Dot Matrix printer progressively misaligns when printing forms

[Guest]

I recently purchased an OKI Microline 491 24 Pin Dot Matrix printer to print
continuous forms (1000s at a time) onto a pre printed form. The information
an research done on this purchase stated that the printer was compatible with
XP.

The form is 7.50 (W) X 4.25 (L).

I have gone into Start/Printer&Faxes set up custom size in server properties
and properties. Set this same information up in page set up etc.

With each form printed the text moves higher up until finally it is totally
misaligned.

The drivers are for XP. I am using XP Professional 2002 and the program is
in WORD. It is one page on the computer but will need to print XXXX amount of
copies (sometimes up to a 1000 of this document).

Originally the program was on Windows 3.1 and did fine printing from the
WORD in 3.1. Antoher office took this information and placed it on their
computer..........they finally got it to work with some tweaking...........I
have called them and gotten their information as to margins
etc..............but it still does not make mine print any better..........it
doesn't get any worse though when changing margins...........but it also does
not get any better.

Are there any fixes for this or suggestions. I have scoured the internet,
microsoft help etc. and tried everything I find..........nothing has helped.
I also tried overriding the computer by programing the information into the
printer.........this did not help either since the paper size I need is not
in the printer setup.

Any help will be appreciated.

Debbie

 

[Chuck]

When you set the form length, you also need to account for the space between
forms.
Generally, "RAW" mode works better than using built in printer fonts.
Make sure that the printer options (on the printer, not the driver) are set
just like the other office has set theirs. Next, check the driver settings.
As a last resort, you may need to use an alternate driver for text only
printers.
(It's been quite some time since I fought this problem.)

 

[Guest]

Chuck,

Thanks for trying. I am not sure what you mean by "RAW" mode??

I tried changing the length of paper........now instead of gradually
shifting the text up after so many copies..........it shifts it down (so the
reverse of the same problem).

The information I am printing is TEXT information with some underline areas
that are MANUALLY (hand checked with a pen by the truck drivers)........there
are no Graphics etc.

You mentioned trying alternate driver for text only
printers.............where do I find these and how can I tell if they are for
text only?

Thanks again!!

Debbie

 

[Tom Ferguson]

Are the forms "tractor feed" and used with the holes engaged in the
printer's feed mechanism or are you relying on friction feed? e.g. Epson
FX-890

Tom
MSMVP
Windows Shell/User


:I recently purchased an OKI Microline 491 24 Pin Dot Matrix printer to
print
: continuous forms (1000s at a time) onto a pre printed form. The
information
: an research done on this purchase stated that the printer was compatible
with
: XP.
:
: The form is 7.50 (W) X 4.25 (L).
:
: I have gone into Start/Printer&Faxes set up custom size in server
properties
: and properties. Set this same information up in page set up etc.
:
: With each form printed the text moves higher up until finally it is
totally
: misaligned.
:
: The drivers are for XP. I am using XP Professional 2002 and the program
is
: in WORD. It is one page on the computer but will need to print XXXX
amount of
: copies (sometimes up to a 1000 of this document).
:
: Originally the program was on Windows 3.1 and did fine printing from the
: WORD in 3.1. Antoher office took this information and placed it on their
: computer..........they finally got it to work with some
tweaking...........I
: have called them and gotten their information as to margins
: etc..............but it still does not make mine print any
better..........it
: doesn't get any worse though when changing margins...........but it also
does
: not get any better.
:
: Are there any fixes for this or suggestions. I have scoured the
internet,
: microsoft help etc. and tried everything I find..........nothing has
helped.
: I also tried overriding the computer by programing the information into
the
: printer.........this did not help either since the paper size I need is
not
: in the printer setup.
:
: Any help will be appreciated.
:
: Debbie

 

[Chuck]

If you go far enough into the install new hardware process, under printers,
you should find "Generic", "Generic Text Printer".as a driver choice. This
driver may or may not be compatable with your application. It can sometimes
also be used to print to a file instead of the printer, and produce a
readable (in Notepad) file. This may help is determining why the printing
shifts on the forms.

Even though you are inputting text information it may be printed as a
graphic image on a printer. (RAW mode) The dot matrix printers generally
had both ASCII character print capability and graphics (raw) mode printing.
These days, windows ink & bubble jet printers generally operate in a
graphics modes only. A complication has to do with use of built-in vs.
downloadable printer fonts on the dot matrix printers. I have an Epson
printer that can use both (The last dot matrix printer I bought.) It worked
ok with win 3.1, and started having odd problems with later windows
versions. (Turned out that the printer's hardware buffer was not large
enough to buffer data that corresponded to a complete line of text.) Since
the printer was bi-directional, this might result in a "damaged" printed
character in the printed line. Since it was painfully slow in comparison to
even the early bubblejet printers, it was retired.

One of the things to look for on sprocket feed forms is a periodic variation
between forms. We used to see this when the backing paper was perf'ed across
at around 11", and there were multiple labels/forms between each perf. (You
set the form length to the distance between these perfs.)
Another issue was that some of the printers had a "skip over perf" feature
that seemed to screw up the driver's line count. This is part of a set of
forms control functions that were referred to as a "VFU" on mainframe
printers. If the internal printer "VFU" functions are enabled, they may
conflict with the windows drivers.

Another gotcha had to do with setting how the printer responded to form
feeds and line feeds with or without a C/R. There used to be switches or
control panel settings on the printers.

An old "trick" in setting up dot matrix printers was to generate a text file
with a text editor (notepad) That had a number or character in the first
and last character positions that corresponded to the width of the form.
This was repeated until the number of line was enough to span more than on
or two forms, or pages of forms if needed.

The text file was then copied to LPT1: via the copy command with a binary
option. This generally shows if such things as skip over perf are active, or
other strangeness is occurring.

..

 

[Guest]

Was this problem ever solved?
My problem is I need to specify a paper size with margins on the top and
bottom of 0.0625" when I do this and save, it rounds the measure (or at
least it says it has) to 0.06. I have not tried to print yet because if I do
and it really is 0.06" and not 0.0625" then by the time I get to the 400 page
my text will be out of line. Can anybody give me some guidance here?
Thanks!

 

[Chuck]

1. Measure the forms.
2. This has been a fairly common problem in the past.
3. One of the old solutions was to use the general text printer driver
included with most versions of windows.
Unfortunately, this may require some custom settings to work as you neeed
it.
4. If the application is a "dos" program, it may use ASCII text instead of
true type fonts. This introduces another variable to deal with. Generally, I
start by setting up the general text printer driver, and setting it to print
to a file. This allows me to see what the program intends to send to the
printer. Next I use the printer's command language to setup the printer. It
may be necessary to imbed command sequences within the aforementioned file.
Finally, the file may be sent to the printer via a copy command with a
binary option.

Setting up a printer when things are fighting back can be a real pain! It's
important to find out exactly what the printer and driver capabilities are,
what the application expects and actually does, and finally, what options
you might have. Some options are simple, such as changing a form. (May cost
a bit) Others are labor intensive, such as the last resort proceedure I
previously mentoned.