Epson Stylus Color 83, Stylus Color 880, Stylus Color 880i Basic User Guide

EPSON Stylus Color

880/880i/8

Printer Basics

Printed on recycled paper

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

PhotoEnhance, EPSON Software, and EPSON Store are trademarks of Epson America, Inc.

Fix-it Flix and Print Lab are service marks 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-10637R1

WELCOME! 1

About Your Documentation 1

Warnings, Cautions, Notes, and Tips 1

Viewing Your Electronic Printer Manual 2

Watching Printer Movies 4

PRINTING FROM START TO FINISH 5

Printing with Windows 5

Loading Paper 5

Opening the Printer Software 6

Selecting Printer Software Settings 7

Controlling Printing 8

Printing on a Macintosh 9

Loading Paper 9

Opening the Printer Software 10

Selecting Printer Software Settings 11

Controlling Printing 12

Using Advanced Settings 13

Enhancing Photos 13

Using Custom Project Types 14

Using Advanced Custom Settings 15

Printing on Envelopes 16

Double-Sided Printing 17

Using Special Papers 18

EPSON Matte Paper - Heavyweight 19

EPSON Photo Paper 19

Choosing the Correct Media Type Setting 20

MAINTAINING YOUR PRINTER 21

Cleaning the Print Head 21

Examining the Nozzle Check Pattern 22

iii

Replacing an Ink Cartridge 23

Ink Cartridge Precautions 23

Removing and Installing Ink Cartridges 24

Replacing an Outdated Ink Cartridge 26

Aligning the Print Head 28

Cleaning the Printer 29

Transporting the Printer 30

PROBLEM SOLVING 31

Identifying Printer Parts 31

Diagnosing Printer Problems 32

Checking the Control Panel Lights 32

Running a Printer Check 33

Problems and Solutions 34

Problems Setting Up the Printer or Installing Software 34

Problems with Printing 35

Problems Getting Good Print Quality 36

Problems with Paper Feeding 38

Solving Miscellaneous Printout Problems 39

Uninstalling Printer Software 40

Where To Get Help 41

EPSON Technical Support 41

Creative Software Technical Support 42

REQUIREMENTS AND NOTICES 43

Windows System Requirements 43

Macintosh System Requirements 44

ENERGY STAR Compliance 44

Important Safety Instructions 44

Ink Cartridge Safety Instructions 45

FCC Compliance Statement 46

Declaration of Conformity 47

Warranty 48

INDEX 49

EPSON Ink Jet Papers and Ink Cartridges

Use EPSON paper and inks to get the same photo quality results that have earned EPSON’s printers all of their awards! EPSON papers are specially coated to work with EPSON’s quick drying inks. You’ll notice that when prints come out of your printer, you can immediately handle them. There is no drying time, no smearing or smudging, and your image is crisp and smooth. Here are the inks for your printer and just a few of EPSON’s papers:

Photo Paper and Panoramic Photo Paper

Photo lab quality, heavier weight glossy paper available in a variety of sizes. Perfect for color photo keepsakes of snapshots, framed art, banners, and panoramics.

Matte Paper - Heavyweight

Heavyweight, bright white, ultra smooth coated paper with matte finish. Perfect for photographs, signs, and crafts.

Photo Quality Ink Jet Paper

Bright white, with a smooth matte finish to create your best impression. Perfect for presentations, newsletters, color reproductions, and all your photo and craft projects.

EPSON Ink Cartridges

For best results, always use genuine EPSON ink cartridges.

Black T019201 (U.S.), or T019311 (Canada) Color T020201 (U.S.), or T020311 (Canada)

For more information on other EPSON products and fun project ideas, look for the EPSON Print Lab

See the inside back cover for a list of EPSON papers and ink cartridges, and ordering information.

Series at www.epson.com.

Welcome!

Your EPSON Stylus® Color 880, 880i, or 83 printer is the ideal output device for small office or home printing. With resolutions of up to 2880 by 720 dpi, you can print anything from reports and resumes to photos and newsletters with great results.

