HP Designjet 5500 User's Guide

welcome to your hp designjet printer

hp designjet 5500 series

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This guide gives you the information you need to make high-quality prints on a wide range of printing materials.

The information is organized into three main categories:

● How do I ... describes how to carry out routine procedures such as

loading paper or changing an ink cartridge. Many procedures are illustrated with graphic animations.

● Tell me about ... gives background and reference information about the

printer.

● The problem is ... helps you to solve any problems that may occur

while printing.

In addition, there is a comprehensive

index to the whole guide, and a

glossary of technical terms.

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how do I...

hp designjet 5500 series

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how do I use paper and other printing materials?

how do I use rolls? how do I use sheets? how do I download media profiles? how do I use non-hp printing materials?

how do I use the ink system?

how do I use the ink cartridges? how do I use the printheads? how do I use the printhead cleaners? how do I switch ink systems?

how do I use the front panel?

how do I print the internal prints? how do I obtain information on the printing material? how do I select the ink emulation mode? how do I change the page size? how do I change the print quality? how do I select production mode? how do I change the drying time? how do I set page format options? how do I set image options? how do I use print management features? how do I print the front-panel configuration? how do I change the graphics language setting? how do I change the language of the front panel?

how do I calibrate the printer?

how do I perform accuracy calibration?

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how do I...

how do I perform banding calibration? how do I calibrate color output? how do I align the printheads?

other questions

how do I start webaccess? how do I maintain my printer? how do I upgrade my printer's software?

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how do I use rolls?

hp designjet 5500 series

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loading roll guidelines loading rolls onto the spindle trimming the printing material loading rolls into the printer unloading rolls from the take-up reel unloading rolls changing the core tube media length tracking

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how do I use sheets?

hp designjet 5500 series

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how do I load sheets? how do I unload sheets?

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how do I download media profiles?

hp designjet 5500 series

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Each supported printing material has its own characteristics; refer to physical

characteristics of printing materials. For optimum image quality the printer

changes the way it prints onto each different printing material. For example, some may need more ink and some may require a longer drying time. So the printer must be given a description of the requirements of each printing material. This description is called the “media profile”. Existing media profiles for your printer are already installed in the printer's software.

However, you would find it inconvenient to scroll through a list of all HP printing materials, so your printer contains media profiles for only the most commonly used materials. If you buy an HP printing material for which your printer has no media profile, you will find that you cannot select that material in your printer driver, in WebAccess, or in your printer's front panel. In this case, you should use

webaccess to download the correct media profile.

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how do I use non-hp printing materials?

hp designjet 5500 series

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During the loading process, the front panel will ask you to select the vendor of your printing material. In the Media Selection menu, you can choose HP or Others. If you use UV inks, you can also choose 3M.

hp or 3M

If you choose HP or 3M, you will be shown a list of printing materials. Whichever you select, a media profile is already available to define to the printer the precise characteristics of the material.

others

If you choose Others, you are offered a selection of media profiles grouped by families (coated, photo, fine arts, textile, etc.). Choose the family that seems closest to the characteristics of your non-HP printing material.

After choosing a family, you have two different options:

● Choose profile to choose a specific media profile from the selected

family.

● Print sample if you need help to decide which media profile to use.

One sample will be printed for each media profile in the family; this takes some minutes, depending on the printing material and the print quality selected in the front panel.

When you have printed the samples, choose the media profile that gives the best results for your printing material. Remember which media profile you chose, so that you can use it again the next time you use the same printing material.

RGB sample

CMYK sample

Many of our customers prefer high-grammage printing materials (about 170 g/m²), and HP has provided a generic media profile best suited to such materials. Choose Heavyweight Coated, and then HW Coated 2. This profile is designed to give particularly good quality, especially in Production mode.

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how do I use non-hp printing materials?

In some cases it may be possible to select Production mode although the nonHP printing material is not compatible with Production mode. In such cases the printer will print in Productivity mode.

how do I use the ink cartridges?

hp designjet 5500 series

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how do I obtain ink cartridge statistics? how do I remove ink cartridges? how do I install ink cartridges?

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how do I use the printheads?

hp designjet 5500 series

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printhead precautions how do I obtain printhead statistics? how do I remove printheads? how do I install printheads? how do I perform printhead recovery?

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how do I use the printhead cleaners?

hp designjet 5500 series

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how do I remove printhead cleaners? how do I install printhead cleaners?

When you change a printhead, you should also change the corresponding printhead cleaner. Leaving the old printhead cleaner in the printer will shorten the new printhead's life and possibly damage the printer.

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how do I switch ink systems?

hp designjet 5500 series

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There are three steps to perform when changing ink systems.

how do I remove the ink system? how do I install the ink system? how do I store the ink supplies and ink tubes?

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how do I print the internal prints?

hp designjet 5500 series

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Select a print ...

menu print configuration print printer usage information image quality print service configuration hp-gl/2 palette samples

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how do I obtain information on the printing material?

hp designjet 5500 series

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Choose the icon, then Roll/Sheet Info. You will see the following information displayed on the front panel:

● The manufacturer's name

● The type of printing material you have selected

● The total width of the roll in millimeters

● The maximum printable area available

● The media profile revision

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how do I select the ink emulation mode?

hp designjet 5500 series

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The ink emulation mode can be set from WebAccess or from your printer driver.

To set it from the front panel, choose the

icon, then Internal RIP Settings

> Ink Emulation. The selection you have made will be indicated by the √ symbol. Watch the animation below.

For an explanation of the ink emulation mode, see

ink emulation mode.

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how do I change the page size?

hp designjet 5500 series

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This example shows how to adjust the page size. Make sure the front panel displays the printer setup menu icon. If it does

not, press the Top key. The selection you have made will be indicated by the √ symbol. Watch the animation below.

