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Problem Solver

Printout Problems Not Related to Print Quality

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

Incorrect or garbled characters

Make sure that your printer and printer driver are appropriately selected.

Select your printer as the default printer (Windows).

Clear any stalled print jobs from the Spool Manager (Windows Me/98/95).
See Using EPSON Spool Manager

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

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Incorrect margins

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

Check the settings on the Main menu (Windows) or in the Page Setup dialog box (Macintosh). Make sure the settings are appropriate for the paper size you are using.
See Making Settings on the Main Menu (Windows)
See Page Setup Dialog Box (Mac OS 8.6 to 9.x)
See Page Setup Dialog Box (Mac OS X)

If you try to print using the Borderless feature and the printout includes margins, check your original photo data. In addition, the digital camera (data transmission equipment) may automatically add margins in order for the aspect ratio of the image to be adjusted.

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Inverted image

Clear the Mirror Image check box in the printer software, or turn off the "Mirror Image" setting in your application. For instructions, see online help for the printer software or for your application.
See Making Settings on the Page Layout Menu (Windows)
See Advanced settings (Mac OS 8.6 to 9.x)
See Advanced mode (Mac OS X)

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Blank pages print

Make sure that your printer and printer driver are appropriately selected.

Select your printer as the default printer (Windows).

Check the settings on the Main menu (Windows) or in the Page Setup dialog box (Macintosh). Make sure the settings are appropriate for the paper size you are using.
See Making Settings on the Main Menu (Windows)
See Page Setup Dialog Box (Mac OS 8.6 to 9.x)
See Page Setup Dialog Box (Mac OS X)

Run the Head Cleaning utility to clear any clogged nozzles.
See Cleaning the Print Head

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

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Printout has smears

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

Clear the High Speed check box in your printer software's Advanced dialog box. 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.

Load and eject dry paper several times. If the problem persists, ink may have leaked inside the printer. In this case, wipe the inside of the printer with a soft, clean cloth.
See Cleaning the Printer

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Printing is too slow

Make sure that the Media Type settingin your printer software is correct.

Media Type Settings

Select Text as the Print Quality setting on your printer's software (Windows).
Select Automatic as the Mode setting in the Print dialog box, then move the slider to Speed (Macintosh).
See Quality Option (Windows)
See Automatic mode (Mac OS 8.6 to 9.x)
See Automatic mode (Mac OS X)

Close any unnecessary applications.

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

For printer models that use the parallel port, you can enable DMA transfer if you computer supports ECP mode (Windows Me, 98, and 95).
See Enabling DMA transfer

If you try all of the methods above and cannot solve the problem, see the following:
Increasing the Print Speed

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