HP 2500n User Manual

Download

hp color LaserJet

2500 series

use

HP Color LaserJet 2500 series printer

User guide

A user of the Hewlett-Packard printer associated with this user guide is granted a license to: a) print hard copies of this user guide for PERSONAL, INTERNAL or COMPANY use subject to the restriction not to sell, re-sell or otherwise distribute the hard copies; and b) place an electronic copy of this user guide on a network server, provided access to the electronic copy is limited to PERSONAL, INTERNAL users of the Hewlett-Packard printer associated with this user guide.

The information contained in this document is subject to change without notice.

Part number C9706-90960 Edition 1, 1/2003

Trademark Credits

Adobe Photoshop

is a trademark of Adobe

Systems Incorporated. CorelDRAW™

NERGY STAR

is a trademark of Corel.

and the Energy Star logo are U.S. registered marks of the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

Microsoft Windows NT

, Windows®, MS-DOS®, and

are U.S. registered

trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Netscape™ and Netscape Navigator™ are

U.S. trademarks of Netscape Communications Corporation.

TrueType™ is a U.S. trademark of Apple Computer, Inc.

UNIX

is a registered trademark of The Open

Group.

Hewlett-Packard Company 11311 Chinden Boulevard Boise, Idaho 83714 U.S.A.

HP Customer Care

Telephone support

HP provides free telephone support during the warranty period. When you call, you will be connected to a responsive team waiting to help y o u. For the telephone number for your country/region, see the flyer that shipped in the box with the product. Before calling HP, have the following information ready: product name and serial number, date of purchase, and description of the problem.

You can also find support on the Internet at http://www.hp.com

. In the Select your country or region field in the top,

right corner, select your country/region and click . Click the Support block.

Online and other support

Online Services: for 24-hour

access to information using a modem or Internet connection

Software utilities, drivers, and electronic information

HP direct ordering for accessories or supplies

HP Support Assistant CD

World Wide Web URL: Updated HP printer software, product and support information, and printer drivers in several languages can be obtained from: http://www.hp .com/go/clj2500 in English.)

Printer drivers: Visit http://www.hp.com right corner, select your country/region and click . Click the Drivers block, and then enter

color

English, but you can download the drivers themselves in several languages.

Visit: http://www.hp.com/go/support/clj2500. (Site is in English.)

Call: See the flyer that shipped in the box with the product. Visit: http://www.hp.com/go/ljsupplies

Call: 1-800-538-8787 (U.S.) or 1-800-387-3154 (Canada).

This support tool offers a comprehensive online information system designed to provide technical and product information on HP products. To subscribe to this quarterly service in the U.S. or Canada, call 1-800-457-1762. In Hong Kong SAR, Indonesia, Malaysia, or Singapore, call Mentor Media at (65) 740-4477.

laserjet 2500 as the product name. The Web page for the drivers might be in

. In the Select your country or region field in the top,

. (Site is

HP Service Information

HP Service Agreements

To locate HP-Authorized Dealers, call 1-800-243-9816 (U.S.) or 1-800-387-3867 (Canada).

For service for your product, call the customer support number for your country/region. See the flyer that shipped in the box with the printer.

Call: 1-800-835-4747 (U.S.) or 1-800-268-1221 (Canada). Extended Service: 1-800-446-0522

ENWW 3

4 ENWW

Contents

HP Customer Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

1 Printer basics

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Printer configurations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

Printer features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

Printer parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

Interface ports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

Control panel features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

Software and supported operating systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

Software for Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

Software for network installations only. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

Software for Macintosh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

Software tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

Uninstalling the printing software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22

Uninstalling software for Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22

Uninstalling software for Macintosh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

Accessories and ordering information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

2 Printing tasks

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

Choosing paper and other print media. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28

Supported print media for tray 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

Supported print media for optional tray 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

Supported print media for optional tray 3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30

Purchasing paper and other print media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30

Loading trays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

Loading tray 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

Loading optional tray 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32

Loading optional tray 3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33

Printing a job . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34

Gaining access to printer driver settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37

Features in the printer driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38

Choosing an output location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42

Printing on special print media. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43

Printing on envelopes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43

Printing on labels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44

Printing on grayscale transparencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45

Printing on custom-sized print media or cardstock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46

Printing on letterhead or preprinted forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47

Printing on both sides (duplexing manually) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48

Canceling a print job . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49

Using color. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50

HP ImageREt 2400 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50

HP ColorSmart. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51

Managing color options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51

Matching colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53

Printing in four-colors (CMYK) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53

ENWW Contents 5

3 Managing the printer

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Special pages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

HP Color LaserJet 2500 Toolbox. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Using the embedded Web server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Using Printer Status and Alerts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

4 Problem solving and maintenance

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Clearing jams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Resolving control panel messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Supplies Status lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Printer Status lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Secondary light patterns for Printer Status lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Solving print-quality problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Solving issues with all printed documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Solving issues with color documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Resolving problems that generated messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Resolving problems that did not generate messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Solving general printing problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Solving PostScript (PS) errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Solving common Macintosh problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Cleaning the printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Calibrating the printer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Managing supplies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Supplies life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Checking and ordering supplies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Storing supplies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Replacing and recycling supplies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

HP policy on non-HP supplies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

HP fraud hotline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Appendix A Service and support

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Hewlett-Packard limited warranty statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Limited warranty for the print cartridges and imaging drum. . . . . . . . . . 107

Availability of support and service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

HP maintenance agreements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

On-site service agreements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

HP Express Exchange (U.S. and Canada only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Repacking the printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Appendix B Specifications and regulatory information

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Printer specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Environmental Product Stewardship program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Protecting the environment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Material safety data sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

FCC regulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Regulatory statements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

Declaration of Conformity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

Laser safety statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Canadian DOC statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

VCCI statement (Japan). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Korean EMI statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Finnish laser statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

6 Contents ENWW

Appendix C Print media specifications

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

General guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

Tray specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Paper and print media. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Envelopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Labels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

Grayscale transparencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

Appendix D Working with memory and print server cards

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

Printer memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

Installing memory and font DIMMs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

Checking DIMM installation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

Enabling memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

Enabling the language font DIMM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

Installing an HP Jetdirect print server card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

Index

ENWW Contents 7

8 Contents ENWW

Printer basics

Introduction

This section provides information about the following topics:

“Printer configurations” on page 10

●

● “Printer features” on page 11

● “Printer parts” on page 13

“Software and suppor te d op erating syste ms” on page 17

●

● “Software for Windows” on page 18

“Software for Macintosh” on page 20

●

● “Software tips” on page 21

● “Uninstalling the printing software” on page 22

“Accessories and ordering information” on page 24

●

ENWW Chapter 1 Printer basics 9

Printer configurations

Thank you for purchasing the HP Color LaserJet 2500 series printer. This printer is available in the configurations described below.

HP Color LaserJet 2500L

The HP Color LaserJet 2500L printer is a four-color laser printer that prints at 16 pages per minute (ppm) in black and white, and 4 ppm in color.

●

Trays. The printer comes with a multipurpose tray (tray 1) that holds up to 125 sheets of various print media or 10 en velopes. Compatible with and op tional 250-sheet tr ay (tray 2) for standard sizes and optional 500-sheet tray (tray 3) for A4 and letter sizes. (Optional tray 2 must be installed in order to install optional tray 3.)

●

Connectivity. The printer provides parallel and universal serial bus (USB) ports for connectivity. (You cannot connect both at the same time.) The printer also contains an enhanced input/output (EIO) slot for installing an optional HP Jetdirect print server card.

●

Memory. The printer contains three dual inline memory module (DIMM) slots. The standard 64-megabyte (MB) random access memory (RAM) DIMM resides in one of the slots. You can expand the printer memory to a total of 256 M B using 3 2-, 64-, or 128-MB RAM DI MMs . You can also install a language font DIMM in one of the DIMM slots.

HP Color LaserJet 2500

The HP Color LaserJet 2500 printer comes with the features that the 2500L model provides as well as tray 2. This model is compatible with optional tray 3.

HP Color LaserJet 2500n

The HP Color LaserJet 2500n printer comes with the features that the 2500 model prov ides as well as an HP Jetdirect print server card for connecting to a 10/100 Base-T network. This model is compatible with optional tra y 3.

HP Color LaserJet 2500tn

The HP Color LaserJet 2500tn printer comes with the feat ures that t he 2500 n model pro vid es as well as tray3.

10 Printer basics ENWW

Printer features

Color printing

Fast print speed

Excellent print quality

Ease of use

Expandability

Capable of laser printing in full color using the four process colors: cyan, magenta, yellow, and

●

black.

Prints A4/letter-size paper at 16 ppm for black or 4 ppm for color.

●

Tr ue 600 by 600 dots per inch (dpi) text and graphics.

●

ImageREt 2400 provides 2400 dpi color laser-class quality through a multilevel printing process.

●

Adjustable settings to optimize print quality.

●

The HP UltraPrecise print cartridge has a finer toner formulation that provides sharper text and

●

graphics.

Few supplies to order. Supplies are easy to install.

●

Convenient access to printer information and settings using software tools (HP Color LaserJet

●

2500 Toolbox, embedded Web server, Printer Status and Alerts).

Optional tray 2. Included with the 2500, 2500n, and 2500tn models; compatible with the 2500L

●

model. This 250-sheet tray for standard sizes reduces the frequency with which you have to add paper to the printer. Only one 250-sheet tray can be installed on the printer.

Tray 3. Included with the 2500tn model; compatible with the 2500L, 2500, and 2500n models.

●

This 500-sheet tray for letter and A4 sizes reduces how often you have to add paper to the printer. Only one 500-sheet tray can be installed on the printer. Optional tray 2 must be installed to install an optional tray 3.

Optional HP Jetdirect print server card for connecting to a network. Included with the 2500n and

●

2500tn models; compatible with the 2500L and 2500 models. Two DIMM slots for adding memory and fonts.

●

Flexible paper handling

Printer control language (PCL) printer language and fonts

PostScript (PS) 3 emu lation language and fonts

Automatic language switching

Interface connections

Adjustable tray 1 (multipurpose tray) f or letterhead, envelopes, labels, grayscale transparencies,

●

custom-sized media, postcards, and heavy paper. Optional tray 2 (250-sheet tray) for standard-size paper.

●

Optional tray 3 (500-sheet tray) for letter- and A4-siz e paper . (Optional tra y 2 must be installed in

●

order to install optional tray 3.) One 125-sheet output bin and one output door. Select the top output bin (face down) for most

●

jobs, including gra yscale transparencies. Use the rear output door (face up) for jobs on heavy paper, light paper, or special print media.

Straight-through paper path capability from tray 1 to the rear output door.

●

Manual duplexing. See “Printing on both sides (duplexing manually)” on page 48.

●

Fast printing performance, built-in Intellifont and TrueType™ scaling technologies, built-in

●

HP-GL/2 vector graphics, and advanced imaging capabilities are benefits of the PCL 6 printer language. PCL 6 also includes 45 scalable T rueType fonts and one bitmapped Line Printer Font. PCL 6 printer language also included.

PS 3 emulation with 35 built-in PS language fonts included.

●

The printer automatically determines an d switches to the appropriate printer language (such as

●

PS 3 emulation) for the print job.

Bidirectional ECP type-B parallel port (IEEE-1284 compliant).

●

USB port. A parallel cable and a USB cable cannot be connected at the same time. If they are,

●

USB disables itself. EIO slot in the 2500L and 2500 models. The 2500n and 2500tn models include the optional

●

HP Jetdirect print server card.

ENWW Chapter 1 Printer basics 11

Networking

The 2500L and 2500 models provide an EIO slot for an optional HP Jetdirect print server card

●

for fast and easy connectivity. (The 2500n and 2500tn models include the HP Jetdirect print

server card.)

All common network protocols such as Ethernet, Token Ring, and LocalTalk are available using

●

HP Jetdirect print server cards.

Wireless networking (802.11b) is available with the HP Jetdirect print server card (model

●

J6058A).

Enhanced memory and memory expansion

Energy savings ●

Economical printing

Print cart ridges

The printer comes with 64 MB of memory and can be expanded to 256 MB with the DIMM slots.

●

Most documents can be printed using the standard amount of printer memory through the aid of

Memory Enhancement technology (MEt). MEt automatically compresses data, virtually doubling

the printer memory and allowing more complex printing with available memory.

The printer automatically conserves electricity by substantially reducing power consumption

when not printing.

As an ENERGY STAR® partner, Hewlett-Packard Company has determined that this product

●

meets E

NERGY STAR

guidelines for energy efficiency. E

NERGY STAR

is a U.S. registered service

mark of the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

N-up printing and two-sided printing using manual duplexing saves paper. See “Printing multiple

●

pages on one sheet of paper (N-up printing)” on page 40 and “Printing on both sides (duplexing

manually)” on page 48.

Supplies Status page with print cartridge and imaging drum gauges to display lif e remaining. For

●

HP supplies only.

No-shake cartridge design.

●

Authentication for HP print cartridges.

●

Enabled supplies ordering capability .

●

12 Printer basics ENWW

Printer parts

Before using the printer, familiarize yourself with the parts of the printer.

Control panel

Top output

bin

Top cover

Power switch

Control

panel

Interface ports

Tray 1

Optional tray 2

(2500, 2500n, and

2500tn)

Rear output

door

Power

connector

ENWW Chapter 1 Printer basics 13

Interface ports

All 2500 series printers have two interface ports: an IEEE-1284B parallel port and a USB port. The 2500L and 2500 models also contain an EIO slot for installing an optional HP Jetdirect print server card. To order, see “Accessories and ordering information” on page 24, or contact your local HP dealer.

The 2500n and 2500tn models include an HP JetDirect print server card (J6057A) that contains a 10/100 Base-T (RJ-45) port.

Note You cannot connect the printer to one computer using the parallel cable and to another computer

using the USB cable. If you connect both types of cables , t he USB disa bles itself. However, you can connect one of the cables while the printer is connected to the network using an installed HP Jet direct print server card.

USB port

Parallel port

(IEEE-1284B)

Because an HP Jetdirect print server card is not included with all models, it will be referred to as the optional HP Jetdirect print server card in this documentation.

(on the optional HP Jetdirect

10/100 Base-T

print server card)

14 Printer basics ENWW

Control panel features

The printer contains the following lights and buttons on its control panel:

Black print-cartridge

light

Cyan print-cartridge

light

Magenta print-cartridge

light

Yellow print-cartridge

light

OTATE CAROUSEL

button

Imaging-drum

light

Supplies Status lights

and buttons

ANCEL JOB

button

Attention light

Printer Status lights

and buttons

(amber)

Ready light

(green)

Go light and

O button (both gree n)

The lights and buttons are arranged into two main groups: Supplies Status (top) and Printer Status (bottom). To interpret and troubleshoot control panel light messages, see “Resolving

control panel messages” on page 71.

Understanding Supplies Status

The printer contains five lights and one button to indicate and control the status of the print cartridges and imaging drum. To interpret and troubleshoot control panel light messages, see

“Resolving control panel messages” on page 71.

Black, Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow Supplies Status ligh ts

These lights indicate when a print cartridge is low (light is on), empty or missing (light blinks), or the first time you install a non-HP print cartridge (light blinks and Attention light is on). These lights will not indicate low or empty status for non-HP print cartridges.

Rotate Carousel button

When the top cover is closed, pressing (R

OTATECAROUSEL

) rotates the print-cartridge carousel to bring the next print cartridge into the top position. The light f o r the print cartridge that is approaching the top position blinks quickly two or three times.

Imaging drum light

This light indicates when the imaging drum is low (light is on) empty or missing (light blinks), or the first time you install a non-HP imaging drum (light blinks and Attention light is on). This light will not indicate low or empty status for non-HP imaging drums.

ENWW Chapter 1 Printer basics 15

Understanding Printer Status

The printer has two butt ons and thr ee lights to indicate and co ntrol the p rinter status . To interpret and troubleshoot control pan el light messages, see “Resolving control panel messages” on

page 71.

Cancel Job button

● When the Ready light is blinking, pressing (C

● When the printer is not experiencing an error, pressing (G

ANCELJOB

) cancels the current job.

) and (C

ANCELJOB

) simultaneously prints a Configuration page and a Supplies Status page. (If an HP Jetdirect print server card is installed, an HP Jetdirect page also prints.)

When a Supplies Status light is blinking and the Attention light is on (indicating a non-HP

●

supply has been installed), pressing (C

ANCELJOB

) allows you to continue printing.

CAUTION You will not receive any indication when a non-HP supply is empty. If you continue printing after

the supply is empty, damage to the printer can occur. See “Hewlett-Packard limited warranty

statement” on page 106.

Attention light

Generally, the Attention light blinks when the printer is out of pape r, when a jam has occurred, or when other problems that need attention occur.

The Attention light is on in conjunction and one of the Supplies Status lig hts is blinking the first time a non-HP supply is installed.

Ready light

The Ready light is on when the printer is ready to print (experiencing no errors that prevent printing) and blinks when it is receiving data to be printed.

