HP Designjet Z3100ps GP Quick Reference Guide

HP Designjet Z3100ps GP Photo Printer Quick Reference Guide

HP Designjet Z3100ps GP Photo Printer

Quick reference guide

Legal notices

The information contained herein is subject to change without notice.

The only warranties for HP Products and services are set forth in the express warranty statement accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.

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Table of contents

1 Introduction

2 Personalizing the printer

3 Paper handling

4 Printing

Safety precautions .................................................................................. 1

HP Start-Up Kit ....................................................................................... 1

The front panel ...................................................................................... 2

Printer software ...................................................................................... 3

Turn printer on and off ............................................................................ 5

Access HP Easy Printer Care (Windows) or HP Printer Utility (Mac OS) ......... 6

Access the Embedded Web Server ........................................................... 7

Choose which spindle to use ................................................................... 9

Load a roll onto the spindle ................................................................... 10

Load a roll into the printer ..................................................................... 12

Easy loading procedure ....................................................... 12

Paper menu procedure ......................................................... 16

Unload a roll ....................................................................................... 17

Unload paper key procedure with paper on the roll ................. 17

Paper menu procedure with paper on the roll .......................... 18

Roll out of paper procedure .................................................. 18

Load a single sheet ............................................................................... 18

Easy loading procedure ....................................................... 19

Paper menu procedure ......................................................... 20

Unload a single sheet ........................................................................... 22

Unload paper key procedure ................................................ 22

Paper menu procedure ......................................................... 23

Select print quality ................................................................................ 25

Select paper size ................................................................................. 26

Custom paper sizes ............................................................. 26

Select margins options .......................................................................... 27

Print with shortcuts ................................................................................ 27

Preview a print .................................................................................... 29

5 Color management

6 Maintaining the printer

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Color calibration .................................................................................. 31

Clean the exterior of the printer ............................................................. 33

Maintain the ink cartridges .................................................................... 33

Update the firmware ............................................................................. 33

7 Accessories

How to order supplies and accessories ................................................... 35

Order ink supplies ............................................................... 35

Order paper ....................................................................... 36

Non-recommended paper types ............................ 37

Order accessories ............................................................... 37

8 Troubleshooting paper issues

The paper has jammed ......................................................................... 39

9 Troubleshooting print-quality issues

General advice .................................................................................... 43

Horizontal lines across the image (banding) ............................................ 44

The whole image is blurry or grainy ....................................................... 45

Colors are inaccurate ........................................................................... 46

Color accuracy using EPS or PDF images in page layout

applications ........................................................................ 47

The image is clipped ............................................................................ 47

10 Front-panel error messages

11 HP Customer Care

Contact HP Support .............................................................................. 53

Telephone numbers .............................................................. 53

Index .................................................................................................... 57

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Introduction

Safety precautions

The following precautions ensure the proper use of the printer and prevent the printer from being damaged. Follow these precautions at all times.

Use the power supply voltage specified on the nameplate. Avoid overloading

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the printer's electrical outlet with multiple devices. Ensure the printer is well-grounded. Failure to ground the printer may result in

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electrical shock, fire, and susceptibility to electromagnetic interference. Do not disassemble or repair the printer yourself. Contact your local HP Service

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Representative for service, see Use only the electrical cord supplied by HP with the printer. Do not damage,

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cut, or repair the power cord. A damaged power cord has risk of fire and electric shock. Replace a damaged power cord with an HP-approved power cord.

Do not allow metal or liquids (except those used in HP Cleaning Kits) to touch

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the internal parts of the printer. Doing so may cause fire, electric shock, or other serious hazards.

Power OFF the printer and unplug the power cable from the power outlet in any

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of the following cases:

When placing your hands inside the printer

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If there is smoke or an unusual smell coming from the printer

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If the printer is making an unusual noise not heard during normal operation

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A piece of metal or a liquid (not part of cleaning and maintenance routines)

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touches internal parts of the printer During an electrical (thunder/lightning) storm

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During a power failure.

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HP Start-Up Kit

The HP Start-Up Kit is the CD or DVD that comes with your printer; it contains the printer's software and documentation, including introductory multimedia tutorials to help you to get a good first print.

Introduction

Contact HP Support on page 53.

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NOTE: The HP Start-Up Kit is provided on CD in Japan, and on DVD

elsewhere in the world. The rest of this guide refers to the DVD version only.

Safety precautions

The front panel

Introduction

Your printer's front panel is located on the front of the printer, in the center. It has the following important functions:

●

The front panel has the following components:

2. Menu key - Press to return to the main menu of the front-panel display. If you are

3. OK key - To confirm an action while in a procedure or interaction. To enter in

4. Back key - To go to the previous step in a procedure or interaction. To go to the

5. Down key - To go down in a menu or option, or to decrease a value, for example

Assists you in troubleshooting issues Is used to perform certain procedures, such as cutting and unloading paper Displays helpful animations to guide you through procedures Displays up-to-date information about the status of the printer such as, the ink

cartridges, the printheads, the paper, and the print jobs Displays warning and error messages, when appropriate, along with audio

alerts to call attention to a warning or message Can be used to change the values of printer settings and thus change the

operation of the printer. However, settings in the front panel are overridden by settings in the printer drivers, see Using your printer on DVD

Direct access keys:

First key: View ink levels, see Using your printer on DVD

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Second key: View loaded paper, see Using your printer on DVD

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Third key: Unload paper, see

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single sheet on page 22

Fourth key: Form feed and cut, see Using your printer on DVD

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already on the main menu it displays the status screen.

a submenu in the menu. To select a value when given an option.

upper level, or leave the option in the menu, or when given an option.

when configuring the front-panel display contrast or the IP address.

