Epson EPL-7500

What printer operating modes are built-in the EPL-7500?

The EPL-7500 has one (1) built-in operating mode and one (1) software emulation mode, both are selectable through the SelecType feature on the front panel:

1. Adobe PostScript
2. HP LaserJet Series IIP Emulation

What version of the Adobe PostScript interpreter is incorporated into the EPL-7500?

The EPL-7500 utilizes version 52.3 of Adobe's PostScript interpreter.

Are any optional printer emulations currently available for the EPL-7500?

No.

What interface ports are built-in the EPL-7500?

The EPL-7500 has four (4) of the most commonly used interface ports built-in:

1. AppleTalk
2. Centronics Parallel
3. RS-232C Serial
4. RS-422 Serial

What is the 8 pin DIN connector on the back of the printer used for?

The 8 pin DIN connector is used for the built-in AppleTalk and RS-422 serial interfaces.

If a printer driver selection is not shown for the EPL-7500 in my application software programs, which printer driver selection should I choose?

The proper printer driver selections are dependent upon which mode the printer is operating in. When using the Adobe PostScript operating made, the recommended printer driver selections are listed below from best to worst.

• LaserWriter NTX (Best)
• LaserWriter Plus
• LaserWriter
• Generic PostScript (Worst)

The recommended printer driver selections when using the HP LaserJet Series IIP emulation mode are listed below from best to worst.

• HP LaserJet Series IIP (Best)
• HP LaserJet Series 11
• HP LaserJet Plus
• HP LaserJet 500
• HP LaserJet
• Generic PCL Device (Worst)

NOTE: With certain application software, better results may be obtained using the HP LaserJet Series 11 selection.

What is the rated print speed and resolution for the EPL-7500?

The EPL-7500's print speed is up to six (6) pages per minute (PPM) when using letter-size paper at up to 300 dots-per-inch (DPI). NOTE: A print speed of up to six (6) PPM is achieved by using the printer's number of copies feature.

How much memory comes standard with the EPL-7500 and how can this amount be increased?

The EPL-7500 comes standard with 2MB of memory. The amount of memory can be either doubled or tripled through the use of an optional 2 or 4MB memory board.

Can the amount of memory on either the 2MB or 4MB memory board be increased?

No.

How do I run a SELF-TEST on the EPL-7500?

The EPL-7500 provides one (1) built-in SELF-TEST. Listed below are the keystrokes necessary to initiate the SELF-TEST.

1 . Press the ON LINE button to enter the off-line condition.
2. Press the SelecType button tmce to enter the LEVEL 2 settings.
3. Press the down arrow until "MISCELLANEOUS" is displayed.
4. Press the right arrow to enter the miscellaneous settings.
5. Press the down arrow until "TEST PRINT' is displayed.
6. Press the right arrow to activate the test print.
7. After the page prints, press the ON LINE button to return the unit to an on-line condition.

How do I set the EPL-7500 level 1 and 2 settings back to the factory-default settings using the SelecType buttons on the printer's front panel?

1. Press the ON LINE button to enter the off-line condition.
2. Press the SelecType button twice to enter the LEVEL 2 settings.
3. Press the down arrow until "MISCELLANEOUS" is displayed.
4. Press the right arrow to enter the miscellaneous settings.
5. Press the down arrow until "FACTORY RESET" is displayed.
6. Press the right arrow to anter the factory reset selection.
7. Press the down arrow to select either "LETTER' or "A4". This selection will determine the factory default setting for PAPER STD TRAY and PAPERSIZE OPT TRAY in SelecType Level 1.
8. Press the right arrow to execute the reset condition.
9. Press the ON LINE button to return the printer to an on-line condition.

Is the EPL-7500 compatible with soft font programs developed for Adobe PostScript printers?

Yes, the EPL-7500 is compatible with soft font programs developed for Adobe PostScript printers.

After I make changes in SelecType, what must I do to make these changes permanent?

Selecting and activating the "SAVE LEVEL 1" or "SAVE LEVEL 2" option while in SelecType will make the corresponding changes to the level 1 or 2 settings permanent.

NOTE: Whenever you change the INTERFACE setting, make sure you save the new setting with the SelecType SAVE LEVEL 2 option and tum the printer off before you attach the cable. Attaching the cable with the power on could damage your printer,

Why does the EPL-7500 display 'WAITING" on the LCD and not print anything when I send data to it?

The EPL-7500 is a page printer meaning that it prints a whole page at a time. If the EPL-7500 does not receive a full page of data and/or the proper command to eject the page, it will not print.

When using the HP emulation mode, how do I eject the page from the EPL-7500 when "WAITING" is shown on the LCD display?

