Problem Solver

Printout Problems Not Related to Print Quality

Incorrect or garbled characters
Incorrect margins
Inverted image
Blank pages print
Printout has smears on the bottom edge
Printing is too slow

If one of the following problems has occurred, try the solutions listed for the problem.

Incorrect or garbled characters

Try one or more of these solutions:

Make sure that you are using the appropriate printer driver for your printer.

Select your printer as the default printer in Windows.

Windows Me, 98, and 95 users can clear any stalled print jobs from the Spool Manager. For instructions, see Using EPSON Spool Manager.

Turn off the printer and computer. Make sure that the printer's interface cable is securely plugged in.

If you are using Windows NT 4.0, try uninstalling the EPSON Printer Port. Click Start, point to Programs and then to EPSON Printers, then click EPSON Printer Port Uninstall. Follow the on-screen instructions.

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Incorrect margins

Try one or more of these solutions:

Check the margin settings in your application. Make sure that the margins are within the printable area of the page. See Paper for specifications.

Check the settings on the Paper menu (Windows) or in the Page Setup dialog box (Macintosh). Make sure the settings are appropriate for the paper size you are using.

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Inverted image

Clear the Flip Horizontal check box in the printer software, or turn off the "Mirror" setting in your application. For instructions, see online help for the printer software or for your application.

Macintosh users can refer to Making Advanced settings for details.

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Blank pages print

Try one or more of these solutions:

Make sure that you are using the appropriate printer driver for your printer.

Windows users can make sure that their printer is selected as the default printer.

Check the settings on the Paper menu (Windows) or in the Page Setup dialog box (Macintosh). Make sure the settings are appropriate for the paper size you are using.

Run the Head Cleaning utility to clear any clogged nozzles. Windows Me, 98, and 95 users can start the now.

After trying one or more of these solutions, run a printer operation check to check your results. See Running a printer operation check for details.

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Printout has smears on the bottom edge

If the paper is curled toward the printable side, flatten it or curl it slightly toward the opposite side.

Set the adjust lever to the position and clear the High Speed check box in the Advanced dialog box of the printer driver. The Advanced dialog box is accessible through the Main menu (Windows) or the Print dialog box (Macintosh) when Custom is selected as the Mode setting. To turn this option off, you may also need to change the Print Quality setting.

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Printing is too slow

Try one or more of these solutions:

Make sure that the Media Type setting in your printer software is correct. For instructions, see Making the Media Type setting for Windows or Making the Media Type setting for Macintosh.

Select Automatic as the Mode setting on your printer software's Main menu (Windows) or in the Print dialog box (Macintosh) and then move the slider to Speed. For instructions, see Using the Automatic mode for Windows or Using the Automatic mode for Macintosh.

Close any applications that you are not using at the moment.

If you upgraded from Windows 95 to Windows 98, uninstall the printer software using Add/Remove programs in the Control Panel, then install the software again.

For printer models that use the parallel port, you can enable DMA transfer if your computer supports ECP mode. See Enabling DMA transfer.

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