Epson Stylus Color 850

Product Controls

Cleaning Cycle Black - Black Cleaning button

Cleaning Cycle Color - Color Cleaning button

Printer's Self-Test - Load/Eject + Power-On

Hex Dump Mode - Load/Eject + Color Cleaning + Power-On

First Ink Cartridge Installation (takes approximately 7 minutes) - Turn the printer on and the print head will automatically move slightly to the left. Remove the yellow tape seal from each ink cartridge. Do not remove the white label from the top of either ink cartridge. The ink in a cartridge missing the white label will be exposed to air and will thicken such that print head clogging and possible print head failure can occur. If the white label has been removed from an ink cartridge, the cartridge will not function correctly and it will need to be replaced. More importantly, to avoid potential damage to the printer, do not install a cartridge from which the white label has been removed. Install the black and color ink cartridges, then press the load/eject button to begin charging the ink delivery system.

Install Replacement Ink Cartridge when an ink out condition occurs - Remove the yellow tape seal from the ink cartridge you are going to install. Do not remove the white label from the top of the ink cartridge. The ink in a cartridge missing the white label will be exposed to air and will thicken such that print head clogging and possible print head failure can occur. If the white label has been removed from the ink cartridge, the cartridge will not function correctly and it will need to be replaced. More importantly, to avoid potential damage to the printer, do not install the cartridge if the white label has been removed. If the black ink out light is flashing or solid, hold the black cleaning button until the print heads move to the left, and then install the black ink cartridge. If the color ink out light is flashing or solid, hold the color cleaning button until the print heads move to the left, and then install the color ink cartridge. After installing the cartridge, press the load/eject button to begin charging the ink delivery system.

What are the minimum requirements to use this printer with a PC?

You will need an IBM compatible PC with at least a 386/25 MHz (for Windows 3.1x) or 486/25 MHz (for Windows 95, or Windows NT 4.0 ), DOS, Microsoft Windows 3.1x, Windows 95, 98 or later or Windows NT 4.0. At least 16MB of RAM (20MB recommended), 50MB of free hard disk space for storing images (100MB or more is recommended), VGA/Super VGA or better display adapter and monitor, a shielded twisted-pair parallel cable (6 to 10 feet long and must have a D-SUB, 25-pin, male connector for your computer and a 36-pin Centronics compatible connector for the printer). Double-speed CD-ROM drive (quad-speed or faster recommended) for installing the printer software. The printer comes with a Windows 95 Plug & Play compatible printer driver.

How do I install the printer driver in Windows 3.1x?

Insert the EPSON printer software CD in your CD-ROM Drive. From Program Manager, click on File, then select Run. At the Command Line type D:\EPSON.EXE and press Enter. Click the Install button. An EPSON Stylus Color 850 icon will appear. Click OK to install the printer driver. The installer creates an EPSON group for your printer software icons and makes your printer the Windows default printer.

How do I install the driver in Windows 95 or 98?

Insert the EPSON printer software CD in your CD-ROM Drive. If Windows 95 or 98 launches the install program automatically, click on the Install button. If the installer does not launch automatically, click the Start button and select Run. Type D:\EPSON.EXE and press Enter. Select the Epson Stylus Color 850 then click OK. The installer creates an EPSON folder for your printer software icons, adds an icon for your printer to the Printers folder, and makes your printer the Windows default printer.

The power light is on, but nothing prints.