Go light and Go button

● When the Go light is on and the Attention light is b linking, pressing (G

) continues the

print job after you load paper for a manual feed or clears some erro rs.

● When the Go light is blinking, the to p cover has been opened and then closed or you have

pressed (R

OTATECAROUSEL

you do not press (G

), the printer returns to the Ready state on its own after

). Pressing (GO) returns the printer to the Ready state. If

approximately eight seconds.

● When the Go light is off, pressing (GO) prints a Demo page. Pressing (GO) and

ANCEL JOB) simultaneously prints a Configuration page and a Supplies Status page. ( If

an HP Jetdirect print server card is installed, an HP Jetdirect page also prints.)

16 Printer basics ENWW

Software and supported operating systems

For easy printer setup and access to the full range of printer features, HP strongly recommends that you install the software provided. Not all software is available in all languages. See the getting starte d guid e for installation instr u ctio n s, and see the Read m e for the latest software information.

The most recent drivers, additional drivers, and other software are available from the Internet and other sources. If you do not have access to the Internet, see “HP Customer Care” on

page 3.

The printer comes with software for the following operating systems:

● Microsoft

Windows Millennium Edition (Me), and Windows XP

● Macintosh System 8.6 and later

The table lists the software that is available for your operating system.

Windows® 95 (printer driver only), Windows 98, Windows NT®4.0, Windows 2000,

Windows Installer

PCL 6 printer driver

PCL 5c printer driver

PS 3 emulation printer driver

HP Web Jetadmin software

Printer Status and Alerts software

HP Color LaserJet 2500 Toolbox

Embedded Web server

Macintosh Installer

Windows 95 Windows 98, Me Windows NT 4.0,

2000, XP*

Macintosh UNIX®,

Linux

** ** **

OS/2

Macintosh PostScript printer description (PPD) and printer dialog extensions (PDE)

IBM drivers

Model scripts

* XP refers to 32-bit. The 64-bit XP only receives the Unidriver. ** Available only in a network installation. *** Available on the HP website. **** Available on the HP website. Not specific to this printer.

****

ENWW Chapter 1 Printer basics 17

***

Software for Windows

When you install the software for Windows, you can directly connect the printer to a computer using a USB or parallel cable or you can connect the printer to the network using an optional HP Jetdirect print server card. Diff erent softw are is a vaila ble dep ending on the type of installation you chose. See the getting started guide for installation instructions, and see the Readme for latest software information.

The following software is availab le to all users of the printer, whether you connected the printer directly to a computer using a parallel cable or USB cable, or whether you connected the printer to the network using an HP Jetdirect print server card.

Printer drivers

A printer driver is a software componen t that pro vides access to printer f eatures and pro vides the means for the computer to communicate with the printer. Choose a printer driver based on the way you use the printer. For help using your printer driver, see “Gaining access to printer driver

settings” on page 37.

Use the PCL 6 printer driver to take full advantage of the printer features. Unless complete

●

backward compatibility with previous PCL drivers or older printers is necessary, the PCL 6 driver is recommended.

● Use the PCL 5c printer driver if you need print results to look consistent with th ose from older

HP LaserJet printers. Certain features are not available in this printer driver. (Do not use the PCL 5c driver for this printer with older printers.)

Use the PS printer driver for compatibility with PS needs. Certain printer features are not

●

available in this printer driver.

The printer automatically switches between PS 3 emulation and PCL printer languages depending on the driver you have selected.

Using Help

The printer driver has Help dialog bo xes that can be activated from the Help b utt on in the p rinter driver, the F1 key on the computer keyboard, or the question mark symbol (?) in the upper-right corner of the printer driver. These Help dialog boxes give detailed information about the specific printer driver. Help for the printer driver is separate from the Help for your program.

HP Color LaserJet 2500 Toolbox

HP Color LaserJet 2500 Toolbox is only supported for Windows 98 and later. You must have performed a complete software installation in order to use the HP Color LaserJet 2500 Toolbox.

The HP Color LaserJet 2500 Toolbox provides links to printer status information and help information, such as this user guide; and tools f or diagnosing and solving prob lems. You can also view exp lanations and animations of light messages on the co ntrol panel. The HP Color LaserJet 2500 Toolbox also provides printer status and settings information from the embedded Web server. See “Managing the printer” on page 55 for more information.

18 Printer basics ENWW

Embedded W eb server

When the printer is directly connected to a computer, the embedded Web server is supported for Windows 98 and later. When the printer is connected to the network, the embedded W e b server is supported for Windows 95 and later, Mac OS 8.6 and later, UNIX, Linux, and OS/2.

With the embedded Web server, you can gain access to the printer settings and information by typing an IP address in a Web browser (such as Netscape Navigator™ or Microsoft Internet Explorer) on any computer. You can use the embedded Web server to configure the printer and view status information, as well as view a textual message regarding what a Status light message on the printer means. See “Managing the printer” on page 55 for more information.

Printer Status and Alerts

Printer Status and Alerts software provides optional printer and job status alerts. These alerts include notification of jams, of print cartridges being low, or of jobs failing to print because a print cartridge is empty. You can also view device-status information that is stored in the embedded Web server. See “Managing the printer” on page 55 for more information.

Software for network installations only

This software is available only when the printer is connected to a network.

HP Web Jetadmin

HP Web Jetadmin is intended for printer management in commer cial and enterprise networks. While the embedded Web server is used to manage a single printer, HP Web Jetadmin is used to manage groups of printers and other devices. Download this software from the HP website at

http://www.hp.com/go/webjetadmin

. The HP Web Jetadmin website provides HP Web Jetadmin

software in many languages. HP Web Jetadmin is available only if the printer is connected to an IP-based network. This

browser-based software can be installed on one of the following supported platforms:

● Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 or 2000

● HP-UX

● Sun Solaris

● Red Hat Linux

● SuSE Linux

Starting HP Web Jetadmin

Once you install the HP Web Jetadmin software, yo u can start it in a supported Web bro wser on any computer by typing one of the following URLs:

● http://server.domain:port/

where “server.domain” is the server hostname and “port” is the port number that you entered during installation. (The default port is 8000.) This information is available in the url.txt file, which is stored in the folder where HP Web Jetadmin is installed.

● http://ipaddress:port/

where “ipaddress” is the IP address of the computer where HP Web Jetadmin is located.

For settings that ap pear in both the printer driver and HP Web Jetadmin, changes made in the printer driver override changes made in HP Web Jetadmin.

ENWW Chapter 1 Printer basics 19

Software for Macintosh

For Mac OS 8.6 to 9.x, the Apple LaserWriter 8 driver must be installed to use the PPD file. Use the Apple LaserWriter 8 driver that came with y our Macintosh. F or Mac OS X, use Print Center to print.

The printer includes the following software for Macintosh computers.

PPDs (Mac OS 8.6 to 9.x and Mac OS X classic)

PPDs, in combination with the LaserWriter driver, provide access to the printer features and allow the computer to communicate with the printer. An installation program for the PPDs is provided on the HP Color LaserJet 2500 CD-ROM.

PDEs (Mac OS X)

PDEs are code plug-ins that provide access to printer features, such as number of copies, duplexing, and quality settings. An installation program fo r the PDEs and other software is provided on the HP Color LaserJet 2500 CD-ROM.

Embedded Web server

When the printer is connected to the network, the embedded Web server is supported for Windows 95 and later, Mac OS 8.6 and later, UNIX, Linux, and OS/2.

With the embedded Web server, you can gain access to the printer settings and information by typing an IP address in a Web browser (such as Net scap e Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer) on any computer. You can use the embedded Web server to configure the printer and view status information, as well as view a textual message regarding what a Status light message on the printer means. See “Managing the printer” on page 55 for more information.

20 Printer basics ENWW

Software tips

How do I gain access to printer features?

Printer features are a v ailab le in the printer driv er . Some f eatures such as custom paper sizes and page orientation might also be available in the program you are using to create a file. Change settings in the program, if possible, because changes made in the program override changes made in the printer driver.

Gain access to advanced printer features from the printer driver (or the Print dialog box for Macintosh). See “Gaining access to printer driver settings” on page 37 for help with specific printer-driver features.

How do I get the latest printing software?

When you want to check for and install upgrades to the printing software, you can download drivers from the World Wide Web or HP’s FTP servers.

To download drivers

1 Visit http://www.hp.com

select your country/region and click .

2 Click the Drivers block, and then enter color laserjet 2500 as the product name. The

Web page for the drivers might be in English, but y ou can download the drivers themselves in several languages.

If you do not have Internet access, contact HP Customer Care. (See “HP Customer Care” on

page 3 or the flyer that came in the printer box.) See the Readme file for additional release

information.

. In the Select your country or region field in the top, right corner,

What other software is available?

See the Readme file provided on the HP Color LaserJet 2500 CD for additional software included and for supported languages.

ENWW Chapter 1 Printer basics 21

Uninstalling the printing software

Uninstall software using the directions below for your operat ing system.

Uninstalling software for Windows

The printer comes with an uninstall utility that you can use to select and remove any or all of the Windows HP printing system components from your computer.

To uninstall software for Windows 95

1 On the Start menu, point to Settings, and click Printers. 2 Select the icon for this printer and on the File menu, click Delete.

To uninstall software for Windows 98 and higher

Note To uninstall the software from Windows NT 4.0, 2000, or XP, you must log on with administrator

privileges.

1 Close all open programs.

For Windows 98 and Me: a Press C b Select a program except Explorer or Systray and click End Task. c Repeat step b until all programs except Explorer and Systray are closed. For Windows NT 4.0, 2000, and XP: a Press C b Click Task Manager and then click the Applications tab. c Select a program and click End Task. d Repeat step c until all programs are closed.

2 On the Start menu, point to Programs, point to HP Color LaserJet 2500, point to Tools,

and click Uninstall.

3 Click Next, select the HP printing system components that you want to uninstall, and click

OK.

4 Follow t he directions on the scr een. When the message “The following file is a shared file but

is not used by any othe r prog r ams . W o uld y ou lik e to delete it?” appears , clic k Yes to All. The system finishes removing files.

5 If prompted to restart the computer, click OK.

TRL+ALT+DELETE

. The Close Program dialog box opens.

. The Windows NT Security dialog box opens.

22 Printer basics ENWW

Uninstalling software for Macintosh

To remove the printing software from your Macintosh, drag the HP LaserJet folder and PPDs to the Trash.

For Mac OS 8.6 to 9.x: The PPDs are located here: Macintosh HD\System Folder\Extensions\Printer Descriptions.

For Mac OS X: The PPDs are located here: Macintosh HD\Library\Printers\PPDs\Contents\Resources\<lang>.lproj.

The phrase <lang> represents the language of the printer software you chose.

ENWW Chapter 1 Printer basics 23

Accessories and ordering information

The following list of accessories was current at the time of printing. Ordering information and availability of the accessories might change during the life of the printer. For the most current ordering information, visit:

● North America: http://www.hp.com/go/ordersupplies-na

● Europe & Middle East: http://www.hp.com/go/ordersupplies-emea

Asia Pacific countries/regions: http://www.hp.com/go/ordersupplies-ap

●

● Latin America: http://www.hp.com/go/ordersupplies-la

Option Description or use Part number

Supplies

Black print cartridge Life of 5,000 pages at 5% coverage C9700A Cyan print cartridge Life of 4,000 pages at 5% coverage C9701A Yellow print cartridge Life of 4,000 pages at 5% coverage C9702A Magenta print cartridge Life of 4,000 pages at 5% coverage C9703A Imaging drum Imaging drum life is 20,000 pages if printing black only; 5,000

pages if printing in color. Approximate life is 6,000 to 8,000 pages.

Memory

Memory upgrades (DIMMs)

Font DIMM (100-pin)

Cable and interface accessories

HP Jetdirect print server cards HP Jetdirect print server cards:

Parallel cables (IEEE-1284)

USB cable 2-meter standard USB-compatible device connector C6518A CPC Connectivity accessories MPI Tech Bluetooth printer adapter Available at http://

Paper handling accessories

Optional tray 2 250-sheet input tray for letter and A4 sizes. Only one 250-

The standard 64 MB of memory in the printer can be expanded to up to 256 MB using the two additional DIMM slots.

32 MB C7845A

●

64 MB C7846A

●

128 MB C9121A

●

You can install an 8-MB language font ROM in one of the DIMM slots.

HP Jetdirect 680n Wireless Networking (802.11b) J6058A

●

HP Jetdirect 600n Ethernet (10 Base-T, RJ-45 only) J3110A

●

HP Jetdirect 600n Ethernet (10 Base-T RJ-45, 10Base2

●

BNC) HP Jetdirect 615n Ethernet/Fast Ethernet (10/100

●

Base-TX, RJ-45 only)

This print server card comes with the HP Color

Note:

LaserJet 2500n and 2500tn printers.

HP Jetdirect 610n Token Ring (RJ-45, DB-9) J4167A

●

HP Jetdirect connectivity card for USB, Serial, and

●

LocalTalk connections 2-meter, size B C2950A

●

3-meter, size B C2951A

●

sheet tray can be installed.

This tray is included with the 2500, 2500n, and 2500tn

Note:

models.

C9704A

Visit http://www.hp.com DIMM availability and ordering.

J3111A

J6057A

J4135A

www.hp.com

C9698A

for

24 Printer basics ENWW

Option Description or use Part number

Optional tray 3 500-sheet input tray for letter and A4 sizes. Only one 500-

sheet tray can be installed. You must have a 250-sheet optional tray 2 installed to install an optional tray 3.

This tray is included with the 2500tn model.

Note:

Paper and other print media

HP LaserJet paper Premium HP-brand paper for use with HP LaserJet printers. HPJ1124 (letter)

HP Premium Choice paper HP bond paper with a weight of 120.32 g/m

(32 lb.) HPU1132 (letter)

HP Printing paper HP-brand paper for use with HP LaserJet printers. HPP1122 (letter)

HP Multipurpose paper HP-brand paper for a variety of uses. HPM1120 (letter)

HP LaserJet Tough paper Robust paper with a satin finish. Paper will not tear and will

withstand the weather. For documents requiring durability and longevity.

Grayscale transparencies The printer supports printing in grayscale on grayscale or

color transparencies. Grayscale transparencies are usually less expensive.

Extended service packs

Contact HP Customer Care for availability and for ordering.

User-replaceable parts

Fuser Replace when print-quality issues remain after you have

cleaned the engine and tried all troubleshooting measures. (See “Cleaning the printer” on page 99 and “Solving print-

quality problems” on page 80.)

Separation pad and pick-up rollers

Replace when the printer is picking up multiple sheets or no sheets. Trying different paper did not resolve the problem.

Supplementary Documentation

HP LaserJet Printer Family Print Media Guide

HP Color LaserJet 2500 series printer user guide

HP Color LaserJet 2500 series printers CD-ROM

A guide to using paper and other print media with HP LaserJet printers.

A printed copy of this user guide.

English C9706-90960

●

Chinese, simplified C9706-90977

●

Chinese, traditional C9706-90976

●

Czech C9706-90973

●

Danish C9706-90967

●

Dutch C9706-90966

●

Finnish C9706-90968

●

French C9706-90961

●

German C9706-90963

●

Italian C9706-90962

●

Korean C9706-90975

●

Norwegian C9706-90969

●

Portuguese, Brazilian C9706-90965

●

Polish C9706-90972

●

Russian C9706-90971

●

Spanish, Castilian C9706-90964

●

Swedish C9706-90970

●

Turkish C9706-90974

●

Visit http://www.hp.com/support/clj2500

to find the CD-ROM part number.

C9699A

CHP310 (A4) HPJ1424 (legal)

CHP410 (A4)

CHP210 (A4)

HPM1420 (legal) Q1298A (letter)

Q1298B (A4)

92296T (letter) 92296U (A4)

Contact HP Customer Care to order parts.

5963-7863

ENWW Chapter 1 Printer basics 25

26 Printer basics ENWW

Printing tasks

Introduction

This section provides information about common printing tasks.

“Choosing paper and other print media” on page 28

●

● “Loading trays” on page 31

● “Printing a job” on page 34

“Choosing an output location” on page 42

●

● “Printing on special print media” on page 43

“Printing on both sides (duplexing manually)” on page 48

●

● “Canceling a print job” on page 49

● “Using color” on page 50

For inf ormation about managing t he printer and its settings using the embedded W e b server, the HP Color LaserJet 2500 Toolbox, and Printer Status and Alerts, see “Managing the printer” on

page 55.

ENWW Chapter 2 Printing tasks 27

Choosing paper and other print media

The printer models come with input trays as specified below.

● The 2500L comes with one input tray (tray 1). You can add one optional tray 2 (250-sheets)

and one optional tray 3 (500-sheets). Optional tray 2 must be installed to install optional tray 3.

● The 2500 and 2500n models come with two input trays (tray 1 and tray 2) standard. You can

add one optional tray 3 (500-sheets). The 2500tn comes with three input trays (tray 1, tray 2, and tray 3).

●

Because tray 2 and tray 3 are not included for all models, they will be referred to as optional tray 2 and optional tray 3 in this documentation.

