New York, NY -- Okay. You’ve bought yourself a new printer and now you’re ready to set it up. So what are the proper steps? PC Magazine recently posted a guide which makes it easy to get printing, scanning, copying, faxing, or whatever else your device does.
Step #1 – Get Some Extra Ink
Depending on your printer, the packaging may only include starter cartridges (cartridges designed to get you up and running for a few weeks, but perhaps not much more). We fully endorse buying high-capacity cartridges when available as they offer a more reasonable cost per page, though the initial investment is higher.
Step #2 – Get Some Paper
When printers and ink are being tested, the manufacturers are using their own proprietary paper. As such, the results they report in their specifications and ink yields are based on that, so to get the same results it makes sense that you would need the same paper. For instance, HP developed ColorLok paper. The paper has undergone rigorous testing and is designed to allow ink to dry faster, produce blacker blacks and more vivid colors. Sure, you can save money by purchasing generic paper, but you’ll have to test it over time to see if it stands up.
Step #3 – Get All Necessary Cables
You may think that if you’re spending all this money on a printer that the manufacturer would simply throw in a USB cable, right? Unfortunately that is not always the case. If you’re buying a printer which can connect via Wi-Fi, you may choose to go without a cable, but sometimes it is easier to copy and scan via USB than wirelessly (assuming that functionality is supported by your printer). If you printer is not wireless, but will connect via Ethernet, you will definitely need to buy a cable to support that type of printing. If your printing comes with fax capability, that cable (RJ-11 phone cord) should definitely be somewhere in the packaging.
Step #4 – Get Ready For Tech Support
While your printer will likely work the majority of the time, there may be a need to call the manufacturer for technical support at some point in the future. As you are setting up the printer, it is a good idea to go ahead and copy down the printer’s serial number in case you need it. Also find the number for technical support and write them both on the same sheet. With a sticky note, you could always attach that to an unobtrusive, but easy to reach place on the unit.
Step #5 – Get Up and Running With the Quick-Start Sheet
Most printers these days in their packaging will have a neatly folded sheet detailing (with pictures) how to set up your printer and in what order things need to be done in. Many printers are pretty much plug-and-play, but it never hurts to have a little guidance.
Step #6 – Get The Software Installed
When installing any type of software, and printers are no exception, there are usually two options: Typical or Custom. Most often times you’ll want to choose typical (or standard), but when it comes to printers, PC Magazine notes that you may want to consider doing the custom. This is because along with everything you need to run your printer, companies include additional pieces, commonly referred to as “bloatware” by tech writers which take up additional space as well as can slow down the performance of your computer.
Step #7 – Get The Drivers Installed
Now that the software is in place, now you need to take care of getting the drivers for your printer up and running as they are what provides the communication between your PC and the printer. Depending on when your printer was packaged up and shipped, there may be newer drivers than what is included in your OS whether PC or Mac, so you should check the manufacturer’s website to be sure. During the install it may ask you if you want to check for updated drivers, so the answer should be yes. If you bought a laser printer and it does both PCL and PostScript drivers, be aware that PostScript will give you higher quality graphics, but will be slower and PCL drivers are the opposite.
Step #8 – Get Your User Manual Onto Your System
Gone are the days (mostly) where in addition to the printer and the quick start guide the manufacturer includes the full user manual. In some cases, you will the manual located somewhere on your printer’s installation CD. Other times you will have to go the manufacturer’s website and download it.
Step #9 – Get Printing Wirelessly and Faxing
Most often this will be covered somewhere on the quick-start sheet and should be relatively painless. Depending on the printer, you may initially have to connect the printer to your computer via USB to detect it. On your printer somewhere under your setup menus, should be something called Network setup or something similar. It will guide you through the entire process right from your printer. It is important to note that if you didn’t buy a wireless printer, but just one that can be connected via Ethernet, you still can get it to print wirelessly, provided it is on the same Wi-Fi network your PC is on. A similar setup should be available for your machine if it came with fax capability.
Step #10 – Get Ready for Next Time (Just in Case)
While we hope that you never have to re-install your printer from scratch, they are not fool proof so it is important to make sure to put away your installation CD in a place where you can find it easily. Also, if you will have multiple computers printing to the unit in question, you will need to install the drivers and potentially the software on the other machine.
Now that your printer is up and running, it is important to keep it that way. If your printer uses toner as opposed to ink—and it should tell you on the package—it is important to shake the toner before putting it in your machine. If toner is settled inside the container, your print quality is likely to be effected. If you notice that the print quality is suffering down the line and there is still toner left, you will want to take it out and shake it again.
As far as inkjet printing goes, unfortunately there are differences between manufacturers as to when the notification to change your cartridges pops up. Some of better models, PC Magazine says, may offer users percentages. On many systems there may be some indication on your LCD display and inside the printer software itself. However, as some printer will tell you, those pictures are estimates. If you’re picky about output, one way to make things easier is to invest in a printer with individual ink cartridges, so when one does go out, that’s the only one you’ll have to replace.
Also with inkjet printing, unlike with laser printing, you have to worry about the print nozzles (which fire the ink onto the paper) getting clogged. Many printers will have a self-cleaning cycle as part of their software functionality. If that doesn’t work, you can try cleaning them yourself in a few simple steps. If your alignment is off, which can also cause bad output, every inkjet printer provides the ability to print an alignment page to make sure everything is where it should be.
The last maintenance issue involves periodic cleaning of your printer. We put together a tutorial that anyone can follow. To learn how to clean your printer, you can visit this page. If you learn better visually, we also have a short video which can be found here.
