This tends to be the most complicated of the 3 types of problems and we would have to write a novel to cover everything. Unfortunately, we just don't have that kind of time, so we are going to try to give you some tips to get you headed in the right direction. When investigating software printing problems there are many useful techniques and questions that need to be asked. The first one is to find out which Page Description Language(PDL) is being used. The 2 most common are PostScript(by Adobe) and Printer Control Language(PCL by HP). Below are some of the fundamental questions that should be asked early in a problem investigation.
POSTSCRIPT TECHNIQUES/QUESTIONS:
- Is it actually a PostScript file that you are sending? If the printer prints out an endless stream of ASCII text, the printer is receiving PCL data. Get the correct PostSript driver for your printer.
- Reprint the job, this time selecting "print to file" in the print dialogue box. It will create a .prn file. Open it using Notepad and make sure that the first line of the file starts with "%!". This signifies that it is PostScript.
- What printer driver was the PostScript file created with? Make sure you have the latest and greatest one. Consult your printer manufacturer.
- What application was used to create this file? Do all applications do this?
- Have you tried an alternative printer driver? And what were the results?
- Has this exact same file been printed on a second PostScript printer? What were the results?
- Was there a PostScript Error page? What did the error page say? Look up errors at: http://www.prepressure.com/ps/dbase/overviewerrors.htm
- Try to distill the original file using Acrobat Distiller. If a PDF file is created, you should be able to print it, other wise, you will probably get a PS error.
- PS errors can often be caused by corrupt graphics. When trying to distill the file, see which page it faults on. Go to that page in the document and try removing all of the graphics.
- Have you tried recreating the PostScript and resubmitting the file?
HP/PCL TECHNIQUES/QUESTIONS:
- What printer driver was the pcl file created with? Make sure you have the latest and greatest one. Consult your printer manufacturer.
- What application was used to create this file? Do all apps. do this?
- Have you tried an alternative printer driver? And what were the results?
- Has this exact same pcl file been printed on a second PCL printer? What were the results?
- What are the specific image errors viewed by the customer? A PCL file will continue printing incorrectly and will not leave an error page.
- Have you tried recreating the PCL and resubmitting the file?
Performance:
Performance related issues are usually the result of incorrect customer expectations. There are actually 3 parts to print performance. The time that it takes the job to get to the printer, the time that it takes for the printer to process the job(RIP) and the time that it takes for the printer to actually print the job once it has received it. Let's look at each of these separately.
TRANSFER TIME:
This really has nothing to do with the printer at all. If jobs are taking a long time to get to the printer, check your network traffic. You may have to get a network sniffer or network monitoring software to check this. If you are using an external print server such as a Jet Direct box, consider the fact that you actually have a parallel connection to the printer which has a slower transfer rate than a network connection. The parallel connection from the print server to the printer is a bottleneck. Some printers are now supporting 100baseT connections which may help in this area.
PROCESSING TIME:
The processing that occurs on a printer is called Raster Image Processing(RIP). This is the process of the printer converting the file sent into image data that the printer uses to "paint a picture" on the page. If this process appears to be slow, the first thing to consider is the size of the file being sent. If you are sending a 5mb file, it is going to take some time to process. Note: In order to view the true size of the file being processed by the printer, you must print to file and then find the size of the file after it has been run through the driver. PostScript files can be as much as 3x larger than the original file. Send over a simple notepad file with the word "test" on it and see if there is a significant difference. Find out if the printer's memory is upgradable. This can help with processing times. Most printers have different print quality settings specified by dots per inch(DPI). File sizes will typically be larger when higher resolutions are selected.
PRINT TIME:
The print speed that is quoted by the manufacturer does not include transfer or processing time. It only includes print engine speed once the job is processed. If the printer handles multiple paper sizes, the print speed probably is referring to the speed for the smallest paper size. If you are printing on pages larger than 8.5x11 inches, the print speed will be slower. If it is a color printer, find out if there are different speed capabilities for color and monochrome. Most printers have different print quality settings specified by dots per inch(DPI). Printers will typically print slower in higher resolutions.
About the Author
7 Seconds Resources, Inc. publishes helpful technology web sites including mcmcse.com, a premier destination for free computer certification training materials. Our sister site, TechTutorials.com provides a database of thousands of free technology tutorials.