By default, the printer draws first from tray 1. If tray 1 is empty, the printer draws from optional tray 3 (if installed) and then optional tray 2, in that order.

Tray 1

Optional tray 2

Optional tray 3

28 Printing tasks EN WW

Supported print media for tray 1

Tray 1 holds up to 125 sheets of paper or up to 10 envelopes. See “Loading tray 1” on page 31.

Supported sizes

Tray 1 adjusts for sizes from 76 by 127 mm (3 by 5 inches) to a legal-size sheet of 216 by 356 mm (8.5 by 14 inches).

See “Tray specifications” on page 125 for specific dimensions.

Supported types

Tray 1 supports these types of print media.

● Various types and weights of paper, including weights ranging from 60 to 177 g/m

47 lb). Envelopes. See “Printing on envelopes” on page 43.

●

● Labels. See “Printing on labels” on page 44.

● Grayscale transparencies. See “Printing on grayscale transparencies” on page 45.

Custom-sized print media or cardstock. See “Printing on custom-sized print media or

●

cardstock” on page 46.

● Postcards. See “Printing on custom-sized print media or cardstock” on page 46.

See “Print media specifications” on page 123 for specific types and weights.

(16 to

Supported print media for optional tray 2

Optional tray 2 holds up to 250 sheets of paper. See “Loading optional tray 2” on page 32.

CAUTION Load only paper in optional tray 2. Other types of print media, such as labels or grayscale

transparencies, might jam if printed from optional tray 2.

Supported sizes

● A4

● A5

● B5 (ISO and JIS)

● Letter

● Legal

● Executive

● 8.5 by 13 inches

See “Tray specifications” on page 125 for specific dimensions.

Supported types

● Various types of paper of average weight (60 to 105 g/m

● Letterhead

● Prepunched paper

● Preprinted forms

, or 16 to 28 lb)

See “Print media specifications” on page 123 for specific types and weights.

ENWW Chapter 2 Printing tasks 29

Supported print media for optional tray 3

Optional tray 3 holds up to 500 sheets of paper. See “Loading optional tray 3” on page 33.

CAUTION Load only paper in optional tray 3. Other types of print media, such as labels or grayscale

transparencies, might jam if printed from optional tray 3.

Supported sizes

● A4

Letter

●

See “Tray specifications” on page 125 for specific dimensions.

Supported types

Various types of paper of average weight (60 to 105 g/m2, or 16 to 28 lb)

●

● Letterhead

● Prepunched paper

See “Print media specifications” on page 123 for specific types and weights.

Purchasing paper and other print media

You can print on a variety of print media, such as heavy or light paper, envelopes, labels, and custom-sized print media from tra y 1. You can print on standard-weight paper from all three tra ys. You can also print to paper that has up to 100 pe rcen t recycled f ibe r co ntent . Prop erties such as weight, grain, and moisture content are important factors affecting printer performance and output quality. To achieve the best possible print quality, use only high-quality paper intended for color laser printers.

See “Print media specifications” on page 123 for more details. Always test a sample of paper before purchasing large quantities. Your paper supplier should

understand the requirements specified in the HP LaserJet Printer Family Print Media Guide. See

“Print media specifications” on page 123 for more information. For ordering information, see “Supplementary Documentation” on page 25, or visit http://www.hp.com/ljsupplies

30 Printing tasks EN WW

Loading trays

Load special print media such as env elopes, labels, and gra yscale tr anspar encies, in tray 1 only. Load only paper in optional tray 2 or optional tray 3.

Loading tray 1

Tray 1 (the multipurpose tray) holds up to 125 sheets of paper or other print media, or it holds up to 10 env elopes.

For information about loading special print media such as labels and grayscale transparencies, see “Printing on special print media” on

page 43.

To load tray 1

CAUTION

Avoid adding print media to tray 1 while the printer is printing, or jams can occur.

1 Open tray 1. 2 Slide out the tray extender. If the print media being loaded is longer

than 229 mm (9 inches), also open the additional tray extender.

3 Slide the width guides slightly wider than the print media. 4 Place print media into the tra y with the side to be printed up , and the

top, short edge in first.

Note

If you are manually duplexing, see “Printing on both sides (duplexing

manually)” on page 48 for loading instructions.

5 Slide the paper width guides inward until they lightly touch the print

media stack on both sides without bending it. Make sure the print media fits under the tabs on the width guides.

CAUTION

Wait for the printer to finish printing before closing tray 1 (optional). Closing the tray before the printer finishes can cause jams.

6 On the back of the printer, lower the rear output door if you are

printing on special media, such as labels, envelopes, or heavy or light paper, to prevent curl.

ENWW Chapter 2 Printing tasks 31

Loading optional tray 2

Optional tray 2 supports standard-size paper only. Paper includes average-weight letterhead and prepunched paper. For additional information about letterhead and prepunched paper, see “Printing on

letterhead or preprinted forms” on page 47.

CAUTION

Print special print media such as labels and grayscale transparencies from tray 1 only. Printing special print media from optional tray 2 or optional tray 3 can cause jams.

To load optional tray 2

1 Pull optional tray 2 out of the printer and remove any paper. 2 Move the side width guides to match the size of paper you are

3 Extend the rear of the tray until the arrow on the markings points to

the size you are loading.

4 Load the paper. If this is special paper such as letterhead, load it

with the side to be printed down and th e top edge to ward the front of the tray.

Note

If you are manually duplexing, see “Printing on both sides (duplexing

manually)” on page 48 for loading instructions.

5 Make sure the stac k of paper is flat in the tray at all four corners,

and keep it below the height tabs on the paper length guide in the rear of the tra y. Push down on the metal paper lift plate to lock it into place.

6 Slide the tray back into the printer. If you set the rear of the tray to

one of the longer sizes, the back of the tray will protrude from the back of the printer.

32 Printing tasks EN WW

Loading optional tray 3

The optional tray 3 supports A4- and letter-size paper. Optional tray 3 supports only paper, b ut paper includes average-weight letterhead and prepunched paper.

For additional information about letterhead and prepunched paper, see

“Printing on letterhead or preprinted forms” on page 47.

CAUTION

Print special print media such as labels and grayscale transparencies from tray 1 only. Printing special print media from opti onal tray 2 or optional tray 3 can cause jams.

To load optional tray 3

1 Pull the tray out of the printer and remove any paper. 2 For letter-size paper, pull the rear stop up. For A4-size paper, push

the rear stop down.

3 For letter-size paper, move the side width guides outward as far as

possible. For A4-size paper, move the side width guides inward as far as possible.

4 Load the paper. If this is special paper such as letterhead, load it

with the side to be printed down and the top edge to ward the front of the tray.

Note

If you are manually duplexing, see “Printing on both sides (duplexing

manually)” on page 48 for loading instructions.

5 Make sure the stack of paper is flat in the tray at all four corners,

and keep it below the height tabs on the length guide in the rear of the tray.

6 Slide the tray back into the printer.

ENWW Chapter 2 Printing tasks 33

Printing a job

This section provides basic printing instructions. When making changes to printing settings, there is a hierarchy to how changes are prioritized. (Note that the names of commands and dialog boxes might vary depending on your program.)

● “Page Setup” dial og box. This dialog box opens when you click Page Setup or a similar

● “Print” dialog box. This dialog box opens when you click Print, Print Setup, or a similar

●

About printing by Source versus by Type or Size

Three settings affect how the printer driver tries to pull paper when you send a print job. These settings, Source, Type, and Size, appear in your program Page Setup dialog box, the Print dialog box, or the printer driver. The printer automatically selects a tray if you do not change these settings. If you do want to change these settings, you can print by Source, by Type, by

Size, or by Type and Size. (For Macintosh, types and sizes are both available from the Paper Source pop-up menu.)

command on the File menu. This dialog b ox is part of the program in which you are working.

Settings changed here override settings changed anywhere else.

command on the File menu. It is also part of the program, but it has a lower priority than the Page Setup dialog box. Settings changed in the Print dialog box do not override settings

changed in the Page Setup dialog box. Settings changed here do ov e rride settings ch anged in the printer driver.

Printer driver. The printer driver opens when you click Properties in the Print dialog box. Settings changed here do not ov e rride settings changed an ywhere else . ( For Macintosh, the printer driver settings are integrated into the Print dialog box.)

Source. Printing by Source means you choose a specif ic tra y from wh ich you want the printer

●

to pull paper. The printer tries to print from this tray, no matter what type or size is loaded in it. Howe ver, if y o u choose a tray that is configured from th e embed ded Web server for a type or size that does not match your print job, the printer does not print automatically. Instead, it waits for you to load the tray you chose with the type or size of print media for your print job. If you load the tray, the printer begins printing. (If it does not begin, you might need to configure the tray to match the size or type of the print job.) Or, press

) to have the

printer try to print from another tray.

● Type or Size. Printing by Type or Size means you want the printer to pull paper or print media

from the first tray that is loaded with the type or size that you choose. Always print by Type for

special print media such as labels or grayscale transparencies.

• If you want to print by Type or Size and the trays have not been configured for a certain

type or size from the e mbe dd ed Web server, loa d th e p ape r or print media int o tray 1 and then select the Type or Size from the Pa ge Setup dialog box, the Print dialog box, or the printer driver.

• If you of ten print on a certain type or size of media, the printer administr ator (f o r a network

printer) or you (for a directly connected printer) can use the embedded Web server to configure a tra y f or that type or size . (See “Using the embedded Web server” on page 60.) Then, when you choose that Type or Size as you print a job, the printer pulls from the tra y configured for that type or size.

34 Printing tasks EN WW

To print from Windows

1 Make sure paper is loaded in the printer. 2 On the File menu, click Page Setup or a similar command. Ensure that the settings are

correct for this document.

3 From the File menu, click Print, Print Setup, or a similar command. The Print dialog box

opens.

4 Select this printer and change any settings that you need. Do not change any settings, such

as page size or orientation, that you set in the Page Setup dialog box.

5 If this print job is for a stan dard size and weight of paper, you probably do not need to change

the Source is (tray), Type is, or Size is settings, and you can go to step 7. Otherwise, go to the next step.

6 If this print job is to be printed on a non-standard size or weight of paper, choose how the

printer selects paper.

• To print by Source (tray), select the tray in the Print dialog box, if possible.

• To print by Source (tray) when this setting is not available in the Print dialog box, click

Properties and on the Paper tab, select the tray in the Source is field.

• To print by Type or Size, click Properties and on the Paper tab, select type or size in the Type is or Size is field. (For some paper such as letterhead, you will set both the Type

and Size.) Always print by Type for special print media such as labels or grayscale transparencies.

7 If you have not yet done so, click Properties. The printer driver opens. 8 On the various tabs, set any settings that you want tha t d id no t a ppe ar in the Page Setup or

Print dialog box. For more information about printer-driver settings, see “Features in the

printer driver” on page 38.

9 By default, the printer prints to the top output bin, which is the best location for most print

jobs, including grayscale transparencies. For labels, heavy paper, or other special print media, lower the rear output door on the printer.

10 Select the Print command to print the job.

ENWW Chapter 2 Printing tasks 35

To print from Macintosh

1 Make sure paper is loaded in the printer. 2 On the File menu, click Page Setup. 3 Make sure that this printer is selected in the Format for pop-up menu. 4 Select the size of paper onto which you are printing. 5 Select the Orientation and Scale, if necessary, and click OK. 6 On the File menu, click Print. 7 Select the Source (tray) from which you want to print or select the Type of media onto which

you want to print in one of these ways. Always print by Type for special print media such as labels or grayscale transparencies.

• Mac OS 8.6 to 9.x: On the General pop-up menu, select the tray or type of media from the Page Source pop-up menu.

• Mac OS X: On the Paper Feed pop-up menu , select the tray or type of medi a.

8 Set any other settings you want, such as watermarks. (For more information, see “Gaining

access to printer driver settings” on page 37.)

9 By default, the printer will print to the top output bin, which is the best location for most print

jobs, including grayscale transparencies. For labels, heavy paper, or other jobs requiring a straight-through path, lower the rear output door on the printer.

10 Select the Print command to print the job.

36 Printing tasks EN WW

Gaining access to printer driver settings

This section lists the common printing feature s that are controlled t hrough the printer driver. (The printer driver is the software component you use to send print jobs to the printer.) You can change settings temporarily for the print jobs that you print while the program is still open. You can also make permanent changes to the default settings that will be in effect now and in the future.

Operating System Temporarily change settings for

jobs printed now

Windows 95, 98, NT 4.0, 2000, Me, and XP

Mac OS 8.6 to 9.x On the File menu, click Print. Change

Mac OS X On the File menu, click Print. Change

UNIX, Linux, and OS/2

* Access to default printer settings might be restricted and therefore unavailable.

From the File menu, click Print, select this printer, and then click Properties. (The actual steps can vary; this is the most common method.)

settings that you want on the various popup menus.

Some features of the printer driver are available from the embedded Web server, if the printer is connected to the network. (See “Using the embedded Web server” on page 60.)

Permanently change default settings*

Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Printers or Printers and Faxes. Right-click the printer icon, and

choose Properties. Many features are avai la ble by choosing the Document Defaults command (NT 4.0) or the Printing Preferences command (2000 and XP) instead.

On the File menu, click Print. As you change settings on a pop-up menu, click Save Settings.

On the File menu, click Print. Change settings that you want on the various pop-up menus, and then on the main pop-up menu, click Save Custom Settings. These settings are saved as the Custom option. To use the new settings, you must select the Custom option every time you open a program and print.

Using the PCL printer-driver Help (Windows only)

Once you are in the printer driver, you can use its Help, which is separate from the Help in a program. You can activate Help for the printer driver in two ways.

● Click the Help button anywhere it appears in the printer driver. The Help windows give

detailed information about the specific printer driver in use.

● When you see a , click it to view information regarding the field, option, or bu tton that t he

bubble adjoins .

ENWW Chapter 2 Printing tasks 37

Features in the printer driver

Some printer drivers and some operating systems do not support all printer features. Use the PCL 6 printer driver to take full advantage of all the printer features, as listed below. The Windows directions in the f ollo wing sections assum e that y ou are using t he PCL driver. In the PS driver, the tabs are named differently.

● Selecting a Source

● Selecting a Type or Size

Setting a custom paper size

●

● Printing in grayscale

● Changing color settings

Creating and using watermarks

●

● Printing multiple pages on one sheet of paper

(N-up printing)

● Creating and using Quick Sets

Reducing or enlarging

●

● Printing on different paper for the first page

● Changing print quality

Restoring default printer-driver settings

●

For manual duplexing, see “Printing on both sides (duplexing manually)” on page 48.

Selecting a Source

You can print by Source (tra y) or b y Type or Size . To print by Source, f ollo w these step s. F o r more information, see “About printing by Source versus by Type or Size” on page 34. For Macintosh, types and sizes are all grouped together under the Pap er Source pop-up menu.

● Windows: From the Print dialog box in your program, select the Source (tray), if possible.

Otherwise, choose a tray from the Source is field from the Paper tab in your printer driver.

Mac OS 8.6 to 9.x: From the Print dialog box, choose a tray from the Paper Source pop-up

●

menu on the General pop-up menu.

● Mac OS X: From the Print dialog box, select the tray or type of media from the Paper Feed

pop-up menu.

Selecting a Type or Size

You can print by Source (tray) or by Type or Size. If you are printing to special print media, such as heavy paper, it is important to print by Type to achieve good results. To print by Type or Size, follow these steps. For more information, see “About printing by Source versus by Type or Size”

on page 34. For Macintosh, types and sizes are all grouped together un de r the Paper Source

pop-up menu.

● Windows: From the printer driver, choose a type in the Type is field of the Paper tab. Or,

choose a size from the Size is field. For some paper, such as letterhead, you will choose a type and size.

● Mac OS 8.6 to 9.x: From the Print dialog box, choose a type f rom t he Paper Source pop-up

menu on the General pop-up menu.

● Mac OS X: From the Print dialog box, select the tray or type of media from the Paper Feed

pop-up menu.

38 Printing tasks EN WW

Setting a custom paper size

Use the Custom Paper feature to set up the printer to print to sizes other than standard ones.

● Windows: Try to set this setting from one of these locations, in this order: the Page Setup

dialog box in the prog r am, the Print dialog box in the program, or the Paper tab in the printer driver.

● Mac OS: Gain access to Custom Paper features from the Page Setup dialog box. From the

Page Attributes pop-up me nu, selec t Custom Page Size.

Printing in grayscale

If you hav e a document that you created in color, it will automatically print in color. Or, you can set the printer to print a color document in grayscale (black and white) only.

● Windows: Select the Print In Grayscale option on the Color tab of the printer driver.

● Mac OS: In the Print dialog box, select the HP ColorSmart or HP Color Quality pop-up

menu and then select the Print Color as Gray option from the Color Treatment pop-up menu.

Changing color settings

When you are printing in color, the printer driver automatically sets the optimal color settings for you. However, you can manually mak e adjustments to how the printer prints in color for text, graphics, and photographs. See “Using color” on page 50 for more information.

● Windows: On the Color tab of the printer driver, click Options.

Mac OS: In the Print dialog box, select the HP ColorSmart or HP Color Quality pop-up

●

menu and then select the Manual option.

