This document contains some information and tips for achieving the best results with your printer.When using the LaserWriter 8 driver, you should be aware of the following situations. Some happen with all LaserWriter printers, and others happen only with specific models.
All LaserWriter Printers
• Some printers support both US Letter and US Letter Small paper sizes. To prevent text from clipping or wrapping to the next line on different printers, use US Letter Small. To get the widest possible margins from your printer model, use US Letter.
• Some printers with small amounts of memory will not print documents containing large numbers of fonts. If a document using multiple fonts doesn't print using the LaserWriter 8 driver, try selecting Unlimited Downloadable Fonts in the Page Setup PostScript Options dialog box and print again. Alternatively, try power-cycling the printer and printing the document again.
• If you encounter a timeout (PostScript error -8993) when printing multiple copies of large and complex documents in the background, print the documents one at a time or select foreground printing to avoid this problem.
Apple LaserWriter 12/640 PS Printer
Obtaining Printer Supplies for the Apple LaserWriter 12/640 PS
To order printer supplies for the LaserWriter 12/640 PS direct from Apple, call 1-800-600-7805. For your reference, the part numbers are listed below:
M4683G/A LaserWriter 12/640 PS Toner Cartridge
M4682G/A LaserWriter 12/640 PS 500-Sheet Cassette and Feeder
M4680G/A LaserWriter 12/640 PS Envelope Cassette
M4697G/A LaserWriter 12/640 PS Duplex Printing Unit
For the location of the nearest Apple-authorized dealer, call 1-800-538-9696, extension 525.
Printer Memory Requirements
The printer comes with 4 megabytes (MB) of memory. If you will be using PhotoGrade or the optional duplex printing unit, you will need to add memory. The printer uses SIMMs that can be purchased from many electronics and computer outlets. See "RAM upgrade specifications" in Appendix D of your user's manual for more information.
Total memory requirements for the possible configurations that require additional memory are:
• PhotoGrade - 12 MB
• Duplex Printing Unit - 12 MB
• PhotoGrade and Duplex Printing Unit for all paper sizes except legal - 20 MB
• PhotoGrade and Duplex Printing Unit for all paper sizes - 24 MB
Using PhotoGrade and the Duplex Printing Unit
If your printer has at least 12 MB of memory but less than 24 MB, you cannot always use PhotoGrade and the duplex printing unit at the same time (see "Printer Memory Requirements" above). If you select two-sided printing with PhotoGrade, and PhotoGrade cannot be used at the same time, two-sided printing will override PhotoGrade.
About the Duplex Printing Unit and the Multipurpose Tray
The LaserWriter 12/640 PS does not allow the multipurpose tray to be used with the duplex printing unit. The printer driver user interface provides a user interface switch that allows you to switch between the multipurpose tray and two-sided printing. If you have the multipurpose tray selected, two-sided printing is disabled. If you want to use two-sided printing, select a tray other than the multipurpose tray, then make your two-sided printing selection. Similarly, if you have two-sided printing selected, you must deselect it before the user interface allows you to select the multipurpose tray.
About Paper Jams and the Multipurpose Tray
If you are printing from the multipurpose tray and your printer jams, check that you are specifying the correct paper size in your page setup. The printer may jam if you select the multipurpose tray and have the wrong size paper in the multipurpose tray for the job that you are printing.
Using the Envelope Feeder
By default, the multipurpose tray takes priority over the envelope feeder. However, if the multipurpose tray is set to the same paper size as the envelope feeder, the printer will pull the paper from the multipurpose tray instead of the envelope feeder.
Use one of these methods to have the printer use the envelope feeder as the paper source:
• Pick the envelope tray as the paper source in the Print dialog. The envelope tray is identified as "Envelope Feeder/"
• Set the multipurpose tray to a size other than the desired envelope size using the Apple Printer Utility.
• Make "Cassette (Optional)" Installed and Preferred by clicking on the printer's icon and then selecting Change Setup from the Printing menu.
Using RARP with Subnet Mask and Default Gateway
This note is applicable if you will be printing from a UNIX computer using TCP/IP.
When the printer uses RARP to determine its IP address, it ignores any defined values for the subnet mask and default gateway.
You cannot use RARP for regular IP address configuration. RARP can be used once when the printer is initially configured, to set an IP address long enough to connect to the printer via telnet. Then, with telnet set the IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway.
Apple Color LaserWriter 12/600 PS Printer
This section provides additional information on using the Color LaserWriter 12/600 PS Printer.
About the Demonstration Page
When the power is turned on, the Color LaserWriter 12/600 PS automatically prints a startup page and a demonstration page. For legal and B5 paper sizes, only the startup page prints; the demonstration page is not printed. You can use the Apple Printer Utility to turn off the printing of the startup and demonstration pages.
About the Apple Color LaserWriter 12/600 PS Status Panel
As described in the Color LaserWriter 12/600 PS manual, Appendix G, the status panel lights aid in indicating hardware service problems found during printer startup. If the Alert light is flashing and all the door lights are flashing, check all the printer doors; one of them is open. If the Paper Out and Paper Jam lights are blinking alternately, a hardware problem has been detected. To identify the problem, notice which toner lights (C, M, Y, Bk) and how many of the maintenance lights (in the area on the right-hand side of the status panel) are on, and refer to the table below. Each area listed under "Problem" represents a general circuit area for the service technician to investigate, not necessarily the exact cause of the problem.
