Brother PocketJet3Plus w BT (PJ-563): Chapter 2 - Using the Printer

Chapter 2 - Using the Printer

Printing Solutions

Brother provides printing solutions for many different operating systems and device types.

Device types include:

• Windows systems

• Psion/Symbian systems

• Windows CE systems

• Palm systems

• Rim systems

• Mac OS systems

• Linux systems

For most printer applications, your printer requires driver software to communicate with

your computer. A CD with drivers and installation information is provided with your

PocketJet. The supplied CD and the Brother Mobile Solutions website both list driver

version numbers. If the website version is newer (with a higher version number), we

recommend that you install the website version. Browse to the Brother Mobile Solutions

web site, www.brothermobilesolutions.com. or call 1-800-543-6144 and press 4.

Drivers that can be installed automatically, once selected from the Installation CD’s main

setup program, are:

• Windows 2000 Professional / XP / Vista

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Driver Installation

NOTE: Please do NOT connect your PocketJet printer to your computer via the USB

cable UNTIL you have performed the driver installation. If you accidentally

do so, cancel the “New Hardware Wizard”, disconnect the printer, and begin

the driver installation described below.

Using a Bluetooth Interface - Be sure Bluetooth is installed on the host computer and

is active according to the host computer instructions before installing the PocketJet

driver and the PocketJet Conguration Utility if you are going to use the Bluetooth

interface.

CD Install

1. Insert the CD in your PC’s CD drive.

2. Select the model.

3. Select the install item you wish to install.

4. Follow all on-screen instructions to install the software. Your Windows operating

system will be selected automatically.

5. Click “Finish” to close the CD or click “browse” to learn about additional

solutions available for your PocketJet printer.

NOTE: If the automatic CD installation does not proceed as explained above, use the

manual install procedure below.

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Manual Install

You may want to manually install a Windows version. View the “Readme.txt” le

on the CD for more information. Note that every driver can be installed manually if

necessary.

1. Place the installation CD into the host CD drive.

2. Browse the CD to nd the directory for your printer model.

3. Browse the CD to nd the proper operating system folder (for Windows, either

“<CD Drive>:\<printer>\Win2000-XP” or “<CD Drive>:\<printer>\Vista”.

4. For Vista only, browse the “x86” directory if you have 32-bit Vista or the “amd64”

directory if you have 64-bit Vista.

5. Double-click on the appropriate le. For Windows, “PJ3-Install-2KXP.exe”,

“PJ3-Install-Vista32.exe” or “PJ3-Install-VistaXP64.exe” according to your printer.

6. Follow the on-screen instructions. Be sure to select the appropriate communication

interface during installation, since this will provide helpful hints.

If the installation does not proceed as explained above, contact Brother Mobile

Solutions Technical Support, (1-800-543-6144, ext. 1601).

Un-Install

If you need to uninstall the printer driver because of conicts or to update it, follow

these steps:

1. In Windows, select the Control Panel.

2. Select Printers and Faxes.

3. Right-click on the desired print queue.

4. Select Delete.

5. Close the Control Panel.

6. Re-install the printer driver.

Accessing Advanced Software Settings

Text Mode:

The Printers (PJ-522/PJ-523) can print either Raster Graphics or Text Mode. The

choice is determined automatically by the data stream sent from the host device to

the printer.

Raster Graphics is the most common form of usage for the PocketJet. The printer

uses bit-mapped graphics as opposed to text. What you will see is WYSIWYG

– what you see is what you get – meaning that what is on your computer screen is

what is printed.

In Text Mode, the Printers will print only the characters contained in the resident

®

character set. For the Printers this character set is the Epson

ESC/P emulation in

native serif and sans serif fonts in 10, 12, 15 cpi and proportional sizes.

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Operating System Considerations

The following three settings (Modes) can be accessed using the software dialog boxes

and methods discussed below.

In Windows Vista, permanently change the advanced features using “Start:Control

Panel:Printers: Brother PJ-522: Printing Preferences: Advanced or the settings

may be temporarily changed using the “Print Setup” from your application.

