Epson Stylus Photo 890 User guide

EPSON Stylus Photo 890/1280
Printer Basics
Printed on recycled paper
®

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Copyright Notice
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in
any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior
written permission of SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION. The information contained herein is designed only for
use with this EPSON printer. EPSON is not responsible for any use of this information as applied to other
printers.
Neither SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION nor its affiliates shall be liable to the purchaser of this product or third
parties for damages, losses, costs, or expenses incurred by purchaser or third parties as a result of: accident, misuse,
or abuse of this product or unauthorized modifications, repairs, or alterations to this product, or (excluding the
U.S.) failure to strictly comply with SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION’s operating and maintenance instructions.
SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION shall not be liable for any damages or problems arising from the use of any
options or any consumable products other than those designated as Original EPSON Products or EPSON
Approved Products by SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION.
Trademarks
EPSON, EPSON Stylus, EPSON Photo Stickers, and Micro Weave are registered trademarks of SEIKO EPSON
CORPORATION.
EPSON Print Lab is a service mark, and EPSON Software, EPSON Store, PhotoEnhance, and BorderFree are
trademarks of Epson America, Inc.
General Notice: Other product names used herein are for identification purposes only and may be trademarks of
their respective owners. EPSON disclaims any and all rights in those marks.
The ENERGY STAR emblem does not represent EPA endorsement of any product or service.
CPD-11716
Copyright © 2001 by Epson America, Inc. 1/01

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Contents
WELCOME! 1
About Your Software 1
About Your Documentation 3
Warnings, Cautions, Notes, and Tips 4
Viewing Your Electronic Reference Guide 4
PRINTING FROM START TO FINISH 7
Printing with Windows 8
Loading Paper 8
Opening the Printer Software 9
Selecting Printer Software Settings 10
Controlling Printing 12
Printing on a Macintosh 14
Loading Paper 14
Opening the Printer Software 15
Selecting Printer Software Settings 16
Controlling Printing 17
Printing on Both Sides of the Paper 18
Creating Borderless Photo Prints 20
Windows 21
Macintosh 22
Using PhotoEnhance, Custom, and Advanced Settings 24
Enhancing Digital Photos 24
Using Custom Settings 25
Using Advanced Settings 25

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Using Advanced Color Management 26
Printing CMYK Format Files 26
Using Custom Color Management Profiles 27
USING SPECIAL EPSON PAPERS 29
EPSON Photo Paper 29
4 x 6-Inch Photo Paper (perforated) 30
Panoramic Photo Paper 32
Matte Paper - Heavyweight 32
EPSON Premium Glossy Photo Paper 33
Premium Semigloss Photo Paper 34
Premium Luster Photo Paper 35
Envelopes 36
Selecting the Correct Media Type 37
Taking Care of Your Photographs 38
How To Order EPSON Paper 39
USING ROLL PAPER 41
Loading Roll Paper 42
If the Roll Paper Jams or Feeds Incorrectly 45
Printing on Roll Paper 46
Roll Paper Basics 47
Printing Edge-to-Edge 4 x 6-Inch Snapshots 47
Printing Panoramics or Banners on Roll Paper 65
Printing on Paper Cut from a Roll 69
Removing and Storing Roll Paper 70
MAINTAINING YOUR PRINTER 73
Cleaning the Print Head 73
Examining the Nozzle Check Pattern 75

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Replacing an Ink Cartridge 76
Removing and Installing Ink Cartridges 77
Aligning the Print Head 80
Cleaning the Printer 81
Transporting the Printer 82
PROBLEM SOLVING 83
Diagnosing Printer Problems 83
Checking the Control Panel Lights 83
Running a Printer Check 85
Problems and Solutions 87
Problems Setting Up the Printer or Installing Software 87
Printing Problems 88
Print Quality Problems 89
Problems with Paper Feeding 92
Solving Miscellaneous Printout Problems 93
Uninstalling Printer Software 95
Uninstalling Windows Software 95
Uninstalling Macintosh Software 95
Reinstalling Printer Software 96
Where To Get Help 96
EPSON Technical Support 97
Photo Software Technical Support 98
NOTICES 99
Windows System Requirements 99
Macintosh System Requirements 100
ENERGY STAR Compliance 101
Important Safety Instructions 101
Ink Cartridge Safety Instructions 102