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how do I change the print quality?

hp designjet 5500 series

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Your printer has four different print modes that determine the print quality and speed of printing. The four modes are called Max Quality, Productivity, Production, and Max Speed. For more information on these print modes, see

print resolution and printing materials and print speeds.

You can change from one print mode to another:

● using the printer driver from your software application,

● using WebAccess from your Web browser, or

● using the front panel.

If you would like to select Production mode, see

how do I select production

mode? for more detailed instructions.

to change the print quality using the printer driver

Go to the Device Options tab (Windows) or the Printer Specific Options tab (Mac OS). You will see a Print Quality option that allows you to select the Max Quality, Productivity, or Max Speed print modes.

You will also see an Enhanced IQ check box. If you check this box, the effect is to increase the quality but decrease the speed of whichever print mode you have selected. The exact nature of the effect depends on the print mode selected (see

print resolution).

to change the print quality using webaccess

Choose Submit Job and you will see a Print Quality option. With this you can select the Max Quality, Productivity, Production, or Max Speed print modes.

to change the print quality using the front panel

Press the Print Quality key repeatedly until the print mode you want is selected. A green light is shown beside the selected print mode. When Production mode is selected, two green lights are shown.

notes

● The print mode set with the printer driver or with WebAccess overrides

the print mode set with the front panel.

● You cannot change the print mode of pages that the printer is already

receiving or has already received (even if they have not started to print yet).

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how do I change the print quality?

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how do I select production mode?

hp designjet 5500 series

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Production mode is a fast print mode that gives acceptable image quality for some purposes. It is available only with dye-based inks and certain specific HP paper types: Coated, Heavyweight Coated, Productivity Gloss, and Productivity Semi-Gloss. When one of these paper types is loaded, the front panel announces that Production mode is available.

If you decide to use a non-HP printing material, we recommend a highgrammage (160 to 170 gm) coated material. See

how do I use non-hp

printing materials?

to select production mode using the printer driver

To select Production mode in the printer driver, you must select the Max Speed mode with the Enhanced IQ option. The exact method of doing this depends on the driver; see the examples below.

Mac OS 8 or 9 driver

Mac OS X driver

Windows HP-GL/2 driver

Click the More button above to obtain the Advanced Optimization Options box, below:

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how do I select production mode?

Windows 9x or NT PostScript driver

Windows 2000 or XP PostScript driver

to select production mode using webaccess

Choose Submit Job and you will see a Print Quality option. Select Production.

to select production mode using the front panel

Press the Print Quality key repeatedly until you see two green lights, beside Productivity and Max Speed. The two lights indicate that Production mode is selected.

image quality problems?

If you experience banding in Production mode, try banding calibration.

how do I change the drying time?

hp designjet 5500 series

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You may wish to change the drying time setting to suit special printing conditions. For more details, see

tell me about drying time.

Choose the

icon, then Device Setup > Drying Time > Manual. The selection you have made will be indicated by the √ symbol. This is illustrated by the animation below.

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how do I set page format options?

hp designjet 5500 series

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how do I adjust the margins? how do I rotate an image? how do I print a mirror image? how do I scale the image?

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how do I set image options from the front panel?

hp designjet 5500 series

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how do I view current configuration settings? how do I view the colors available in a palette? how do I change the palette settings? how do I change the treatment of overlapping lines?

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how do I use print management features?

hp designjet 5500 series

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canceling a page canceling the drying time managing the queue tell me about nesting pages

Note: RTL and HP-GL/2 jobs are single pages, but PostScript jobs may consist of more than one page.

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how do I print the front-panel configuration?

how do I print the frontpanel configuration?

hp designjet 5500 series

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1. Make sure that some printing material is loaded (either a roll or a sheet).

2. Press the Top key on the front panel.

3. Press the ↑ and ↓ keys at the same time.

The animation below illustrates this procedure.

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how do I change the graphics language setting?

hp designjet 5500 series

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Unless you are troubleshooting any of the problems listed under Comments in the table below, you should not need to change the default setting.

To change the graphics language setting, choose the

icon, then Device

Setup > Lang, where the following options are available:

Language Comments

Automatic

Choose Automatic to let the printer determine which type of file it is receiving. This setting works for most software applications.

HP-GL/2

Choose this setting if you are not working with PostScript files, and you have experienced image position problems or timing problems.

PostScript

Choose PostScript if you are printing only PostScript files and your PostScript jobs do not include PJL language switching commands.

TIFF, JPEG, PDF, CALS G4

Choose these options only if you are sending a file of the appropriate type directly to the printer without going through a printer driver. This is normally done only from WebAccess, in which case the language setting is done by WebAccess and you do not have to do it yourself.

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how do I change the language of the front panel?

hp designjet 5500 series

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To change the language of the front-panel menus and messages, follow this procedure:

1. If your printer is switched on, switch it off using the switch at the rear of the printer.

2. Switch on the printer using the switch at the rear.

3. Hold down the ENTER key on the front panel until the printer makes an audible beep.

4. As soon as you hear the sound, release the ENTER key.

5. You should see a menu of alternative languages. Highlight the language you want using the ↑ and ↓ keys, and select it by pressing the ENTER key.

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how do I perform accuracy calibration?

hp designjet 5500 series

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Your printer was calibrated at the factory to ensure that it operates with the greatest accuracy in normal environmental conditions. If you are operating under significantly different conditions, you should recalibrate the printer as explained here. You may also need to recalibrate the printer if you are using non-HP printing materials or if you are experiencing image quality problems for some other reason. Before recalibrating the printer, you should always use the

image quality print to verify that you do actually have image quality

problems caused by media advance problems. Note: the accuracy calibration applies only to the media type currently

selected in the front panel. Other media types will keep their original media advance settings.

how do I perform banding calibration?

hp designjet 5500 series

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Banding calibration is intended to eliminate the problem of banding, by optimizing the media advance settings to suit the printing material, and the

environmental conditions such as humidity and temperature. It is available only for paper types with short drying times: all HP coated

papers, plus HP Bright White Inkjet Paper, HP Productivity Photo Gloss, and HP Productivity Photo Semi-Gloss.