In Windows XP / 2000 Professional, permanently change the advanced features using

“Start:Settings:Printers: Brother PJ-522:Printing Preferences:Advanced” or the

settings may be temporarily changed using the “Print Setup” from your application.

As above, “Brother PJ-522” should be changed to match your printer model (“Brother PJ-523”,

Brother PJ-522-BT”, or “Brother PJ-523-BT”).

Density Modes

You can set the print density to your preference from zero to 10. 0 is the lightest,

7 is the default (medium), and 10 is the darkest.

2-ply Mode

For special applications where 2-ply paper is needed, this setting makes prints that are

darker (and print slower) than the density mode set to 10 as listed above.

Form Feed Modes

You can set how the printer ejects paper by using the following options.

• Fixed Page Mode - the paper always feeds at the end of a job to complete the

vertical page size specied (i.e., letter, legal, A4, or user-dened size). Use this

with cut sheet paper

• End of Page Mode - the printer feeds paper until an “out-of-paper” condition is

found, or a maximum of 356 mm (14’’). Use this with perforated paper.

• No Feed Mode - there is no paper feed at the end of a job. This is typically used

with non-perforated roll paper to save paper.

- No Feed Mode Extra Feed - this option is used in conjunction with the No Feed

Mode to eject paper by setting the number of lines to be ejected (at 200-dpi for PJ-

522 or 300-dpi for PJ-523) after the end of a document.

NOTE: The “Extra Feed” mode only affects the last page of a document. The bottom

margin as selected by the application has no effect. The top margin actually

denes the total top and bottom margin between pages of a multi-page job.

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Selecting Media

Cut Sheet Paper

1. Select “Fixed Page” mode.

2. Select the appropriate paper size (Letter, A4, or Legal).

3. In Windows Vista / XP / 2000 Professional, set the Paper Type to “Cutsheet”.

Non-Perforated Roll Paper

To use roll paper, you must select from either xed page length using “Fixed Page

Mode” or variable page length using the “No Feed Mode” and selecting a page eject

length using the “No Feed Mode Extra Feed” option.

When using Windows Vista / XP / 2000 Professional, for each case below, be sure to

set the Paper Type to “Roll”.

A. Variable Length Forms (saves paper)

1. Select No Feed Mode.

2. Set the value of the No Feed Mode Extra Feed to the amount of margin you

wish to have between the nal printed line and the end of the document. For

example, 200 lines equal 1 inch. On a PocketJet 3, this allows paper advancement

from the print head area inside the printer to a position outside the printer. This

provides for a “tear-off” position from a continuous roll feed that will include the

entire printed image.

3. The Paper Size selected does not affect this mode except to provide a maximum

number of lines per page.

B. Innite Length Forms (such as geological recordings or polygraph charts) –

(Only available in Windows Vista / XP / 2000 Professional drivers)

1. Select No Feed Mode.

2. Select “Innite Paper Size”.

3. Set the value of the No Feed Mode Extra Feed to the desired length.

4. Check to be sure that the Top/Bottom margins within your application

software are set to zero (0).

C. Fixed Page Length

1. Select Fixed Page Mode.

2. If the length corresponds to one of the pre-dened paper sizes (Letter, Legal,

or A4), select the desired paper size from the Advanced Features Setup using the

Control Panel method instead of the application software’s Print Setup in order to

make it permanent.

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3. If the xed length desired is not one of these sizes, use the Advanced Features

setup to select User Dened Paper Size. Set the width and length as desired.

D. Multipage Documents with “tear off” for EACH page

Note: This feature has recently been added to the Windows Vista / XP / 2000

Professional driver.

Select “Roll Paper Pause” for Windows XP / 2000 Professional for Paper Source on the

“Paper” tab within the printer properties control panel. This setting causes a dialog to

be displayed before EVERY printed page, including the rst one.

Perforated Roll Paper

1. Select “End of Page” mode.

2. Select “Perf Letter” or “Perf A4” paper size. This is very important because

the printable area is smaller when using perforated paper compared to cut

sheet paper.

