Epson 480SX manual

Printer Basics Printed on recycled paper. English[...]

ii Copyright Notice All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, m echanical, photocopying, reco rding, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION. The information co ntained here in is design ed only for u[...]

iii Contents WELCOME! 1 About Y our Soft ware 1 About Your Documentation 3 Warnings, Cau tions, No tes, and Ti ps 3 Windows S ystem Requir ements 4 Important Safety Instructions 5 Ink Cartrid ge Safet y Instructi ons 6 VIEWING YOUR ELECTRO NIC PRINTER MA NUAL 7 Accessing Yo ur Electro nic Printe r Manual 7 Navigating Your Elec tronic Pr inter Manua[...]

iv MAINTAINING YOUR PRINTER 21 Cleaning the Print Head 21 Print ing a Nozzl e Chec k 22 Using th e Head Cle aning Ut ility 23 Aligning the Print Head 24 Replacing an Ink Cartridge 25 Ink Cartridg e Precautio ns 26 Replaci ng a Low or Empty Ink Car tridge 27 Replacing an Outdated Ink Cartridge 28 Cleaning the Pri nter 29 Transporti ng the Printer 30[...]

1 Welcome! Y our EPSON S tylus ® COLOR 480S X is a user-fr iendly , photo quality pri nter that’ s perfe ct for printi ng all your home proje cts—from ho mewo rk assignments and env elopes to ful l-color gre eting car ds and banners . The printer comes with th ese features: ■ EPSON ’ s e xclusive Micro Piezo ™ ink je t techno logy fo r c[...]

2 ■ Y ou r bonus softw are: If you ha ven ’ t yet in stalle d the pri nter so ftwa re or Refere nce Guide from your CD-R OM, see the Sta rt Her e sheet for instr uct ions. ArcSoft ™ PhotoP rinter ™ 2000 A photo layout program that lets you print your images in creative formats, such as multiple photo montages, framed or border ed pictures, [...]

3 About Your Documentation T o set up your pr inter and i n stall its softwar e, see th e Star t Here sheet. This bo ok conta ins syste m requirem ents, im porta nt saf ety in format ion, an d inst ruc tions o n: ■ Viewing your electronic print er manual ■ P ri nting with Wi ndows ® ■ U si ng spec ial papers ■ Maintaini ng the pr inter ■[...]

4 Windows System Requirements T o use your printer and its soft ware, y our system should ha ve: ■ An IBM ® compatible PC with at least a 486/66 MHz (for W in do ws 98), Pe n t i u m ® 133 MHz (for Wind ows 2000), or 486/25 MHz (for Wi ndow s 95 or Wind ows NT ® 4.0) proc essor (P enti um or highe r proces sor r ecommended) ■ Micr osoft W in[...]

5 Important Safety Instructions Before us ing yo ur prin ter , read the fo llowing safety inst ru ctions to mak e sure you use the printer safely and e ffectively: ■ Be sur e to follow all warnings and instructions marked on the printer . ■ U se only the typ e of power source ind icated on the printer’ s label. ■ Conne ct all e quipment to [...]

6 ■ U nplug the printe r befor e cleaning. Clean with a damp cloth only . Do not sp ill liquid on the printer . ■ Except as specif ically explained i n this manual, do not attempt to service the printe r yo urself. ■ U npl ug the printe r and refer to your war ranty on page 48 fo r ser vice inst ructi ons. Ink Cartridge Safety Inst ructions ?[...]

7 Viewing Your Electronic Printer Manual Y our pr inter so ftware CD-R OM includes an e lectro nic Reference Guide for your printer . The manual is in HTML format, so you need a browser—such as Internet Exp lore r or N etscape N avigator , ve rsion 3.0 or late r—to view it . If you ar e using a different b rowser , the pages ma y not d isplay c[...]

8 Navigating Your Electronic Printer Manual When yo u first open the Reference Guide , you see this screen: Click a topic on the left to ex pand the table of contents. A fter expan ding the table of contents, you can click on the topic you want to vie w . If there ’ s a right arrow , click it to view subtopics, then cl ick on a topic to go to it.[...]

9 Printing from Start to Finish Her e’ s what to do to print a basic document—such as a memo, newsletter , or photo graph—fro m loading the pa per to s electing print settings to controlling the print job. F ollow the instructions in “Basi c P rinting” below . If you ’ re alr eady familiar with EPSON ink jet printi ng, you can skip ahea[...]

