Printer Software Functions / For Windows Users

Making Settings on the Maintenance Menu

EPSON Status Monitor 3
Nozzle Check
Head Cleaning
Print Head Alignment
Speed & Progress

EPSON printer utilities allow you to check the current printer status and to perform some printer maintenance from your computer.

To use the utilities, click the Maintenance tab in the printer software, then click the button for the utility that you want to use. For information on how to access the printer software, see Accessing the printer software.

Note:

The letter in parentheses after the utility name indicates the shortcut key for that utility. Press Alt and the letter on the keyboard to open that utility.

Do not use the Nozzle Check, Head Cleaning, or Print Head Alignment utilities if this product is connected to your computer through a network.

Do not use the Nozzle Check, Head Cleaning, or Print Head Alignment utilities while printing is in progress; otherwise, your printout may be marred.

Refer to the appropriate section below.

EPSON Status Monitor 3

Status Monitor 3 provides you with printer status information, such as the amount of ink remaining, and checks for printer errors.

This utility is only available when both of the following conditions are met:

This product is connected directly to the host computer via the USB port.

Your system is configured to support bidirectional communication.

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Nozzle Check

The Nozzle Check utility checks the print head nozzles for clogging. Check the nozzles if you notice print quality has declined and after cleaning to confirm that the print head nozzles have been cleared. If the nozzle check indicates the print head needs cleaning, you can access the Head Cleaning utility directly from the Nozzle Check utility. For details, see Checking the Print Head Nozzles.

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Head Cleaning

The Head Cleaning utility cleans the print head. You may need to clean the print head if you notice print quality has declined. Use the Nozzle Check utility first to confirm that the print head needs to be cleaned. You can access the Nozzle Check utility directly from the Head Cleaning utility. For details, see Cleaning the Print Head.

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Print Head Alignment

The Print Head Alignment utility can be used to improve the print quality of your documents. The alignment of the print head may need to be adjusted if vertical lines should appear out of alignment or if white or black or dark or light banding noise should appear in your documents. Use this utility to realign the print head.

Through this utility the printer will output four different types of test patterns as follows that are used to check the print head alignment.

Black vertical alignment sheet

Color vertical alignment sheet

Black horizontal alignment sheet

Color horizontal alignment sheet

Click Skip in the Print Head Alignment dialog box to skip the alignment that you do not need.

The following images are examples of the black vertical alignment sheet that will be output by the printer first.

From each pattern on the printed test sheet, choose the vertical line that is aligned best. For each pattern, select the corresponding line number from the appropriate drop-down list box in the Print Head Alignment dialog box, then click Next. The new settings will be put into effect.

Note:

If you cannot find a line which is aligned correctly, select the number of the line which is the closest to being correct and click Realignment. The lines you selected will be reset to the center (number 8) position and the alignment test sheet will be printed again.

Click Print in the Print Head Alignment dialog box, then the color vertical alignment sheet will be output. In the same way as using the black vertical alignment sheet, select the line number for each of four patterns, which is corresponding to the vertical line that is aligned best in the color vertical alignment sheet, in the Print Head Alignment dialog box. Then click Next. The new settings will be put into effect.

Click Print in the Print Head Alignment dialog box, then the black horizontal alignment sheet will be output. The following images are examples of the black horizontal alignment sheet.

Look for a pattern that does not contain any black or white banding. Next, find the corresponding pattern number from the drop-down list box in the Print Head Alignment dialog box. Click Next. The new settings will be put into effect.

Note:

If all of the patterns contain banding, select the pattern with the least amount of banding and click Realignment. The selected pattern will be shifted to the center position and a new alignment sheet will be printed.

Click Print in the Print Head Alignment dialog box, then the color horizontal alignment sheet will be output. In the same way as using the black horizontal alignment sheet, select the pattern number, which is corresponding to the pattern that does not contain any dark or light banding in the color horizontal alignment sheet, in the Print Head Alignment dialog box. Then click Finish. The new settings will be put into effect.

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Speed & Progress

You can make settings related to print speed and progress in this dialog box.

The available settings are as follows:

Note:

The specific features available in the printer software vary depending on this product model and version of Windows that you are using.

High Speed Copies

To print multiple copies of your document faster, select High Speed Copies. This speeds up printing by using your hard disk space as a cache when printing multiple copies of your document.

Show Progress Meter

To display the Progress Meter every time you print, select Show Progress Meter.

Always spool RAW datatype (for Windows XP and 2000 only)

Select this check box to have Windows NT-based clients spool documents using the RAW format instead of the EMF (metafile) format (Windows NT-based applications use the EMF format by default).

Try using this option if documents spooled in EMF format do not print correctly.

Spooling RAW datatype requires less resources than EMF, so some problems ("Insufficient memory/disk space to print", "Slow print speed", etc.) can be solved by selecting the Always spool RAW datatype check box.

Note:

When spooling RAW datatype, print progress as displayed by the Progress Meter may differ from actual print progress.

Monitoring Preferences

Click this button to open the Monitoring Preferences dialog box, where you can make settings for EPSON Status Monitor 3.

You can make the following settings:

Select Notification

Displays the current error notification settings.

Select the check boxes of the error types for which you want to receive notification.

Note:
Click the Default button to revert all Select Notification settings to their defaults.

Select Shortcut Icon

Select the Shortcut Icon check box and choose an icon type to have a shortcut icon placed in your Windows taskbar. You can click the shortcut icon in the taskbar to open EPSON Status Monitor 3, or right-click the icon to access some of the printer utilities.

Allow monitoring of shared printers

Select this check box to allow monitoring of a shared printer by other computers.

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