Archive for August, 2011

Are you looking for a unique way to decorate your walls?

Instead of printing a 4×6 inch photo of the beautiful sunset that you took on vacation last year, blow it up into a poster that will cover an entire wall in your bedroom!  Tiled printing is separating an image into several individual pages (from a PDF file), giving you a fun way to be creative with your decor! Best of all, instead of paying print shop prices for an expensive poster print, you can do it at home for the cost of paper and ink or toner.

Like a jigsaw puzzle, each sheet of paper represents a small piece of an image.  Alone, each piece may seem like nothing, but when put together, it makes a vivid picture.

Any standard printer, laser or inkjet, monochrome or color, is capable of tiled printing but you will have to download The Rasterbator application.  Here is how it works:

• Download and open The Rasterbator application – Click here to download The Rasterbator Standalone 1.2!
• Upload an image from your camera or use an image you have found on the internet.  The Rasterbator application will automatically break it up into pieces on your computer screen, like the example below:

Continue reading “Tiled Printing” »

When you order a new or remanufactured toner cartridge from a major manufacturer or a third-party vendor, the cartridge might arrive with a shipping seal.  The shipping seal is important for protecting the most sensitive elements of the cartridge, such as the drum, and toner compartment.

The box the toner cartridge is shipped in provides some protection for the cartridge during shipping, and the bag protects it from dust and other elements, as well as containing any leaked toner powder from spilling out of the box.  A standard shipping seal is wrapped around one of the main rollers within the cartridge.  Its purpose is to fill the space that is in between the developer and application rollers as well as the spaces around the doctor blade.  With the gaps filled, no toner can be released, thus protecting the cartridge from springing a leak.  Sometimes the shipping seal can get jammed, so regardless of how hard you pull, it will not come out.  This would be considered defective and will warrant a replacement as well.

Most models use a seal similar to tape that must be pulled from one side.

The type of shipping seal used can vary from model to model. Generally, the seal is a very thin material similar to tape, that is mostly inside the cartridge, but has an end sticking out that has a pull tab.  For other models, the seal may be a larger piece of plastic that must be pulled slightly in one direction to loosen and remove it.  In most cases, you will be given instructions on the box or inside the box as to how to remove the shipping seal. After you have removed the shipping seal, it is a good idea to gently shake the cartridge to distribute the toner evenly. Then, you can insert the cartridge and print a test page. Continue reading “Toner Cartridge Shipping Seal” »

Most consumers couldn’t care less what type of ink is used in their printer, but there are a few choices, and users who want their prints to last longer, for archival purposes, might want to pay attention to the ink type when choosing a new printer. The majority of inkjet printers use dye-based ink, which is designed to be absorbed into the paper to create text or images. A newer type of ink known as pigment-based ink sits on top of the paper, rather than being absorbed, which offers a few advantages over the typical dye-based variety. Continue reading “The Benefits of Pigment-Based Ink” »

From time to time, consumers order third-party toner cartridges that are not recognized by their printer or are causing an error message that the toner is empty, even though the new cartridge was just installed. This can also happen when a cartridge has been refilled by the consumer, but not properly remanufactured. In many of these cases, the problem lies in the manufacturer’s use of microchips within the toner cartridges. Continue reading “Toner Cartridge Chips” »

Image: Wikipedia.org

Most printers, whether they operate with toner, solid ink or ink cartridges, have a USB connection option.  USB stands for Universal Serial Bus and is used to support connection, communication and power between a hub and external devices. Continue reading “Understanding USB Connections” »

Modern inkjet cartridges

Inkjet printers are some of the most common and affordable printers on the planet. Though laser printers are often more popular in the business world, it is inkjet printers that are found in most homes, and even many offices as well.  But where did inkjet printers come from?

They started as an idea in the early 1950s, but by 1970, inkjet printers that could reproduce digital images on computers had hit the market.  In 1980 they landed in the consumer market, led by HP, Canon and Epson then eventually the IBM spinoff company Lexmark.  They eventually made their way into the homes of millions of people.  In the early days, two different technologies were introduced, though one has become the clear favorite. Continue reading “History of the Inkjet Printer” »

Modern households typically have more than one computer, and for all of those computers to access the internet, a home office network is created.  But how can you connect a single printer to that network?  Well, this depends primarily on the type of printer you have and it’s available interfaces.  Each model and manufacturer will be slightly different, so though we will provide general direction, we strongly advise consulting your manual or contacting customer support for more detailed instructions. Continue reading “Connecting Printers to Your Home Office Network” »

Many Windows error messages are fairly descriptive about the problem that occurred, while others are very cryptic. If you are working with Windows and you have seen the “Spooler SubSystem App has encountered a problem and needs to close” error, you have run into one of the more cryptic variety. Continue reading “Spooler Subsystem App Errors” »