Pressing the FEED button ejects the page. This button is inactive in the PostScript operating mode.

How many internal (built-in) fonts are included with the EPL-7500's PostScript mode?

The EPL-7500's PostScript mode comes standard with thirty-five (35) outline fonts and three (3) bitmapped fonts. Bitmapped fonts are cached in ROM and can significantly reduce printing time when they are used.

When in the HP emulation made, does the EPL-7500 accept HP LaserJet compatible font and emulation cartridges?

No, HP LaserJet compatible font and emulation cartridges are not supported by the EPL-7500. However, any of the widely available soft font programs for the HP LaserJet series, such as Glyphix or Bitstream, may be used for printing different fonts.

What is the rated life of the imaging cartridge?

The imaging cartridge has a rated life of 6,000 pages when printing continuously, using letter or A4-size paper with 5% toner coverage of the sheet.

How can I adjust the print darkness if it is either too dark or too light?

The print darkness is adjustable by turning the knob located inside the printer at the front right hand side.

What are the two (2) slots located at the front of the printer used for?

The two slots are reserved for future use.

What are the paper handling capacities of the input tray, output tray and optional equipment?

The paper capacities using standard 20 lb. paper are listed below:

• 250 Sheets - Input Tray
• 250 Sheets - Face-Down Output Tray
• 100 Sheets - Face-Up Output Tray (Optional)
• 250 Sheets - Lower Paper Cassette Unit (Optional)

How often should the user replaceable ozone filter be replaced?

The ozone filter should be replaced every six (6) months. NOTE: If the ozone filter is not replaced at the proper interval, a degradation in print quality may occur because of excessive ozone accumulation inside the machine. Should this occur, normal print quality can be restored by simply replacing the ozone filter.

What items in the printer should be routinely cleaned when the imaging cartridge is replaced or when a decline in print quality is noticed?

The following items require routine cleaning:

• a) Transfer Charger Wire
• b) Glass Lens
• c) Paper Path
• d) Paper Feed Roller

NOTE: Item "a" should be cleaned with a cotton swab. Items "b", "c" and "d" should be cleaned with a soft clean cloth.

Can the EPL-7500 print on special paper types such as envelopes?

Yes, the EPL-7500 can print on special paper types such as standard (window-less) envelopes if the paper weight is within the range of 24 lb. to 41 lb.

NOTE: When printing on envelopes, the optional Face-Up Output Tray should be used.

What is required to hook up an EPL-7500 to a Macintosh computer?

Connecting an EPL-7500 to a Macintosh requires two (2) Apple LocalTalk Locking connector Kits with an 8-pin MINI plug. NOTE: This item should be readily available from an Apple Reseller, the part number is M2068.

When in the HP emulation mode, why do certain programs not print the correct font sizes?

The EPL-7500 has the ability to scale typefaces in PostScript and Hewlett-Packard emulation mode, whereas a Hewlett-Packard LaserJet IIP printer can not. If software application drivers were written in an incomplete manner, realizing that "close enough" will get the right font on the LaserJet printer, the output may be different for the EPL-7500. To help compensate for drivers written in an incomplete manner, the EPL-7500 uses a slack margin of 0.4 pitch when selecting font pitch. Thus, if the application software asks for 16.67 pitch then asks for 17 pitch, the EPL-7500 would reuse the 16.67. The reason the 16.67 pitch would be reused is because the difference between 16.67 and 17 does not exceed the slack margin of 0.4. If the difference between the current font and the requested font exceeds 0.4, then the requested font would be used. On the Hewlett-Packard LaserJet IIP if 12 pitch is requested but 1 0 pitch is the closest available, the Hewlett-Packard would print in 1 0 pitch. However, the EPL-7500 would provide 12 pitch (the difference between 1 0 and 12 is greater than 0.4) due to its ability to scale fonts. The same holds true for selecting point sizes.

When in HP emulation mode, why is the character weight of the Courier font very light?

The Courier PostScript typeface used to produce the Courier font in the HP emulation mode was designed to have the ability to produce a very light weight font. To produce a much heavier weight Courier font, simply choose bold from within your application software program.

When in the HP emulation mode, using full justification, why does the right margin vary slightly when using the Times and Helvetica PostScript typefaces?

The Times and Helvetica PostScript typefaces, licensed from Linotype, have the character matrixes for which they were originally designed. The Hewlett-Packard LaserJet printer uses approximations of these typefaces, called TMS-RMN and Helv. They have the same style, but have other matrixes (even for the same point size), and the matrixes do not scale with the dimensions of the font (i.e., there are separate width tables for each point size of the type). As a result, applications which produce justified text in Helv or TMS-RMN will not have properly justified output when printed using the emulation. However, in most all occurrences the PostScript typeface widths are close enough so the appearance of the right margin is not objectionable.