Banding calibration is most likely to be useful in the faster print modes (Max Speed and Production).

To perform banding calibration:

1. At the printer's front panel, choose the

icon, then Utilities > Calibrations > Banding > Recalibrate. The printer will print the calibration print nine times using nine different media advance settings, in the print mode currently selected in the front panel. This takes about seven minutes, depending on the print mode and the printing material.

2. When prompted to select a print in the front panel, choose the print that shows the best image quality, in your opinion; or select Cancel to cancel the calibration.

You have now completed banding calibration for the selected printing material. Whenever you use the same printing material in future, the media advance settings that you chose will be used.

You can, if you like, repeat the process for another printing material. If you decide after calibration that your image quality is worse than before,

you can return to the original settings: choose Utilities > Calibrations > Banding > Restore Factory.

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how do I calibrate color output?

hp designjet 5500 series

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Color calibration improves color consistency between prints, and from one printer to another. The printer calibrates the color by printing a “calibration strip” and then scanning the strip with a built-in optical sensor. The printer will then calculate the color correction required, which is then applied to all the subsequent prints.

Color calibration can be performed automatically or manually. To turn the automatic calibration on or off, choose the

icon, then Internal RIP Settings

> Color Calibration.

On

An automatic calibration is performed whenever the current set of printheads and the current printing material have not previously been calibrated together.

Off

The printer uses a default color correction, different for each printing material and print quality setting.

A color calibration can be started manually at any time: choose the

icon,

then Utilities > Calibrations > Color Calibration.

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how do I align the printheads?

hp designjet 5500 series

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The printer will normally perform an alignment automatically whenever any printhead is replaced. However, you can turn off this automatic alignment by

choosing the

icon, then Internal RIP Settings > Align Calibration > Off.

You can also request a printhead alignment from the front panel at any time by choosing the

icon, then Utilities > Calibrations > Printhead Alignment. In this case the printer will align the printheads immediately; or, if an image is being printed, as soon as the current print job is finished. The alignment procedure requires a minimum paper size of A1/D-size (24 inches).

You can use this feature if the

image quality print indicates an alignment

error. When the front panel displays Ready, you are ready to print. Make sure the printer window and the right door are closed after you replace

the HP supplies. The printer will not print while these are open. Watch the animation below.

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how do I start webaccess?

hp designjet 5500 series

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Start your Web browser and give the address of your printer, as follows: http://address/ where address is the IP address of the printer. You can find out the IP

address of the printer from the front panel, as follows:

1. Choose the

icon, then IO Setup > Card ID.

2. Under Card ID, find the line starting with IP=. The remainder of that line is the IP address of the printer.

As an alternative to the IP address, you may give the DNS name of the printer. However, you will not be able to find the DNS name in the front panel; ask your network administrator if you would like to use it.

how do I maintain my printer?

hp designjet 5500 series

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service preventative maintenance user maintenance kit how do I clean the printer exterior? how do I store and move my printer?

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how do I upgrade my printer's firmware?

hp designjet 5500 series

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Firmware, also known as system software, is the software that runs the functions of your printer.

firmware downloading

From time to time there will be firmware upgrades available from HewlettPackard. These upgrades increase your printer's functionality and enhance the features that your printer already possesses. Firmware can be downloaded from the Internet and installed into your printer using the

WebAccess maintenance menu.

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loading roll guidelines

hp designjet 5500 series

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There are three steps to loading rolls into the printer.

1. Load the roll onto the spindle and install the loaded spindle into the printer.

2. Insert the printing material into the printer and set the media type in the front panel.

3. Attach the printing material to the take-up reel (if you have one).

When loading rolls there is information available from:

● The Pocket Guide installed at the back of the printer.

● The labels located on the printer and on the spindles.

● The front panel which will guide you through all the procedures step-by-

step.

into the printer

In the initial stages of loading a roll you may want to open the window, but this is optional. If you are an experienced user for example, you can leave the window closed, thus saving time.

Always start the procedure through the front panel. When loading a roll into the printer check:

● The roll is wound onto the spindle tightly.

● Ensure the spindle is loaded correctly, with the spindle guides installed

firmly onto the spindle.

● If you are using a three-inch cardboard core, make sure the core

adaptors supplied with the printer have been installed. See below.

the spindles

If you are a regular user of different types of printing material, you can change printing materials quicker if you have more than one spindle loaded. As follows:

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loading roll guidelines

● Pre-load the different types of printing materials onto the spindles.

● Remove and replace the spindle with the new type of printing material.

● Extra spindles are available from HP; see ordering other accessories.

the take-up reel

When attaching rolls to the take-up reel:

● Check the leading edge as it unwinds from the spool. If it is not evenly

cut or if it is skewed, trim the printing material as shown in the animation.

● Check the printing material is straight when it is attached to the take-

up reel, otherwise it will skew as it is wound onto the core.

● The core tube on the take-up reel must be the same width as the

printing material you are using.

● Make sure the take-up core is pushed firmly into both spindle guides.

● If you need to feed more printing material from the printer and the

Move Media screen is no longer displayed, go to the Media menu and press Enter. Then select Move Media.

● If you are using a three-inch cardboard core, make sure the core

adaptors supplied with the printer have been installed.

1. Use the ↓ key to move the leading edge of the printing material down until it is level with the centre of the core tube.

2. Make sure the printing material passes in front of the deflector, as shown below.

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loading roll guidelines

3. Move the adjustment levers on the left and right spindle guides to the unlocked

position.