Creating and using watermarks

The Watermark options allow you to sp ecify that t ext be placed “underneath” (in the background of) an existing document. For example, you might want to have large gray letters reading “draft” or “confidential” placed diagonally across the first page or all pages of a document. You can change color, position, and wording of the watermark.

Note If you are using Windows NT 4.0, 2000, or XP, you must have Administrator privileges to create

watermarks. You do not need Administrator privileges t o add existing watermarks to documents.

● Windows: Gain access to the Watermark options from the Effects tab in your printer driver.

● Mac OS: Gain access to the Watermark options from the w atermark/overla y pull-do wn men u

in the Print dialog box. (Note that OS X might not support Watermarks.)

ENWW Chapter 2 Printing tasks 39

Printing multiple pages on one sheet of paper (N-up printing)

N-up printing is the ability to print multiple pages on one sheet of paper. The pages will appear decreased in size. You can specify up to nine pages per sheet, and they will be arranged on the sheet as shown below if y ou use the default arrangement. You can also choose whether a border appears around each page or not.

● Windows: Gain access to Pages per Sheet on the Finishing tab in the printer driver.

● Mac OS: Gain access to Pages per sheet by choosing the Layout pop-up menu in the Print

dialog box.

Creating and using Quick Sets

Quick Sets allow you to save the current print-driver settin gs such as page orientation, N-up printing, or paper source for later use. You can save up to a total of 30 sets of settings. For convenience, Quick Sets can be selected and saved from most printer-driver tabs.

Note If you are using Windows NT 4.0 or Windows 2000, you must have Administrator privileges to

save Quick Sets.

● Windows: Create Quick Sets from most printer-driver tabs. Later, you can gain access to

Quick Sets from the Finishing tab in the printer dr iver.

● Mac OS: This feature is not supported.

Reducing or enlarging

The Fit to Page option allows you to scale your document to a percentage of its normal size. You can also choose to scale your document to fit on an y size of paper supported by the printer.

● Windows: Gain access to Fit to Page settings on the Effects tab in the printer driver.

● Mac OS: Gain access to Reduce and Enlarge (Scale) settings from the Pa ge Setup dialog

box.

40 Printing tasks EN WW

Printing on different paper for the first page

Printing on different paper for the first page is useful if you are printing a letter for example that uses letterhead on the first page and plain sheets for the subsequent pages. The size for all pages of the print job must be the same in the printer driver.

● Windows: Try to set this setting from one of these locations, in this order: the Page Setup

dialog box in the prog r am, the Print dialog box in the program, or the Paper tab in the printer driver.

● Mac OS 8.6 to 9.x: On the General pop-up menu in the Print dialog box, select the First

Page from option. Then, select the source for the first page.

Mac OS X: On the Paper Feed pop-up menu in the Print dialog box, select the First Page

●

from option. Then, select the source for the first page.

Changing print quality

The printer driver automatically chooses se ttings for your document to optimize the quality of the output. However, you can change these adva nced se t tings, such as raster compression or scale patterns (WYSIWIG).

● Windows: Gain access to the Print Quality settings by clicking Details on the Finishing tab.

Mac OS: This feature is not supported.

●

Restoring default printer-driver settings

You can return all settings in the printer driver to their default values. This measure might be useful if you are e xperiencing quality issues , or if the p aper is not being selecte d from the correct tray.

Windows: Choose Defaults in the Quick Sets box from the Finishing tab of the printer

●

driver.

● Mac OS 8.6 to 9.x: Drag the desktop printer icon to the Trash, and then set up the printer in

the Chooser.

● Mac OS X: The Standard option contains the default settings and is automatically selected

each time you open a program. Or, select it from the Saved Settings pop-up menu.

ENWW Chapter 2 Printing tasks 41

Choosing an output location

The printer comes with the top output bin and a rear outp ut door for printing to a straight-through paper path. Print jobs emerge from the top output bin when the rear output door is closed. Print jobs emerge from the back of the printer when the rear output door is open.

● Use the top output bin when printing most jobs, including jobs on average-weight paper and

letterhead, as well as grayscale transparencies. The top out put bin can hold up to 125 sheets. Prevent more than 125 sheets from accumulating in the top output bin, or jams can occur.

● Use the rear output door (straight-through paper path) when printing envelope s, labels,

heavy- or light-weight paper, and other thick or special print media (except grayscale transparencies). Remove each sheet as it exits the printer.

Top output bin

Rear output door

42 Printing tasks EN WW

Printing on special print media

Printing speeds might be automatically reduced when printing on any special-sized print media.

Printing on envelopes

Load envelo pes into tray 1 only.

● The weight of the envelope paper should not exceed 105 g/m

(24 lb).

● Make sure envelopes are undamaged and are not stuck together.

● Never use envelopes with clasps, snaps, windows, coated linings,

self-stick adhesives, or other synthetic materials.

● If you are using a non-standard size of envelope, select the

appropriate one as the Type.

CAUTION

Failure to follow the guidelines above can result in jams.

For more information, see “Print media specifications” on page 123.

To print on envelopes

1 Open tray 1 and slide out the extender fully. If tray 1 is already

open, remove any paper or other print media from it.

2 On the back of the printer, lower the rear output door to prevent the

envelopes from curling.

3 Slide the width guides in tray 1 outward until they are slightly wider

than the envelopes.

4 Place the stack of envelopes into the tray with the side to be printed

up and the short edge in. The stamp end must enter the printer first.

Note

If the envelope has a flap on a short edge, this edge must enter the printer first.

5 Slide the width guides inward until they lightly touch the stack

without bending it. The stack should be centered between the guides and must be under the tabs on the guides.

6 Choose the envelope you are using as the Size (Windows) or the

Paper Source (Macintosh) from the Print dialog box or the printer driver.

ENWW Chapter 2 Printing tasks 43

Printing on labels

Follow the guidelines here for using labels. See “Print media specifications” on page 123 for more details.

CAUTION T o a void damaging the printer , use only labels recommen ded for laser printers. To pre vent serious

jams, alwa ys use tra y 1 to print labels and always use the straig ht-through paper path. Ne ver print on the same sheet of labels more than once or print on a partial sheet of labels.

● Avoid labels that are separating from the backing sheet or are wrinkled or damaged in any

way. Place labels only in tray 1 with the side to be printed up and the top, short edge in first.

●

Choose Labels as the Type (Windows) or the Paper Source (Macintosh) from the Print

●

dialog box or the printer driver.

● Remove label sheets as the y print from the str aight-th rough paper path to pre vent them from

sticking together.

● If a sheet of labels jams in the printer, see “Clearing jams” on page 66.

44 Printing tasks EN WW

Printing on grayscale transparencies

The printer supports printing in grayscale on grayscale or color transparencies. (Grayscale transparencies are usually less expensive.) See “Grayscale transparencies” on page 132 for more details.

CAUTION T o av oid damaging the printer, use only tr ansparencies recommended for laser printers. To pre vent

serious jams, always use tray 1 to print grayscale transparencies.

● Load grayscale transparencies into tray 1 only.

Choose Grayscale Transparencies as the Type (Windows) or the Paper Source

●

(Macintosh) from the Print dialog box or the printer driver.

● Use the top output bin to reduce curling. (This rule is for grayscale transparencies on ly. For

other special print media, use the straight-through paper path to reduce curling.) To prevent grayscale transparencies from sticking together, remove each one from the top

●

output bin as it prints. Place grayscale transparencies on a flat surf ace after removing them from the printer.

●

ENWW Chapter 2 Printing tasks 45

Printing on custom-sized print media or cardstock

Postcards, 3-by-5-inch (index) cards, and other custom-sized print media can be printed from tray 1. The minimum size is 76 by 127 mm (3 by 5 inches) and the maximum size is 216 b y 356 mm (8.5 by 14 inches).

● Always insert the short edge first into tra y 1. To print in landscape mode, make this selectio n

through your program. Inserting paper long edge first might cause a paper jam.

● In your program, set margins at least 6.4 mm (.25 inches) away from the edges of the print

media. Choose the custom media you are using as the Type in the printer driver and set the correct

●

Size.

● Lower the rear output door to use the straight-through paper path and reduce curl.

● See “Print media specifications” on page 123 for more information.

46 Printing tasks EN WW

Printing on letterhead or preprinted forms

This section shows how to orient letterhead or preprinted forms when you are printing only on one side. For duplex (two-sided printing) orientation, see “Printing on both sides (duplexing

manually)” on page 48.

● Orient paper as shown below.

Orientation of letterhead in tray 1: side to be printed up, top edge in first.

Orientation of letterhead in tray 2 or optional tray 3: side to be printed down, top edge toward the front of the tray.

● Lower the rear output door if the paper is heavy to reduce curl.

● Avoid raised or embossed letterhead.

● Av oid letterhe ad that is printed with lo w-temper ature inks , such as th ose used in some types

of thermography.

● The printer uses heat and pressure to fuse toner to the paper. Make sure that any colored

paper or preprinted forms use inks that are compatible with this fusing temperature (195° C or 383° F for 0.1 second).

ENWW Chapter 2 Printing tasks 47

Printing on both sides (duplexing manually)

To print on both sides of the paper, you will have to go to the printer and reinsert the paper manually after the first side has printed.

CAUTION Do not print on both sides of labels, transparencies, or vellum. Damage to the printer and jams

might result.

To duplex manually

1 Insert enough paper into one of the trays to accommodate the print job. If yo u are loading

special paper such as letterhead, load it in one of these ways.

• For tray 1, load the letterhead paper with the front side down, bottom in first.

• For optional tray 2 and optional tray 3, load the letterhead paper with front side up, top

edge toward the back of the tra y.

Tray 1

Optional tray 2 or

Optional tray 3

2 In the printer driver, select the Print on Both Sides option and send the job to print. 3 After the job finishes printing, remove any blank paper from tray 1. Insert the printed stack,

with the blank side up, top edge in first. You must print the second side from tray 1.

Tray 1

4 Press

(GO).

48 Printing tasks EN WW

Canceling a print job

A print job can be stopped from a program, from a print queue, or from the (C

ANCELJOB

)

button on the printer.

● If the printer has not started printing, first try to cancel the job within the program that sent

the print job.

● If the print job is waiting in a print queue or print spooler such as the Printers group in

Windows or Print Monitor or Print Center Queue (Mac OS), try to delete the job from there next.

If the print job is already printing, press (C

●

ANCELJOB

) on the printer. The printer finishes printing any pages that are already moving through the printer and deletes the remainder of the print job.

● Pressing (C

ANCELJOB

job is in printer memory, you must press (C

) cancels only the current job in the printer. If more than one print

ANCELJOB

) once for each job after the job

starts printing.

If the Printer Status lights continue to cycle after a job has been canceled, the computer is still sending the job to the printer . Either delete the job from the print queue or w ait until the computer finishes sending data.

ENWW Chapter 2 Printing tasks 49

Using color

This printer offers grea t color as soon as you set it up. It provides a combination of automatic color features to g ene r a te excellent color results f or the gen eral user, plus soph isti cated too ls for the experienced color user.

The printer provides carefully designed and t ested color tab les to pro vide smooth, accurate color rendition of all printable colors. The printer also offers these capabilities to help manage color:

● HP ImageREt 2400

● HP ColorSmart

Managing color options

●

● Matching colors

● Printing in four-colors (CMYK)

HP ImageREt 2400

HP ImageREt 2400 is a technology that provides you with the best color print-quality without having to change driver settings or make tradeoffs between print quality, performance, and memory. ImageREt 2400 produces sharp images and crisp, clear text using laser printing.

ImageREt 2400 provides 2400 dpi color laser-clas s qualit y throu gh a multilevel printing process. This process precisely controls color by combining up to four colors within a single dot and by varying the amount of toner in a given area. As a result, ImageREt 2400, together with the 600-by-600 engine resolution, creates millions of smooth colors.

In contrast, the single-le vel printing process found in th e defau lt mode of other color laser printers does not allow the colors to be mixed within a single dot. This process, called dithering, significantly hinders the ability to create a wide range of colors without reduced sharpness or visible dot structure.

50 Printing tasks EN WW

HP ColorSmart

The Automatic color setting (HP ColorSmart) enables optimal color output automatically for diverse types of documents. This f eature utilizes object tagging that allows optimal color and halftone settings to be used for different objects (text, graphics, and images) on a page. The printer driver analyzes which objects the p age contains a nd uses halftone and co lor settings that provide the best print quality for each object.

Managing color options

By default, the Color setting is set to Automatic, which is normally the best setting. However, if you have special color needs, you can change color sett ings. You can also set color documents to print in grayscale (black and white).

Windows: These settings appear on the Color tab in the printer driver.

●

● Mac OS: These settings appear color area in the Print dialog box.

Print in Grayscale

Selecting the Print in Grayscale option from your printer driver prints your document in grayscale. This option is useful for previewing preliminary copies of slides and hardcopy output quickly, or for color documents that will be photocopied or faxed.

Automatic versus Manual color adjustment

You can allow the printer dr iver to select the best color op tio ns, or you can make adjustments yourself. Note that the names of options here might be different for Macintosh.

●

Automatic. The Automatic option is the default setting and is recommended for printing all color documents. Automatic optimizes the neutr al-g ray color treatment, halftones , and edge enhancements used for text, graphics, and photographs in a document.

●

Manual. The Manual option allows you to adjust the neutral-gray color treatment, halftones, and edge enhancements for text, graphics, and photographs. See “Manual Options” on

page 52 for descriptions of what the options do.

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

ENWW Chapter 2 Printing tasks 51

Manual Options

If you select Manual, you can individually adjust the Halftoning, Neutral Grays, Edge Control, and RGB Color options for each of the major elements: text, graphics, and photographs.

Halftone options

Halftone options affect the resolution and clarity of your color output. You can independently adjust halftone settings for text, graphics, and p hotos . Th e tw o halft one optio ns are Smooth a nd Detail. If your program converts text and graphics to raster, the Photographic settings will also control text and graphics.

●

Smooth provides better results for large, solid-filled print areas. It also enhances photos by smoothing out fine color gradations. Choose this option when uniform and smooth area fills are the most important attributes.

●

Detail is useful for text and graphics that require sharp distinctions among lines or colors, or images that contain a pattern or a high level of detail. Choose this option when sharp edges and details are the most important attributes.

Neutral Grays

Neutral Grays determines the method for creating neutral gray colors. If your program converts text and graphics to raster, the Photographic settings will also control text and graphics.

●

Black Only generates neu tral colors (grays and black) using only black toner. This option guarantees that neutral colors do not have a color cast.

●

4-Color generates neutral colors by combining all four colors of toner. This option produces smoother gradients and transitions to non-neutral colors. It also produces the darkest possible black.

Edge Control

This option determines how edges are rendered. Edge Control consists of two components: Adaptive Halftoning and Trapping. Adaptive Halftoning increases the edge sharpness. Trapping reduces the effect of color plane misregistration by slightly overlapping the edges of adjacent objects.

●

Maximum provides the most trapping. Adaptive Halftoning is set to On.

●

Normal provides the default trapping settings. Adaptive Halftoning is set to On.

●

Light provides minimal trapping. Adaptive Halftoning is set to On.

●

Off sets Trapping and Adaptive Halftoning to Off.

RGB Color

This option determines how colors are rendered.

●

Default interprets RGB color as sRGB, which is the accepted standard for many software companies and organizations, such as Microsoft and the World Wide Web Consortium.

●

Device sets the printer to print RGB data in raw device mode. To render photographs properly when this option is selected, you must manage color in the program in which you are working or in the operating system.

52 Printing tasks EN WW

Matching colors

The process of matching printer output color to your monitor is quite complex because printers and computer monitors use different methods of producing color. Monitors display colors b y light pixels using an RGB (red, g reen, blue) color process, but printers print colors using a CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black) process.

Several factors can influence your ability to match printed colors to those on your screen. These factors include:

● Print media

● Printer colorants (toner)

Printing process (inkjet, press, or laser technology for example)

●

● Overhead lighting

● Programs

Printer drivers

●

● Computer operating system

● Monitors

● Video cards and drivers

● Operating environment, such as it is very humid or very dry

Personal dif ferences in perception of color

●

Keep in mind the above factors when colors on your screen do not perfectly match your printed colors. For most users, the best method for match ing colors on your screen to your printer is to print sRGB colors. The printer uses sRGB and automatically optimizes color ou tput.

For more information about solving issues related to color output, see “Problem solving and

maintenance” on page 65.

Printing in four-colors (CMYK)

Cyan, magenta, yellow , and black (CMYK) are the inks used by a printing press. The process is often called four-color printing. CMYK data files are typically used by and originate from graphic arts (printing and publishing) environments. The printer will accept CMYK colors through the PS printer driver. The printer color-rendering of CMYK is designed to provide rich, saturated colors for text and graphics.

