HP J600 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 600
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
600 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Set various printer options (which may be superseded by the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 an LPT or COM port, it
is important to make sure the proper port was 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 600 Printer Driver software, part of the HP
Printing System for Windows, takes advantage of all the features of the
HP DeskJet 600 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 (available during installation only)
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 cartridge
Cancel the current print job

The DeskJet Utilities include:

Online information about the HP DeskJet 600 printer. To access
the online information: click Help in the ColorSmart dialog box or
the ColorSmart Options dialog box, or double-click the HP DeskJet
600 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 Online 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 you install the printer software:

1. Unpack the printer and set it up.

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 your computer.

To install the HP Printing System for Windows

1. Insert Installation Disk 1 into the 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 600 Printer Driver.

About the Printer Driver

The HP ColorSmart Printer driver software provides access to all the
capabilities of the HP DeskJet 600 printer, when used with 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 600 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 600 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 600 printer in the Installed Printers list
and click the Setup button.

The ColorSmart Dialog box appears.

ColorSmart Printer Driver Dialog Box

HP DeskJet 600 ColorSmart Dialog Box Options

Option Description

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 600 Printer online help.

Optimizing Performance

The print speed and overall performance of the HP DeskJet 600 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 600 printer is installed. To check this:

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

2. Select the HP DeskJet 600 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 Online Help

Two types of online help provide information about the printer software.

Printer Software Help

Type of help Provides How to access/where to find

Context Sensitive
Help

Online Help Comprehensive

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

information 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.

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 600 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 600’s capabilities. The following table
outlines usable drivers and their capabilities when used with the DeskJet

600.

Substituting Printer Drivers

Printer Driver Supported Features

HP DeskJet 600 Color Printing
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 DeskJet Control Panel for DOS is software that replaces the front
panel switches found on older printers. The 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 600 printer driver available for
an application, the Control Panel for DOS 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 Control Panel
for DOS, the settings made in the DOS application usually override those
made in the Control Panel for DOS.

The 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 you install the DOS control panel:

1. Unpack the printer and set it up.

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 Control
Panel for DOS.

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 Control Panel for DOS as a memory resident
application:

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

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 Control Panel for DOS: type the DOS
Control Panel hot key.

The memory resident Control Panel for DOS 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 DOS Control Panel)
Context-Sensitive Help

In addition to these, the stand-alone DOS Control Panel 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

The HP ColorSmart printer driver for the HP DeskJet 600 printer can be
accessed through OS/2 by using Windows 3.1 in OS/2.