COMPULINK 3300 Overland Avenue, Suite 201 § Los Angeles, California 90034 § 310 × 204 × 5121 

 

Printing with The Jewelry Shopkeeper 

General Notes:

Jewelry Shopkeeper works best with parallel printers. Serial printers require more maintenance and configuration to run properly and are not suggested. Unless you already own a serial printer insist on buying parallel printers.

The Jewelry Shopkeeper works best with more than one printer. One for jewelry tags (either Panasonic or Zebra Stripe 500), one for point of sale receipts (Ithaca PCoS 50), one for job repair envelopes (Co-Star 200 Plus) and one for all other jobs like check and report printing (Hewlett Packard LaserJet III or IV).

If you add more than one printer to a your computer, you can get an A-B switch or and second printer port card installed inside the computer. These printer port cards are usually $30 and include 2 more printing ports (LPT2 and LPT3). The second printer port card method is preferred because you won’t have to remember to check an A-B switch before printing jobs.

Troubleshooting:

Test to see what port the printer is connected to and if its working properly.

 

  • t Exit all programs and from a DOS prompt (C:> or F:>), type:
    •

    COPY C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT LPT1:

     

  • If the error ’NOT READY WRITING DEVICE: LPT1:" occurs, choose A for abort and try LPT2:, LPT3:, COM1:, COM2:.

    When the printer begins printing, note the printer port you typed to get the result.

    t To test a Zebra label printer, at the Jewelry Shopkeeper System menu, from the Enter Your Choice --> prompt, type:

    COPY ZEBTEST. LPT1:

    •

    Printing appears scrambled or incomplete

  • t Check the cable. Make sure its plugged into both the computer and the printer properly

    t Try another cable

    t Exit all programs. Turn off the printer and reset the computer. You must power off the computer or press the reset button to restart the computer.

    •

    I tell Jewelry Shopkeeper to begin a print job but no printing results

  • t Exit all programs. Turn off the printer and reset the computer. You must power off the computer or press the reset button to restart the computer.

    t Check that the correct printer port is selected in the Printer Redirection feature [choice 8-B]

    t See the Test to see what port the printer is connected to and if its working properly section.

    •

    When I start printing, the results are printed on the wrong printer

  • t If you have an A-B switch, check that its directed to the correct printer.

    t If this is a network, see the Network Printing Troubleshooting section

    t see Test to see what port the printer is connected to and if its working properly section

    t Confirm the correct printer number, and printer port are selected in the Printer Redirection [choice 8-B]. Press <Esc>. In the Customize Printing Destinations section [choice 8-B, page 2] confirm the correct printer number is type next to the corresponding type of print job.

    •

    Printer is off-line

  • t Is the on-line light on.

    t Is paper in the printer.

    t Know what LPT port the printer is attached to - see Test to see what port the printer is connected to and if its working properly section. Go to the Printer Redirection feature of the Jewelry Shopkeeper [choice 8-B] and find the correct printer name and corresponding printer number. Check the printer port. Valid choices for the Print_port are: LPT1 LPT2 LPT3 COM1 COM2 COM3 COM4. A blank is the same as LPT1. Press <Esc>. In the Customize Printing Destinations section [choice 8-B, page 2] confirm the correct printer number is type next to the corresponding type of print job.

    •

    Report columns are printing unevenly

  • t Make sure the font on your printer is Draft or Utility. Reports must print in a mono spaced font. Proportionally spaced fonts will not work. This selection can usually be found on the front of the printer.

    t In the Printer Redirection feature [choice 8-B], try using the printer called BLANK PRINTER CODES.

    t Make sure the correct printer is selected in the Printer Redirection feature [choice 8-B].

    -Check the Print Control Codes feature [choice 8-A] and compare the printer codes with the Jewelry Shopkeeper manual page 8-95 (for Epson compatible and Hewlett Packard LaserJet compatible printers only)

    •

    I have a serial printer and the print results are jumbled.

  • Make sure the following statement is in your C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT file. It should be located after the PATH= statement
    •

    MODE COM1: 9600, N, 8, 1, P

  • For Zebra Z95 and Zebra Stripe 300 printers, the MODE statement should read:

    MODE COM1: 9600, E, 7, 1, P

    •

    I have a serial printer and the Jewelry Shopkeeper gives me the message "Printer is off-line. Do you want to Retry, Abort, or send the job to a File?"

  • t Check the C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT file to make sure the correct MODE statement is there

    t Reboot the computer

    t Test to see what port the printer is connected to and if its working properly

    •

    Compressed printing is too large and is printing off the page.