ENWW Chapter 2 Printing tasks 53

54 Printing tasks EN WW

Managing the printer

Introduction

This printer comes with several software tools that help you monitor, troubleshoot problems with, and maintain the printer. The software tools are:

“Special pages” on page 56

●

● “HP Color LaserJet 2500 To olb ox” on page 58

“Using the embedded Web server” on page 60

●

“Using Printer Status and Alerts” on page 63

●

ENWW 3 Managing the printer 55

Special pages

Special pages reside within the memory of the printer. These pages help you to diagnose and solve problems with t he printer.

Note If the printer language was not correctly set during installation , you can set the language manually

so that the pages print in one of the supported languages. Change the language using the embedded Web server (“Using the embedded Web server” on page 60) or HP Web Jetadmin.

Demo page

To print the Demo page, press (GO) when the printer is Ready (Ready light on) and not printing. You can also view this page from the HP Color LaserJet 2500 Toolbox.

Configuration page

The Configuration page lists current settings and properties of the printer. You can print a Configuration page from the printer, the embedded Web server, or the HP Color LaserJet 2500 Toolbox. To print the Configuration page from the printe r, press (G simultaneously. (The Supplies Status page also prints. If you have an HP Jetdirect print server card installed, the HP Jetdirect page listing the HP Jetdirect information prints as well.)

O) and (CANCEL JOB)

1 Printer Information. This section contains basic information about the printer, such as the

product name, printer name, and pa ge count.

2 Event Log. This section contains information about printer errors. 3 Installed personalities and options. This section contains inf ormation about optional items

that might be installed, such as DIMMs or an HP Jetdirect print server card.

4Memory. This section lists memory-related information, such as the total memory installed. 5 Paper Tray Information. This section contain s information about the trays , such as whet her

optional trays are installed, and the type and size of paper that might be set for each tray.

56 Managing the printer ENWW

Supplies Status page

The Supplies Status page lists the remaining lif e of HP p rint cartridges and HP imaging drums. It also lists the estimated pages remaining, numbe r of pag es printed, and other supplies information. You can print a Supplies Status page from the printer or the em bed ded Web server . To print from the printer, press (G Configuration page also prints. If you have an HP Jetdirect print server card installed, the HP Jetdirect page listing the HP Jetdirect information prints as well.)

) and (C

ANCELJOB

) simultaneously. (The

1 Ordering Information. This section contains basic information about how to order new HP

supplies.

2 Print-cartridge area. This area contains a section for each of the print cartridges and

provides information about HP print cartridges. This information includes the part number f or each print cartridge, whether each print cartridge is low, and the life remaining for each print cartridge expressed as a percentage, as a graphic, and as the estimated number of pages remaining. This information is only provided for HP supplies. If a non-HP supply is installed, you see an alert message instead.

3 Recycling Information. This section contains the w ebsite y ou can visit f o r inf ormation about

recycling.

4 Imaging-drum area. This area contains the same information for the imaging drum that the

print-cartridge area provides for the print cartridges.

5 Warranty Note. This section contains information about how the printer warran ty is af fected

when you use non-HP supplies. It also requests that you call t he HP fraud hotline if a supply that is being detected as a non-HP supply was sold to you as a genuine HP supply. (See “HP

fraud hotline” on page 103.)

ENWW 3 Managing the printer 57

HP Color LaserJet 2500 Toolbox

HP Color LaserJet 2500 Toolbox is only supported for Windows 98 and later. You must have performed a complete software installation to use the HP Color LaserJet 2500 Toolbox.

You can view the HP Color LaserJet 2500 Toolbox when the printer is directly connected to your computer or connected to the network. The HP Color LaserJet 2500 Toolbox is a Web page that opens in a Web browser and provides access to the embedded Web server, printer documentation, and printer management and troubleshooting tools.

To use the HP Color LaserJet 2500 Toolbox, y ou m ust have Microsoft Internet Explorer 4 or later or Netscape Navigator 4 or later. All pages can be printed from the browser.

You do not have to have Internet access to open and use the HP Color LaserJet 2500 Toolbox. However, if y ou clic k a link in the Ot her Links area, you must hav e Internet access in order to g o to the site associated with the link.

To view HP Color LaserJet 2500 Toolbox

1 Open the HP Color LaserJet 2500 Toolbox in one of these ways:

• On the desktop , double-click the HP Color LaserJet 2500 Toolbox icon.

• On the Start menu, point to Programs, point to HP Color LaserJet 2500, and choose the

HP Color LaserJet 2500 Toolbox.

Note Once you open the URL, you can bookmark it so that you can return to it quickly in the future.

2 The HP Color LaserJet 2500 Toolbox opens in a Web browser. The HPColor LaserJet 2500

Toolbox software contains these tabs: the Device tab, the Documentation tab, and the Troubleshooting tab. It also contains an area with links to the HP w ebsite. See th e f ollowing

sections for more information about each tab or area.

Device tab

The two links on this page, Information and Settings, open the page of the same name from the embedded Web server. To open the embedded Web server and see all of its settings and information, click the picture of the printer in the center of the page. If more than one HP Color LaserJet 2500 is connected to the network, you will be prompted to select one. See “Using the

embedded Web server” on page 60.

●

Information. View printer status information. This information comes from the embedded Web server.

●

Settings. View and change printer settings. Th is information comes from the embedded Web server.

Documentation tab

This section of the navigation bar contains links to these information sources:

●

Install Notes. Contains late-breaking information about the printer. In English only.

●

Read Me! Contains information disco vered a fter other documen tation such as the u ser guide was developed.

●

User Guide - PDF. Contains the information about the printer usage, warranty, specifications, and support that you are cu rrently reading. T his PDF f ormat can be printed by page, chapter, or the entire document, and will be formatted as a traditional book.

●

User Guide - HTML. Contains the information about the printer usage, warranty, specifications, and support that you are currently reading. This HTML format allows you to easily search for specific topics and jump between topics. Viewable from Windows-based computers only.

58 Managing the printer ENWW

Troubleshooting tab

This section of the navigation bar contains links t o the information pages of the printer. (Some of these pages are also available from other sources, such as the embedded Web server or the printer itself.) From this section, you can view the following pages:

●

Control Panel Help. Allows you to view animations of control panel light messages, identify what the light pattern means, and view information for resolving the messag e.

●

Cleaning Page. You can clean the print path using this too l. See “Managing supplies” on

page 101 for instructions.

●

Diagnostic Tools. These pages can help you resolve prob lems with color p rinting tasks and calibrate the printer.

●

Demo pages. These are additional demonstration pages you can print.

Using the embedded Web server

When the printer is directly connected to a computer, the embedded Web server is su pported for Windows 98 and later. When the printer is connected to the network, the embedded Web server is supported for Windows 95, Mac OS 8.6 and later, UNIX, Linux, and OS/2.

The embedded Web server allo ws y ou to vie w printer and network status and t o manage printing functions from your computer instead of from the printer control panel. Below are e xamples of what you can do using the embedded Web server:

● view printer status information

● view and print internal pages

determine the remaining life on all supplies and order new ones

●

● receive notification of printer and supplies events (network only)

● set the type of paper loaded in each tray

view and change tray configurations

●

● view and change the printer control panel menu configuration

● view and change network configuration (network only)

To use the embedded Web server, you must have Microsoft Internet Explorer 4 or later or Netscape Navigator 4 or later. The embedded Web server works when the printer is directly connected to a computer or connected to an IP-based netw ork. The embedded W eb server does not support IPX- or AppleTalk-based printer connections.

You do not have to ha ve Internet access to open and use the embedded Web server. However, if you click a link in the Other Links area, you must have Internet access in order to go to the site associated with the link.

To open the embedded Web server

1 Open the embedded Web server using one of these methods:

• From the HP Color LaserJet 2500 Toolbox, click the picture of the printer on the Device tab (Windows 98 and later only).

• In a supported Web browser, type the IP address for the printer (networked printer only). To find the IP address, print a Configuration page at the printer by pressing (G

ANCELJOB

) simultaneously.

Note Once you open the URL, you can bookmark it so that you can return to it quickly in the future.

2 The embedded Web server has three tabs that contain settings and information about the

printer: the Information tab, the Settings tab , and the Networking tab. Click the tab t hat you want to view.

3 See the following sections for more information about each tab.

) and

60 Managing the printer ENWW

Information tab

The Information pages group consists of the following pages.

●

Device Status. This page displays the printer status and shows the life remaining of HP supplies, with 0 percent representing that a supply is empty. The page also shows the type and size of print media set for each tray. To change the default settings, click Change Settings.

●

Configuration page. This page sho ws the information found on the printer Configuration page.

●

Supplies Status. This page shows the life remaining of HP supplies, with 0 percent representing that a supply is empty. This page also provides supplies part numbers. To order new supplies, click Order Supplies in the Other Links area on the left side of the window. To visit any website, you must have Internet access.

●

Event log. This page shows a list of all printer events and errors.

●

Usage page. This page shows a summary of the number of pages the printer has printed, grouped by size and type.

●

Device Information. This page also shows the printer network name, address, and model information. To change these entries, click Device Information on the Settings tab.

Settings tab

This tab allows you to configure the printer from your computer. The Settings tab can be password pro tected. If this printer is networked, always consult with the printer administrator before changing settings on this tab.

The Settings tab contains the following pages.

●

Configure Device. Configure all printer settings from this page. This page contains the traditional menus found on printers using a control panel display. These menus include Information, Paper Handling, Configure Device, and Diagnostics.

●

Alerts. Network only. Set up to receive e-mail alerts for various printer events.

●

Email. Network only. Used in conjunction with the Alerts page to set up incoming and outgoing e-mail, as well as to set e-mail alerts.

●

Security. Set a password that must be entered to gain access to the Settings and Networking tabs. Enable and disable certain features of the EWS.

●

Other Links. Add or customize a link to another website. This link is displayed in the Other Links area on all embedded Web server pages . These permanent links alwa ys appear in the Other Links area: HP Instant Support™, Order Supplies, and Product Support. For

more information, see “Other links” on page 62.

●

Device Inf ormation. Name the printer and assign an asset number to it. Enter the name and e-mail address for the primary contact who will receive information about the printer.

●

Language. Determine the language in which to display the embedded Web server information.

ENWW 3 Managing the printer 61

Networking tab

This tab allows the network administrator to cont ro l netw o rk-related settings for the printer when it is connected to an IP-based network. This tab will not appear if the printer is directly connected to a computer, or if the printer is connected to a network using anything other than an HP JetDirect print server card.

Using Printer Status and Alerts

Printer Status and Alerts is only supported for Windows 98 and later. The Printer Status and Alerts software is available to users of both networked and directly

connected printers. This software a llo ws y ou t o vie w the embe dded Web server information f or a particular printer. It also generates messages on the comput er regarding the status of the printer and print jobs. Depending on how the printer is connected, you can receive different messages.

●

Networked printers. You can receive regular job status messages that appear every time a print job is sent to the printer or ev ery time the print job finishes printing. You can also receive alert messages. These messages appear when you are printing to a particular printer if that printer experiences a problem but it can continue to print (such as a tray that is not being used is open, or a print cartridge is low) or a problem that prevents it from printing (such as paper is out, or a print cartridge is empty).

●

Directly connected printers. You can receive alert messages that appear when the printer experiences a prob lem but it can continue to print or a problem that prevents it from printing. You can also receive messages just when supplies are low.

You can set alerts options for a single printer that supports Printer Status and Alerts, or you can set alert options for all printers that support Printer Status and Alerts. For networked printers, these alerts only appear for your jobs.

Note that even if you are setting alert options for all printers, not all options you select can apply to all printers. For e x ample , if you select the option for noti fying y ou wh en the print cartridges are low, then all directly connected printers that support Printer Status and Alerts will generate a message when the print cartridges are low. However, none of the networked printers will generate this message, nor will directly connected printers that do not support Printer Status and Alerts.

To choose which status messages appear

1 Open Printer Status and Alerts in one of these ways:

• Double-click the Printer Status and Alerts tray icon, which is near the clock in the Tray Manager.

• On the Start menu, point to Programs, point to Printer Status and Alerts, and click Printer Status and Alerts.

2 Click the Options icon in the left pane. 3 In the For field, select the printer driver for this printer, or select All Printers. 4 Clear the options fo r the me ssages you do not want to appear, and select the options for the

messages you do want to appear.

5 Under Status Check Rate, select how frequently you want the software to update the printer

status information that the software uses to generate the messages. Status Check Rate might not be available if the printer administrator has restricted the rights to this function.

To view status messages and information

On the left side of the window, select the printer for which you want to see information. Information provided includes status messages, supplies status, and printer capabilities. You can also click the Job History (clock) icon at the top of the window to view a list of previous jobs sent to the printer from your computer.

ENWW 3 Managing the printer 63

64 Managing the printer ENWW

Problem solving and

maintenance

Introduction

This troubleshooting information is organized to help you resolve printing pro blems. Choose the general type of problem from the following list.

There is a jam in the printer. See “Clearing jams” on page 66.

●

● Printer lights, other than the Ready light, are on or blinking. See “Resolving control panel

messages” on page 71.

The document printed, but the print quality was not what was expected. See “Solving print-

●

quality problems” on page 80.

● A message is on the computer. See “Resolving problems that generated messages” on

page 89.

● There is a problem, but no lights are on or blinking and there are no messages on the

computer. See “Resolving problems that did not generate messages” on page 90.

Additional information is available about these maintenance topics:

● “Cleaning the printer” on page 99

● “Calibrating the printer” on page 100

● “Managing supplies” on page 101

ENWW Chapter 4 Problem solving and maintenance 65

Clearing jams

Occasionally, paper or other print media can become jammed during a print job. Some causes include:

● Input trays are loaded improperly or overfilled.

● Tray 2 or optional tray 3 is removed during a print job.

● The top cover is opened during a print job.

● Too many sheets accumulated in an output area or blocked an output area.

● Paper being used does not meet HP specifications. See“Print media specifications” on

●

Where to look for jams

Jams can occur in these locations:

● Inside the printer. See “To clear jams from inside the printer” on page 67.

●

● In output areas. See “To clear jams from output areas” on page 69.

Find and remove the jam using the instructions on the following pages. If the location of the jam is not obvious, look first inside th e printer.

page 123.

The environment in which the paper was stored is too humid or too dry. See “Print media

specifications” on page 123.

In input areas. See “To clear jams from input areas” on page 68.

Loose toner might remain in the printer after a jam. This problem should resolve itself after a few sheets hav e printed. See “Loose toner” on page 83.

66 Problem solving and maintenance ENWW

To clear jams from inside the printer

CAUTION

Jams in this area might result in loose toner on the page. If you get toner on your clothes or hands, wash them in cold water. (Hot water will set the toner into the fabric.)

1 Open the top cover. 2 Remove the imaging drum by pushing it away from you and lifting it

out of the printer. You cannot reach jams by removing the print cartridges.

3 Complete one of these steps:

● If the leading edge of the paper is visible, carefully pull the paper

out of the printer. If the paper is too difficult to remove, remove the jam as

●

described in “To clear jams from output areas” on page 69.

4 After the jam has been removed, replace the imaging drum and

close the top cover.

) if the Go light is blinking. If the Attention light is still

5 Press (G

blinking, then another jam is present. See “To clear jams from input

areas” on page 68 and “To clear jams from output areas” on page 69.

ENWW Chapter 4 Problem solving and maintenance 67

To clear jams from input areas

1 Open tray 2 or optional tray 3 to expose the jam. 2 Complete one of these steps:

● If the jam has already partially entered the printer, see “To clear

jams from inside the printer” on page 67.

● If the jam is only in the input tray, remove the jam by pulling it out

by the visible edge. Realign all of the paper in the tray and go t o step 4.

3 If you could not remove the jam from inside the printer or by pulling

it out of the tray, grasp the jam from the outside of the printer and carefully pull it free.

4 Push the paper down to lock the metal paper lift plate into place

(tray 2 only) and slide the tray back into the printer.

) if the Go

5 Open the top cov er, close it again, and then press (G

light is blinking. If the Attention light is still blinking, then another jam is present. See “To clear jams from inside the printer” on page 67 and “To clear jams from output areas” on page 69.

68 Problem solving and maintenance ENWW

To clear jams from output areas

CAUTION

Jams in these areas might result in loose toner on the page. If you get toner on your clothes or hands, wash them in cold wa ter. (Hot water will set the toner into the fabric.)

1 Complete one of these steps:

● If the paper is not almost completely visible from the top output

bin, go to step 2.

● If the paper is almost completely visible, pull it carefully out of the

printer and go to the last step.

2 Open the rear output door. 3 If the leading edge of the paper is visible from the rear opening,

carefully pull the paper out.

4 If the jam is too f ar into the printer to remove, turn off the printer and

disconnect the power cable.

5 Rotate the locks on the fuser to the unlocked position.

ENWW Chapter 4 Problem solving and maintenance 69

6 Grasp the fuser handles and pull to remove the fuser from the

printer.

WARNING!

The parts on the internal surface of the fuser are very hot. To avoid burning yourself, do not touch those parts.

7 Using both hands, slo wly and steadily remo ve a ny paper from inside

the printer. Then, carefully reinsert the fuser and secure the locks.

8 Reconnect the power cable and turn on the printer.

) if the Go

9 Open the top cov er, close it again, and then press (G

light is flashing. If the Attention light is still blinking, then there is another jam. See “To clear jams from inside the printer” on page 67 and “To clear jams from input areas” on page 68.