4. The two spindle guides and core must be positioned on the take-up reel spindle so that the printing material is in the center, between the spindle guides. Adjust the position of the core as shown below.

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loading roll guidelines

5. When you have adjusted the position of the core, pull the adjustment levers on both spindle guides to the locked

position.

6. Pull the printing material taut to the position shown below. Do not attempt to pull more printing material out of the printer; if you need more material, use the front panel. Use tape to secure the printing material to the core tube.

7. To avoid the printing material skewing as it is wound onto the core tube, ensure it is straight when it is attached.

8. Press the ↓ key on the front panel to advance the printing material. Enough should be advanced so that the printing material can wrap at least once around the core as shown below.

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loading roll guidelines

9. Important: Press the media wind button on the take-up reel panel indicated below to wind the printing material once around the core.

10. Press the ↓ button on the front panel again to advance some more printing material: enough to enable you to insert the media weight.

It is important that the media weight is the same width as the printing material you are using. By matching color coded lengths of plastic tube, you can make a media weight for different widths of standard paper sizes.

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loading roll guidelines

11. Carefully insert the media weight. Ensure that the end caps are installed and extend over the edges of the printing material.

12. It is important that the media weight is inserted. The take-up reel will not function properly without it.

13. Press Enter on the printer's front panel, which will then display the Ready message.

When the take-up reel is in operation it is important to ensure that the take-up reel sensor is not blocked.

14. Shown below is how the printer will look when it is in operation. As printing material is fed from the printer it drops down in a loop and up into the take-up reel spindle.

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loading roll guidelines

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loading rolls onto the spindle

hp designjet 5500 series

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This procedure shows you how to load rolls onto the spindle and into the printer's spindle hubs.

Make sure the printer wheels are locked (the brake lever is pressed down) to prevent the printer from moving.

If the roll is very wide, rest the spindle horizontally on a table and load the roll on the table.

When adjusting the spindle guides, move them as close to the roll as you can, without applying excessive force.

The printing material should hang down from the roll exactly as shown. Watch the animation below.

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trimming the printing material

hp designjet 5500 series

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The knife used to trim the printing material is sharp. Keep fingers clear of the cutting path. Keep the knife away from children.

You can also trim the printing material automatically when you have loaded it. Go to the Media Setup menu/Form Feed & Cut.

Watch the animation below.

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loading rolls into the printer

hp designjet 5500 series

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This procedure shows you how to load a roll into the printer. It includes references to the take-up reel. Front-panel messages that are applicable only if you have a take-up reel installed are highlighted in green.

If your printer is the HP Designjet 42 inch/1.07 m, the take-up reel is an optional accessory. See

ordering other accessories.

To start this procedure you need to have a roll loaded on the printer spindle. See

loading rolls onto the spindle.

When adjusting the spindle guides, move them as close to the roll as you can, without applying excessive force.

The animation shows the Media Length Tracking function turned On. Watch the animation below.

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unloading rolls from the take-up reel

hp designjet 5500 series

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Ensure that the ink is dry. Watch the animation below.

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changing the core tube

hp designjet 5500 series

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Watch the animation below.

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unloading rolls

hp designjet 5500 series

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If you have a take-up reel, you must unload the roll from the take-up reel before performing this procedure. See

unloading rolls from the take-up reel.

If media length tracking is switched On, the printer will first print the remaining printing material onto the roll before the printer unloads.

Watch the animation below.

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media length tracking

hp designjet 5500 series

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Media length tracking is a function that enables the printer to keep track of how much printing material remains on the roll.

The remaining length is displayed on the front panel and printed on the end of the roll whenever you unload the roll.

To turn on media length tracking, choose the

icon, then Utilities > Track

Media Length > Yes. Watch the animation below.

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how do I load sheets?

hp designjet 5500 series

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The minimum size you can load is a A2/C size sheet in portrait orientation. To help a sheet of this size to load correctly, make sure its leading edge is as close as possible to the pinch wheels during loading.

Watch the animation below.

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how do I unload sheets?

hp designjet 5500 series

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To unload a single sheet from the printer, press the Load/Unload Media key located on the front panel.

Watch the animation below.

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how do I obtain ink cartridge statistics?

hp designjet 5500 series

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The information supplied is:

● The manufacturers of the ink cartridge (HP No. 81 or HP No. 83 is

recommended).

● The percentage of ink remaining.

● Original capacity of the ink cartridge in milliliters.

● Re-order part number of the ink cartridge.

● The month and year that the ink cartridge was manufactured.

To obtain ink cartridge statistics, choose the

icon, then the name of the

cartridge. Watch the animation below.

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how do I remove ink cartridges?

hp designjet 5500 series

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Remove an ink cartridge only if you are replacing it, and always use the front panel menu to replace the cartridge as shown.

There are two reasons for ink cartridge removal:

● The ink cartridge is very low and you want to replace the ink cartridge

with a full one for unattended printing, with the view to replacing it again and using until empty.

● The ink cartridge is empty and the front panel tells you to replace the

ink cartridge.

Watch the animation below.

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how do I install ink cartridges?

hp designjet 5500 series

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Each ink cartridge slot has a colored label above it. This should match the colored label on the new ink cartridge.

The ink cartridge is designed to prevent you from inserting the wrong ink type or into the wrong color slot. If you have difficulty inserting the ink cartridge, do not attempt to force it. Check again that the color of the ink cartridge matches the color of the ink cartridge slot, also that the colored marker is at the top of the ink cartridge.

Avoid storing partially used ink cartridges on their ends. If the front panel displays an error message, see

ink cartridge error

messages.

to install ink cartridges...

Click on this icon to run the animation sequence.