If you have an external SCSI hard disk drive attached but don't turn it on before you turn on the printer's power, the printer may indicate a hardware failure. To correct the problem, turn the hard disk drive on and restart the printer.
Obtaining the Best Results for Business Graphics
To obtain the best results for business graphics, colors should be 100% saturated. For example, to print pure yellow, define yellow as 100% red and 100% green without any blue. Then print your document, selecting the Color/Grayscale option in the Print Options dialog.
Printing on Legal-Size Paper
In the standard memory configuration, the Color LaserWriter 12/600 PS uses a higher compression technique for legal-size paper using only the cyan, magenta, and yellow colors. As a result of this compression technique, very complex pages may show missing pixels in fine lines or small text, "jaggies" (edges with low-resolution appearance), and color changes. To improve the image quality of such pages, you can increase the printer's memory to 16 MB or more. With at least 16 MB of printer memory, the Color LaserWriter 12/600 PS can achieve the same quality with legal-size pages as with letter and A4 sizes using all four colors (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black.)
Printing Images on the Color LaserWriter 12/600 PS Printer
The Color LaserWriter 12/600 PS Printer's highest resolution for printing images is 150 x 150 dpi. No gain in image quality is achieved if higher resolution images are used. All other types of documents print at 600 x 600 dpi.
Avoiding Hue Shifts When Printing to File
When you save an image in an Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) file all the PostScript settings relating to the original output device in effect are saved along with the image data. When the image is printed later, the settings that were in effect may cause major hue shifts. To prevent these hue shifts save the image in TIFF format instead of EPS.
The Density Control Panel
The Color LaserWriter 12/600 PS has been adjusted at the factory to produce the best possible image quality. However, small variations exist among different printers. To make subtle changes to image quality, you can use the Density Control Panel on the back of the printer. NOTE: If changing the settings produces inferior image quality, return to the factory settings by following these steps: Select each color using the Color Select button, then press the - or + button to move the indicator light to the center position. When the indicator is in the center, press Enter to make the setting permanent. Repeat this procedure for all four colors.
Setting Your ColorSync System Profile for Best Printing Results
Before using ColorSync color matching to print to the Color LaserWriter 12/600 PS printer, set the ColorSync System Profile for the monitor connected to your system. To do this, open Control Panels in the System Folder and double-click ColorSync System Profile. Make sure the following settings are selected:
• Set the profile for the monitor connected to your system. For the best color match when printing, select the "page-white" or "D50" system profile for your type of monitor if one is available.
• For the best visual match between the colors on your monitor and printed colors, select the Page-White Gamma option in the Monitors control panel. To select a gamma option, open the Monitors control panel, then hold down the Option key while you click the Options button. In the Options window, click the Use Special Gamma checkbox to put an X in it. Then choose Page-White Gamma from the list.
• On a multiscan monitor, make sure that the color temperature, or intensity, is set to 9300K (the default setting). See the monitor manual for instructions. If the Page-White Gamma option is selected with a color temperature other than 9300K, your monitor colors could look too red or too blue compared to printed colors.
Obtaining Printer Supplies for the Apple Color LaserWriter 12/600 PS
To order printer supplies for the Color LaserWriter 12/600 PS direct from Apple, call 1-800-600-7805. For order numbers, see Appendix A of the printer manual:
Instructions for replacing the fuser are in Appendix F of the printer manual. Instructions for replacing other printer parts come in the new packages.
For the location of the nearest Apple-authorized dealer, call 1-800-538-9696, extension 525.
LaserWriter 16/600 PS
If Tray Switching is turned on and you have an optional 500-sheet feeder that contains the same size paper as the 250-sheet feeder, use the 500-sheet feeder as the preferred paper source for optimal printing performance. See the manual that came with your printer for instructions on selecting the 500-sheet feeder as the preferred paper source.
LaserWriter Pro 810
• With some graphics programs, bitmapped graphics printed with the Precision Bitmap Alignment option in the Page Setup PostScript Options dialog box will be reduced in size by 25%.
LaserWriter Pro 600 and 630
• When you print envelopes from the optional envelope feeder, you cannot use Auto Select as the Paper Source (in the Print dialog box).
• When you print at a resolution of 600 dots per inch (dpi), bitmapped images may appear with lines across the image. When bitmapped images are printed at 300 dpi, lines across the image do not appear.
LaserWriter II NT and II NTX
• If you select both the Smooth Graphics and the Invert Image options in the Page Setup PostScript Options dialog box, a PostScript error results.
• Do not use the B5 tray to print envelopes on a LaserWriter II NT. Use the letter tray instead.
LaserWriter IIg and IIf
• When you select paper sources from the First Page From and Remaining From pop-up menus in the Print dialog box, selecting Manual Feed for either source sets the driver to print the first page from the manual feed tray.
• The US Legal paper size has been changed on some LaserWriter IIf/IIg printers to be more compatible with other Apple LaserWriter printers. To prevent text from clipping or wrapping to the next line on different printers, use US Legal Small. To get the widest possible margins from your printer model, use US Legal.
• Some form-printing application programs cannot print forms using the Layout settings in the Layout dialog box.