Windows Vista / XP / 2000 Professional Note: Set “Paper Type” to “Perforated

Roll.” This modies the printable area for any paper size including custom

sizes. This way you are not limited to “Peretter” and “PerfA4” sizes.

Windows Advanced Features Using

PocketJet 3 Utility (Conguration Utility)

§ Auto-On

§ Auto-Off

§ Pre-feed

These features can be accessed through Windows by using the PocketJet 3 Utility

(Conguration Utility). Please see specic denitions of Auto-On, Auto-Off, and Pre-

feed on pages 24 and 25.

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Windows-Specic Operating System Features

Windows Vista Notes:

1) The “Roll Paper Pause” feature is not available in Vista.

2) This system supports both 32-bit and 64-bit Vista.

Windows XP / 2000 Professional Notes:

1) Paper Type Control – Select Cut Sheet, Roll, or Perforated Roll. This modies

the printable area of all paper sizes (Letter, Legal, A4, and Custom).

2) Using Custom Forms

a. Select Start:Settings:Printers: select Server Properties.

b. On the Forms Page, create a form for use with custom paper size.

c. Allowed sizes:

• Minimum width = 102 mm (4”)

• Maximum width = 216 mm (8.5”)

• Minimum length = 51 mm (2”)

• Maximum length = 27 feet (8.23 m) PJ-522,

18.01 feet (5.49 m) PJ-523.

d. All forms created within these specications will be displayed as paper

size options.

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Connecting to Your Computer

There are two ways to connect your PocketJet to your computer, via USB cable and via

Infrared (IrDA). For Printers with the optional Bluetooth feature, you can connect

via wireless Bluetooth.

Via USB Cable

CAUTION: Install the driver software before connecting the printer to the computer

via the USB cable.

1. Install the printer driver. See page 7.

2. Make sure your printer is off before installing the interface cable.

3. Insert the printer end of the cable into the interface connector on the side of the

printer. See example, Figure 7.

Figure 7. Connecting the PocketJet to your computer

4. Connect the other end of the cable to the USB port on your computer.

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Via Infrared (IrDA)

If a USB cable is not connected to the PocketJet printer when it is turned on, the

infrared connection is automatically enabled. Make sure your computer is set properly

to send data via its infrared port, make sure the two infrared ports are aligned toward

each other, and proceed to print.

Via Bluetooth (Bluetooth Models Only)

1. Follow the recommendations of the manufacturer of your Bluetooth equipped host

computer or adapter to install any necessary hardware and software.

2. If “pairing” is necessary using a PIN code, use the PocketJet Utility that accompanies

your PocketJet3 Bluetooth printer to set the printer’s PIN password.

See information on PIN setting in “Bluetooth Menu”, page 19.

NOTE: The default PIN code is “default”.

3. Connect to the printer according to the instructions supplied with your Bluetooth

equipped host or adapter.

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You may enter from 1 to 16 alphanumeric characters for your PIN code. Click on the “Save

PIN” button to transmit your PIN code to the printer. CAUTION: For security purposes,

the Bluetooth PIN code cannot be programmed using the Bluetooth port. Please use the

USB cable or IRDA port to program the PIN code.

Note that the PIN code for your printer will be printed on the printer’s built-in test

pattern should you forget your code, and you may create a new code at any time by

using the Conguration Utility.

If your OS or application requires a PIN code, the factory default password is

“default” (case sensitive).

Please refer to “Connecting to Your Computer” on page 13 for information on

physical connections between your computer and your PocketJet Bluetooth printer.

When you have completed the PIN and Local Name, click on “Save PIN” and/or

“Save Name,” and then click on “Close.”

Note: The website http://www.brothermobilesolutions.com contains the most cur-

rent PocketJet driver as well as information including FAQ’s and tips for connect-

ing to Bluetooth devices.

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Conguration Options (Dropdown Menu Selections)

NOTE: These conguration options are in most cases relevant only where the host

computer will be sending simple text data to the printer and does not have a

Brother-supplied driver available. The options which are common to all

operating systems include Auto-On, Auto-O, and Pre-feed.