10 Keep the follow ing in mind when load ing p aper: ■ Load the printable side face up . It’ s usually whiter or brighter than the other side. ■ Load l e tte rhead or prepr inted pap er into the print er to p ed ge firs t. ■ Don ’ t load paper above the arro w on the left edge guide. Opening th e Prin ter Softwa re After you open your app[...]

11 Make the follo w ing sel e ctions o n the P rint dialog box: ■ Mak e s u re EPSON S tylus COLO R 480 is selec ted. ■ Click the Properties button. (If you see a Se tup , Printer , or Options butt on, click it. Th en clic k Properties on the next screen.) Select ing Printer Softwar e Settin gs Once you c lic k Properties , you se e your print [...]

12 Make the following settings on the Properties dialog box: ■ Choose the pa per y ou ’ re pr inti ng on (c lick the arrow to scroll through the Media Type list ). If you ’ re not sure which se tting to sel e ct, see page 19. ■ Set the Ink option to Color to p rint a color document. T o print a black text document, click Black . ■ Set the[...]

13 Controlling P rinting At the Print dialo g box, click OK (or maybe Print ) to star t printing. After a mome nt, the P rog ress Meter appears and shows th e progress of your pr int job. Y ou can use the buttons to cancel, pause, or restart printing. Y ou can also se e how much ink you have left and view printi ng tips. F or m ore ad vanced p rint[...]

14 Using Pho toEnhance, Custom, and Advanced Settin gs Whe n you ’ re prin ting s pecial projec ts, you can cu stomi ze your printer softw are settin gs, as describe d in th ese secti ons: ■ “U si ng PhotoEnhance” below ■ “U sing Cust om Set tings” on page 15 ■ “U sing Advanced Settings ” on page 15 F or additional informati on [...]

15 Using Cust om Settings Y our printer s oftware inclu des custom project types with preset pr inting opt ions. This lets you quic kly select a co lor-m atching meth od for your pro ject. Y ou can select from these pro ject types: ■ ICM (Image Color M atching; Windo ws 95, 98, and 2000 only): F or printing documents created in an ICM compatible [...]

16 Using Special P a pers Ho w can you get the best-looking photos, most vivid colors, and sharpest text? Alway s use EPSO N’ s speci al ink jet paper s. Instr ucti ons fo r prin ting on EPSO N Photo P a per and on envel opes are given in the following section s. F or instruct ions on load ing and using ot her EPSON sp ecial ink jet papers, see y[...]

17 4 × 6-inch Photo Paper EPSON 4 × 6-inc h Photo P aper is micr o-perfora ted a roun d the edges s o you can trim your printo uts and “bleed” the photo— extend it to the edge of the paper — on all sides. 1. Load the pap er against the right edge of the sh eet feeder w ith the gloss y side facin g up an d the perfo rated margin s position[...]

18 Panoramic Photo Paper 1. Load one s heet of P anoramic paper , glossy side up . 2. Choose Photo Paper as the M edia T ype sett ing an d Panoramic 210 × 594 mm as the P aper Size setting in your printer software. 3. Se n d yo u r p ri n t j o b, t h e n h o l d u p t h e p ap e r’ s t o p e d ge a s i t b e g in s f e ed i n g i nt o the print[...]

19 Selecting the Correct Media Type Y our printer automatic ally adjusts itse lf for the typ e of pap er you se lect i n yo ur prin ter softwa re . That’ s why the M edia T ype setting is so important. It tell s your printer what kind of paper you ’ re using and adju sts the ink coverage accor dingly . Her e are the M edia T ype settings you sh[...]

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21 Maintaining Your Printer This sect ion describ es maint enance proced ures to keep your pr inter wo rking at its best and prepara tion ste ps for m oving you r printe r . F ollow the i nstruc tions here for: ■ Cleaning the print head (below) ■ Aligning the print head (on page 24) ■ Rep lacing an ink cartri dge (on page 25) ■ Cleaning the[...]

22 Printing a Nozz le Check F ollow these steps to run the Nozzle Check utility: 1. Make sure the printe r is plugg ed in but not printin g. 2. Right-click the Status Monitor 3 icon on you r Window s taskbar , then se lect N ozzle C heck in the menu that appears. Y ou see this wi ndo w : 3. Make sure letter -size or lar ger paper is loaded in the p[...]

23 Using the He ad Cleani ng Utility F ollow th ese steps t o run the H ead Cleaning util ity: 1. Make sure the pr inter is plugged in b ut not printing. 2. Right-click the S tatus Monitor 3 icon o n you r Windows tas kba r , then select Head Cl eani ng in the menu that appears. Y ou see thi s window: 3. Click Start and follow the instructions on t[...]