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printhead precautions

hp designjet 5500 series

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Do not touch, wipe or attempt to clean the printhead nozzles. This can damage the printhead.

Handle the ink supplies with care, in particular the printhead, which is a highprecision device.

● Do not touch the printhead nozzles.

● Do not put the printhead down on the nozzles.

● Do not be rough when handling the printheads. Always set them down

gently.

● Do not drop the printheads.

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how do I obtain printhead statistics?

hp designjet 5500 series

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The information supplied is:

● The manufacturer and model of the ink cartridge (HP No. 81 or HP No.

83 is recommended).

● The printhead status.

● The printhead warranty status.

● The re-order part number.

● The amount of time the printhead has been in the printer and powered

on.

● The amount of ink consumed.

To obtain printhead statistics, choose the

icon, then Printhead Info, then

the name of the printhead. Watch the animation below.

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how do I remove printheads?

hp designjet 5500 series

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Printhead replacement must be performed with the printer switched on at the Power Isolation Switch which is located at the rear of the printer.

Watch the animation below.

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how do I install printheads?

hp designjet 5500 series

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The printhead is designed to prevent you from accidentally inserting it into the wrong position. Check that the colored label on the printhead matches the colored label of the carriage assembly position that the printhead is to be inserted in. Do not confuse the light cyan printhead with the dark cyan position in the carriage.

● Before you install a printhead, it is recommended that you clean the

carriage assembly. See carriage interconnect wiper.

● If the front panel displays an error message, see printhead error

messages.

To install a printhead, watch the animation below.

After you install a printhead, the printer will automatically perform the alignment procedure.

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how do I perform printhead recovery?

hp designjet 5500 series

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Recovering the printhead(s) means that the printer automatically cleans and tests the printhead(s).

If you are not sure which printhead to recover, select All Printheads. To see how to perform printhead recovery, watch the animation below.

If a printhead requires repeated recoveries, it is probably out of warranty and nearing the end of its life. If you go to the front panel and choose the

icon, then Printhead Info, you can see whether your printhead is in warranty or out of warranty, and you can also see how much ink it has consumed.

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how do I remove printhead cleaners?

hp designjet 5500 series

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Watch the animation below.

When removing the printhead cleaners:

● Be careful not to get ink on your hands. There may be ink on, around

and inside the replaced printhead cleaner.

● Do not lay the replaced printhead cleaner on its side or turn it upside

down, as ink may leak out.

● Always handle and store the replaced printhead cleaner upright to

avoid spilling any ink.

When replacing a printhead always replace the corresponding printhead cleaner. Leaving the old printhead cleaner in the printer will seriously shorten the new printhead's life and possibly damage the printer.

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how do I install printhead cleaners?

hp designjet 5500 series

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The printer needs all the ink cartridges, printheads and printhead cleaners installed before it can continue.

Watch the animation below.

If the front panel displays an error message, see

printhead cleaner error

messages.

After you replace a printhead and printhead cleaner, the printer will:

● Perform tests on the printhead nozzles to ensure correct operation.

● Align the printheads.

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how do I remove the ink system?

hp designjet 5500 series

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To remove the ink system, first remove the ink supplies: the printheads, printhead cleaners, and ink cartridges. Watch the animation below.

Then remove the ink tubes. Watch the animation below.

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how do I remove the ink system?

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how do I install the ink system?

hp designjet 5500 series

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To install the ink system, first install the ink tubes. Watch the animation below.

Then install the ink supplies: the printheads, printhead cleaners, and ink cartridges. Watch the animation below.

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how do I install the ink system?

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how do I store the ink supplies and ink tubes?

hp designjet 5500 series

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Whenever you change the ink system you must store the ink tubes and ink supplies you have removed from the printer in their respective storage containers. The ink cartridges do not have a specific storage container, so they should be stored in accordance with instructions given on their packaging.

The following animation shows how to store the HP No. 81 or 83 ink supplies.

The following animation shows how to store the HP No. 81 or 83 ink tubes.

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how do I store the ink supplies and ink tubes?

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configuration print

hp designjet 5500 series

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The Configuration Print shows all the current front panel settings. To request a Configuration Print from the front panel:

1. Make sure that printing material is loaded, either roll or sheet.

2. Press the TOP button to select the main menu on the front panel.

3. Make sure that the front panel displays the Ready message.

4. The printer will display the Receiving message shortly. It may take a few moments.

5. Press the ↑ and ↓ keys on the front panel simultaneously to print the Configuration Print.

6. The front panel displays the message Receiving while the file is being processed, and then Printing as the printer starts printing.

menu print

hp designjet 5500 series

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You can print out the complete menu structure available in the front panel by choosing the

icon and then Demos > Menu.

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printer usage information

hp designjet 5500 series

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The Printer Usage Information includes the total number of prints, number of prints by type of printing material, number of prints by print mode, and total amount of ink used per color. The counts in this report are estimates.

To print the report, choose the

icon, then Utilities > Usage > Print Usage.

Alternatively, you can select View Usage to see a shortened form of the report in the front panel.

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using the image quality print

hp designjet 5500 series

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The Image Quality Print helps you to determine whether you have image quality problems, and if you do, what is the cause of the problem and how to resolve it. The print contains patterns that are designed to highlight any image quality problems.

printhead status check

Before printing and analyzing the Image Quality Print, it is recommended that you use the front panel to check the status of each printhead. Select the

icon, then Printhead Info, then the printhead color, and the front panel

will display the printhead status.

● If the printhead needs replacing, see how do I remove printheads?

● If the printhead needs recovering, see how do I perform printhead

recovery?

A printhead that needs recovering is probably out of warranty and approaching the end of its life. You do not need to replace it immediately, but you should at least make sure that you have a replacement printhead ready. See

ordering ink supplies.

how to print the image quality print

Before you print the Image Quality Print you must ensure that you have A2or C-sized printing material (or larger) loaded into the printer.