70 Problem solving and maintenance ENWW

Resolving control panel messages

Printer status is indicated by light patterns on the control panel. Two sets of lights are on the control panel: Supplies Status lights and Printer Status lights:

Black print-cartridge

light

Cyan print-cartridge

light

Magenta print-cartridge

light

Yellow print-cartridge

light

Supplies Status lights

and buttons

The lights can be in any one of the following states:

OnOff Blinking

OTATE CAROUSEL

button

Imaging-drum

light

CANCEL JOB

button

Attention light

(amber)

Ready light

(green)

Go light and

button (both green)

Printer Status lights

and buttons

See the following information to interpret control panel lights. See the embedded Web server for a text message that co rrelates to the lig ht pattern. Or , see th e HP Color LaserJet 2500 Toolbox to view animations of the light patterns an d th e me ss ag es they indicate.

ENWW Chapter 4 Problem solving and maintenance 71

Supplies Status lights

This section describes the meaning of the patterns for the lights in the Supplies Status area. Information about supplies also appears in th e Printer Status and Alerts software, the embedd ed Web server, and the HP Color LaserJet 2500 Toolbox. (For more inf ormation, see “Managing the

printer” on page 55.) To order new supplies, see the embedded Web server or see “Accessories and ordering information” on page 24.

Light pattern Recommended action

Black print cartridge low

The black print-cartridge light is on. The printer continues to print without any action required until the print cartridge is empty. Order a new print cartridge.

Cyan print cartridge low

The cyan print-cartridge light is on. The printer continues to print without any action required until the print cartridge is empty. Order a new print cartridge.

Magenta print cartridge low

The magenta print-cartridge light is on. The printer continues to print without any action required until the print cartridge is empty. Order a new print cartridge.

Yellow print cartridge low

The yellow print-cartridge light is on. The printer continues to print without any action required until the print cartridge is empty. Order a new print cartridge.

Imaging drum is low

The imaging-drum light is on. The printer continues to print without any action required until the imaging drum is empty. Order a new imaging drum.

72 Problem solving and maintenance ENWW

Light pattern Recommended action

Black print cartridge is empty or missing

The black print-cartridge light is blinking. The printer stops printing. The print car tridge is empty or missing, or the printer cannot detect the print ca rtridge correctly. You must

replace the print cartridge before the printer can continue printing. Reinsert or replace the print cartridge. If the print-cartridge light is still blinking but the Attention light is not

on, turn the printer off and then back on again. If the problem persists, contact HP Customer Care. See

“HP Customer Care” on page 3, or see the flyer that came in the printer box for contact information.

Cyan print cartridge is empty or missing

The cyan print-cartridg e light is blinking. The printer stops printing. The print car tridge is empty or missing, or the printer cannot detect the print ca rtridge correctly. You must

replace the print cartridge before the printer can continue printing. Reinsert or replace the print cartridge. If the print-cartridge light is still blinking but the Attention light is not

on, turn the printer off and then back on again. If the problem persists, contact HP Customer Care. See

“HP Customer Care” on page 3, or see the flyer that came in the printer box for contact information.

Magenta print cartridge is empty or missing

The magenta print-cartridge light is blinking. The printer stops printing. The print car tridge is empty or missing, or the printer cannot detect the print ca rtridge correctly. You must

replace the print cartridge before the printer can continue printing. Reinsert or replace the print cartridge. If the print-cartridge light is still blinking but the Attention light is not

on, turn the printer off and then back on again. If the problem persists, contact HP Customer Care. See

“HP Customer Care” on page 3, or see the flyer that came in the printer box for contact information.

Yellow print cartridge is empty or missing

The yellow print-cartridge light is blinking. The printer stops printing. The print car tridge is empty or missing, or the printer cannot detect the print ca rtridge correctly. You must

replace the print cartridge before the printer can continue printing. Reinsert or replace the print cartridge. If the print-cartridge light is still blinking but the Attention light is not

on, turn the printer off and then back on again. If the problem persists, contact HP Customer Care. See

“HP Customer Care” on page 3, or see the flyer that came in the printer box for contact information.

Imaging drum is empty or missing

The imaging-drum light is blinking. The printer stops printing. The imaging drum is empty, missing, or the printer cannot detect the imaging drum correctly. You must

replace the imaging drum before the printer can continue printing. Reinsert or replace the imaging drum. If the imaging-drum light is still blinking but the Attention light is not

on, turn the printer off and then back on again. If the problem persists, contact HP Customer Care. See

“HP Customer Care” on page 3, or see the flyer that came in the printer box for contact information.

ENWW Chapter 4 Problem solving and maintenance 73

Light pattern Recommended action

Black print cartridge is a non-HP print cartridge

CAUTION: If you continue printing once this print cartridge is empty, damage to the printer can occur. See

“Hewlett-Packard limited warranty statement” on page 106.

The black print-cartridge light is blinking and the Attention light is on. The printer stops pr inting. If you still want to use this non-HP print cartridge, press (C

receive any indication from the printer Supplies Status lights, the Supplies Status page, or any software component (HP Color LaserJet 2500 Toolbox, Printer Status and Alerts, or embedded Web server) when this print cartridge is low or empty.

Cyan print cartridge is a non-HP print cartridge

CAUTION: If you continue printing once this print cartridge is empty, damage to the printer can occur. See

“Hewlett-Packard limited warranty statement” on page 106.

The cyan print-cartri dge light is blinking and the Attention light is on. The printer stops printing. If you still want to use this non-HP print cartridge, press (C

Magenta print cartridge is a non-HP print cartridge

CAUTION: If you continue printing once this print cartridge is empty, damage to the printer can occur. See

“Hewlett-Packard limited warranty statement” on page 106.

ANCEL JOB) to continue printing. You will not

ANCELJOB

) to continue printing. You will not

The magenta print-cartridge light is blinking and the Attention light is on. The printer stops printing. If you still want to use this non-HP print cartridge, press (C

ANCELJOB

) to continue printing. You will not

Yellow print cartridge is a non-HP print cartridge

CAUTION: If you continue printing once this print cartridge is empty, damage to the printer can occur. See

“Hewlett-Packard limited warranty statement” on page 106.

The yellow print-cartridge light is blinking and the Attention light is on. The printer stops printing. If you still want to use this non-HP print cartridge, press (C

ANCELJOB

) to continue printing. You will not

Imaging drum is a non-HP imaging drum

CAUTION: If you continue printing once this imaging drum is empty, damage to the printer can occur. See

“Hewlett-Packard limited warranty statement” on page 106.

The imaging-drum light is blinking and the Attention light is on. The printer stops printing. If you still want to use this non-HP imaging drum, press (C

ANCELJOB

) to continue printing. You will not

74 Problem solving and maintenance ENWW

Printer Status lights

The following section describes the meaning of the light patterns in the Printer Status area. Information about the printer stat us also appears in the Printer Status and Alerts software and the embedded Web server. (For more information, see “Managing the printer” on page 55.)

Light pattern Error and recommended action

All control panel lights

Startup

All control panel lights cycle one after another. Pressing buttons has no effect until the printer is in the Ready state.

Ready

The Ready (green) light is on and the printer is ready to print. No action is needed. Pressing (GO) prints a Demo page. Pressing (GO) and (CANCEL JOB) simultaneously prints a Configuration page and a Supplies Status page, as well as an HP Jetdirect page if an HP Jetdirect print server card is installed.

Processing

The Ready light is blinking. The printer is receiving or processing data. Pressing (CANCEL JOB) cancels the current job. One or two pages might print as the printer clears the

print job. The printer returns to the Ready state (Ready light on) after the job has been canceled.

Attention error

The Attention light is blinking in these situations:

The top cover is open.

●

The printer is out of paper.

●

The printer has a jam.

●

For the first cause, close the top cover. For the second cause, load paper. For the last cause, open and close the top cover after you resolve the problem. If the problem is not resolved, the Attention light continues to blink.

Interaction state

The Go light is blinking. The top cover has been opened and then closed, or you pressed

OTATECAROUSEL

), the printer automatically returns to the Ready state after approximately 10 seconds. Pressing

(G (R

OTATECAROUSEL

ENWW Chapter 4 Problem solving and maintenance 75

). Pressing (GO) returns the printer to the Ready state. If you do not press ) brings another print cartridge to the top position.

Light pattern Error and recommended action

Attention with Ability to Continue

The Attention light is blinking and the Go light is on. The printer stops printing. The message appears in these situations:

● Manual feed with pause. Someone sent a manual feed job and the printer is waiting for the special

paper. Load paper into tray 1, and if the printer does not begin printing once the pages are reloaded, press (G

● Manual tw o-si ded printin g. The printer has finished printing the first side of a manual duplex job, and

the printer is waiting for someone to reload the pages so it can print the second side. If the printer does not begin printing once the pages are reloaded, press (G

● P aper out in the selected tra y. Someone is trying to print by Source (tray) and there is no paper in the

selected tray. Add paper to that tray to print from it. Or, press (G The printer continues printing after it finishes running a cleaning cycle, which takes approximately 20 seconds.

● Paper is too small. The print image is larger than the size of paper in the tray. Load the correct size

and press (G approximately 20 seconds.

● Continuable state. Press (G

whatever data it can. If successful, the printer completes the job while Ready light blinks. If unsuccessful, the printer continues to display the Attention with Ability to Continue state. Perform one of these steps:

Press and hold (GO) and (CANCEL JOB) simultaneously to display a secondary light pattern.

●

(See “Secondary light patterns for Printer Status lights” on page 77.)

Press (C

●

the Ready state (Ready light on).

O). Or, just press (GO) to try to print from another tray.

). The printer continues printing after it finishes running a cleaning cycle, which takes

ANCELJOB

) to cancel the print job. If the problem has been resolved, the printer returns to

) to try to print from another tray.

) for the printer to attempt to recover from the error and print

Accessory error

The Attention light, Ready light, and Go light are blinking. The printer stops printing. An error has occurred with either the EIO port or a DIMM slot. Pressing any button has no effect.

Press and hold (GO) and (C

ANCELJOB

) simultaneously to display a secondary light pattern. (See

“Secondary light patterns for Printer Status lights” on page 77.)

Service error

The Attention light, Ready light, and Go light are on. The printer stops printing. Pressing any button has no effect. Perform these steps.

Turn the printer off and then on again. If the problem persists, leave the printer off for 15 minutes to

●

reset the printer. If the printer is connected to a power strip or surge protector, disconnect it and connect the power cable

●

directly to a working wall outlet. If the problem continues, contact HP Customer Care. See “HP Customer Care” on page 3 or the

●

support flyer that came in the printer box.

76 Problem solving and maintenance ENWW

Secondary light patterns for Printer Status lights

This section describes the secondary light patterns that you can display when you experience a Attention with Ability to Continue state or an Accessory error. Each of these errors has its own set of secondary light patterns, so a section is included here for each set.

Secondary light patterns provide more information about the more specific type of error that occurred. To understand the secondary light pattern, do one of these steps:

● Press and hold (G

) and (C

pattern appears, use the appropriate section here to identi fy the asso ciated err or. When you release the buttons, the light pattern for the original error appears again.

● View the embedded Web server, which provides a text message that correspon ds to the

error and its secondary light pattern.

Secondary light patterns for Attention with Ability to Continue state

This section provides the meaning for the secondary light patterns that you can display while you are experiencing an Attention with Ability to Continue state (Attention light is b linking and Go light is on).

Light pattern Error and recommended action

20 Insufficient Memory error

Attention light is on. The printer memor y is full. Press (G

unnecessary fonts, macros, or any data currently in printer memory. If you continue to lose data, yo u might need to add more printer memory. For a temporary solution, simplify the image by changing to another image type, such as raster.

) to resume printing. If you lose some data, try to free some printer memory by removing any

ANCELJOB

) simultaneously. When the secondary light

41.3 Unexpected Size error or 41.x Printer err o r

The Ready light is on.

Load the correct size of paper. If the correct size is loaded, press (GO).

●

If printing does not resume, open the top cover, remove the imaging drum, and check for a jam inside

●

the printer.

40 Bad Transmission error

The Attention light, Ready light, and Go light are on. Press (GO) to try to print a portion of the job.

If the printer is connected to the network, make sure the cable is securely connected between the

●

HP Jetdirect print server card and the network port. If the printer is directly connected to a computer, the cable between the printer and computer has a

●

bad connection or the cable is of poor quality. Disconnect the cable and reconnect it. Make sure you are using a high-quality USB or IEEE-1284 compliant, size-B parallel cable. See “Accessories and

ordering information” on page 24

ENWW Chapter 4 Problem solving and maintenance 77

22 Buffer Overflow error

The Ready light and Go light are on. Press (GO) to try to print a portion of the job.

The connection between the printer and the computer is loose. Check the connection to ensure that it

●

is secure. The cable is malfunctioning. Try using a different, high-quality USB or EEE-1284 compliant, size-B

●

parallel cable. See “Accessories and ordering information” on page 24 Contact HP Customer Care. See “HP Customer Care” on page 3, or see the flyer that came in the

●

printer box for contact information.

Chosen Pers onality Not Available error

The Ready light and Go light are blinking. The current job was canceled because the printer language (personality) is not supported.

Press (GO) to clear the message.

●

If you printed the job using one of the PCL drivers, try printing using the PS driver, or vice versa.

●

Turn off the printer and remove or replace the language font DIMM. Caution: You must turn off the

●

printer before inserting or removing DIMMs. Contact HP Customer Care. See “HP Customer Care” on page 3, or see the flyer that came in the

●

printer box for contact information.

Data Received error

The Go light is on.

The printer received data and is waiting for a form feed. Press ( GO) to print the last page. The

●

printer receiving another job can also cause the page to print.

General Continuable error

The Attention light, Ready light, and Go light are blinking.

Press (GO) to try to continue printing.

●

If the error persists, contact HP Customer Care. See “HP Customer Care” on page 3, or see the flyer

●

that came in the printer box for contact information.

68.x Permanent Storage error

The Attention light is blinking. The nonvolatile memory (NVRAM) is temporarily full. Press (G

persists, contact HP Customer Care. See “HP Customer Care” on page 3, or see the flyer that came in the printer box for contact information.

) to clear the message. Check the printer settings to ensure they are correct. If the problem

78 Problem solving and maintenance ENWW

Secondary light patterns for Accessory errors

This section describes the secondary light patterns that you can display when y ou e xperience an Accessory error (Attention light, Ready light, and Go light are blinking).

8x.yyyy EIO error

The Attention light is blinking. There is a problem with the print server card.

Caution: You must turn off the printer before inserting or removing the print server card to avoid damaging it.

Remove the print server card and reinstall it to ensure that it was correctly installed.

●

Ensure that you are using a supported print server card. See “Accessories and ordering information”

●

on page 24.

To continue printing, remove the print server card from the EIO port and connect a parallel or USB

●

cable. You must change the port, or reinstall the software. If the print server card still is not working, contact HP Customer Care. See “HP Customer Care” on

●

page 3 or the support flyer that came in the printer box.

53.x1.zz Printer (DIMM Slot 1) error

The Go light is on. There is a problem with the DIMM in this DIMM slot.

Caution: You must turn off the printer before inserting or removing DIMMs to avoid damaging them.

Remove the DIMM and reinstall it to ensure that it is correctly installed.

●

Ensure that you are using a supported DIMM. See “Accessories and ordering information” on page 24.

●

Move the DIMM to a different DIMM slot. If the DIMM works in a different slot, then DIMM slot 1 is

●

malfunctioning. See “HP Customer Care” on page 3 or the suppor t flyer that came in the printer box. To continue printing, remove the DIMM from DIMM slot 1.

●

53.x2.zz Printer (DIMM Slot 2) error

The Ready light is on. There is a problem with the DIMM in this DIMM slot.

Caution: You must turn off the printer before inserting or removing DIMMs to avoid damaging them.

Remove the DIMM and reinstall it to ensure that it is correctly installed.

●

Ensure that you are using a supported DIMM. See “Accessories and ordering information” on page 24.

●

Move the DIMM to a different DIMM slot. If the DIMM works in a different slot, then DIMM slot 2 is

●

malfunctioning. See “HP Customer Care” on page 3 or the suppor t flyer that came in the printer box. To continue printing, remove the DIMM from DIMM slot 2.

●

53.x3.zz Printer (DIMM Slot 3) error

The Attention light is on. There is a problem with the DIMM in this DIMM slot.

Caution: You must turn off the printer before inserting or removing DIMMs to avoid damaging them.

Remove the DIMM and reinstall it to ensure that it is correctly installed.

●

Ensure that you are using a supported DIMM. See “Accessories and ordering information” on page 24.

●

Move the DIMM to a different DIMM slot. If the DIMM works in a different slot, then DIMM slot 3 is

●

malfunctioning. See “HP Customer Care” on page 3 or the suppor t flyer that came in the printer box. To continue printing, remove the DIMM from DIMM slot 3.