24 If an y dots are mi ssin g, cl ick Cle an and follow the inst ructions on the scr een to clean the print head again. If you don ’ t see any improvement after cleani n g three or four times, check the solutions in “Pr oblems Getting Go od P rint Qu ality” on page 36. Y ou can al so turn the printe r off and wait overnight—this allows any [...]

25 3. Click Next to print an alignment page. Y ou see this window: 4. On th e printe d page, s elect the pattern that shows the two vertic al lines most pr ecisely printed on top o f each other . Select one patte rn each for rows 1 , 2, and 3. Then enter the number of the best pattern for each row in the corresp ondin g boxes o n the screen a nd cl[...]

26 U s e these EPSON i nk cartri dges within six mo nths of installing them and bef ore the expira tion date on the package: ■ Black ink cartri dge: T013201 (U.S. and Latin America) T013311 (Canada) ■ Color i nk cartridge: T014201 (U .S. and Latin America) T014311 (Canada) When you need new ink cartridges, contact your dealer or call EPSON at ([...]

27 Replacin g a Low or Empt y Ink Cart ridge When S tatus Mo nitor 3 indicates that ink levels are lo w o r you ’ re out of ink, you see one of th ese win dows: Before you begi n, make sure you have a new ink cartridge and have read the ink cart ridge p recautio ns above. Once yo u star t the in k car trid ge replacem ent procedure, you must com [...]

28 Repla cing an Outd ated In k Cart ridge If you need to replace an ink cartridge before you see a S tatus Monitor 3 messag e , foll ow the steps he re to use th e Ink Car tridg e Replacem ent ut ility . Before you begin, ma ke sure you ’ ve read the ink cartrid ge precautions on p age 26. 1. Make sure the printer is plugged in but not p rinting[...]

29 Cleani ng the Printer T o keep your printer working at its best, you should clean it several times a year . F ollow th ese steps: 1. U nplug th e printe r’ s po wer cor d and disconnec t the pri nter c able. 2. Remove all the paper from the sh eet feeder . 3. Clean the ext erior of the pr inter with a so ft, damp cl oth. 4. Clean ink out of th[...]

30 Transporting th e Printer If you mo ve your printer some distance, you need to prepare it for transpor tation in its original box or one of a s imilar size. F ollow these steps: 1. Plug in the printer , wait until the print head locks in the far right position, then unplug the printer . 2. Disc onnect the printer cable from t he printe r . 3. Re[...]

31 Problem Solving Because y our printer constantly monitors its status, it will r epo rt to you if it has a problem su ch as jam med pape r or low ink levels. It does this by d isplaying an EPSON Status M onitor 3 wind ow on your screen telling you what the problem is and guiding you through th e solution steps. If you see a status monitor window [...]

32 Identifyi ng Printer Parts If you need help identif ying the parts of the printer , refer to these illus trations: sheet feeder left edge guide printer cover paper support ink cartridge holders (do not remove) output tray ink cartridge clamps[...]

33 Problem s and Solution s Her e are some ba sic trouble shoot ing tips if you have any probl ems set ting up your printer , installing s oftware, getting go od print q uality , f eeding paper , or ot her miscella neous probl ems. F or additio nal tips, se e your electronic Reference Gui de as desc ribe d on pa ge 7. Problems Se tting Up th e Prin[...]

34 Problems with Printing The printe r is plugged in and connect ed, but nothin g prints. If your co mputer can ’ t send the print job successf ully , you may see a communication err o r windo w on your scr een. Click the Stop button, then try th e follo wing: ■ Make s ure th e printe r cable is connected se curely and t hat the cable meets th [...]

35 Printing is too slow . Make sure yo ur system meets the r equirements listed on page 4. If you ’ re printing a high-resoluti on image, you need more than the minimum r equirements listed. Y ou may also need to: ■ Clear space on your har d disk or run a defragmentation utility . ■ Close open applic ations that you ’ re not using. ■ In c[...]

36 Problems Getting Good Print Quality You see banding . ■ Make sure the print head noz zles are not clogged. T o clean the p rint head, see page 21. ■ Make sure the M edia T ype setting matches the paper you loaded. See page 19 fo r guidelines. ■ Make sure the printable side o f the paper is fa ce up. It is usu ally whit er or shini er . ■[...]

37 Your printout is faint or has gaps in the im age. ■ Make sur e the print head nozzles ar e not clogged. T o clean the print he ad, see page 21. ■ If you ’ re low on ink, you ’ll see a lo w ink error window . Click How To and follo w the on-scr een instructio ns to install a new cartridge. I f you do n ’ t see an error wi ndow , a c art[...]