To print the Image Quality Print, use the front panel. Choose the

icon, then Utilities > Test Prints > Image Quality Print > Page1, Page2, Page3, Page4 and press the Enter key.

how to use the image quality print

1. Use the same media type and image quality setting as you were using when you discovered the image quality problem.

2. Study each of the test patterns in the order that they are shown; that is, 1 through 4.

The Image Quality Print should look like this:

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using the image quality print

analyzing the image quality print

test pattern 1: primary colors

The purpose of this particular part of the Image Quality Print is to test the overall quality of the document with regard to dense colors.

The colored stripes are in the same order as they appear on the printer as if you are facing it, that is, from light cyan on the left to black on the right.

Each pair of colors is printed by only one printhead. So it's easy to find the root cause of the image quality problem.

This array of colored stripes is designed to check for certain defects with the printer. It should not be used to check for color consistency or accuracy.

If your printer is functioning correctly, this part of the print will have no problems. There is no banding in any of the colors.

However, if you do see problems with this print and the image quality is not acceptable, you will need to perform some corrective action.

Banding

Banding occurs when you see repetitive horizontal bands within the printed image. They can appear as light or dark bands.

Banding is caused by problems with:

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using the image quality print

● the printheads

● media advance

Problems with the printheads

Banding caused by problems with the printheads will be apparent in the Image Quality Print because the banding does not appear in all colors. In this case, the colored strip that has banding was caused by the printhead of the same color. The colored stripes are in the same order as they appear on the printer as if you are facing it; that is, from light cyan on the left to black on the right.

For example, the Image Quality Print shown below was printed with a printer that has a cyan printhead problem.

corrective action

1. Perform

printhead recovery if you have not already done so.

2. If there is no improvement in print quality, replace the printhead that causes the problem.

problems with media advance

If the printer has media advance problems you will see banding in all the colors.

For example, the Image Quality Print shown below was printed by a printer that has a media advance problem.

Note: The bands appear light because the roller has advanced too much. Alternatively, the bands could appear dark because the printing material has not advanced sufficiently.

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using the image quality print

In high quality modes, media advance problems might not appear as lines of banding, they might appear grainy instead. The banding or graininess will appear in all the colors.

corrective action

1. If the image is grainy, this could also be a symptom of problems with the bi-directional alignment. Refer to test pattern 3: bi-directional alignment (below). If this pattern is OK, go to step 2.

2. Perform the

accuracy calibration with the same printing material with

which you experienced unacceptable image quality.

3. Perform the

banding calibration with the same printing material with

which you experienced unacceptable image quality.

4. If there is no improvement in print quality, contact HP.

It is also possible that this kind of banding was caused because you were using printing material not supported by HP. In this case, try using HPsupported printing material and see whether the problem is solved.

test pattern 2: color-to-color alignment

If the printer has color-to-color alignment problems then the Image Quality Print in test pattern 2 (shown below) will have misaligned colors.

corrective action

1. Perform

printhead alignment with the same printing material with

which you experienced unacceptable image quality.

2. If there is no improvement in print quality, contact HP.

test pattern 3: bi-directional alignment

If a printer has bi-directional alignment problems, lines are fuzzy or not straight. The pattern seen below is designed to highlight this kind of problem. Check the lines on this test pattern, if they have any defects like the ones described above, perform the corrective action.

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using the image quality print

corrective action

1. Perform

printhead alignment with the same printing material with

which you experienced unacceptable image quality.

2. If there is no improvement in print quality, contact HP.

test pattern 4: vertical line straightness

If a printer has vertical line straightness problems, lines are fuzzy or not straight. The pattern seen below is designed to highlight this kind of problem. Check the lines on this test pattern, if they have any defects like the ones described above, perform the corrective action.

corrective action

1. Perform

printhead alignment with the same printing material with

which you experienced unacceptable image quality.

2. If there is no improvement in print quality, contact HP.

no defects found in the image quality print

If the entire Image Quality Print contains no defects and you still experience image quality problems, listed below are some things to check:

● Perhaps the print mode in the printer is incorrect; see how do I change

the print quality?

● Check the driver you are using to print. If it is a non-HP driver, go to

http://www.designjet.hp.com/ and click on technical support to find

and download the correct HP driver.

● Perhaps the settings in the non-HP RIP are incorrect. Refer to the

documentation which came with the RIP.

● Perhaps the software applications you are using have the wrong

settings.

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service configuration

hp designjet 5500 series

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The Service Configuration print provides information needed for the service engineer, such as the internal current configuration, operating conditions (temperature and humidity), ink levels, and other statistics about printer usage.

To print it, choose the

icon, then Utilities > Test Prints > Service Config.

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hp-gl/2 palette

hp designjet 5500 series

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Choose the icon, then Demos > Palette. This print shows the color or grayscale definitions in the currently-selected color palette. See

tell me about

pen widths and colors in the internal palettes.

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samples

hp designjet 5500 series

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Choose the icon, then Demos > Samples. These prints are designed to show the capabilities of the printer.

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how do I adjust the margins?

hp designjet 5500 series

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The printer margins determine the printable area of the page that can be used by your application.

There are three margin options that can be selected from the Page Format menu: Normal, Extended, and Smaller.

Normal Extended Smaller

Top margin

17 mm (sheet) 7 mm (roll)

17 mm (sheet) 15 mm (roll)

5 mm

Side margins

7 mm 15 mm 5 mm

Bottom margin

35 mm 35 mm 5 mm

The Smaller margins option is recommended only for CAD line drawings. If this option is used for other purposes, there is a risk of a printhead crash, which may damage the printing material and perhaps also the printhead.

