HP J540 Printer Drivers

MS Windows Printing

Microsoft Windows 3.1 comes with printer drivers that work with HP
DeskJet printers. However the Microsoft Printer Drivers do not provide
access to the many of the more advanced capabilities of HP DeskJet
printer.

Only the HP ColorSmart Printer Driver software, part of the HP Printing
System for Windows, takes advantage of all the features of HP DeskJet
540 printer.

The HP ColorSmart Printer Driver software is compatible with Microsoft
Windows 3.1. Access to the printer driver to change specific settings is
available from each software application program. The steps to access the
printer driver will vary depending on the software program. Generally, the
printer driver is found under a “print” menu in the software program.

The user can also access the printer driver through the Microsoft Windows
Printers control panel. The control panel allows the user to:

Select the default printer from a list of loaded printer drivers.
Add Microsoft printer drivers.
Remove unneeded printer drivers.
Set various printer options (which may be superseded by the

printer settings selected in the software application program).
Confirm the port which the printer is using.

To open the Printers control panel:

1. Double-click Main in the Program Manager.

2. Double-click Control Panel.

3. Double-click Printers.

The default printer is listed in the text box at the top of the dialog box. To
select a different default printer, double-click a printer from the list of
installed printers.

Although the Printers control panel provides access to various printer
settings, like paper type and page orientation, these settings are
overridden by settings made from within an application. The Printers
control panel settings are used when an application does not specify
certain defaults.

Because the user can connect their printer to either LPT or COM ports, it is
important to make sure the proper port is selected to avoid problems. The
steps below identify how to select/change a printer port from the control
panel.

To select a port:

1. Open the Printers control panel.

2. Click Connect.

3. Select the port from the list.

The default printer name is followed by the name of the port it is connected
to.

Microsoft Windows 3.1 comes with printer drivers that work with HP
DeskJet printers. However the Microsoft Printer Drivers do not provide
access to the many of the more advanced capabilities of HP DeskJet
printers. Only the HP DeskJet 540 Printer Driver software, part of the HP
Printing System for Windows, takes advantage of all the features of the HP
DeskJet 540 Printer.

HP Printing System for Windows

The HP Printing System for Windows includes:

HP ColorSmart Printer Driver
HP DeskJet Status Monitor
HP DeskJet Utilities program group
14 TrueType Fonts
Quick Tour
HP DeskJet Control Panel for DOS

The HP DeskJet Status Monitor allows you to:

Monitor a current print job
Monitor the printer’s status at any time
Print a self-test page
Clean the print cartridges
Cancel the current print job

The HP DeskJet Status Monitor Dialog Box

The DeskJet Utilities include:

On-line information about the HP DeskJet 540 printer. To access
the on-line information: click Help in the ColorSmart dialog box or
the ColorSmart Options dialog box, or double-click the HP DeskJet
540 Printer Information icon in the HP DeskJet Utilities program
group in the Program Manager.

Dr. DeskJet diagnostic program, which contains detailed
information about common printing problems and easy to
understand solutions. To access Dr. DeskJet: click Dr. DeskJet in
the On-line Information, or double-click the Dr. DeskJet icon in the
HP DeskJet Utilities program group in the Program Manager.

Late-breaking release notes in the ReadMe.txt file.

Installing the Printer Driver

The minimum system requirements to run the HP Printing System for
Windows are:

Windows version 3.1
An 80386 processor
2 MB of RAM to print in black or 4 MB of RAM to print in color
10 MB free hard disk space

Before installing the printer software:

1. Unpack the printer and set it up with the procedures described in
“User Documentation/Setup Guide.”

2. Make sure the computer and the printer are both turned on and
connected with the proper cable.

3. Close any screen savers or other software running in the
background on the computer.

To install the HP Printing System for Windows:

1. Insert Installation Disk 1 into the computer’s disk drive.

2. Click File in the menu bar of the Program Manager window.

3. Choose Run in the File menu to open the Run dialog box.

4. Type A:\SETUP or B:\SETUP (depending on the computer’s
configuration) in the text box and click OK.

5. Follow the on-screen instructions during the installation process
and provide appropriate computer system information.

6. Restart Windows to activate the HP DeskJet 540 Printer Driver.

About the Printer Driver

The HP ColorSmart Printer driver software provides access to all the
capabilities of the HP DeskJet 540 printer, when used a Windows
application. The following options are available from the ColorSmart
dialog box:

Automatic or Manual printing
Color or Grayscale printing
Best, Normal, or EconoFast print quality
Paper Type
Paper Size
Number of Copies
Ordered printing
Portrait or Landscape print orientation

The HP ColorSmart Printer Driver has built-in, context-sensitive help.
When an option in the dialog box is clicked, an explanation of that option
appears at the bottom of the dialog box. For more detailed help, click the

Help button in the ColorSmart dialog box.

