start menu, follow the steps in
“How To View the Manual from the CD-ROM.” Then you’ll be able to
view the manual from the Start menu.

Your creative software may also include electronic manuals. You can usually select
the manual from the application’s Help menu (start the application first). Another

way to view manuals is to click Start, Programs, and point to the program’s name.

If the manual is listed in the program group, select it.

Windows 3.1x

If you don’t have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your system, you must install it
before you can view the manual.

Follow these steps:

1. Make sure the EPSON software CD-ROM is in the CD-ROM drive.

10

2. From the Program Manager File menu, select Run.

3. In the Run dialog box, enter D:\ACROREAD\16BIT\ACRO16, then click OK.
(If your CD-ROM drive uses a different letter, substitute it for D.) You’ll see a

message when Acrobat Reader finishes installing.

4. Open File Manager and double-click the 440doc.pdf file. (It’s in the Manual

folder on your CD-ROM.)

Note:

Once you’ve installed Acrobat Reader on your system, you can copy the
printer manual to your hard drive and view it by double-clicking
440doc.pdf.

Using Adobe Acrobat Reader

You don’t need to start Adobe Acrobat Reader—it starts automatically when you
open your printer manual. You’ll see this toolbar at the top of your screen. You may
want to play a little with some of these tools to see how they work.

Previous Page Next Page

First Page Last Page

Select Text Go Back

Zoom In Go Forward

Move Actual Size

Show Thumbnails and Page Fit Page

Show Bookmarks and Page Fit Width

Show Page Only Find

You have several ways to navigate through text:

■

You can click on hot topics (usually underlined or displayed in a different
color). To find out if a topic is hot, move your cursor over it. If the cursor
turns into a pointing hand, the topic is hot—you can jump to it by clicking
once.

■

You can use bookmarks, a list of topics on the left side of the screen.
Bookmarks are hot, so click once to jump to the topic of your choice. If you

don’t see any bookmarks, click the Show Bookmarks

icon on the

toolbar.

■

You can use the arrow buttons on the toolbar. You can move backward or
forward one page at a time, or you can use other arrows to move to the
beginning or end of the document.

■

You can use the vertical scroll bar on the right side of the document, just as
you would any Windows application. The box to the left of the scroll bar
displays the current page number.

If you need more information, go to Acrobat Reader’s Help menu and select Acrobat
Online Guide.

11

How To Print

How To Print

This section gives you a brief introduction to your printer. Use it to begin EPSON’s
Guided Printing Exercise and print your first photograph. If you need more
information, see your electronic EPSON Stylus COLOR 440 Manual.

Using the Guided Printing Exercise

For a quick lesson in printing, follow EPSON’s Guided Printing Exercise. If you
haven’t installed it, see “Installing the Creative Software” on page 7 for help.

Note:

The Guided Printing Exercise is not available for Windows 3.1.

Follow these steps to get started:

1. Double-click the EPSON Guided Printing Exercise icon on your

desktop.

2. Click YES when you see “Would you like to print a high-quality color image

with your new printer?”

12

3. Follow the instructions on screen.

After you’ve completed all the steps, a color image will be printed.

If you want to exit the exercise before completing it, click Cancel (you may need to
click Cancel more than once).

Printing a Photograph

Your EPSON Stylus COLOR 440 is great for letters and reports, but even better for
photographs. How do you get photos into your computer?

■

Most film developing services will give you your pictures on a diskette or
CD-ROM. Just insert the diskette or CD-ROM in the correct drive, then copy
your picture files to your hard disk or open them in your application (we’ll
show you how in the next section).

■

If you have a digital camera or a scanner, you can create picture files. See
the documentation that came with your camera or scanner for instructions.

Here are the basic steps for printing a photograph. For more details on advanced
print settings, see your electronic EPSON Stylus COLOR 440 Manual.

Note:

If you are using Windows 3.1, you cannot try this sample printing
exercise, but you can follow the steps to print a photograph in a similar

3.1 application.

Getting Started

Before you begin, you should have installed PhotoMAX Family Pack from your
EPSON software CD-ROM.

When you’re ready, follow these steps:

1. Make sure your printer and computer are turned on.

2. Take out a sheet of EPSON Photo Paper from the Media Pack that came with
your printer.

3. Pull out the printer’s output tray extensions. Slide the left edge guide right
until it is a little wider than your paper.

13