If you use Smaller margins, you will need to

clean the platen more often.

reduced margins

There is an additional Reduced margins option that may be selected from the Device Setup menu. This is available only if a take-up reel is installed and loaded with printing material.

Normally the white space between successive prints on a roll is the sum of the top and bottom margins. When Reduced margins are selected, the bottom margin is in effect eliminated, and the white space between successive prints is only the top margin (as set in the Page Format menu).

This option has no effect on the side margins, which remain as set in the Page Format menu.

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how do I print a mirror image?

hp designjet 5500 series

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If you are using clear imaging paper, sometimes called backlit, you may want to print a mirror image of your drawing, so that when the paper is lit from behind it is in the correct orientation. This can be done from the front panel's Page Format menu without changing the image in your software.

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how do I rotate an image?

hp designjet 5500 series

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rotating a job using the hp PostScript driver

By default, the jobs generated by any of the PostScript drivers provided with the 5500ps are printed in portrait orientation, even if the image viewed in your application is in landscape orientation. In order to save paper, you may need to rotate the job through the Postscript driver interface.

Rotating a job is controlled by a setting in the PostScript driver; it can be enabled or disabled. When you enable the rotation feature, both the page and the image are rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise.

Note that the HP driver will override the setting in the front panel. Consult the PostScript driver documentation to find out where to set the

rotation feature.

page size and rotation

When you rotate a job, the page length may be increased to avoid clipping, because the top and bottom margins are usually larger than the side margins.

rotating a job using a non-hp PostScript driver

If you are using a non-HP PostScript driver, you can rotate the image using the Rotate setting in the front panel (Page Format > Rotate). For more information, consult the driver documentation.

what on the page is rotated?

If the page size is specified in either the front panel or the application in which the image was made, then the page and the image are rotated, as shown below.

However, if the page size is unspecified, the page is not rotated, only the image.

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how do I rotate an image?

To set rotation in the front panel, select Page Format > Rotate.

possibility of clipped images

With either rolls or sheets, if you rotate an image to landscape whose original orientation was portrait, the printing material may not be wide enough for the image, and it may be clipped. For example, rotating a portrait D/A1-size image on D/A1-size paper by 90 degrees will probably result in a clipped image. If you are using WebAccess, the preview screen will confirm this with a warning triangle.

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how do I scale the image?

hp designjet 5500 series

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You can enlarge your printed image from the printer's front panel by choosing the

icon, then Internal RIP Settings > Scale.

The Scale feature is useful:

● If your software does not support large formats.

● If your file is too large for the printer's memory. You can reduce the

page size in your software and then scale it up again using the front panel option.

The Fit To Page setting adjusts the image size to the page size selected for your printer. For example, if you have selected ISO A2 as the page size and you print an A4-size image, it will be enlarged to fit the A2 page.

If ISO A3 page size is selected, the printer would reduce a larger image to fit the A3 size.

If you are printing to a sheet, you must ensure that the image can actually fit onto the page, otherwise clipping will occur.

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viewing current configuration settings

hp designjet 5500 series

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1. Make sure either a roll or a sheet is loaded.

2. Print the

current configuration print, by pressing the ↑ and ↓ keys

simultaneously.

3. Notice on the Current Configuration Print that the 16 pens are numbered 0 through 15 and the 256 colors are numbered 0 through

255. These colors are specified in the

palette print.

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changing the palette settings

hp designjet 5500 series

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You cannot change the Factory palette, but you can define Palettes A and B to be whatever you choose.

Item Available Options Defaults

Palettes Factory, A, B. Factory Pens 0 through 15.

Widths (mm)

0.13, 0.18, 0.25, 0.35, 0.50,

0.65, 0.70, 0.80, 0.90, 1.00,

1.40, 2.00, 3.00, 5.00, 8.00,

12.00. Note that 0.13 mm is a one-pixel line width at 300 dpi and three-pixels line width at 600 dpi

0.35mm

Colors 0 through 255.

As specified on the Palette Print.

5500ps only: these settings have no effect on PostScript files. The following steps show how to define Palette A:

1. In the front-panel menu, go to the Define Palette selection and choose Palette A.

2. Scroll to the pen number you want to change and press Enter.

3. The current width assigned to this pen is displayed, for example Width=0.35mm. If you want to change it:

4. Press Enter.

5. Scroll to the width you want.

6. Then press Enter again.

7. Press Back to get to the previous menu: Color/Width.

Otherwise, scroll to Color.

1. The current color assigned to the pen is displayed, for example Color=110. If you want to change it:

2. Press Enter.

3. Scroll to the color you want.

4. Then press Enter again.

5. Press Back to get to the previous menu.

6. When both width and color are correct, press Back.

7. Scroll to the next pen number you want to change, press Enter and then repeat steps 3 through 5 again.

8. When all pen definitions are correct, press Top to exit the menus.

important

The palette you have just defined will take effect only when you select it to be the current palette, as explained in how do I set image options from the

front panel?.

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changing the palette settings

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viewing the colors available for a palette

hp designjet 5500 series

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Choose the icon, then Demos > Palette. In the Palette print, there are 256 squares, numbered 0 through 255, each

showing one of the colors available for selection in the printer's internal palettes.

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changing the treatment of overlapping lines (merge)

hp designjet 5500 series

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The Merge setting controls the overlapping lines in an image. There are two settings, Off and On. The following illustration shows the effect of each setting.

To turn Merge on, choose the icon, then HP-GL/2 Settings > Merge > On. You can set the merge setting from your software in some applications. Settings in your software override the front-panel settings.

5500ps only: merge settings have no effect on PostScript files.

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canceling a page

hp designjet 5500 series

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Press Cancel on the front panel.

The printer advances the printing material as though the print were finished. A multi-page job or a big file may take longer to stop printing than other files.

