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Printer Software

Using the Printer Driver with Windows XP, 2000 and NT 4.0

Accessing the printer driver from Windows applications
Accessing the printer driver from the Start menu
Changing the printer driver settings

You can access the printer driver from your Windows applications or from the Start menu.

When you access the printer driver from a Windows application, any settings you make apply only to the application you are using. See Accessing the printer driver from Windows applications for more information.

When you access the printer driver from the Start menu, the printer driver settings you make apply to all your applications. See Accessing the printer driver from the Start menu for more information.

To check and change printer driver settings, see Changing the printer driver settings.

Note:

While many Windows applications override the settings made with the printer driver, some do not, so you must verify that the printer driver settings match your requirements.

Accessing the printer driver from Windows applications

Follow these steps to access the printer driver from a Windows application:

Note:

The examples in the following section are from the Windows 2000 operating system. They may vary in appearance from what actually appears on your screen.

Select Print Setup or Print from the File menu of your application software. The Print or Print Setup dialog box appears.

Make sure that your printer is selected and then right-click your printer icon and select Printing Preferences (Windows XP or 2000) or click Printer, Setup, Properties, or Options (Windows NT 4.0). (You may need to click a combination of these buttons.) The Document Properties dialog box, which contains the Layout and Paper/Quality menus (Windows XP or 2000), or the Page Setup and Advanced menus (Windows NT 4.0) appears. These menus contain the printer driver settings.

To view a menu, click the corresponding tab at the top of the window. See Changing the printer driver settings to change the settings.

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Accessing the printer driver from the Start menu

Follow these steps to access the printer driver from the Start menu:

Note:

The screen shots used in this procedure are from the Windows 2000 operating system. They may vary in appearance from what actually appears on your screen.

For Windows 2000 or NT 4.0, click Start, point to Settings, then click Printers. For Windows XP Professional edition, click Start and then click Printers and Faxes. For Windows XP Home edition, point to Control Panel first, then click Printers and Faxes.

Right-click your printer icon, and click Printing Preferences (for Windows XP or 2000), Document Defaults (for Windows NT 4.0). The Printing Preferences dialog box or the Document Properties dialog box, which contains the Layout and Paper/Quality menus (Windows XP or 2000) or the Page Setup and Advanced menus (Windows NT 4.0) appears. These menus display the printer driver settings.

When you click Properties, the printer software window appears, which includes menus used to make the printer driver settings.

To view a menu, click the corresponding tab at the top of the window. See Changing the printer driver settings to change the settings.

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Changing the printer driver settings

Your printer driver has two menus from which you can change the printer driver settings: Layout menu and Paper/Quality menu (Windows XP or 2000) or Page Setup menu and Advanced menu (Windows NT 4.0). You can also change settings on the Utility menu in the printer software. For an overview of the available settings, see Printer Driver Settings Overview. You can also view online help by right-clicking items in the driver and selecting What's this?

When you finish making your printer driver settings, click OK to apply the settings, or click Cancel to cancel your changes.

Once you have checked your printer driver settings and changed them if necessary, you are ready to print.

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