The EPSON Stylus Color 880i and EPSON Stylus Color 83 printers are functionally identical to the EPSON Stylus Color 880 printer. Therefore, this guide refers to the printer as the EPSON Stylus Color 880.

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:

■ printing with Windows

■ maintaining the printer

■ solving basic problems

■ viewing your electronic printer manual and printer movies

or on a Macintosh

To learn detailed information about using your printer and printer software, see your electronic Reference Guide. Instructions on viewing your Reference Guide are on page 2.

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.

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 Microsoft 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.

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

drive icon, then double-click the

Macintosh: Double-click the

EPSON

icon.

My Computer

EPSON

CD-ROM icon, then double-click the

The Main Menu appears:

Click here

3. Click

View Electronic Documentation

The main screen for your printer appears:

4. You can either view the manual from the CD-ROM ( copy the manual to your hard drive (

Reference Guide

View Reference Guide

) and view it from there.

) or

Install

For details on viewing the manual, see the next section.

, double-click your CD-ROM

icon.

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 ESC880 Guide.

Macintosh: Open the EPSON Stylus Color 880 folder and double-click View

Reference Guide

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 in place of a graphic when viewing your

Guide

in Netscape Navigator, click the Reload button to load the

graphic.

Reference

Watching Printer Movies

Need help loading envelopes, replacing ink cartridges, or printing on both sides of the paper? Your printer software CD-ROM includes helpful Fix-it FlixSM movies that explain these and other common tasks.

Follow these steps to watch your printer movies:

1. Insert your printer software CD-ROM.

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

Click here

3. Click View EPSON Documentation, then click Watch Printer Movies. The main Fix-it Flix screen appears:

4. Click the poster for the movie you want to see. If necessary, select an option on the next screen. The movie starts playing.

Printing from Start to Finish

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

■ printing with Windows (below)

■ printing on a Macintosh (on page 9)

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

■ using advanced settings (on page 13)

■ printing on envelopes (on page 16)

■ double-sided printing (on page 17)

■ using special papers (on page 18)

■ selecting the correct media type (on page 20)

Printing with Windows

This section describes the basic steps for printing with Windows.

(To print on a Macintosh, see page 9.)

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

Follow these guidelines 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, see page 16 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 (your

dialog box may look slightly different):

Select your printer here

Make the following selections on the Print dialog box:

■ Make sure your

■ If the Print dialog box contains a

Printer, or Options button, click it. Then click

EPSON Stylus COLOR 880

Properties

is selected.

button, click it. (If you see a Setup,

Properties

Click here to open your printer software

on the next screen.)

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.

Selecting Printer Software Settings

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

The most important thing to remember is to set the correct Media Type for the paper you’re using. The Media Type setting affects the other options you can choose. 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 faster or higher-quality printing, or in-between

Click OK

Make the following settings on the Properties dialog box:

■ Choose the Media Type you’re printing on (click

the arrow button to display the list). If you’re not sure which setting to select, see page 20.

■ 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

. This lets the printer software determine the best settings for your print job. 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

. This lets you choose between a higher resolution or faster printing (or an in-between setting) for the paper you’re using. (The slider is not available when certain media types are selected.)

■ When you’ve selected your settings, click OK to return to your application’s Print

dialog box.

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 the Settings You Use Most Often

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, double-sided, letter-sized documents with black ink—you can change the default printer settings for all your programs. You do this using the Windows Printer utility.

1. Click

Start

, point to

2. Right-click the

3. Select

Properties

Windows NT, or

Settings

EPSON Stylus COLOR 880

, and then select

icon.

in Windows 98 or Windows 95,

Printing Preferences

in Windows 2000. Then click the

Printers

Document Defaults

Main

tab.

4. Select the default settings you want to use for all your applications. Click OK when you’re finished.

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

Controlling Printing

At the Print dialog box, click OK (or printing.

, depending on your application) to start

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.

Click to cancel printing

Click to pause or resume

Does not appear if you are printing over a network

printing

For advanced settings and 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 2).