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FCC Compliance Statement 104
Declaration of Conformity 104
Epson America, Inc. Limited Warranty 105
INDEX 107

1
Welcome!
Your EPSON Stylus®Photo printer delivers state-of-the-art print quality for both
professional and home office users. With resolutions up to 2880 × 720 dpi, it’s the
ideal output device for everything from exhibition prints to family photos. You can
print edge-to-edge, borderless prints on a variety of roll paper sizes, or on single sheets
of special EPSON photo papers available in popular print sizes.
About Your Software
The printer software CD-ROM that came with your printer
includes all the software you need for printing. (You must
have a CD-ROM or DVD drive installed on your computer.)
■Your printer driver runs your printer and lets you control
how your documents look. You can’t use your printer
without it.
■Your electronic Reference Guide gives you complete
information about your printer. (You need an HTML
browser—such as Microsoft® Internet Explorer or
Netscape®Navigator,
®version 3.0 or later—to view
the guide.)
It’s a good idea to check EPSON’s support web site periodically for
possible updates to your printer driver. Visit http://support.epson.com
and check the section for your product to see if there is a new driver
available, free of charge, for downloading to your computer.
Download instructions are posted for your convenience.

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■Your bonus photo software:
EPSON Stylus Photo 890
EPSON Stylus Photo 1280
ArcSoft™PhotoImpression™
An easy-to-use photo editing program that lets users edit, enhance,
retouch, or add special effects to any image with just a couple
clicks.
ArcSoft PhotoStudio®
This easy but sophisticated photo editing program is for business
users and photo enthusiasts alike. PhotoStudio comes with a
complete set of photo enhancement and retouching tools.
QBeo™PhotoGenetics™
Lets casual computer users improve digital photos dramatically in a
matter of seconds.
EPSON Software™Film Factory™(trial version)
Photo management software that lets you organize, beautify, and
print your photos in a flash. Try it for 30 days—if you like it, purchase
an unlock key at www.epsonsoftware.com.
Adobe®Photoshop®LE (Windows®and Macintosh®)
World-standard photo editing software with the basic image editing
tools preferred by graphic design professionals. EPSON Stylus
Photo 1280 owners have an exclusive upgrade price of $299 for the
full version of Adobe Photoshop. To upgrade or for more
information on this offer, call 1-800-492-3623 and mention Source
Code 56100. The offer expires 9/30/02.
EPSON Software Film Factory (trial version)
Photo management software that lets you organize, beautify, and
print your photos in a flash. Try it for 30 days—if you like it,
purchase an unlock key at www.epsonsoftware.com.
QBeo PhotoGenetics (trial version)
Lets the casual computer user improve digital photos dramatically
in a matter of seconds. To upgrade from the 30-day trial version,
just follow the instructions when you start PhotoGenetics.

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About Your Documentation
To set up your printer and install its software, see the Start Here poster. This book
contains system requirements, important safety information, and instructions on:
■viewing your electronic Reference Guide
■printing with Windows or on a Macintosh
■using special EPSON papers, including the roll paper that came with your printer
■maintaining the printer
■solving basic problems
For more details about printing with, maintaining, or troubleshooting your printer,
see your electronic Reference Guide, as described on page 4.
Monaco Systems™MonacoEZcolor™(software offer)
Powerful color management tool lets you build ICC device profiles
for accurate color between scanned, displayed, and printed images.
The offer is available at a discounted price for EPSON Stylus
Photo 1280 owners for a limited time. Although you can install
MonacoEZcolor Lite from your printer CD-ROM, you can only
create a monitor profile with this version. The color management
package, which includes software, a T8 target print, and a
corresponding target file, lets you create printer and scanner
profiles as well. The color management package is available for
$199 (U.S.) to Stylus Photo 1280 owners—that’s one-third off the
retail price of $299. Call [phone] to order from Monaco
Systems. The offer expires 4/30/02.

