NewDeal Technical Support Document 242

UNLISTED PRINTERS

How to set up your printer if it isn't on NewDeal's list of printers

Note: This support document is about NewDeal software and NewDeal print drivers. You must have NewDeal software to use these drivers.

Even if your printer doesn't appear on NewDeal's list of printers, you may still be able to use it with our software. Only the printers on the list in Preferences/Printer have been tested in our compatibility lab. If your printer is not listed, you may be able to use the information in this document to make your printer work with NewDeal, but we cannot guarantee success.

Print Drivers

NewDeal supports hundreds of printers, but it does so with only a few dozen print drivers. Print drivers are the software programs that control specific printers. If you have a certain printer, but you are using the wrong print driver, your printer will not print correctly because the commands the print driver is sending are meant for a different printer.

Printer Emulations

Printer manufacturers know that a software company can't write a custom print driver for every printer they make. To provide wider software support for their printers, printer manufacturers usually provide different emulations for their printers. This means that if your printer isn't listed in Preferences, Printer, you may still be able to use it by choosing the driver for a printer that your printer emulates.

An example of this is the Star NX-2420 color printer, which emulates the Epson LQ860 printer. If you have a Star NX-2420 printer, and you select the Epson LQ860 Color in your NewDeal software, your Star printer will print just fine.

Finding your printer's emulation

You may need to look in your printer manual to find the specific printers that your printer emulates. Check the index under the words "Emulation" or "Compatibility" or "Software."

You may need to set a few switches on the printer itself to make the printer's emulation work. Some printers do not have physical switches, but come with a software that is used to set the printer's emulation mode.

If there are no emulations listed in your printer manual, visit the manufacturer's web site, or call your dealer or the printer manufacturer and ask them if they can suggest an alternative driver that will work with the printer. As a last resort, see our support document 214 (General Printing Help) for a list of commonly emulated printers, or look to see if there is information about your printer in document 272 (Specific Printer Notes).

Trouble shooting

If you have problems making the printer work using the emulation printer driver, check the printer manual and make sure you have the printer set up for the correct emulation, or check with your dealer or the printer manufacturer to make sure you have the printer configured correctly.

If you are certain you have everything configured correctly, but your printouts don't look exactly right, your printer's emulation may not be 100% perfect. Try selecting Medium Quality mode when you print. Also, run Preferences, Computer and set your LPT port to BIOS or DOS instead of 7.

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Last Modified 17 Feb 1999