Unload a roll on page 17 and Unload a

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6. Up key - To go up in a menu or option, or to increase a value, for example when

configuring the front-panel display contrast or the IP address.

7. Cancel key - To abort a procedure or interaction.

8. Power key - To turn the printer off or on, it also has a light to indicate the printer's

status. If the power key light is off the device is off. If the power key light is blinking green, the device is starting up. If the power key light is green on, the device is on. If the power key light is amber on, the device is in standby. If the power key light is blinking amber, the device needs attention.

9. LED light - Indicates the printer's status. If the LED light is solid green, the device

is ready. If it is flashing green, the device is busy. If it is solid amber, there is a system error. If it is flashing amber, the printer needs attention.

10. Front-panel display - Displays errors, warnings, and information on using your

printer.

To highlight an item in the front-panel display, press the Up or Down key until the item is highlighted.

To select an item in the front-panel display, first highlight it and then press the OK key.

When this guide shows a series of front-panel display items like this: Item1 > Item2 > Item3, it means that you should select Item1, then select Item2, then select Item3.

Information about specific uses of the front panel can be found throughout this guide.

Printer software

The following software is provided with your printer:

The PCL3 raster driver

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The RTL and HP-GL/2 driver for Windows

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The PostScript driver

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The HP Easy Printer Care (Windows) or HP Printer Utility (Mac OS), see

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HP Easy Printer Care (Windows) or HP Printer Utility (Mac OS) on page 6,

allows you to:

Manage the printer including color with the HP Color Center

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Manage the job queue, see Using your printer on DVD

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View the status of the ink cartridges, the printheads, and the paper

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View job accounting information, see Using your printer on DVD

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Update the printer's firmware, see

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Access the HP Knowledge Center

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Change various printer settings (in the Settings tab)

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Perform calibrations and troubleshooting

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Introduction

Access

Update the firmware on page 33

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Printer software

The Embedded Web Server, runs in the printer and enables you to use a Web

Introduction

●

browser on any computer to check ink levels and printer status, see

Access the

Embedded Web Server on page 7.

Advanced Profiling Solution included on separate DVD, to be installed after

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other HP software (drivers and printer utilities).

4 Chapter 1 Introduction ENWW

Personalizing the printer

Turn printer on and off

TIP: The printer is Energy Star compliant and can be left powered on

without wasting energy. Leaving it on improves response time and overall system reliability. When the printer has not been used for a certain period of time (30 minutes by default), it saves power by going into sleep mode. However, any interaction with the printer's front-panel display returns it to active mode, and it can resume printing immediately. To change the sleep mode time, see Using your printer on DVD.

NOTE: In sleep mode, the printer performs maintenance service to the

printheads from time to time. This avoids long preparation times after long idle periods. Therefore, it is strongly recommended to leave the printer powered on or in sleep mode to avoid wasting ink and time.

The printer has three levels of power consumption.

Plugged in: the power cord is plugged into the back of the printer

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Switched on: the switch at the back of the printer is in the on position

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Powered on: the Power key on the front panel shows a green light

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If you wish to turn the printer on or off or reset the printer, the normal and recommended method is to use the Power key on the front panel.

Personal settings

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However, if you plan to store the printer indefinitely or the Power key does not seem to work, you are recommended to power it off using the Power key, and then also switch off the power switch at the rear.

Turn printer on and off

Personal settings

To turn it back on, use the power switch at the rear.

When the printer is powered back on, it takes about three minutes to initialize and check and prepare the printheads. Preparing the printheads takes about one minute and 15 seconds. However, if the printer has been off for six weeks or more, preparing the printheads could take up to 55 minutes.

Access HP Easy Printer Care (Windows) or HP Printer Utility (Mac OS)

HP Easy Printer Care (Windows) or HP Printer Utility (Mac OS) enables you to manage your printer from a computer with a USB connection or TCP/IP.

Under Windows, start HP Easy Printer Care from your desktop shortcut or

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from Start > All Programs > Hewlett-Packard > HP Easy Printer Care > Start HP Easy Printer Care. This launches HP Easy Printer Care

showing the printers installed. Under Mac OS, launch the Mac Printer Utility by selecting STARTUP_DISK

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> Library > Printers > hp > Utilities > HP Printer Utility. This launches the HP Printer Selector where you need to add your printer by clicking More Printers.

Select your printer and click Launch Utility. This launches the HP Printer Utility.

6 Chapter 2 Personalizing the printer ENWW

If you have followed these instructions but failed to get through to HP Easy Printer Care (Windows) or HP Printer Utility (Mac OS), see Using your printer on DVD.

