Specifications

TIPS AND TRICKS
www.pcmag.com SEPTEMBER 16, 2003 PC MAGAZINE
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20
BUY TWO
INK TANKS
AT A TIME
Always keep a spare ink car-
tridge on hand. Murphy’s Law
dictates that you’ll run out of
ink when it is least convenient
and when stores are most likely
closed or difficult to get to. Get
into the habit of buying two at
a time and you’ll always have at
least one spare in the drawer.
21
USE TWO
DRIVERS TO
SAVE MONEY
It’s a colorful world out there
now that low-cost color print-
ing is readily available from
both ink jet and laser printers.
Yet color pages still cost more
than simple black and white,
so you can save money by
using just black ink or toner
for pages that don’t need
color. You can always go into
your printer’s driver properties
and change to black-only
output, but here’s a way to
make it a two-click choice:
Set up a second installation of
your printer. Just add another
printer using the same port
and printer driver as your
existing printer, then give the
new “printer” a name that
describes its settings, like
OfficeJet Black Only. The right-
click menu will let you set
either printer as the default.
Then go into the driver proper-
ties and change the default
settings to black-and-white
output. Choosing draft mode
saves even more ink or toner.
After you’ve created the
new printer, just select it
from the drop-down list of
printers in the File | Print
dialog box for any Windows
application. Even a few pen-
nies per page adds up over
time. Note that this
trick works just as
well for other
features.
Using one
printer, you
can set up
separate
printer
installations
for photo
output (with
glossy photo
paper, best quality
output, and so on), to turn off
the duplexing feature, or for
any other settings you use
frequently but don’t need or
want as a default setting.
22
IT’S THE
HUMIDITY
If your printer
keeps jamming, try a fresh
ream of paper. Excess moisture
in paper can result in feeding
problems, especially in humid
conditions. If you don’t use
much paper, keep the open
ream sealed in a plastic bag
(seriously!) to help maintain
its original condition.
23
PICK
YOUR PAPER
All paper is not
the same, and the kind you
use can affect output quality.
For example, most people
know that for best results
when printing photos, they
should use glossy paper
designed for this purpose
(and set their printers to
highest-quality mode).
But what’s good for one
printer isn’t good for another.
A paper with a hard, smooth
finish is generally not good for
use in a laser printer, because
the toner will not adhere well
to the surface. As a result, the
plastic ink can crack and flake
off when you bend or fold the
sheet. On the other hand, a
porous paper that works well
with lasers may not be ideal
for ink jets, because the ink
will wick among the
paper fibers and
blur the output.
Paper with a
textured
surface
may not
work well
with either
type of
printer; toner
may not fuse
properly on the
paper’s low points,
and its texture may encourage
ink wicking.
24
A QUICK
PICKUP
Older printers may
have trouble feeding paper
reliably. The most common
cause is dirty or hardened
pickup rollers at the paper
tray. Try cleaning the rollers
with a cotton swab and rub-
bing alcohol. If that doesn’t
help, try a light sanding with
fine sandpaper to remove the
tough, oxidized outer layer
from a rubber pickup roller. If
all else fails, you may be able
to buy replacement parts from
the printer manufacturer.
25
CLEAR
THE
CLOGS
Ink jet printheads can be
temperamental devices,
and if one or more jets get
clogged, print quality suffers
noticeably. Most printers have
a purging utility that tries
to flush out the clog by forc-
ing ink through the jets, but
this does not always solve
the problem. If your print
[By Alfred Poor]
Make Better
Printouts
MONOCHROME ONLY! Many
printouts don’t really need to
be in color, but finding the
Monochrome check box in the
printer driver takes time and
can be confusing for less tech-
nical family members. Take
the time to create a second
printer driver with options set
for monochrome printing,
then show the entire family
how to find it quickly.