Printer:

This selection lists print queues that exist for the printer. In most cases only one

queue will be displayed. If the queue lists more than one printer, select the one that

corresponds to your connected printer.

If using text mode, the following options should be set by the user. In non-text mode,

they will be set automatically by a Windows driver.

Paper Size:

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For standard paper sizes, this setting determines default margins and expected length

for each printed page. For ‘Custom’ sizes, margins and length may be set using the

commands ‘Form Length’, ‘Bottom Margin’, ‘Left Margin’ and ‘Right Margin’.

‘Letter’ size assumes an 8-1/2 x 11” page, and sets a total printable height of 10.67”,

which in turn provides for a top margin of about 0.27”, and a bottom margin of about

0.06”. Printable width is set to 8.16” with 0.17” margins on either side.

‘Legal’ size assumes an 8-1/2 x 14” page, and sets a total printable height of 13.67”,

and top and bottom margins of about 0.27” and 0.06”, respectively. Printable width

is set to 8.16” with 0.17” margins on either side.

‘A4’ size assumes an 8.27 x 11.7” (210 x 297mm) page, sets a total printable height

of 11.36” (288.5mm), top and bottom margins of about 0.27” (6.9mm) and 0.06”

(1.5mm) respectively. Printable width is set to 8.0” (203.2mm) with 0.13” (3.3mm)

margins on either side.

‘Custom’ size allows the setting of length of the form, bottom margin, and left and right

margins using those commands.

A Note about Text Mode:

The Printers can print either Raster Graphics or Text Mode. The choice is determined

automatically by the data stream sent from the host device to the printer.

Raster Graphics is the most common form of usage for the PocketJet. The printer

uses bit-mapped graphics as opposed to text. What you see printed is exactly what

you see on your computer screen.

In Text Mode, the Printers will print only the characters contained in the resident

character set. For the PocketJet 3 and PocketJet 3 Plus, this character set is the

®

Epson

ESC/P emulation in native serif and sans serif fonts in 10, 12, 15cpi, and

proportional sizes.

Print Density:

This sets the default print density (darkness) of the printing. Darker print will use more

battery power, but may be easier to read if the font or other printed information is

made up of very narrow lines. If battery conservation is more important, adjusting

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the setting for lightest print will do so, however, note that using “high” will use more

battery power. ‘Low’ = lighter, and ‘High’ = darker print.

Form Feed Mode:

This setting affects what the printer will do in response to a Form Feed command

from any source. Different modes are appropriate depending upon the type of

paper being used.

‘Fixed Page’ mode is typically appropriate. It assumes a known page length (based

upon the ‘Form Length’ and/or ‘Paper Size’ settings). It advances a new sheet to the

printing position, prints, and attempts to eject the sheet at an appropriate distance

based upon the length of the page.

‘End of Page’ mode makes no assumptions about page length, and will continue to

feed the paper forward to a maximum page length of 14” or until the Paper Sensor

detects that no paper remains in the input of the printer. Note that either the end of a

cut sheet, or the black mark printed on the back of certain roll and perforated paper,

will be detected as the end of a page.

‘No Feed’ mode ignores all Form Feed commands, and does not advance the paper

after printing. This can be of particular help to roll paper users who are printing only

partial pages and do not wish to waste additional paper at the end of each document.

The page may be manually advanced using the Main Switch.

Auto-On:

When external power is applied to the printer, there are three possible actions that the

printer may take.

If Auto-On is set to ‘Disabled’, the printer will place itself in a “sleep” state where

minimal power is used. The Main Switch must be pressed to wake the printer up

for printing.

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If Auto-On is set to ‘Enabled’, the printer will power up as soon as an external

power source is connected to the printer. This can be useful in certain mobile

installations where access to the Main Switch is difcult or unavailable.

If Auto-On is set to ‘Enabled-No Main Switch’, the printer will power up as soon as

an external power source is connected, and furthermore, the Main Switch cannot

be used to turn the printer off. This may be useful in some mobile installations

where the button could be accidentally pressed. Power must be disconnected to

shut off the printer.