Access the Embedded Web Server

The Embedded Web Server enables you to manage your printer remotely using an ordinary Web browser running on any computer.

NOTE: To use the Embedded Web Server, you must have a TCP/IP

connection to your printer.

The following browsers are known to be compatible with the Embedded Web Server:

Internet Explorer 5.5 or later, for Windows

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Internet Explorer 5.1 or later, for Mac OS X

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Netscape Navigator 6.01 or later

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Mozilla 1.5 or later

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Mozilla Firefox 1.0 or later

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Safari

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To access the Embedded Web Server on any computer, open your Web browser and give the address of your printer. You can find out the address of your printer (starting with http:) from the front-panel display, by looking at the status screen.

Personal settings

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If you have followed these instructions but failed to get through to the Embedded Web Server, see Using your printer on DVD.

Access the Embedded Web Server

Personal settings

8 Chapter 2 Personalizing the printer ENWW

Paper handling

Choose which spindle to use

Ensure you use the correct spindle. The illustrations in the Load a roll onto the

spindle on page 10 procedure and the Load a roll into the printer on page 12

procedure show the black spindle. You must use the gray spindle if you are loading the following categories and types of rolled papers wider than 36 in (91.5 cm).

Paper category Paper type

Bond and Coated Paper Plain Paper

Bond and Coated Paper Bright White Bond Paper

Bond and Coated Paper Coated Paper

Technical Paper Natural Tracing Paper

Technical Paper Translucent Bond

Technical Paper Vellum

TIP: If you are a regular user of different paper types, you can change rolls

more quickly if you preload rolls of different paper types on different spindles. Extra spindles are available for purchase, see

Accessories on page 35.

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Choose which spindle to use

Paper handling

Load a roll onto the spindle

CAUTION: Ensure the sheet tray is closed.

1. Remove the right-hand end of the spindle from the printer, then the other end. WARNING! Do not insert your fingers into the spindle supports

during the removal process.

Paper handling

2. The spindle has a stop at each end to keep the roll in position. The blue stop

can be removed to mount a new roll; it slides along the spindle to hold rolls of different widths. Remove the blue paper stop from the end of the spindle.

10 Chapter 3 Paper handling ENWW

3. If your roll has a three-inch cardboard core, ensure that the core adaptors

supplied with the printer have been installed.

4. If the roll is long; rest the spindle horizontally on a table and load the roll on

the table.

TIP: You may need two people to handle a large roll.

5. Slide the new roll onto the spindle. Make sure the paper type is oriented as

shown. If it is not, remove the roll, turn it 180 degrees and slide it back on to the spindle. There are labels on the spindle showing the correct orientation.

NOTE: From the back of the printer, the blue stopper is inserted into

the right-side holder.

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Ensure both ends of the roll are as close to the spindle stops as possible.

Load a roll onto the spindle

Paper handling

6. Put the blue paper stop on to the open end of the spindle, and push it towards

the end of the roll.

7. Ensure the blue paper stop is pushed in as far as it goes; until both ends are

against the stoppers.

If you are a regular user of different paper types, you can change rolls more quickly if you preload rolls of different paper types on different spindles. Extra spindles are available for purchase, see

Load a roll into the printer

There are two ways to load a roll. The easy loading procedure is recommended.

CAUTION: To start these procedures you must have a roll loaded on the

Paper handling

spindle. See

Easy loading procedure

1. Check that you are using the correct spindle for your type of paper, see Choose

which spindle to use on page 9.

2. Standing behind the printer, rest the spindle's black end on the left side roll

holder. Do not put the end completely into the roll holder.

Load a roll onto the spindle on page 10.

Accessories on page 35.

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3. Rest the blue end of the spindle on the right side roll holder. If you are loading

the gray spindle, ensure the rounded side of the spindle top is resting on the roll holder.

With both hands, push the spindle into both roll holders at the same time. The

spindle snaps into place.

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Load a roll into the printer

Paper handling

5. If the edge of the roll is torn (sometimes due to tape used to hold end of the roll)

or not straight, pull paper slightly beyond the cutting groove and use a cutter to cut a straight edge.

CAUTION: Cut the paper as straight as possible, as uneven paper

does not load correctly.

6. Insert the edge of the paper into the feeder. WARNING! Do not push your fingers inside the printer's paper path,

the results may be painful.

14 Chapter 3 Paper handling ENWW

7. Roll the spindle into the feeder until you feel resistance. The printer detects the

paper and feeds it automatically into the printer.

8. Once the paper is fed into the printer, the front-panel display asks if you are

loading a roll or a sheet. Select Roll with the Up and Down keys and press

OK.

9. Select your paper category and type.

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TIP: If you have loaded a paper type whose name does not appear

in the paper list, see Using your printer on DVD.

10. The printer checks the alignment and measures the width.

11. Look at the front panel; you may find some instructions there.

12. When the roll is aligned, the front panel displays the Ready message and the

printer is ready to print. If the roll is not aligned, follow the instructions on the front-panel display.

Load a roll into the printer

Paper handling

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