If printing justified proportionally-spaced documents in the emulator is of critical importance, you can purchase a downloadable bitmapped font designed for a Hewlett-Packard LaserJet printer, download it into the printer, and use an application which knows about the widths of the downloaded font. By allocating enough memory for permanent storage of fonts, you can "lock" this font into memory by marking it permanent. The downloaded font will then reside in the printer until the power is turned off or the font is deleted.

Won't print full page or "Page Buffer Full"

The "Page Buffer Full" message or incomplete page printing happens most often when printing spreadsheets or large graphic files. This indicates there is not enough RAM memory in the printer to process the whole page. This can be demonstrated by changing the printer resolution in the Print menu to a lower number, for example: 150 dpi instead of 300 dpi. If the complete page prints or most of the page then the problem is due to inadequate memory resources in the printer.

You can either decrease the current print driver's resolution to 150 dpi or lower (this options is found under GRAPHICS) or you can install more memory in the printer.

Stops printing and "Continue" lights

This is normal when trying to print on odd size and small documents within the printer specifications without the AUTO CONTINUE feature turned on. The printer will stall momentarily, and you will have to press the CONTINUE button after each page. It also sometimes occurs if paper misfeeds and more than one sheet is fed at one time. To avoid having to press Continue you can turn the AUTO CONTINUE feature on.

• Enabling the AUTO CONTINUE feature on the printer.
• Press the SELECT TYPE LEVEL 2 button.
• Press the CONTINUE button until you reach AUTO CONTINUE OFF>
• Press the FEED button until AUTO CONTINUE OFF >SET.
• Press the COPY END button until AUTO CONTINUE ON>SET.
• Press the FEED button until AUTO CONTINUE ON>.
• Press the INITIALIZE RESET (you won't see any change, but the printer knows) button, then press ON-LINE.

Poor print quality

If print quality has declined, please read through the troubleshooting section of your printer user's manual as it has important instructions on how to handle and clean the various components and locations of these items.

These are a few important things to check in a laser printer which can affect print quality.

• Print density adjustment may cause print to be too light or dark/dirty background if adjusted too low or too high.
• Printer components may be dirty with spilled toner inside printer.
• Transfer charger wire may be broken or dirty and need cleaning.
• Glass lens on print head may be dirty and require cleaning.
• Cleaning pad may need replacing.
• Toner may be low.
• Imaging cartridge or drum may need replacing.

If, after cleaning or replacing the above items, print quality has not improved, the printer should be inspected or serviced by an Epson authorized servicer.

Windows 95 printing problem

Epson laser printers emulate HP printers, so if the Epson printer model is not listed among the Windows driver choices, you need to use the appropriate HP printer driver. Since you are using Windows 95, you should install the printer's emulation which is the HPLJ2 printer driver (32-bit).

There are three changes that you will need to make.

• Go to the HPLJII properties section, go to the tab called, "GRAPHICS" select the option called, "DITHERING." Under this option select "ERROR DIFFUSION."
• Under the tab called, "FONTS." Go to "TRUE TYPE FONTS." Select on this menu, the option called, "PRINT TRUE TYPE AS GRAPHICS."
• Make sure that the port settings are set to LPT1, NORMAL, STANDARD, bi-directional or SPP only. The printer does not support ECP or EPP. Any changes to your printer port will have to be done in your system's BIOS. Refer to you Windows 95 manual or contact your computer vendor for assistance.

Error Messages

A C0002, C0003 or C9999 error usually occurs if the printer cannot understand an instruction. So the problem could be a corrupted or wrong driver sending wrong instructions, in this case we would recommend reinstalling the correct driver. Do you use any non Windows applications where there is no problem or is the problem consistant to only one application or document in Windows? This would indicated the printer hardware is not the problem. Otherwise there could be something wrong with the printer if it is not understanding a valid instruction. On the EPL-7000 the C9999 error when printing in landscape mode can be solved by using the HPII driver rather than the HPIIP driver.

The C0004 error is a controller error or could also be caused by a failing fusing unit. If you are seeing this error at power up, then you are experiencing a hardware problem with the printer. If this is the case you will need to have the printer serviced at an Epson authorized service center. If the error message appears on the LCD when it is in a process of printing or receiving the data, then what you may be experiencing is a driver corruption, reinstalling the correct driver may help.

The C0008 error message means Privilege Violation. Your software application is sending a message or a code to the printer that it is not understanding. Make sure you have the correct driver installed.