●

ENWW Chapter 4 Problem solving and maintenance 79

Solving print-quality problems

If your document is printing but the quality is not what you expected , start by using the printquality checklist

Print-quality checklist

General print-quality problems can be solved by following the checklist below. 1 Check the printer driver to mak e sure you are using the best available print-quality option, or

return to the default settings. See “Changing print quality” on page 41.

2 Check that the paper or print media you are using meets specifications. See “Print media

specifications” on page 123. Generally, smoother paper provides better results although

coated, photo, and glossy papers are not supported.

3 If you are using a special print media such a s labels, gr a yscale tr ansparencies , or let terhead,

ensure that you have printed by Type. See “Printing a job” on page 34.

4 Print a Configuration page and Supplies Status page at the printer by pressing (G

ANCELJOB

• Chec k the Supplies Status page to see if an y supplies are low or empty. No information is provided for non-HP print cartridges.

• If the pages do not print correctly, the problem is with the hardware . Contact HP Customer Care. See “HP Customer Care” on page 3 or the flyer that shipped in the printer box.

) simultaneously.

) and

5 Print a Demo page from the HP Color LaserJet 2500 Toolbox. If the page prints, the prob lem

is with the printer driver. Try printing from one of the other printer drivers. For examp le , if you are using the PCL 6 printer driver, print from the PCL 5c or PS printer driver.

6 Try printing from a differe nt program. If the page prints correctly, the problem is with the

program from which you were printing.

7 Restart the computer and the printer and try printing again. If the problem is not resolved,

choose one of these options:

• If the problem is affecting all printed pages, see “Solving issues with all printed

documents” on page 81.

• If the problem is affecting only pages printed in color, see “Solving issues with color

documents” on page 87.

80 Problem solving and maintenance ENWW

Solving issues with all printed documents

The examples belo w depict letter-siz e paper that ha s passed through the printer short-edge first. These examples illustrate problems that would affect all pages you print, whether you print in color or in black only. The topics that follow list the typical cause and solution for each of these examples.

Light print or fade

Gray background

Repetitive defects on the back

Toner specks

Toner smear

Misformed characters

Dropouts Vertical lines

Loose toner

Curl or wave

Repetitive defects on the front

Page skew

Wrinkles or creases

ENWW Chapter 4 Problem solving and maintenance 81

Toner scatter outline

Random image repetition (light)

Random image repetition (dark)

Light print or fade

A vertical streak or an incorrect or faded color area appears on the page.

● The paper might not meet HP’s paper specifications (for example, the paper is too moist or

too rough). See “Print media specifications” on page 123.

● One or more print cartridges are low. If you are using non-HP print cartridges, no messages

appear on the printer control panel or in the embedded Web server.

● The imaging drum might be low or empty. Print the Supplies Status page to check remaining

life. Replace the imaging drum if it is low or empty.

● If none of the print cartridges or the imaging drum is low or empty, remove the print

cartridges one at a time and inspect the toner roller in each to see if the roller is damaged. If so, replace the print cartridge.

● If the problem is not resolved, see “If the problem is not resolved” on page 86.

Toner specks

● The paper might not meet specifications. For example, t he paper is too moist or too rough.

See “Print media specifications” on page 123.

● The paper path might need cleaning. See “Cleaning the printer ” on page 99.

● If the problem is not resolved, see “If the problem is not resolved” on page 86.

Dropouts

Faded areas, generally rounded, occur randomly on the page.

● A single sheet of paper might be defective. Try reprinting the job.

● The moisture content of the paper is une ven or the paper has moist spots on its surface. Try

different paper, such as high-quality paper intended for laser printers. See “Print media

specifications” on page 123.

● The paper lot is flawed. Th e man ufacturing processes can cause some areas to reject toner.

Try a different brand of paper, such as high-quality paper intended for laser printers. See

“Print media specifications” on page 123.

● The imaging drum might be defective. See “Repetitive defects on the front” on page 84.

● If these steps do not correct the problem, contact HP Customer Care. See “HP Customer

Care” on page 3 or the support flyer that came in the printer box.

● If the problem is not resolved, see “If the problem is not resolved” on page 86.

Vertical lines

Vertical streaks or bands appear on the page.

● One or more print cartridges are low or defective. Print the Supplies Status page to check

remaining life. If you are using non-HP print cartridges, no messages appear on the printer control panel or in the embedded Web server.

● Clean the printer using a cleaning page. See “Cleaning the printer” on page 99.

● Use the tools on the Troubleshooting tab of the HP Color LaserJet Toolbox to correct the

problem.

● If the problem is not resolved, see “If the problem is not resolved” on page 86.

82 Problem solving and maintenance ENWW

Gray background

The amount of background toner shading becomes unacceptable.

● Perform a calibration. See “Calibrating the printer” on page 100.

● Use a different paper with a lighter basis weight. See “Print media specifications” on

page 123.

● Check the printer environmen t. Very dry (low humidity) conditions can increase the amount

of background shading.

● One or more print cartridges are low. If you are using non-HP print cartridges, no messages

appear on the printer control panel or in the embedded Web server.

● The imaging drum might be low or empty. Print the Supplies Status page to check remaining

life. Replace the imaging drum if it is low or empty. If the problem is not resolved, see “If the problem is not resolved” on page 86.

●

Toner smear

Toner smears appear on the leading edge of the paper.

● Check the paper type and quality. Use a different paper, such as high-quality paper intended

for laser printers. See “Print media specifications” on page 123. If toner smears appear on the leading edg e of the p ape r, the paper guides are dirty, or ther e

●

is debris in the print path. See “Cleaning the printer” on page 99.

● The imaging drum might be low or empty. Check the status of the imaging drum using the

printer control panel or the embedded W eb server and replace th e imaging drum if it is low or empty.

If the problem is not resolved, see “If the problem is not resolved” on page 86.

●

Loose toner

Toner smears easily when touched.

● In the printer driver, select the Paper tab and set Type is to match the type of paper you are

printing. Print speed might be slower if y o u are usin g he avy paper. For UNIX, Linux, and OS/ 2, this feature is available in the embedded Web server if the printer is connected to a network.

● Check the paper type and quality. Use a different paper, such as high-quality paper intended

for laser printers. See “Print media specifications” on page 123.

● Clean the inside of the printer. See “Cleaning the printe r ” on page 99.

● The fuser might be damaged. Contact HP Customer Care. See “HP Customer Care” on

page 3 or the support flyer that came in the printer box.

● If the problem is not resolved, see “If the problem is not resolved” on page86.

ENWW Chapter 4 Problem solving and maintenance 83

Repetitive defects on the front

Marks repeatedly appear on the printed side of the page at even intervals.

● In the printer driver, select the Paper tab and set Type is to match the type of paper on

which you are printing. Print speed might be slower if you are using heavy paper. For UNIX, Linux, and OS/2, this feature is availab le in the embedded Web server if the printer is connected to a network.

● Clean the printer. See “Cleaning the printer” on page 99.

● Use the tools on the Troubleshooting tab of the HP Color LaserJet Toolbox to correct the

problem.

● The imaging drum might be defective. Replace the imaging drum.

● The fuser might be damaged. Contact HP Customer Care. See “HP Customer Care” on

page 3 or the support flyer that came in the printer box.

If the problem is not resolved, see “If the problem is not resolved” on page 86.

●

Repetitive defects on the back

Marks repeatedly appear on the unprinted side of the page at even intervals.

Internal parts might have toner on them. The problem will lik ely correct itself after a f ew more

●

pages. Clean the printer. See “Cleaning the printer” on page 99.

●

● The fuser might be damaged. Contact HP Customer Care. See “HP Customer Care” on

page 3 or the support flyer that came in the printer box.

If the problem is not resolved, see “If the problem is not resolved” on page 86.

●

Misformed characters

If characters are improperly formed so that they produce hollow images, the paper might be

●

too slick of a paper, such as a photo, glossy, or coated paper . Use a different paper , such as high-quality paper intended for laser printers. See “Print media specifications” on page 123.

● If characters are improperly formed so that they produce a wavy effect, the laser scanner

might need service. Verify that the problem also occurs on the Configuration page. If so, contact HP Customer Care. See “HP Customer Care” on page 3 or the support flyer that came in the printer box.

● If the problem is not resolved, see “If the problem is not resolved” on page 86.

Curl or wave

● Turn over the stack of paper in the tray. Also try rotating the paper 180 degrees in the input

tray.

● Set the correct Type in the printer driver. Heavier paper might take longer to print.

● Open the rear output door to print to the straight-through paper path.

● Check the paper type and quality. Both high temperature and humidity will cause paper curl.

Use a different paper, such as high-quality paper intended for laser printers. See “Print

media specifications” on page 123.

● If the problem is not resolved, see “If the problem is not resolved” on page 86.

84 Problem solving and maintenance ENWW

Page skew

● Make sure the paper or other print media is loaded correctly and that the guides are not too

tight or too loose against the stack. See “Loading trays” on page 31.

● Check the paper type and quality. Use a different paper, such as high-quality paper intended

for laser printers. See “Print media specifications” on page 123.

● If the problem is not resolved, see “If the problem is not resolved” on page86.

Wrinkles or creases

● Make sure that paper is loaded properly.

● Turn over the stack of paper in the input tray, or try rotating the paper 180 degrees in the

input tray. Open the rear output door to print to the straight-through paper path.

●

● Check the paper type and quality. Use a different paper, such as high-quality paper intended

for laser printers. See “Print media specifications” on page 123.

● If the problem is not resolved, see “If the problem is not resolved” on page86.

Toner scatter outline

Turn over the stack of paper in the tray.

●

Perform a calibration. See “Calibrating the printer” on page 100.

●

● Small amounts of toner scatter are normal for laser printing.

If large amounts of toner have scattered around the characters, the paper might have high

●

resistivity. Use a different paper, such as high-quality paper intended for laser printers. See

“Print media specifications” on page 123.

● Change the print mode in the embedded Web server to High Resistivity.

● If the problem is not resolved, see “If the problem is not resolved” on page86.

Random image repetition

If an image that appears at the top of the page (in solid black) repeats farther down the page (in gray field), the toner might not have been completely erased from the last job. The repeated image might be lighter or darker than the field in which it appears.

● From y our pr ogr am, chang e the tone (darkness) of the field th at the repeated ima ge appears

in.

● From your program, rotate the whole page 180 degrees to print the lighter image first.

● Change the order in which the images are printed. For e xample , hav e the lighter image at the

top of the page, and the darker image further down the page.

● If the defect occurs later in a print job, turn the printer off for 10 minutes, and then turn the

printer on to restart the print job.

● If the problem is not resolved, see “If the problem is not resolved” on page86.

ENWW Chapter 4 Problem solving and maintenance 85

If the problem is not resolved

If the problem is not resolved, try these steps:

1 Perform a cleaning and calibration. See “Cleaning the printer” on page 99. 2 Print the Configuration page and Supplies Status page again.

• If the pages print correctly, then the problem is with the program, computer, or printer driver. Go to the next step.

• If the pages do not print correctly, then the problem is with the printer itself. The problem might be the fuser. Contact HP Customer Care. See “HP Customer Care” on page 3 or the support flyer that came in the printer box.

3 Change the Type setting in the printer driver, or change the print mode in the embedded W eb

server. If this step does not help, go to the next step.

4 If the problem still persists, check the paper type and quality. (See “Print media

specifications” on page 123.) Use a different paper, such as high-quality paper intended for

laser printers. Coated, photo, and glossy papers are not supported.

5 Print to a different printer.

• If the page prints correctly, then the problem is with the printer driver for the HP Color LaserJet 2500 printer. Uninstall the printer driver and reinstall it.

• If the page does not print correctly, the problem is with the program or the computer. See the documentation for the program or the computer.

86 Problem solving and maintenance ENWW

Solving issues with color documents

This section describes issues that can occur when you print in color. Whenever you are experiencing color-related issues, calibrate the printer before trying any other steps. See

“Calibrating the printer” on page 100.

Only black prints Missing or incorrect

color

Color prints inconsistently

Colors do not match

Color pages have inconsistent finish

Only black prints

Only black is printing when t he document should be printing in color.

● Color mode is not selected in your program or printer driver. Select color mode instead of

grayscale mode.

● If you are printing on transparencies, all transparencies print in grayscale.

● The correct printer driver is not selected in the program. Select the correct printer driver.

The printer is not properly configured. Verify the printer configuration by printing a

●

Configuration page. If no color appears on the Configuration page, contact HP Customer Care.

ENWW Chapter 4 Problem solving and maintenance 87

Missing or incorrect color

● You have changed the color settings manually. Return the color setting to Automatic. See

“Changing color settings” on page 39.

● Your print media does not meet the specifications for this printer. Use a different paper, such

as a high-quality paper intended for laser printers. See “Print media specifications” on

page 123.

● You are operating the printer in excessively humid conditions. Verify that the printer

environment is within humidity specifications.

● A print cartridge might be low. Check the printer control panel, print a Supplies Status page,

or view the embedded Web server to see. (If you are using a non-HP cartridge, none of these sources will provide information about a low or empty print cartridge.) If so, replace the print cartridge.

Perform a calibration. See “Calibrating the printer” on page 100.

●

Color prints inconsistently

A color is printing inconsistently after you load a new print cartridge.

● Another print cartridge might be low. Chec k the supplies status lights or embedded Web

server to see if a print cartridge is low and replace it if necessary. If you are using a non-HP print cartridge, it might be low or empty but you will receive no indication.

Print cartridges might be improperly installed. Remove the print cartridge for the color that is

●

printing inconsistently and reinstall it.

Colors do not match

The colors on the printed page do not match the colors as they appear on the screen.

The colors on your computer monitor differ from the printer output. Try selecting Screen

●

Match in the Color tab of the printer driver.

● Print the Configuration and Supplies Status pages to ensure t hat they print correctly. If not,

the problem is with the printer.

● Try printing from a different program or one of the other printer drivers. For example, if you

are using the PCL 6 printer driver, try the PCL 5c or PS printer driver.

● Extremely light colors or extr emely dark colors on screen are not printing. Your program

might interpret extremely light colors as white or extremely dark colors as black. If so, avoid using extremely light or extremely dark colors.

● Other factors , such as the light or paper quality, are affecting the output. Use a different

paper, such as a high-quality paper intended for laser printers. See “Print media

specifications” on page 123 and “Using color” on page 50.

● Perform a calibration. See “Calibrating the printer” on page 100.

Color pages have inconsistent finish

● Use a smooth paper or print media, such as a high-quality paper made for laser printers.

Generally, the smoother the paper, the better the results. Coated, photo, and glossy papers are not supported. See “Print media specifications” on page 123.

88 Problem solving and maintenance ENWW

Resolving problems that generated messages

This section helps resolve problems that generated messages on the computer.

Messages for both Windows and Macintosh

This section lists some common errors that only provide a simple message but no inf ormation for resolving the error. Errors that you see in Printer Status and Alerts, the HP Color LaserJet 2500 Toolbox, or the embedded Web server provide their own instructions for resolving the error. For other errors generated by your operating system, see the documentation for the operating system or computer.

Symptom Possible Cause Solution

Limit Check Error The print job is too complex.

Messages for Windows only

Message Solution

“Error Writing to LPTx” in Windows 95, 98, or Me.

“General Protection Fault” “Exception OE” “Spool32” “Illegal Operation”

Make sure that there is paper in the tray.

●

Make sure the cables are connected correctly, the printer is on, and the Ready light is on.

●

Ensure that the printer is not connected using both a USB and a parallel cable.

●

Print a Demo page from the HP Color LaserJet 2500 Toolbox to ensure that the computer

●

can communicate with the printer. On the Start menu, point to Settings and click Printers. Right-click the HP Color LaserJet

●

2500 driver and select Properties. Click Details and then click Port Settings. Clear the Check Port State before Printing check box and click OK. Click Spool Settings, select Print Directly to Printer, and click OK.

Try printing again.

●

Restart the computer and try again.

●

Clear the contents of the computer Temp folder, which is generally located in C:\Windows

●

(95, 98, and Me) or C:\Winnt (NT 4.0, 2000, XP).

You might need to reduce the complexity of the page or

●

install more memory. Use one of the other printer drivers.

●

Send the print job in smaller pieces or in fewer numbers of

●

pages.

Other Windows messages See Microsoft Windows 95, 98, 2000, NT 4.0, Me, or XP documentation that came with the

operating system or computer for information.

ENWW Chapter 4 Problem solving and maintenance 89

Resolving problems that did not generate messages

Begin by using the troubleshooting checklist.

Troubleshooting checklist

If the printer is not responding properly, complete the steps in the following checklist, in order. If the printer does not pass a step, follow the corresponding troubleshooting suggestions. If a step resolves the problem, you can stop without performing the rest of the steps on the checklist.

1 Make sure the printer Ready light is on. If no lights are on, complete these steps:

a Check the power cable connections. b Check that the power switch is on. c Check the power source by plugging the printer directly into the wall or into a different

outlet.

d If none of these measures restores power, contact HP Customer Care. (See

“HP Customer Care” on page 3 or the support flyer that came in the printer box.)