Using the Printer Driver

To use the ColorSmart Printer Driver with the HP DeskJet 540 printer from
within a Windows application:

1. Choose Print (or Print Setup, depending on the application)
from the File menu.

2. Click the Setup button.

To use the ColorSmart Printer Driver with the HP DeskJet 540 printer from
the Windows Control Panel:

1. Double-click Main in the Program Manager window.

2. Double-click Control Panel.

3. Double-click Printers.

4. Select the HP DeskJet 540 printer in the Installed Printers list
and click the Setup button.

The ColorSmart Dialog box appears.

ColorSmart Printer Driver Dialog Box

HP DeskJet 540 ColorSmart Dialog Box Options

Option Description

ColorSmart Automatic or Manual screen-to-printer color mapping.
Options Opens the ColorSmart Options dialog box.
Orientation Portrait (tall) or landscape (wide).
Print Quality Best (presentation quality), Normal (letter quality), or

EconoFast (draft quality).

Copies Set the number of copies to be printed. Click the Ordered

Printing box to collate the printed pages of multiple copies.

Paper Type The media may be either plain paper, one of HP’s special media

types, or transparency film.

Paper Size The pop-up menu displays selections supported by the printer.

Click the Custom button to specify a custom paper size.
OK Accept changes
Cancel Cancel changes
Default Save the current settings as the default settings for the

ColorSmart Dialog Box.
Help Open the HP DeskJet 540 Printer on-line help

ColorSmart: Automatic vs. Manual Printing

In most cases the best print output is obtained by choosing Automatic
ColorSmart printing. In automatic mode, the printer driver uses HP’s
ColorSmart technology to intelligently analyze each element in a
document at the time of printing to provide the best color output.

If the color output obtained using the Automatic ColorSmart option is not
satisfactory, use the Manual option.

To print in Manual ColorSmart mode:

1. Select the Manual button.

2. Click the Options button, which opens the ColorSmart Options
dialog box.

The Manual ColorSmart Options dialog box provides control over
Intensity, Halftoning, and Color Control.

The Intensity slider bar adjusts the amount of ink applied to the paper—
Darker means more ink, Lighter means less ink. Halftoning describes how
the driver places individual drops of ink on the page to reproduce different
shades of the same color. Scatter halftoning, the default setting, usually
gives the best results. Pattern halftoning applies different patterns of dots
for different shades of a color.

The Color Control offers two options: Vivid Color and Match Screen. To
print the document so it looks like it looks on the computer screen, choose
Match Screen. To make the colors of the printed output brighter and more
vivid than they appear on the screen, choose Vivid Color.

Manual ColorSmart Options Dialog Box

Grayscale Printing

To economize on the use of the color print cartridge, print draft copies of
color documents in grayscale. Grayscale printing is significantly faster than
color printing, and it gives a good approximation of the final output. To
print in grayscale, select the Print in Grayscale option in the
ColorSmart dialog box.

The Grayscale Option dialog box provides control over intensity and
halftoning.

Grayscale Options Dialog Box

Optimizing Performance

The print speed and overall performance of the HP DeskJet 540 printer
can be affected by several things:

The amount of RAM can determine how fast documents are sent to
the printer. Increasing RAM can speed up this process as well as
make the computer work more efficiently at other things besides
printing.

The printer driver used to print documents can make a significant
difference in the quality of the printed output. Make sure an up-to­date version of an HP printer driver designed specifically for the
HP DeskJet 540 printer is installed. To check this:

1. Double-click the Printers icon in the Windows Control Panel

2. Select the HP DeskJet 540 printer in the Installed Printers

list.

3. Click Setup to check the version number. The version number

is located in the title bar of the HP ColorSmart dialog box.

The size and complexity of the documents printed can make a
difference in the printer's performance. Graphics are usually more
complex - especially color graphics - and print more slowly than
text.

The processing speed of the computer will determine how fast a
document is sent to the printer. For example, a computer with a
486 processor runs faster than a computer with a 386 or a 286
processor.

Running numerous software programs at one time slows down
printing; each open program uses RAM. Therefore, limit the
number of programs or documents open at one time.

Screen fonts are stored in RAM, which means they use up memory
that the printer may need in order to print. Delete screen fonts or
printer fonts that are not needed.