38 You see incorrect characters. ■ Make s ure th e printe r cable is securely co nnected and that th e cable mee ts the system requirements on page 4. ■ Make sure your printer is selected in your application or as the Wi ndows default pr inter . ■ If y ou ’ re using a swit ch box w ith your printer , connect the printe r dire ctly to your c[...]

39 Paper doesn’t feed. Y ou may se e a paper not lo aded correctly erro r window on your sc reen. Remove the stack of pa per from t he sheet feed er . Then ch eck that the p aper: ■ Isn ’ t curled or crease d ■ Is n ’ t too old ■ Is n ’ t loaded above the arrow on the left ed ge guid e ■ I sn ’ t jammed i nside the print er . Then[...]

40 Solving Miscella neous Prin tout Pro blems The margins are incorrect. ■ Make su re the pa per setti ngs i n your p rinter softwa re are correct for y our pap er size. See the electro nic Reference Gu ide for instruc tions. ■ Check y our softw are d ocumentatio n for instructions on select ing the corr ect margins f or your paper size. Th e m[...]

41 4. If your printer is connected to your computer’ s USB port, click EPSON US B Printer Devices in the pro gram list; then click Add/ Remove or Chang e/ Remove again. 5. Restart your compute r , then follow the instru ctions o n the Sta rt Here sheet to reinst all yo ur so ftwa re. ( Y ou w on ’ t need to reins tall yo ur b onus softw are or [...]

42 T o speak t o a technical support repre senta tiv e, dial one of the numb ers belo w from 6 AM to 6 PM , P acific T ime, Monday through F riday . T oll or long distance charges may apply . ■ U.S.: (562) 2 76-7580 ■ Canada: (9 05) 709-2567 EPSON Acc essories Y ou can pur c hase i nk cartridg es, pape r , manuals, and accessor ies from EPSO N [...]

43 Index Numerics 360 dp i Ink Jet Paper, 19 4 x 6-in ch Photo Pape r, 16 to 17 A Accessories, 26, 42 Advanced settings, 15 Aligning pr int head, 24 t o 25, 36 Autom atic mode, 11 to 12 B Bandin g, 18 , 36 Basic print ing, 9 to 13 Blank pa ges, 40 Blurry i m ages, 36 Bonus software, 2 Browser, 7 C Cable, pri nter, 4, 34 Charact ers, incorrect, 38 C[...]

44 I ICM ( Image Co lor Ma tchi ng) s etti ng, 1 5 Incorrect characters, 38 Incorrec t colors, 3 7 Ink cartri dge order ing, 26 replac ing lo w or e mpty, 27 repl acing outd ated , 28 safety instructio ns, 6, 26 Ink Jet Transparencies, 1 9 Ink level, 13, 25 to 2 7 Ink settin g , 11 to 12, 37 Inverted image, 40 Iron-On Cool Peel Transfer P a per, 19[...]

45 Probl ems instal ling software, 33 miscellaneous, 40 paper fee ding, 38 to 39 print quality, 36 t o 38 print i ng, 34 to 35 sett ing up pri nte r, 3 3 Progress Mete r, 13 Project ty pes, custom, 15 Proper ties dialog box, 11 to 12 Q Qual ity/Sp eed sett ing, 11 to 12, 3 5 R Reference Guide, 1, 7 to 8 Rein stalling so ftware, 40 to 41 S Safet y i[...]

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47 FCC Complianc e Statement For United States Users This equipm ent has been teste d and found to comply wit h the l imits fo r a Clas s B digita l device, pursuan t to Part 15 of the FCC Rul es. These limit s are designed to provide reasonable protection against harm ful interference in a residential instal lation. This equipment generates , uses[...]

48 EPSON AMERICA, INC . LIMITED WARRANTY What is Covered: Epson America, Inc. (“Epson”) warrants to the first end-user customer that the Epson printer covered by this l imited warranty statement, if purchased and used in the United States or Canada, conforms to the manufacturer’s specifications and will be free from de fects in workmanship an[...]

How To Order EPSON Ink and Paper To order EPSON i nk cartridges and paper, contact your dealer or call EPSON at (800) 873-7766 or visit our web site at www.ep s on.com (U.S. sales only). In Canada, please call (8 00) 873-7766 for dealer referral. I nk Cartridge s : Bla ck T013201 (U.S. a nd Latin America) or T013 311 (Cana da) Colo r T014 201 ( U.S[...]