Application Support Note

ASN-2000-109

AXIS Diplomat 2000 - Configuring continuous stationery printers

Last Reviewed: 05 November 2004

Products affected: AXIS Diplomat 2000 (& any Windows application)

Description: Guidelines on configuring Windows for use with continuous stationery printers (i.e. listing printers) and fanfold paper sizes.

NOTE: As of AXIS Diplomat build level 5.741 (released 23.04.2002) the AXIS Diplomat SETUP program automatically creates Windows 'forms' for fanfold stationery. This occurs under all versions of Windows EXCEPT Windows 9x where the paper sizes must continue to be created manually as described below. The sections covering Windows NT / 2000 below are therefore only required if running software below build level 5.741. Customers running older software who have a current software support contract in place may apply for an update free of charge.

In a network environment, the paper size (or 'form') must be set up on the server or workstation driving the printer in question. In practice it is often easiest to create the forms on every machine and thus SETUP will create these Windows forms for you when run on an AXIS Diplomat server or when performing a client installation including when running a client installation in 'quiet' mode (SETUP /q).

The names of the forms created by SETUP differ from those described in this ASN in that the names of all forms created begin 'AXIS' as in 'AXIS Fanfold 14.5 x 11'. This means that because Windows lists forms in alphabetical order, all AXIS Diplomat forms are listed together.

1. Introduction: AXIS Diplomat 2000 reports can be printed on continuous (fanfold) stationery however Windows printer drivers do not as standard provide specific configuration options for British fanfold stationery sizes (only U.S. !).

The most commonly used fanfold paper sizes are:

14.5" wide x 11" long - Full carriage width on a wide platen printer (132 column at 10 characters per inch (cpi))

9.5" wide x 11" long - Carriage width on a narrow platen printer (80 column at 10 cpi)

These measurements include the sprocket hole margins which account for approximately 0.5" on each side of the paper. The actual printable area for the above paper sizes is therefore 13.5" x 11" and 8.5" x 11" respectively.

2. Pre-Requisites: A continuous stationery printer WITH a Windows 9x or Windows 2000/NT 4 printer driver and fanfold paper.

3. Configuration Procedure:

Install the printer and Windows printer driver as normal, checking that a Windows test page can be printed (don't worry at this stage if the layout of the test page is incorrect, we are just checking here that the printer is physically working and produces readable results using the chosen driver).

3.1 Windows 9x - Setting Custom Paper Sizes

3.1.1 Fanfold Stationery - 14.5" x 11"

In the printer 'Properties', select the 'Paper' tab and select 'Custom' paper size. Set the "Unit" parameter to "0.01 inches" and then set the custom paper size parameters to Width 1350 and Length 1100 thus

3.1.2 Fanfold Stationery - 9.5" x 11"

In the printer 'Properties', select the 'Paper' tab and select 'Custom' paper size. Set the "Unit" parameter to "0.01 inches" and then set the custom paper size parameters to Width 850 and Length 1100 thus:

3.2 Windows 2000 & Windows NT 4.0 -   Setting Custom Forms.

Windows 2000 & NT 4 use the concept of a 'form' defined for the system as a whole rather than the Windows 9x concept of paper sizes held for individual printer drivers.

Custom Forms are created using Control Panel\Printers\'File' menu\Server Properties.  Refer to Microsoft knowledgebase article Q157172 for further information on how to configure a Windows 2000 or Windows NT system with a custom form size.

3.2.1 Fanfold Stationery - 14.5" x 11"

On the Print Server properties page, create a new form on the 'Forms' tab using the following settings (note that measurements are in English imperial). Paper size: Width 13.50in, Height 11.00in Printer Area Margins: All 0.00in

3.2.2 Fanfold Stationery - 9.5" x 11"

On the Print Server properties page, create a new form on the 'Forms' tab using the following settings (note that measurements are in English imperial). Paper size: Width 8.50in, Height 11.00in Printer Area Margins: All 0.00in

3.2.3 Setting the document default

In order that the new forms you have created are used by default when AXIS Diplomat prints to a continuous stationery printer you will need to set the 'document default' against each continuous stationery printer on the system.

To set this, click on a printer in your Windows NT 4.0 or Windows 2000 printer list, then right click and select the 'Document Defaults' option. On the 'Page Setup' tab set the 'Paper Size' to either 'Fanfold 14.5 x 11' or 'Fanfold 9.5 x 11' as required.

To check that your settings are correct, print a document from within AXIS Diplomat and at the printer selection dialogue click the 'Properties' button. The document properties dialogue box is then displayed. Check that the system has retained the paper size you had previously set.

3.3 Unprintable Areas (Margins)

Some printer drivers allow an unprintable area (margin) to be defined. The above settings assume that NO margins are defined. If your printer driver provides unprintable area settings Systems AXIS strongly recommends that these be set to zero for continuous stationery printers.

WARNING: Some printer drivers (for example the Panasonic KX-P3696 driver for Windows 9x) are known to reset the unprintable area parameters to default values each time the custom paper size dialogue window is opened! We recommend you check that the unprintable area settings are still zero after any amendment to your printer properties.

3.4.  Print Quality

Some printer drivers allow the print quality to selected within the printer driver. To ensure maximum speed of operation we strongly recommend that, where available, the print quality be configured as "Draft" (as opposed to "Near Letter Quality" (NLQ)). Typically selecting draft mode will double the print speed.

Note that some very old printers may not support selectable print modes and may always print in NLQ. Such printers will need have upgraded drivers or be replaced if performance in this mode is not acceptable.

4. Further Information

Microsoft knowledgebase article Q157172

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