Auto-Off:

When the printer is running on battery power, you may wish to have the printer turn

off automatically to conserve the battery. You may choose to disable this feature by

selecting ‘None’, or you may select either a 10-minute or 30-minute time-out period.

If no data is received within the period selected, the printer will turn itself off.

Pre-Feed:

When the printer is powered on and paper is found in the paper input slot area,

the printer will normally advance the paper a short distance. This is the default

‘Enabled’ operation of the printer. However, roll paper users who leave paper

loaded while powering the printer up/down may nd that this is inconvenient as it

will misregister the top of form on pre-printed and perforated roll paper. Those users

will likely wish to ‘Disable’ this feature.

CR-LF Mode:

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®

This command determines what the ESC/P

emulation does with ASCII characters 10

and 13. These are the ‘line feed’ (LF) and ‘carriage return’ (CR) characters. The

“LF” causes the printer to move down to the next print line, and the “CR” causes the

printer to move back to the left margin position. In most cases, these are sent at the

ends of lines to position the printer for the next line of text.

Some host computers send one or the other of these, and some send both, each hoping

to move to the left margin and down to the next line. You can determine the effect

of these characters when they are received. If your host sends only a CR or LF to

complete each line, you should set this to LF=CR+LF CR=CR+LF so that both a

carriage return (return to left margin) and line feed are executed when just one of

these control codes is received by the printer.

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Form Length:

This command can be used to set the form length of a ‘Custom’ size page. You may

specify the vertical print area in text lines as dened by the ‘Text Line Spacing’

setting, or in inches.

If using the ‘Lines’ method for setting “custom” form length, the physical height of

the page is determined by the vertical space per line as determined by the ‘Text Line

Spacing’ command. The minimum value allowed is the number of lines that would

equal at least one inch of print because this is the minimum length of paper that will

feed properly through the printer. For example, if your current ‘Text Line Spacing’

is set to 6 lines per inch, you must specify at least ‘6’ lines of form length. The

maximum setting is 127 lines. For 6 lines per inch, that will provide a page of a little

more than 21 inches in length.

If using the ‘Inches’ method for setting form length, the physical height of the page

is rounded down if needed to create an even number of print lines as determined by

the ‘Text Line Spacing’ command. For example, if your ‘Text Line Spacing’ is set

to 6 lines per inch, and you specify 9.6 inches, the application will determine that 57

lines could be printed in this space, and change your inch value to (1/6 x 57) and the

display a form length of 9.5 inches.

If you switch modes from ‘Lines’ to ‘Inches’, the form length will be recalculated in

inches and displayed accordingly. If you switch from ‘Inches’ to ‘Lines’, the form

length will also be recalculated and displayed as the number text lines that will be

printed as shown in the example below.

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Bottom Margin:

This setting will modify the bottom margin when ‘Page Size’ is set to ‘Custom’.

‘Lines’ allow you to set a bottom margin equal to the height of a specic number of text

lines. The actual space that is left depends upon the current setting of the ‘Text Line

Spacing’ setting. For example, if ‘Text Line Spacing’ is set to 1/6”, and the ‘Bottom

Margin’ is set to ‘4’ lines, 2/3” of blank space will be created at the bottom of

each page.

The minimum and ‘default’ space between pages will depend upon the setting

of the ‘Text Line Spacing’, but is a minimum of 1/2”. For 6 lines per inch, the

minimum is 3 lines; for 8 lines per inch, 4 lines; for 8 lines per inch at 0.12” spacing,

5 lines. Note that if the “Form Feed Mode” is set to “No Feed”, the bottom margin

will be forced to “0” lines as a reminder that no margin can be set and none will

be produced.

The maximum setting is the ‘Form Length’ in lines – 1.

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Left Margin:

This setting can modify the left margin when the ‘Custom’ ‘Page Size’ is selected. You

may choose to avoid any changes by selecting ‘Use Paper Size’ which will assume

you wish to use the full 8” available print width. You may also choose to set a

number of columns of unprinted left margin. The actual empty width created will

depend upon the current character pitch as set by ‘Default Pitch’. For example, if the

default pitch is set to 12 characters per inch, and you set the right margin to ‘9’, there

will be a 3/4” (9 x 1/12”) right margin established. If the current ‘Default Pitch’ is

set to ‘Proportional’, 10 characters per inch pitch is used for this calculation. Values

that cause up to 4.5” of left margin are allowed.

