Setting Up Your Printers
The dream of the paperless office is now at least 30 years old and remains as elusive as ever. If you create documents on your computer, or simply receive documents from others, most likely you will need to print hard copies of some of them.
Windows enables you to print on either a local printer-one attached directly to your computer-or a network printer.
Note:
Windows can locate driver software for many printers automatically. If Windows cannot locate driver software for the printer, Windows prompts you to provide the software. For example, you may have printer software that you have downloaded from the printer manufacturer's website, or software that came on a disc with the printer.
Connecting a Local Printer
The most direct way to set up a printer is to connect it directly to your PC. Most modern printers have USB connections; some have Ethernet and Wi-Fi connections as well. When you connect a printer directly to your PC, Windows detects the printer and automatically installs driver software for it.
Connecting a Network Printer
If the printer you need to use is connected to a network, you use a different means of connecting to it. Follow these steps:
- Choose Start, Settings to open a Settings window.
- Click Devices to display the Devices screen.
- Click Printers & Scanners to display the Add Printers & Scanners pane.
Note:
If the printer doesn't appear in the list in the Add Printers & Scanners pane, click Refresh to force Windows to search again. If this doesn't work, there may be a problem with the network connection between your system and printer. - Click the printer in the list. The Add Device button appears.
- Click Add Device. Windows automatically installs the printer. The printer then appears in the Printers list.
Configuring Your Printer
When you add a printer, Windows sets it up with a default configuration. This may work well enough for you, but it's a good idea to spend a few minutes looking through the settings to see whether you need to change any to make the printer work your way.
To configure a printer, you use the Devices and Printers screen in Control Panel rather than the Settings app. Follow these steps to open the Devices and Printers screen:
- Right-click or long-press Start to display the shortcut menu.
- Click Control Panel to open a Control Panel window.
- Under the Hardware and Sound heading, click View Devices and Printers. The Devices and Printers screen appears.
Setting Printing Preferences
On the Devices and Printers screen, right-click or long-press the printer you want to configure, and then click Printing Preferences on the shortcut menu. The Printing Preferences dialog box for the printer appears, and you can choose settings for layout and paper quality.
The selection of settings depends on the capabilities of the printer and the driver software, but the Layout tab typically contains settings such as these:
- Orientation:
Open this drop-down menu and choose Portrait or Landscape, as needed. - Page Format:
Make sure the Pages per Sheet drop-down menu shows 1 unless you need to print multiple document pages on the same sheet of paper.
The Paper/Quality tab contains settings such as these:
- Paper Source.
In this drop-down menu, choose a specific paper tray (such as Tray 1 or Manual Feed Tray) or choose Automatically Select to let the printer pick a tray that contains paper. - Media:
In this drop-down menu, choose the media type, such as Plain Paper. - Quality Settings
In this box, click the Best option button, the Better option button (the default), or the Draft option button, as needed. - Color:
In this box, click the Black & White option button or the Color option button.
Tip:
To change the print resolution-the number of dots per inch, or dpi, that the printer uses-click Advanced. In the Advanced Options dialog box that opens, click the Print Quality drop-down menu, and then click the dpi setting you need. The Print Quality menu for some printers offers choices such as Normal or Fine rather than dpi numbers.
When you finish setting printing preferences, click OK to close the Printing Preferences dialog box.
Setting Printer Properties
On the Devices and Printers screen, right-click or long-press the printer you want to configure, and then click Printer Properties to display the Printer Properties dialog box for the printer.
On the General tab, you can set general information for the printer:
- Name:
(This is the unnamed box at the top.) Type the name under which you want the printer to appear in Windows. You may prefer a descriptive name (such as Color Laser Printer) rather than the brand and model number. - Location:
You can type a description of where the printer is located. Having the location visible is especially helpful when you share the printer on a network. - Comment:
You can type a comment to help yourself or others understand when to use the printer-for example, "Use this printer for color printing on plain paper" or "Use this printer for photos." - Print Test Page:
You can click this button to print a test page to make sure the printer is working correctly.
On the Sharing tab, you can share the printer on the network by using the following options. If the options are dimmed and unavailable, click the Change Sharing Options button.
- Share This Printer:
Check this check box to share the printer on the network. - Share Name:
After checking the Share This Printer check box, you can edit its default name or simply type a descriptive name. - Render Print Jobs on Client Computers:
Check this check box to make the computer that requests a print job do the rendering rather than having your computer do the rendering.
On the Ports tab, you can choose which ports Windows uses for printing to this printer. Normally, you won't need to adjust the settings here.
On the Advanced tab, you can control which times the printer is available, configure spooling, and configure a handful of other settings. Here's what you need to know:
- Always Available:
Select this option button to make the printer available all day and all night. - Available From:
Select this option button to limit the printer's use to the hours you specify in the two boxes-for example, from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM. - Priority:
If you use multiple printers, you can set the printer's priority. Otherwise, leave it set to 1. - Spool Print Documents So Program Finishes Printing Faster::
Select this option button to use spooling, in which Windows saves the print jobs quickly to disk and then sends them to the printer at a speed the printer can accept. Normally, spooling is a good idea, because it enables you to resume work more quickly in the app from which you printed. If you select this option button, you can choose either the Start Printing After Last Page Is Spooled option button or the Start Printing Immediately option button; Start Printing Immediately is usually the better choice. - Print Directly to the Printer:
Select this option button (if it is available) to print without spooling. Normally, it's better to use spooling. - Hold Mismatched Documents:
Check this check box to make Windows hold in the print queue any documents not correctly configured for the printer. - Print Spooled Documents First:
Check this check box to make Windows print priorities. - Keep Printed Documents:
Check this check box only if you need Windows to keep the spooled files on disk after printing the documents. Normally, you don't want to do this. - Enable Advanced Printing Features:
Check this check box (which may be checked already and dimmed so that you cannot change it) to enable advanced printing features for the printer.
Tip:
If you share your printer in an office environment, you may want to click Separator Page on the Advanced tab of the Printer Properties dialog box and choose a separator page to print at the beginning of each document. Separator pages can help you split up printed documents correctly, but they do little to prevent co-workers from peeking at each other's printed documents.
On the Color Management tab, you can click the Color Management button to configure color management for the printer.
On the Security tab, you can choose which groups and users can use the printer, manage it, and manage documents on it.
On the Device Settings tab, you can assign forms to particular paper trays and configure installable options, such as duplex units for printers that support them.
When you finish choosing settings, click the OK button to close the Printer Properties dialog box.