Make sure the printer cable is connected. Turn off the printer and computer. Make sure the printer cable is securely connected to the printer and computer ports. Turn on the printer and try printing again. If the cable was not the issue, turn off the printer and computer, disconnect the interface cable and run a self-test. If the self-test works, check the application software for correct installation. Make sure your computer has enough memory to handle the data in your print file. You may want to try reducing the resolution of your image, select fewer colors, or add more memory to the computer. If you are still having difficulty printing and you are using Windows, try checking the Spool Manager to see if it is on hold or if there are stalled print jobs. If you are using a Macintosh, make sure your Spool Folder is empty. If the printer sounds like it is printing, but there is no ink on the paper, The print head nozzles may be clogged. From the Utility section found in the EPSON printer driver, clean the print heads by performing a head cleaning followed by printing a nozzle check pattern. A head cleaning and nozzle check must be performed as a cycle. After printing a nozzle check, examine the printed dot pattern. Each staggered horizontal and straight vertical line should be complete, with no gaps in the dot pattern. If there are gaps in the dot pattern, continue with another cycle. Perform up to 6 cycles if necessary. If the nozzle check is not printing completely, and if the head cleanings do not help the nozzle check pattern to print completely, try replacing the ink cartridge. Any ink cartridge installed into the printer must have a white label on top of it. If the white label has been removed from the ink cartridge, do not install the cartridge. Using an ink cartridge which does not have the white label on it may damage the printer. If you have already installed a cartridge which is missing the white label, or if a previously installed ink cartridge was missing its white label at the time it was installed, and now head cleanings do not help the nozzle check pattern to print completely, your printer may require service.

How do I install a printer driver on a Macintosh?

Start or restart your Macintosh with all Extensions OFF, except the "Apple CD-ROM" extension. Before installing the driver, go to the Chooser, ensure AppleTalk is inactive, then close the Chooser. Insert the CD into your CD-ROM drive. A window should open up with the two folders labeled Disk 1 and Disk2. Double-click on Disk 1. Double-click on the Installer icon, then click Continue. Click on Install. After the system has finished installing files you will be prompted to restart your Macintosh. Make sure your printer is ON, and click Restart. After restart, go to the Chooser and for a serial connection select the Stylus COLOR (EX) printer icon. Select the port. Disable Background printing. Close the Chooser. If you must use Background printing, your system must have a minimum of 6MB of unused RAM that can be dedicated to the EPSON Monitor2 and your operating system. If you are using Background printing, go to the EPSON Monitor2, go to File and select Get Info. Change the Minimum amount setting to 2000 and the Preferred amount setting to 3000, then close the EPSON Monitor2.

What do I need to do to print with my Stylus printer on a LocalTalk or EtherTalk network?

To use the printer on a LocalTalk network, install the optional LocalTalk Interface (C823121). For EtherTalk install the optional Ethernet Interface (C823461). Set the AppleTalk/Network Control Panel to Modem/Printer port (LocalTalk with older OS versions) for the LocalTalk interface and Ethernet/EtherTalk for the Ethernet interface. Enable AppleTalk in the Chooser and run the Epson Namer utility and give the printer a unique name to easily identify the printer on the LocalTalk network.

I installed the printer driver on my Macintosh, but it isn't showing up in the Chooser. What went wrong?

The EPSON driver does not support QuickDraw GX. Therefore, this feature will need to be disabled. If your using system version 7.5 or later disable this feature, go to the Apple menu, select Control Panels, then open Extensions Manager and de-select "QuickDraw GX." After restarting, the printer will appear in the Chooser. If QuickDraw GX is off and there is still no printer icon in the Chooser, verify your system meets the minimum system requirements. Refer to your User's Guide for more information.

Is there a PostScript driver available for this printer?

Yes, EPSON has an optional Adobe PostScript Level 2 driver with Pantone approved colors. The software, called EPSON StylusRIP, is fully compatible with all leading graphic software applications.

I removed the white label from the top of one of my ink cartridges. What should I do?

Do not install the cartridge. If you have already installed it and the printer is printing correctly, change the cartridge immediately. If you have already installed the cartridge, or if a previously installed ink cartridge was missing its white label at the time it was installed, and now the nozzle check will not print completely even after running cleaning cycles, your printer may need a service.

The quality of my printed output is unacceptable. What can I do to improve this?