2 Check the cabling.

a Check the cable connection between the printer and the computer or network port. Make

sure the connection is secure.

b Make sure that the cable itself is not faulty by using a different cable, if possible. c Make sure you do not have both a USB and a parallel cable installed. If you do, the USB

automatically disables itself.

d Check the network connection. See “Checking the network” on page 91.

3 Ensure that the print media you are using meets specifications. See “Print media

specifications” on page 123.

4 Press (G

Supplies Status page. An HP Jetdirect page also prints, if a print server card is installed.

a If the pages do not print, check that there is paper in at least one tray. b If the page jams in the printer, go to “Clearing jams” on page 66.

5 If the Configuration and Supplies Status pages pr in t, che ck the following items.

a If the pages print correctly, then the pr inter h ardware i s workin g. The proble m is with the

computer you are using, with the printer driver, or wit h the program.

b If the pages do not print correctly, calibrate the printer. See “Calibrating the printer” on

page 100. Print the pages again. If the pages still do not print correctly, the problem is

with the printer hardware. Contact HP Customer Care. (See “HP Customer Care” on

page 3 or the support flyer that came in the printer box.)

6 At the computer, check the print queue or print spooler (Print Monitor or Print Center Queue

for Mac OSs) to see if the printer is paused or set to print offline.

7 Verify that you have installed the HP Color LaserJet 25 0 0 series printer driver. Check the

program to make sure that you are using an HP Color LaserJet 2500 series printer driver.

O) and (CANCEL JOB) simultaneously to print a Configuration page and a

90 Problem solving and maintenance ENWW

8 Print a page from the HP Color LaserJet 2500 Toolbox (Windows 98 and higher only).

a If it prints, then the problem is with the printer driver. Try using one of the other printer

drivers. Or, uninstall the printer driver (see “Uninstalling the printing software” on

page 22) and reinstall it (see the getting started guide).

b If the page does not print, then the problem is with th e computer or the program.

9 Print a short document from a different program that has worked in the past. If this solution

works, then the problem is wit h the progr am y ou are using. If this solution does not w ork (the document does not print) complete these steps:

a Try printing the job from another computer that has the printer software installed. b If you connected the printer to the network, connect the printer directly to a computer

with a parallel or USB cable. Redirect the printer to the proper port, or reinstall the software, choosing the new connection type you are using.

10 If the problem is still not resolved, see “Solving general printing problems” on page 92.

Checking the network

It is recommended that you use the HP Color LaserJet 2500 CD-ROM to install and set up the printer on a network. Follow these steps to see if the problem is caused by the network.

● When you printed the Configuration page, an HP Jetdirect configuration page should have

printed if an HP Jetdirect print server card is installed. (If these pages do not print in your language, see “Special pages” on page 56.) Verify that all network settings are properly configured. For more information about the HP Jetdirect page, see the HP Jetdirect Print Server Administrator’s Guide , which can be installed from the View Documentation or User Documentation sections on the HP Color LaserJet 2500 CD-ROM.

See the HP Jetdirect Print Server Administrator’s Guide, which can be installed from the

●

View Documentation or User Documentation sections on the HP Color LaserJet 2500 CD-ROM.

● Contact your network administrator for assistance.

ENWW Chapter 4 Problem solving and maintenance 91

Solving general printing problems

In addition to the problems listed in this section, see “Solving common Macintosh problems” on

page 97 if you are using a Macintosh computer and see “Solving PostScript (PS) errors” on page 96 if you are using several printer languages.

Symptom Possible Cause Solution

The print job is extremely slow.

The job might be very complex, if it contains graphics, for example.

The maximum speed of 16 ppm in black and 4 ppm in color and cannot be exceeded even when more memory is added.

Printing speeds might be automatically reduced when printing special-sized media.

In the printer driver, the Type or Size is set for card stock or other heavy paper.

There might be an issue with the driver.

Wait for the job to print.

●

Reduce the complexity of the page or try adjusting the

●

print quality settings. If this problem occurs frequently, add memory to the printer.

Wait for the print job to finish.

If you are printing on heavy paper, the Type or Size should

●

be set to a heavy paper setting. The printer prints more slowly to provide better quality. Wait for the job to print.

If you are not printing on heavy paper, set Type or Size in

●

the printer driver to plain paper. In the default settings for this printer, select the Paper tab

●

and ensure that Type is set to plain paper. You can override this setting from the printer driver when you print on heavy paper.

If you were printing using the PCL driver, print using the

●

PS driver, or vice versa.

The printer pulls paper or print media from the wrong tray.

The Source (tray) selection might be incorrect.

For Windows, ensure that the Source is selected from the

●

Print dialog box (which is part of the program) if possible or from the printer driver. If you select the Source in the printer driver and then select a different Source in the Print dialog box, the Source setting in the printer driver changes to match the Source setting in the Print dialog box.

For Macintosh, set the Source in the Print dialog box.

●

Remove any paper from other trays to make the printer

●

select from the desired tray.

The Type or Size setting does not match the size of paper or print media

Using the embedded Web server, change the Type or Size setting for the tray to match the size of print media loaded.

loaded in the tray. Paper is loaded in tray 1. Remove any paper from tray 1. The printer pulls from tray 1 if

you did not specify a tray that had a compatible size or type loaded and tray 1 is unconfigured.

92 Problem solving and maintenance ENWW

Symptom Possible Cause Solution

Printer does not pull paper from tray 2 or optional tray 3.

The printer does not recognize a DIMM that is installed.

The printer does not respond when the Print command is selected in the software.

The rear paper length guide (tray 2) or the rear paper stop (optional tray 3)

To set the rear guides properly, see “Loading optional tray 2”

on page 32 or “Loading optional tray 3” on page 33.

is set incorrectly. The tray is not recognized in the

Set the printer software to recognize the tray.

printer software. If the printer does not pull paper from

either tray, the problem might be the paper.

Try a different type or brand of paper.

●

Ensure that you are using a high-quality paper made for

●

laser printers. Coated, photo, and glossy papers are not supported. See “Print media specifications” on page 123. To order, see “Accessories and ordering information” on

page 24.

The separation pad and the pick-up rollers might be worn out.

Replace the separation pa d and pick-up rollers. Contact HP Customer Care to order parts. See “HP Customer Care” on

page 3 or see the support flyer that shipped in the printer box.

The DIMM is not recognized in the printer software.

Set the printer software to recognize the DIMM. See “Enabling

memory” on page 138.

The printer experienced an error. Check the control panel lights on the printer to determine if an

error exists.

If no control panel lights are on, the printer is not receiving power.

Check the power cable connection between the printer

●

and the power source. Check that the power switch is on.

●

Check that the power source (outlet or surge protector) is

●

receiving power. If none of the above measures works, contact

●

HP Customer Care. See “HP Customer Care” on page 3 or see the support flyer that shipped in the printer box.

The printer might be in Manual Feed mode (Attention light blinking and Go

Add paper to tray 1 if it is empty. If paper is already in the tray, press (GO).

light on). The wrong printer was selected in the

software.

In the Print or Printer Setup dialog box, make sure that the

HP Color LaserJet 2500 is selected as the pr inter. There might be a jam. Clear any jams. See “Clearing jams” on page 66. The printer is on a network and is not

receiving a signal.

The interface cable between the

Disconnect the printer from the network and attach it

●

directly to a computer using a parallel or USB cable. Clear any stopped jobs from the print queue.

●

Print a job that you know works.

●

Reinstall the printing software.

●

Disconnect and reconnect the interface cable. computer (or network) and the printer is not connected properly.

The interface cable is defective.

If possible, connect the interface cable to another

●

computer (or network port) and print a job you know works. Try using a different cable.

●

If the printer is connected to a computer , the software for the printer is not configured for the printer port.

Check the printer selection menu in the software to make sure

it is accessing the correct port. If the computer has more than

one port, make sure that the printer is associated with the

correct one.

ENWW Chapter 4 Problem solving and maintenance 93

Symptom Possible Cause Solution

Pages print, but all colors do not print or the pages are completely blank.

The paper curls when exiting the top output bin.

If pages print completely blank, the file might have blank pages.

A print cartridge might be low or empty.

If you are using non-HP print cartridges, one or more print cartridges is low or empty. The control panel lights do not indicate low or empty for non-HP print cartridges.

The Font DIMM check box might be checked but the font DIMM is not physically installed in the printer. (This issue only applies to printers using an Asian-language font DIMM.)

The paper needs to print to the straight-through paper path.

The stack was slightly curled when it was placed in the tray.

Check the file to make sure that it does not contain blank pages.

Check the printer control panel for a Supplies Status message, print a Supplies Status page, or use the embedded Web server to see the levels remaining in the print cartridges. Replace any print cartridges that are low or empty. Messages are not created for non-HP print cartridges.

Replace one or more of the print cartridges.

In the settings for this printer , clear the Font DIMM check box on the Configure tab if no font DIMM is installed in the printer. Select the physically installed in the printer. If you think that the font DIMM is installed, make sure that it is installed correctly.

Open the rear output door to print to the straight-through paper path. Remove each sheet as it exits the printer.

Turn the stack over in the tray.

Font DIMM

check box only if the font DIMM is

The paper does not meet specifications.

If you are printing on light media, the Type setting may not be correct.

See “Print media specifications” on page 123.

Select Light in the Type is field in the printer driver.

94 Problem solving and maintenance ENWW

Symptom Possible Cause Solution

The printer prints, but the text is wrong, garbled, or incomplete.

The interface cable is loose or defective.

Disconnect the printer cable and reconnect it. Try a print job

you know works. If possible, attach the cable and printer to

another computer and try a print job that you know works.

Finally, try a new cable. The printer is on a network or sharing

device and is not receiving a clear signal.

The wrong driver was selected in the software.

Disconnect the printer from the network and attach it directly to

a computer with a parallel or USB cable. Print a job that you

know works.

In the Print or Printer Setup dialog box, make sure that the

HP Color LaserJet 2500 is selected as the pr inter. The printer driver is malfunctioning. Print a page from the HP Color LaserJet 2500 T oolbox. If the

page prints, then the problem is with the printer driver.

Uninstall and reinstall the printer driver. The program is malfunctioning. Try printing a job from another program. If the printer is connected to a

computer, the operating system is malfunctioning.

Check the operating system. If you do not know ho w to use the

method below, see the documentation that came with the

computer.

Restart the computer. When it beeps during startup, press F5

and select Command Prompt Only. At the C:\ prompt on the

computer, type

Dir>LPT1 and then press E

NTER

. (This assumes the printer is connected to LPT1.) If the Go light comes on at the printer, press (G

O) to print and eject the

page. If the page prints correctly, then the operating system is malfunctioning.

The font DIMM check box might be selected but the font DIMM might not be physically installed in the printer. (This issue only applies to printers with an Asian-language font DIMM installed.)

If the font DIMM is not installed in the printer, open the

●

printer driver and on the Configure tab, clear the font DIMM check box.

If a font DIMM is installed, leave the check box selected,

●

but ensure that the actual font DIMM is installed correctly in the printer.

ENWW Chapter 4 Problem solving and maintenance 95

Solving PostScript (PS) errors

The following situations are specific to PS language and might occur when several printer languages are being used.

Note To receive a printed or an on-screen message when PS errors occur, choose this option in the

PS printer driver or the embedded Web server.

Symptom Possible Cause Solution

The job prints in Courier (the printer default typeface) instead of the typeface you requested.

A PS error page prints. Print job might not be PS. Make sure the print job is a PS job. Check to see whether the

VM Error This is a PS font error that occurs

Range Check This is a PS font error that occurs

The requested typeface is not downloaded. A personality switch might have been performed to print a PCL job just before the PS printing job was received.

when you are using several fonts.

Download the desired font and send the print job again. Verify the type and location of the font. Download the font to printer, if applicable. See the software documentation.

program expected a setup or PS header file to be sent to the printer.

Select Unlimited Downloadable Fonts from the printer driver.

Try printing from a different tray.

●

Select Unlimited Downloadable Fonts from the printer

●

driver.

96 Problem solving and maintenance ENWW

Solving common Macintosh problems

In addition to the problems listed in “Solving general printing problems” on page 92, this section lists problems that can happen only when using the Mac OS, versions 8.6 to 9.x.

Symptom Possible Cause Solution Problems in the Chooser

The printer driver icon does not appear in the Chooser.

The printer name does not appear in the Select a PostScript Printer box in the Chooser.

Software was not installed correctly. The LaserWriter driver should be present as a part of the Mac

OS. Make sure that the LaserWriter driver is in the Extensions folder within the systems folder. If not, install the LaserWriter driver from your Mac OS CD-ROM.

The interface cable might not be high

Make sure that you are using a high-quality interface cable.

quality. An incorrect network might be

selected.

Make sure that the printer is on the correct network. Select the Network or AppleTalk Control Panel from Contr o l Panels in the Apple menu and then choose the correct network.

The printer might not be ready. Make sure that the cables are connected correctly, the printer

is on, and the Ready light is on.

The correct printer driver might not be selected.

Make sure that the correct printer driver has been selected in the Chooser.

An incorrect zone might be selected. If the printer resides on a network with multiple zones, make

sure that the correct zone is selected in the AppleTalk Zones box in the Chooser.

The PS driver might not be installed. Verify that the PS driver is installed. The printer might not be selected in

the Chooser.

Make sure that the printer has been chosen in the Chooser by printing a Configuration page. [Simultaneously press (G and (C

ANCELJOB

) on the printer.] Check the AppleTalk

name of the printer displayed on the Configuration page.

)

The printer driver does not automatically set up your selected printer even though you clicked Auto

Setup in the Chooser.

Printing Errors

A print job was not sent to the printer that you wanted.

You cannot use the computer while the printer is printing.

An encapsulated PostScript (EPS) file does not print with the correct fonts.

AppleTalk might be off. Make sure that AppleTalk is on. (The button next to Active is

selected in the Chooser.) You might need to restart the computer to activate the change.

Reinstall the printer software. See the getting started guide.

Another printer with the same or similar name might have received your print job.

Check the AppleTalk name of the printer displayed on the

●

Configuration page. Make sure that the cables are connected correctly, the

●

printer is on, and the Ready light is on.

Background Printing has not been selected.

LaserWriter 8.6 and later: Turn Background Printing on by selecting Print Desktop on the File menu and then clicking Background Printing.

This problem occurs with some programs.

Try downloading the fonts contained in the EPS file to the

●

printer before printing. Send the file in ASCII format instead of binary encoding.

●

ENWW Chapter 4 Problem solving and maintenance 97

Symptom Possible Cause Solution

Your document is not printing with New York, Geneva, or Monaco fonts .

USB Problems

You are unable to print from a third-party USB card.

When connected using a USB cable, the printer does not appear in the Macintosh Chooser after the driver is selected.

The printer might be substituting fonts.

This error occurs when the software for USB printers is not installed.

This problem is caused by either a software or hardware component.

Select Options in the Page Setup dialog box to clear substituted fonts.

When adding a third-party USB card, you might need the Apple USB Adapter Card Support software. The most current version of this software is available from the Apple website.

Software troubleshooting

Check that your Macintosh supports USB.

●

Verify if your Macintosh has Mac OS 8.6 or later.

●

Ensure that your Macintosh has the appropriate USB

●

software from Apple.

Note: The iMac and Blue G3 desktop Macintosh systems meet all the requirements to connect to a USB device.

Hardware troubleshooting

Check that the printer is turned on.

●

Verify that the USB cable is properly connected.

●

Check that you are using the appropriate high-speed USB

●

cable. Ensure that there are not too man y USB devices drawing

●

power from the chain. Disconnect all devices from the chain and connect the cable directly to the USB port on the host computer.

Check to see if more than two nonpowered USB hubs are

●

connected in a row on the chain. Disconnect all devices from the chain and connect the cable directly to the USB port on the host computer.

Note: The iMac keyboard is a nonpowered USB hub.

98 Problem solving and maintenance ENWW

HP 2500n User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Printer basics

Introduction

Printer configurations

Printer features

Printer parts

Interface ports

Control panel features

Software and supported operating systems

Software for Windows

Software for network installations only

Software for Macintosh

Software tips

Uninstalling the printing software

Uninstalling software for Windows

Uninstalling software for Macintosh

Accessories and ordering information

Printing tasks

Introduction

Choosing paper and other print media

Supported print media for optional tray 3

Purchasing paper and other print media

Loading trays

Printing a job

Gaining access to printer driver settings

Features in the printer driver

Printing on special print media

Printing on envelopes

Printing on labels

Printing on grayscale transparencies

Printing on custom-sized print media or cardstock

Printing on letterhead or preprinted forms

Printing on both sides (duplexing manually)

Canceling a print job

Using color

HP ImageREt 2400

Managing color options

Matching colors

Printing in four-colors (CMYK)

Managing the printer

Introduction

Special pages

Using the embedded Web server

Using Printer Status and Alerts

Introduction

Clearing jams

Resolving control panel messages

Supplies Status lights

Printer Status lights

Secondary light patterns for Printer Status lights

Solving print-quality problems

Solving issues with all printed documents

Solving issues with color documents

Resolving problems that generated messages

Resolving problems that did not generate messages

Solving general printing problems

Solving PostScript (PS) errors

Solving common Macintosh problems