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Right Margin:

This setting can modify the right margin when the ‘Custom’ ‘Page Size’ is selected.

You may choose to avoid any changes by selecting ‘Use Paper Size’ which will

assume you wish to use the full 8” available print width. You may also choose to

set a number of columns of unprinted right margin. The actual empty width created

will depend upon the current character pitch as set by ‘Default Pitch’. For example,

if the default pitch is set to 12 characters per inch, and you set the left margin to ‘9’,

there will be a 3/4” (9 x 1/12”) left margin established. If the current ‘Default Pitch’

is set to ‘Proportional’, 10 characters per inch pitch is used for this calculation. The

printable page width (the space left on the page by the difference between left and

right margins) can be as little as 1/5”.

Text Line Spacing:

This setting is used to modify the amount of vertical space that is used for each line

of text. If you select ‘6 Lines/Inch’, lines of text will be created every 1/6”. If

you select ‘8 Lines/Inch’, lines of text will be created every 1/8”. Since the “IBM

graphics characters” used to create boxes and lines are 0.12” tall, when printing

documents that contain these characters, you will want to select “8 Lines/Inch

(0.12”)” to assure that the tops and bottoms of the graphics characters touch.

Page 30

4. Grasp the battery removal ribbon, which is attached to the inside of the battery

compartment. See Figure 12.

NOTE: If you forget to hold on to the ribbon, you may accidentally insert the

battery on top of it. Then you won’t be able to remove the battery by pulling

the ribbon.

Figure 12. Placing the battery inside the

battery compartment

5. While holding onto the ribbon, tilt the battery and place it inside the battery

compartment. Once the battery clears the outer edges of the compartment, press it

securely into position.

Make sure the label faces the outside of the battery compartment. Otherwise, the

battery cover will not close properly.

NOTE: The side of the battery opposite the warning label contains a heat sensor

that stops the ow of electricity if the battery overheats.

6. Attach the battery cover rst to the end of the battery compartment opposite the AC

adapter receptacle. Close and latch the cover. If necessary, gently push the cover

latch towards the AC adapter receptacle until it latches.

Page 37

Removing the Battery

1. Open the printer’s battery cover by pressing the cover latch. Swing the cover open

and remove it.

2. Pull out on the battery removal ribbon as shown in Figure 13 until the battery starts

to tilt out of its compartment.

NOTE: If the battery removal ribbon is caught behind the battery, insert a thin

metal object such as a at-blade screwdriver between the battery and the

case at the end away from the AC adapter receptacle and tilt it out of its

compartment.

3. Remove the battery from the compartment.

4. Gently pull the battery connector from the terminal inside the printer.

Figure 13. Instructions for removing the battery

Page 38

Charging the Battery

NOTE: Batteries are shipped from the factory uncharged. Brother recommends that

a complete charging cycle (following steps 1 through 3 below) be completed

before using the battery for the rst time.

1. Make sure the printer is connected to an AC power outlet with the AC adapter and

power cord or a DC power cord.

2. Make sure the printer is off.

3. Press the main switch and hold it down for a few seconds until the POWER indicator

light begins to blink. This puts the printer in Charge Mode and starts the charging of

the battery.

The POWER indicator light blinks until charging is complete.

The maximum time to charge to 100% capacity is approximately 120 minutes.

When the printer nishes charging the battery, it automatically turns itself off, and the

POWER indicator light goes off.

Note that when the printer is connected to an external source of power, it will

constantly draw approximately 120 mA to trickle charge the battery.

Stopping the Charge Process

If you want to stop the printer while it is in Charge mode, press the main switch

twice quickly.

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Tips on Using the Battery

Darker prints discharge the battery faster than lighter prints do. Use the density

adjustment from the driver dialog on your computer or use the Conguration Utility to

adjust lightness and darkness. See “Accessing Advanced Software Features” on page

8.

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