Verify that you are using the correct printer driver for your printer model. Make sure that the printer's paper adjust lever is set to 0 for regular paper and + for envelopes or thicker media. If MicroWeave is off, turn this feature on. If High Speed is on, turn it off. Make sure the Media Type setting matches the paper or media loaded. Also, the Halftoning and Color Adjustment Mode options may be set incorrectly for your document type. Let the printer driver automatically select the settings for the best quality. The paper you are using may be damaged, old, dirty or loaded incorrectly. Remove the paper and reload a new stack ensuring that the printable side is face up. If your output is faint, check the printer driver to make sure you have selected a print resolution other than Economy. For vertical banding, rough or grainy images run the Print Head Alignment utility to align the print heads for precise vertical lines. If the image does not contain the colors you expected, the color settings on your application software may need adjustment. Refer to your software documentation for help on adjusting colors. If the previous steps do not resolve the issue, the print head nozzles may be clogged. From the Utility section found in the EPSON printer driver, clean the print heads by performing a head cleaning followed by printing a nozzle check pattern. A head cleaning and nozzle check must be performed as a cycle. After printing a nozzle check, examine the printed dot pattern. Each staggered horizontal and straight vertical line should be complete, with no gaps in the dot pattern. If there are gaps in the dot pattern, continue with another cycle. Perform up to 6 cycles if necessary. If the nozzle check prints completely, and you're still experiencing a problem, make sure you are using the most current version of the printer driver. You can obtain the latest printer driver from the EPSON web site. The resolution of your image may also be set too low. Increase the image resolution using your image-editing software, or decrease the size of the image. Another troubleshooting test to try is moving the printer to another computer. This will eliminate the possibility of a defective printer cable, parallel port, or software issue. If you're still experiencing a problem, try replacing the ink cartridge and make sure you are using a genuine EPSON ink cartridge which has a white label on top of it. If the white label has been removed from the ink cartridge, do not install the cartridge. Using an ink cartridge which does not have the white label on it may damage the printer. If you have already installed a cartridge which is missing the white label, or if a previously installed ink cartridge was missing its white label at the time it was installed, and now head cleanings do not help the nozzle check pattern to print completely, your printer may require a service.

When I installed new ink cartridges the printer does continuous cleaning cycles. Is there something wrong with my printer?

The first time a ink cartridge is installed in the printer, it will take 7-9 minutes to charge the ink system and initialize the printer. While the ink is charging the power light will flash. NEVER turn off the printer while the power light is flashing. When installing replacement ink cartridges, the printer will take approximately 4 minutes to charge the ink. These initialization times are due to the superior technology of EPSON's piezo print head, the number of ink nozzles in the print head and on a new printer the protective lubricant placed in the print head during the manufacturing process. This initialization is a normal and necessary process. If you turned off the printer during the initial ink charging cycle because I thought it was taking too long, power the printer back on and allow the printer to perform the complete charge of the ink delivery system.

Calibration doesn't seem to have any effect. What should I do?

Make sure that whenever you turn off the printer, you are always using the printer's power button. Never use an external switch, such as a power strip, surge protector, or power protector, to turn off the printer. If you turn the printer off using an external switch, calibration settings will not be saved.

When I print from Appleworks 5.0.3 / 5.0.4 or Word 98 from my Macintosh (PowerMac / G3 / G4 / iMac / DV iMac) to my EPSON Stylus Color/Photo inkjet printer, some of the text is cut off on the right edge. What can I do to correct this?

Follow the steps below to correct the issue of characters clipping from Appleworks and Word 98.

Appleworks:

• Open document.
• Click on Edit, then Preferences.
• Topic should be set to Text.
• Under the Options, enable "Fractional Character Widths".
• Click OK and print the document.
• When the file is saved, it will save the setting along with it.

Word 98:

• Open document.
• Click on Tools, then Preferences.
• Click on the Print tab.
• Under the options for current document only, select "Fractional Widths".
• Click OK and print the document.
• When the file is saved, it will save the setting along with it.