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Warnings, Cautions, Notes, and Tips
Please follow these guidelines:
Viewing Your Electronic Reference Guide
Your printer software CD-ROM includes an electronic Reference Guide for your
printer. The manual is in HTML format, so you need a browser—such as Microsoft
Internet Explorer 3.0 or later or Netscape Navigator 3.0 or later—to view it. If you
are using a different browser, the pages may not display correctly. (A browser is not
included on the printer software CD-ROM.)
You can view your electronic Reference Guide from the CD-ROM or copy it to your
hard drive and view it from there. Follow these steps:
1. Insert your printer software CD-ROM.
2. Windows: Double-click My Computer, double-click your CD-ROM or
DVD drive icon, then double-click the EPSON icon.
Macintosh: Double-click the EPSON icon in the CD-ROM window. (If the
window doesn’t open, double-click your EPSON CD-ROM icon.
Warnings must be followed carefully to avoid bodily injury.
Cautions must be observed to avoid damage to your equipment.
Notes contain important information about your printer.
Tips contain additional hints for better printing.

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The Main Menu appears:
3. Click View EPSON
Documentation. You see this
screen.
4. You can either view the manual
from the CD-ROM (View
Reference Guide) or copy the
manual to your hard drive (Install
Reference Guide) and view it
from there. For details on viewing
the manual, see the next section.
If you copied the manual to your hard drive, you can access it at any time, as follows:
Windows: Select Start, Programs, EPSON, and click ESP 1280 890 Guide.
Macintosh: Open the EPSON STYLUS PHOTO 1280 890 folder and double-click
View Reference Guide.

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When you first open the Reference Guide, you see this screen:
Click a topic on the left to expand the table of contents. After expanding the table of
contents, you can click on the topic you want to view.
If there’s a right arrow , click it to view subtopics, then click on a topic to go to it.
Click the down arrow to close a subtopic list.
If you see an icon for a graphic when viewing your Reference Guide
in Netscape Navigator, click the Reload button to load the graphic.
Click here to
expand the
table of
contents
Closed list,
click to
expand
Click to go
to topic

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Printing from Start to Finish
Here’s what to do to print a basic document—such as a memo, newsletter, or
photo—from loading the paper to selecting print settings to controlling the print job.
Follow the instructions in these sections:
■“Printing with Windows” on page 8
■“Printing on a Macintosh” on page 14
If you’re already familiar with EPSON ink jet printing, you can skip ahead to these
sections:
■“Printing on Both Sides of the Paper” on page 18
■“Creating Borderless Photo Prints” on page 20
■“Using PhotoEnhance, Custom, and Advanced Settings” on page 24
■“Using Advanced Color Management” on page 26

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Printing with Windows
This section describes the basic steps for printing with Windows. (To print on a
Macintosh, see page 14.)
Loading Paper
1. Make sure your printer and
computer are turned on.
2. Slide the left edge guide to the
right until the space between
the left and right edge guides
is just a little wider than your
paper. Then load the paper
against the right edge guide.
3. Slide the left edge guide
against the paper.
Follow these guidelines when loading paper:
■Load the printable side face up. It’s usually whiter or brighter than the other side.
■Load letterhead or preprinted paper into the printer top edge first.
■Don’t load paper above the arrow on the left edge guide.
See “Using Special EPSON Papers” on page 29 for instructions on
loading special media. For instructions on loading roll paper, see
page 42. For more details, see your electronic Reference Guide.
Don’t load paper
above this arrow
Slide the left edge guide against the paper

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Opening the Printer Software
After you open your application program and create your document, you’re ready to
select your printer software settings.
From the File menu, click Print. You see your application’s Print dialog box (your
dialog box may look slightly different):
Make the following selections in the Print dialog box:
■Make sure your EPSON Stylus Photo printer is selected.
■Click the Properties button. (If you see a Setup, Printer, or Options button, click
it. Then click Properties on the next screen.)
If you click the print icon on your application’s tool bar instead of
selecting Print from the File menu, you may not get the option to
change the printer software settings before printing.
Click here to open
your printer software
Select your printer here