  • t Compressed printing means 17 Characters per inch (CPI). Get a ruler and count the number of characters (including spaces) printing in an inch. 10 is PICA, 12 is ELITE, 17 is COMPRESSED

    t Check the Printer Redirection [choice 8-B] selection and find your printer name. Check that the correct printer port is selected and note the Printer_No column. Press <Esc> and check the Customize Printing Destinations selection. Make sure that the Printer_no number assigned to your printer is typed next to the printing job your trying to perform.

     

    •

    Jewelry Shopkeeper and Printing with Dot Matrix

    General Notes

    Regular dot matrix printers are printers that use sprocket feed paper (point of sale printers are dot matrix printers also but they use a friction feed method to advance paper). This type of printer is best for jewelry labels and point of sale receipts. Some dot matrix printers are either ’push feed’ or ’pull feed’. Push feed is best for printing receipts and jewelry labels and jobs that need two or three part forms using NCR or No Carbon Required paper. Pull feed is best for long printing jobs like inventory reports. Make sure the paper has a smooth, straight path to the printer. ’Bottom feeding’ for pull-feed printers keeps the paper in a straighter path. Check to see if this is an option with your printer.

    Troubleshooting:

    Printing is too high, too low, too far right, too far left.

    t Turn off the printer.

  • t Adjust the paper by loosening the sprocket feed and moving the paper right and left as appropriate.

    t Note the position of the print head; the part of the printer that goes back and forth when printing. Roll the platen so the perforation is even with the print head.

    •

    t Turn the printer back on

  • t TIP: Once you’ve aligned a form correctly, with a magic marker make a vertical mark at the right margin of the paper and a horizontal mark even with the perforation. Next time you need to load this form, you need only line the paper up with the markings.
    •

    The printer is advancing to the wrong spot when I press form-feed

  • t When you turn ON dot matrix printer, you are establishing the top of a form. If you turn the printer on when the print head is positioned in the middle of a page, pressing form-feed will position the paper in the same spot on the next sheet

    t Be sure to adjust the paper so the perforation is even with the print head before the printer is turned on

    •

    Printing is too large

  • t Dot matrix printer always default back to PICA (10 CPI) when they are powered off. Align the paper properly and begin the printing task from the beginning. Don’t turn off the printer after the print job has begun. Use the on-line button to stop the printer so you can line up the form properly
    •

     

    Jewelry Shopkeeper and Printing with LaserJet/Bubble Jet/Ink Jet

     

    General Notes:

    t TIP: Buy an extra paper tray for each kind of print job. Put checks in one paper tray, letterhead in another, appraisal forms in a third and blank report paper in a fourth. When switching print jobs, you need only switch paper trays instead of reloading paper each time.

    Troubleshooting:

    I printed a report and the paper did’t eject, but I can see the Form Feed light is lit and a job is waiting to print.

  • t To eject a print job, press on-line to take the printer off-line

    t Press form-feed to eject the page

    t Push on-line to again; ready to print the next print job

    •

    My LaserJet printer is a Hewlett Packard LaserJet II (just a plain model II) and I can’t print ELITE (12 CPI)

  • t For LaserJet II compatible printers with no ELITE font, select the Printer Control Codes feature [choice 8-A] and select the Hewlett Packard LaserJet printer.

    t Make the ELITE code the same as the PICA code, {027,040,115,048,112,049,048,072} and add (027,038,107,049,048,072). This squashes the PICA font together to make it a simulated ELITE (12 CPI pitch)

     

    •

    Jewelry Shopkeeper and Printing with Novell Netware

     

    General Notes:

    Configuring a multi-workstation can be confusing. This task is best suited for a technician familiar with Novell Netware.

    To simplify installation, the following statements should be added to each netware workstation’s C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT file:

  • SET JSP=C
    •

    and

  • SET JSTEMP=C
    •

    NETX vs VLMS

    If your workstations need to capture to more than 3 printer ports, the most allowed by NETX, you will need to run VLM’s instead. These files can be downloaded from WWW.NOVEL.COM. VLM’s can capture to 8 printer ports.

    Some users have found that when printing from the Jewelry Shopkeeper they loose connection using the VLM’s. In this case try NETX instead.

    WINDOWS ’95 and NOVELL

    If your network is Netware and you’re workstations are running Windows ’95, all print jobs will behave better if you use the Novell Netware Client 32 instead of Microsoft’s Client for Microsoft Networks. If you have internet access, go to WWW.NOVEL.COM and download the C3295D_1.EXE file; It’s big — over five megabytes.

    CAPTURE COMMAND

    Jewelry Shopkeeper does not send print jobs directly to the Novell print queue. A capture command must be added to each workstations C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT, C:\NWCLIENT\STARTNET.BAT, or to the Novell Login Script using the F:\PUBLIC\SYSCON (select Supervisor Options, System Login Script or User Information and select a specific User Name).