Using On-line Help

Two types of on-line help provide information about the printer software.

Printer Software Help

Type of help Provides How to access/where to find

Context Sensitive
Help

On-line Help Comprehensive information

Information about options in the
dialog box when you click on
certain parts of the screen.

about the printer software and
hardware.

Available within the ColorSmart
Printer Driver dialog box.

Click the Help button within the
ColorSmart Printer Driver dialog box.

ReadMe Files Release notes and current

information.

On the Driver Installation Disk.

Cleaning and Aligning Print Cartridges

All of these functions are available from within the HP DeskJet Status
Monitor. For more information on printer cartridge services, refer to “Print
Cartridge Information.”

DOS Printing

Printer Drivers Available

Since DOS applications are developed independently under different
standards, each DOS application requires its own printer driver. Current
software drivers for most HP DeskJet printers are available from the
individual software manufacturers. A list of DOS software developer
contact information is in the DOS Printing Guide, part of the User’s Guide
Kit. Information on installing a DOS printer driver for a particular DOS
application is supplied by the software manufacturer.

If there is no driver available for the DeskJet 540 printer, use a driver for a
different HP DeskJet printer. In some cases, the substitute driver does not
provide access to all of the DeskJet 540’s capabilities. The following table
outlines usable drivers and their capabilities when used with the DeskJet
540 printer.

Substituting Printer Drivers

Printer Driver Supported Features

HP DeskJet 540 Color Printing

HP DeskJet 560C Color Printing

HP DeskJet 520 Color Printing
HP DeskJet 550C Color Printing
HP DeskJet 500C Color Printing

HP DeskJet 510 Monochrome Printing Only

HP DeskJet 500 Monochrome Printing Only

DeskJet Control Panel for DOS

The HP DeskJet Control Panel for DOS is software that replaces the front
panel switches found on older printers. The HP Control Panel for DOS
does not replace printer drivers; it must be used along with DOS software
printer drivers. When there is no specific DeskJet 540 printer driver
available for an application, the HP Control Panel gives the user access to
print settings and features not available through the DOS application. If
settings are available in the DOS application printer driver and the HP
Control Panel, the settings made in the DOS application usually override
those made in the HP Control Panel.

The HP Control Panel for DOS also lets the user monitor the printer’s
status, and clean and align the print cartridges.

Minimum System Requirements

DOS version 3.3 (or newer)
An 80286 (or better) processor
2 MB of RAM to print in black or 4 MB of RAM to print in color

Installation

Before installing the DOS control panel:

1. Unpack the printer and setup the printer.

2. Make sure the computer and the printer are both turned on and
connected with the proper cable.

To install the DOS control panel:

1. Insert disk containing the control panel for DOS software into the
disk drive.

2. At the DOS prompt, type A:\Install (or B:\Install depending on
the floppy drive configuration) and press Enter.

3. Follow the on-screen instructions.

After installing the software, the print cartridges need to be aligned before
beginning any print jobs.

To align the print cartridges:

1. Type DJCP at the DOS prompt to open the stand-alone DOS
Control Panel.

2. Select Align Print Cartridges and follow the on-screen instructions.

Two Ways to Use the Control Panel

The DOS Control Panel can run either as a stand-alone application or as
a memory resident application. To run the DOS Control Panel as a stand
alone application: type DJCP at the DOS prompt.

The DOS Control Panel must be loaded into memory at start-up to work as
a memory resident application.

To set up the DOS Control Panel as a memory resident
application:

1. Type DJCP at the DOS prompt to open the stand-alone HP
Control Panel for DOS.

2. Select More Settings.

3. Select Memory Resident Functions.

4. Select Make Memory Resident.

5. Select Done and reboot the computer.

To open the memory resident HP DeskJet Control Panel for DOS: type the
DOS Control Panel hot key.

The memory resident Control Panel is a subset of the stand-alone
application due to memory considerations.

Memory Resident DOS Control Panel

Whether stand-alone or memory resident, the DOS Control Panel allows
the user to control or view the following:

Pen Services (clean, prime, and align the pens)
Print Quality
Page Orientation
Font Width (normal or compressed)
Status Reports (limited in the resident Control Panel)
Context-Sensitive Help

In addition to these, the stand-alone Control Panel for DOS provides
access to:

Paper Size
Media Type (paper or transparencies)
Character Set
Lines per Page
Line Termination
Reset All Settings
Memory Resident Controls

OS/2 Printer Driver

The HP ColorSmart printer driver for the HP DeskJet 540 printer can be
accessed through OS/2 by using Windows 3.1 in OS/2.