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Selecting Printer Software Settings
Once you click Properties, you see your printer software Properties dialog box:
Make the following settings:
■Choose the Media Type for your paper (click the
arrow to display the Media Type list). This is very
important because your printer automatically adjusts
ink coverage and resolution according to your Media
Type setting. If you’re not sure which setting to
select, see page 37.
If you want to change the default resolution for your Media Type,
you must do so from the Advanced menu. See page 25 for
instructions on accessing the Advanced menu.
■For Ink, select Color to print a color document, or Black to print a grayscale or
black text document.
■For most documents, set the Mode to Automatic to let the printer software
determine the best settings. This is the easiest way to get good results on all types
of paper. If you’re printing a photo and you’re a novice user, set the Mode to
PhotoEnhance to optimize image brightness and contrast.
Select higher-quality or faster
printing
Select the type of paper you loaded
Select Automatic mode
Select the Ink color
Click OK

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Don’t use PhotoEnhance™if you’re printing on roll paper; it may
affect the margins.
If you’re printing a photo and you’re an advanced user, select ICM
to obtain the most accurate colors in your printout. See page 25 for
details.
■Set the slider in the Mode box to Speed if you’re printing a draft copy, then set it
to Quality when you make your final print. (The slider may not be available for
your Media Type.)
If you select Plain paper as your Media Type, the slider’s default
setting is Speed. Be sure to change the setting to Quality when
you want to get higher resolution and better detail from your printer.
■Click OK to return to your application’s Print dialog box.
For more information about printer settings, see your electronic
Reference Guide, or click the Help button. Or you can right-click any
item on the screen and then click What’s This?.
Selecting the Settings You Use Most Often
The printer settings you make apply only to the application you’re currently using. If
you usually print one type of document in different applications—for example, black
ink on legal size paper—you can change the default printer settings for all your
programs. You do this using the Windows Printer utility:
1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then select Printers.
2. Right-click your EPSON Stylus Photo printer icon.
3. Select one of the following:
■Properties (if you’re running Windows 95, 98, or Me)
■Printing Preferences (if you’re running Windows 2000)
■Document Defaults (if you’re running Windows NT)
4. Click the Main tab.

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5. Select the default settings you want to use for all your applications. Click OK
when you’re finished.
Remember, you can always change the default settings in your application when you
want to print different types of documents.
Another way to select your most frequently used settings quickly is to save them as a
group; see your electronic Reference Guide for details.
Controlling Printing
At the Print dialog box, click OK (or Print, depending on your application) to start
printing.
Click OK to start
printing

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After a moment, the Progress Meter appears and shows the progress of your print job.
You can use the buttons to cancel, pause, or restart printing. You can also see how
much ink you have left.
For more information on printing—for example, using advanced printer settings,
previewing your printout, or adding a watermark—see your electronic Reference Guide
(described on page 4) or your printer software online help.
Click to cancel printing
Does not
appear if you
are printing
over a network
Click to pause or resume
printing
Shows ink levels. The
color of ink with the
least amount left
determines the level for
all the colors shown

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Printing on a Macintosh
This section describes the basic steps for printing on a Macintosh. (To print with
Windows, see page 8.)
Loading Paper
1. Make sure your printer and
computer are turned on.
2. Slide the left edge guide to
the right until the space
between the left and right
edge guides is just a little
wider than your paper. Then
load the paper against the
right edge guide.
3. Slide the left edge guide
against the paper.
Follow these guidelines when loading paper:
■Load the printable side face up. It’s usually whiter or brighter than the other side.
■Load letterhead or preprinted paper into the printer top edge first.
■Don’t load paper above the arrow on the left edge guide.
See “Using Special EPSON Papers” on page 29 for instructions on
loading special media. For instructions on loading roll paper, see
page 42. For more details on loading different types of media, see
your electronic Reference Guide.
Don’t load paper
above this arrow
Slide the left edge guide against the paper