 Despite the near
achievement of the "paperless office", most of our useful output from computers
is still in the form of hard copy printouts. Windows 3.1 and Windows 95 simplify the tasks
of selecting and controlling printers, but sometimes the options available seem overly
complex. The following information may help ease some of the difficulties experienced
when controlling your PC or network printer.
Selecting Your Printer
Windows 95 - Click on the Start button
(lower left of screen); then click Settings, then Printers. This will bring up a dialog
box showing icons which represent your installed printers. Printers attached to the
network will have an icon in which a cable is attached to the bottom of the
printer. A printer that is just attached to your computer will not show a cable
attachment under the icon.
 If you opposite-click (right
mouse button for righties, left for lefties), a context menu will drop down which looks
approximately like the picture at the right:
Notice the check mark by the menu option "Set as
default". This means that most Windows programs will automatically print to
this printer unless you specify otherwise. If you have more than one printer
installed, only one of them can be set as default at one time. Check this option on
the printer menu that you want to use most. Note that most Windows programs, such as
Word for Windows, will also allow you to select a printer from within the program, usually
under the menu options "File, Page Setup".
Note: If the printer icon that you wish to use is
very washed out looking ("grayed out"), it means that you don't have a working
connection to that printer and it may not be available to you. Try opposite clicking
and then clicking on the menu option "Work Offline". If the icon returns to
its normal appearance, you may be good to go. If the icon remains grayed out, you
need help from your friendly LAN Administrator.
Select "Properties", and you will get a new
dialog box that allows you to control the specific features of your printer and even print
a test page. The Properties page on a LaserJet III looks like the picture below:
You can roam around this dialog box by clicking the tabs
at the top. The "Print Test Page" button will do just that and check out
your print connection. On the Details tab, you can tell your computer whether to connect
to the printer through one of your computer's ports or find it on the network. If
you're having problems printing to a network printer, we recommend you obtain the
assistance of a LAN Administrator. Otherwise, your print jobs may pop out in all
sorts of surprising places.
Some of the device options may be particularly useful if
your printer supports high resolution printing (600 dpi or 1200 dpi) or you wish to
use non-standard size paper. In the case of ink-jet printers, you can also control
color quality and resolution. When you you've made your selections, just click
"OK". If you've changed a setting, but don't really want to change your
printer's behavior, just click "Cancel".
Windows 3.1 - Open (double-click) the
Main Program Group. Double-click the Control Panel icon and then double-click the
Printers icon. A dialog box will open which shows all of the installed printers and
the default printer. To set the default printer, click on the desired printer in the
installed printer list and then click the "Set as Default Printer" button.
The Setup button allows selection of any specific printer
capabilities on the printer, such as resolution, color quality, or paper size.
The Connect button allows selection of printer ports on
the computer or network queues. If you're setting up a printer for network use, please get
help from a LAN Administator. You may want to get help when installing a new printer,
also, since Windows 3.1 doesn't have built-in drivers for newer printers, and you will
need to use a specific procedure and software driver supplied by the printer manufacturer.
Unfortunately, Windows 3.1 doesn't have a built-in
printer test, so you must create a small document in a text editor (like Notepad) or a
word processor to actually test your printer selection. Most Windows 3.1 applications
will use the default printer selection. Note that most Windows programs, such as Word
for Windows, will also allow you to select a printer from within the program, usually
under the menu options "File, Page Setup". You can also alter printer
characteristics such as resolution, paper size, etc. under the Page Setup.
Note: A few programs, such as Pegasus
Mail, do not automatically use the default printer. In Pegasus Mail, you can select
the printer to print your email messages, and it may be different from the default
printer. |