    A typical CAPTURE command for Novell 3.11 or 3.12 will read:

    CAPTURE /L=1 /Q=LASERJET /NO TABS /NOB /NFF /TI=3 /NA

    A typical CAPTURE command for Novell 4.1 will read:

    CAPTURE /L=1 /Q=LASERJET /NO TABS /NOB /NFF /TI=3 /AU

    To check to see if the CAPTURE command is active on your workstation, from a DOS prompt (C:> or F:>) type:

    CAPTURE SHOW

    Either the message:

    LPT1 Capturing data to server SERVERNAME print queue PRINTERNAME

    or

    LPT1 Capturing is not currently active.

    TURNING OFF THE CAPTURE COMMAND:

    There are two basic DOS commands for turning OFF netware capturing. The command that works for you will depend on the version of your operating system. If one doesn’t work, try the other:

    CAPTURE ENDCAP L=1

    and

    ENDCAP L=1

    Troubleshooting:

    After I turn the printer off and on, the printer continues to print.

  • t Exit all programs and from the network drive (F:> or G:>) type:
    •

    CD\PUBLIC

    PCONSOLE

    select a Print Queue (printer name)

    select the print job

    press <Del>

    Confirm you want to delete the print job.

     

    Print jobs are going to the wrong printer

    t Exit to DOS.

    t Type the CAPTURE SHOW command to confirm that print jobs are being captured to the correct printer ports.

    t Try the "Test to see what port the printer is connected to and if its working properly" section to see which printer port is being redirected to which printer on each workstation. This procedure should be documented for easy reference.

     

    Jewelry Shopkeeper and Printing with Lantastic

     

    To share printers using LANTASTIC 5.0, 6.0 or 7.0, the following statement must appear in the C:\LANTASTI\STARTNET.BAT file:

    NET USE LPT1: \\COMPUTERNAME\@PRINTER

    This statement will make the LPT1 printer a network printer.

     

    NET LPT TIMEOUT 10

    This statements will set a timeout of 10 seconds

     

    The print job is going to the wrong printer

  • -Have all workstations exit all programs

    -Restart the fileserver computer

    -Restart each of the workstations; this should re-establish the printer connections

     

    •

    After I turn the printer off and on, the printer continues to print

  • t From C:> on the server computer, type:
  • CD\LANTASTI

    NET_MGR

    select Queue Maintenance

    Select Clear Print Jobs from the Queue

    •

    • Jewelry Shopkeeper and Printing with Windows ’95

    General Notes

  • All printer drivers must be installed. To check this, from the Windows ’95 Desktop:

    t Select Start, Settings, Printers. Confirm that each of your printers should has an printer icon to represent it.

    t Confirm the Set as Default selection is check-marked on the default printer. (Press the right mouse button to see this Default question.)

    •

    Troubleshooting

    Printing is too slow or doesn’t print

  • t Go to the Windows ’95 Desktop, (press Ctrl-Escape if you’re not already at the desktop). Click the Start icon, then click Settings, then Printers. Each of your printers should have a printer icon to represent it.

    t Click the right mouse button on the printer icon

    t Choose Properties

    t Choose the Details tab

    t Choose the Port Settings button

  • t There should be a line which reads SPOOL MS-DOS JOBS. Make sure the check box next to this line is NOT checked. Choose OK a few times to get back to the box of printer icons
    •

    t Repeat the steps for all the other printer icons

    •

    Print jobs take 45 seconds before they start printing

  • Your computer consultant/helper can make these changes which Microsoft says should speed up printing under Windows 95.

    If these sections don’t already exist, add these AFTER the [386Enh] section in the SYSTEM.INI

    [Network]

    PrintBufTime=10

    [IFSMGR]

    PrintBufTime=10

    Note that if you have a network, you should make these changes to all windows 95 computers on the network.

    •

    027,040,115,048,112,049,048,072 (pica)

    027,040,115,048,112,049,050,072 (elite)

    027,040,115,048,084,027,038,107,050,115,055,072 (compressed)

    027,040,115,048,112,049,048,072 (cancel compress)

    027,040,115,049,083 (italic)

    027,040,115,048,083 (cancel italic)

    027,040,115,051,066 (emphasize)

    027,040,115,048,066 (de-emphasize)

    027,038,100,048,068 (underline)

    027,038,100,064 (canel underline)

    027,040,115,051,066 (bold)

    027,040,115,048,066 (cancel bold)

    027,069, clear all

    027,038,108,056,068 (6 lines per inch)

    027,038,108,054,068 (8 lines per inch)