Using the Print Driver Features

This document describes the basic print driver features that are available for the HP Color LaserJet 2600n.

NOTE: Some printer drivers and some operating systems do not support all of these printer features.

The available tabs are Print/Quality, Effects, Finishing, Basics, and Color. Use one of the following to access the print driver features and change the settings.

Microsoft Windows 2000, XP, and Server 2003

Click Start, Printers and Faxes from the Microsoft Windows desktop.

Right-click the print driver icon and select Printing Preferences from the drop-down menu.

Microsoft Windows Me and SE

Click Start, Settings, Printers from the Microsoft Windows desktop.

Right-click the print driver icon and select Properties from the drop-down menu.

Setting a custom paper size

Use the Custom Paper feature to set up the printer to print to sizes other than standard ones.

Windows: Try to set this setting from one of these locations, in this order:

The Page Setup dialog box in the program.

The Print dialog box in the program

The Paper tab in the printer driver.

Mac: To set a custom paper size, click File, and then click Page Setup. Click the Settings menu, and select Custom Paper Size. .

NOTE: Mac OS X v10.2 does not support custom paper-size settings.

Printing in grayscale

If there is a document that was created in color, it will automatically print in color. Or, the printer can be set to print a color document in grayscale (black and white) only.

Windows: Select the Print In Grayscale option on the Color tab of the printer driver.

Mac: In the Print dialog box, select the Color Options tab, and then select the Print Color as Gray checkbox.

Changing the color settings

When printing in color, the printer driver automatically sets the optimal color settings. However, the adjustments can be made manually to print in color for text, graphics, and photographs. ?Click here to see Changing Color Options for the printer for more information.?

Windows: On the Color tab of the printer driver, click Settings.

Mac: In the Print dialog box, click the Color Options tab, and then the Show Advanced Options button.

Creating and using watermarks

Use the Watermark options to specify that text be placed "underneath" (in the background of) an existing document. For example, to have large gray letters reading "draft" or "confidential" placed diagonally across the first page or all pages of a document. the color, position, and wording of the watermark can be changed.

Watermarks can be created in Microsoft Windows 2000 or XP if the user has Administrator privileges; however, Administrator privileges are not required to add existing watermarks to documents.

Windows: Gain access to the Watermark options on the Effects tab in your printer driver.

Mac: Gain access to the Watermark options on the watermark/overlay pull-down menu in the Print dialog box.

NOTE: OS X might not support Watermarks

Printing multiple pages on one sheet of paper (N-up printing)

N-up printing is the ability to print multiple pages on one sheet of paper. The pages will appear decreased in size. Up to nine pages-per-sheet can be specified, and they will be arranged on the sheet as shown in the figure below if the default arrangement is used. Also the border can be made to appear on each page by choosing the option .

Windows: Gain access to Pages per Sheet on the Finishing tab in the printer driver.

Mac: Gain access to Pages per sheet by selecting the Layout pop-up menu in the Print dialog box.

Figure 1: Printing multiple pages on one sheet of paper (N-up printing)

Creating and using Quick Sets

Use Quick Sets to save the current print-driver settings such as the page orientation, N-up printing, or the paper source for later use. Up to a total of 30 sets of settings can be saved. For convenience, Quick Sets can be selected and saved from most printer-driver tabs.

NOTE: In Windows 2000, Administrator privileges is required to save Quick Sets.

Windows: Create Quick Sets from most printer-driver tabs. Later, the Quick Sets can be accessed on the Finishing tab in the printer driver.

Mac: This feature is not supported.

Reducing or enlarging

Use the Fit to Page option to scale the document to a percentage of its normal size.

NOTE: The option to scale your document to fit on any size of paper that the printer supports can also be chosen.

Windows: Gain access to Fit to Page settings on the Effects tab in the printer driver.

Mac: Gain access to Reduce and Enlarge(Scale) settings in the Page Setup dialog box.

Printing on different paper for the first page

Printing on different paper for the first page is useful if, for example, printing a letter that uses letterhead on the first page and plain sheets for the subsequent pages.

NOTE: The size for all pages of the print job must be the same in the printer driver.

Windows: Try to set this setting from one of these locations, in this order:

The Page Setup dialog box in the program.

The Print dialog box in the program, or the Paper/Quality tab in the printer driver.

Mac: On the Paper Feed pop-up menu in the Print dialog box, select the First Page from option. Then, select the source for the first page.

Restoring the default printer-driver settings

All settings in the printer driver can be returned to their default values. This feature might be useful if there are quality issues, or if the print media is not being selected from the correct tray.

Windows: Select Defaults in the Quick Sets dialog box on the Finishing tab of the printer driver.

Mac: The Standard option contains the default settings and is automatically selected each time a program is opened.