NewDeal Technical Support Document 272
Your laser printer has an option called timeout. If no new data is received in a certain time, and the default is usually 10 to 20 seconds, any data in the printers buffer is printed. This problem can be solved in one of two ways:
All laser printers that ship with one MB or less need at least one MB of RAM added for proper printing from our software. 512K of memory in a laser printer is often not enough to print a full 8.5"x11" page at high-resolution, and one MB is barely enough. Larger pages require even more memory. If you don't have enough memory in the printer, your document may print in strips because it fills up the available memory.
For instance, an 8.5x14 (legal) size document could require as much as 1.2 meg. Not all pages require the maximum amount of memory; it's a function of the amount of the page that is actually covered with text or graphics (the software compresses empty space, sometimes called "white space," which is why even a 512K printer can print some high-resolution pages if they're simple enough).
If pages print successfully in low mode, but not in high mode, then it's a good sign that the problem is not enough memory in the printer.
There is a mathematical relationship between the amount of memory on the printer and the largest page we can print. If you assume the worst case (most complex page), it goes something like this:
A laser printer that prints at 300dpi (dots per inch) would require 300 bits for every horizontal inch of the page. An 8" page has 7.5 printable inches, which means each horizontal line would require 300 x 8 = 2,400 bits of memory. There are eight bits in a byte, so a single horizontal line would require 2400/8 = 300 bytes. Every vertical inch of the page has 300 of these lines. Therefore, every vertical inch requires 300 x 300 = 90,000 bytes of memory. 90,000 bytes is about 88K. So, for instance, an 11" page (with 10.5 inches of printable vertical area) would require 10.5 x 88 = 924K of printer memory, worst case. That's nearly one meg (1,024K). A 14" page (with 13.5 inches of printable vertical area) would require 13.5 x 88 = 1,188K (about 1.2 meg).
The amount of memory actually available with our version 1.2 drivers is a function of the number of fonts the user has already downloaded because those drivers won't remove the fonts from the printer's internal memory. This means that even if the user has 2 megs of printer RAM, he or she may still run into problems printing if most of that RAM is taken up by previously downloaded fonts. (Cycling power on the printer should let you know if this, indeed, is the problem.) Our newer HP drivers that have "fast" text-mode printing (available starting in version 1.2.8) behave a little differently. These new drivers remove downloaded fonts from the printer's memory if the user chooses the Text Only option when printing. This is the only way of knowing how much memory is available on the printer (the HP printers provide no status reports on memory availability). For most people using our software products, this removing of downloaded fonts won't be a problem. The only problem we can think of would be when printing to a network printer that has standard pre-downloaded fonts (fonts that get downloaded when the network starts up). If somebody on the network prints using one of these drivers in text mode only (and, thereby, removes any downloaded fonts) he or she may not be too popular around the office.
However, they can always avoid text mode printing or use the "HP Compatible" driver--which has a more passive text mode option. The newer HP drivers have a new "text mode"; they will download the software fonts to the printer, making text mode printing lightning fast while essentially persevering WYSIWYG printing of text--fonts, sizes, styles and all--(graphics will still require non text mode printing).
The drivers in version 2.0 have been improved to give the user control over whether to retain the fonts downloaded to the printer or whether to remove them. This feature is available in the Options dialog box from the Print dialog box.
Here are some suggestions to speed up printing