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managing the queue

hp designjet 5500 series

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The information included here only applies if you are using HP drivers.

what is the queue? turning off the queue the start printing options starting to print a file that is waiting for a time-out identifying a job in the queue viewing the size of a page in the queue prioritizing a job in the queue deleting a job from the queue making copies of a job in the queue

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canceling the drying time

hp designjet 5500 series

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1. Press the Cancel or Enter key on the front panel.

Use with caution when performing this procedure as an image which has had insufficient time to dry can cause image quality problems.

pages printing or drying

The terms job and page used here mean RTL and HP-GL/2 jobs are single page jobs. However, a single PostScript job may have more than one page. When we talk about the printing material, the term “page” means a single output page.

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tell me about nesting pages

hp designjet 5500 series

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Nesting means placing pages side by side on the paper, rather than one after the other. This is done to avoid wasting paper.

automatic rotation which pages cannot be rotated? when does the printer try to nest pages? which pages qualify for nesting? how long does the printer wait for another file?

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what is the queue?

hp designjet 5500 series

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Your printer can store pages in a queue at the same time as printing the current page. It stores them page by page.

When you look at the queue either from WebAccess or from the front panel, the queue is made up of “jobs”. A job may contain multiple pages.

The length of the queue depends mainly on the jobs that you have in the queue, however as an approximation the queue can contain about 30 jobs in A0/E-size in Max Quality mode. The queue stores processed output pages, not the input jobs. Remember that file size and memory usage are not the same thing, as explained in

file size and memory usage.

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how do I turn off the queue?

hp designjet 5500 series

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To turn off the queue, choose the icon, then Nesting > Queue > Off. When Queue=Off, the Nest option will no longer appear in the Nesting menu.

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the start printing options

hp designjet 5500 series

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The Start Printing Options do not apply for PostScript jobs. You can select at what point you want to print the file you have in the

printer's queue. Choose the

icon, then Internal RIP Settings > Start

Printing. There are three options you can select: After processing: when this is selected, the printer waits until the whole file

has been processed, and then it starts to print. This is the slowest option but gives the best image quality.

Immediately: this prints the file as it is processed. This is the quickest option; however, the printer may stop halfway through a print to process data. This setting is not recommended for complex images with dense color.

Optimized: this option calculates the best time to begin printing the file. It is the best compromise between the After Processing and Immediately options, and is therefore the default option.

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starting to print a file that is waiting for a time-out

hp designjet 5500 series

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If all is in order (printing material loaded, all ink components installed, and no file errors), there are still reasons why a file you have sent from your computer may not start printing when expected:

● The print file may lack a proper file terminator and the printer is

therefore waiting for the specified I/O time-out period before assuming it is complete. See

tell me about the i/o time-out setting.

● Nesting may be on and the printer is waiting for the specified nest wait

time-out period before calculating the appropriate nests. In this case, the printer display shows the remaining time for the nesting time-out. See

how long does the printer wait for another file?

● You may have Wait For Preview selected in your printer driver. This is a

function you can use to check that the preview image is the one you want. You can check the preview in the WebAccess tool, then select Start Print.

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identifying a job in the queue

hp designjet 5500 series

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In the front panel, if you choose the icon, then Queueing & Nesting > Queue Mgmt, you can scroll through the pages in the queue.

Each page has an identifier, consisting of: <position in queue>: <image name>

position in queue

The job currently being printed is in position 0. The next job to be printed is in position 1, the one after it in position 2, etc.

The previous job printed is in position -1, the one before that in position -2, etc.

You can also check the queue in hp designjet webaccess, where you will find more detailed information.

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viewing the size of a page in the queue

hp designjet 5500 series

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To view the size of any page in the queue, select it and choose Statistics.

Statistic Comments

Width The shorter side of the page, in millimeters. Length The longer side of the page, in millimeters.

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HP Designjet 5500 User's Guide

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

how do I...

how do I use paper and other printing materials?

how do I use the ink system?

how do I use the front panel?

how do I calibrate the printer?

other questions

how do I use rolls?

how do I use sheets?

how do I download media profiles?

how do I use non-hp printing materials?

how do I use the ink cartridges?

how do I use the printheads?

how do I use the printhead cleaners?

how do I switch ink systems?

how do I print the internal prints?

how do I obtain information on the printing material?

how do I select the ink emulation mode?

how do I select the ink emulation mode?

how do I change the page size?

how do I change the print quality?

how do I select production mode?

how do I change the drying time?

how do I set page format options?

how do I set image options from the front panel?

how do I use print management features?

how do I print the front-panel configuration?

how do I change the graphics language setting?

how do I change the language of the front panel?

how do I perform accuracy calibration?

how do I perform banding calibration?

how do I calibrate color output?

how do I align the printheads?

how do I start webaccess?

how do I maintain my printer?

how do I maintain my printer?

how do I upgrade my printer's firmware?

loading roll guidelines

loading rolls onto the spindle

trimming the printing material

loading rolls into the printer

unloading rolls from the take-up reel

changing the core tube

unloading rolls

media length tracking

how do I load sheets?

how do I unload sheets?

how do I obtain ink cartridge statistics?

how do I remove ink cartridges?

how do I install ink cartridges?

printhead precautions

how do I obtain printhead statistics?

how do I remove printheads?

how do I install printheads?

how do I perform printhead recovery?

how do I remove printhead cleaners?

how do I install printhead cleaners?

how do I remove the ink system?

how do I install the ink system?

how do I store the ink supplies and ink tubes?

configuration print

menu print

printer usage information

using the image quality print

using the image quality print

service configuration

hp-gl/2 palette

samples

how do I adjust the margins?

how do I print a mirror image?

how do I rotate an image?

how do I scale the image?

canceling a page

managing the queue

canceling the drying time

tell me about nesting pages

what is the queue?