Checking Vertical Alignment | Genicom LA36 guide

Trouble-Shooting

Checking Vertical Alignment

In bidirectional printing, characters printed from left to right tend to misalign with characters printed from right to left as shown below:

This example shows how printing looks when characters are vertically misaligned. Note that the left margin is not straight.

The vertical alignment function corrects the vertical character displacement that sometimes occurs with bidirectional printing and results in a poor appearance especially in printing tables. This function is defined as one of the power-on initiated test functions. If you notice misaligned printing, start this function to check and correct the vertical print alignment.

Make sure that continuous forms paper or single sheet paper is loaded in the printer. If possible, use forms at least 216 mm (8.5 inches) wide for LA36N or 356 mm (14 inches) wide for LA36W to avoid printing on the platen. Then proceed as follows:

1.Start the vertical alignment test.

Turn the printer on while pressing the Protocol button until the printer beeps. The printer prints the help menu and then starts printing rows of parallel bars at Letter quality speed.

Note: Do not press any buttons alone or in combination except for pressing the Protocol or the Set-Up/Quitbutton alone when turning the printer on, to avoid initiating unexpected tests not permitted for the user.

2.Adjust the vertical print alignment at Letter quality speed.

Examine the parallel bars. If the bars are aligned (not jagged), go to step 3. If the bars

are offset, repeatedly press the button or the button until the bars are aligned.

Offset of Bars

6-7

Image 104

Genicom LA36 manual Checking Vertical Alignment, Start the vertical alignment test

Contents

Genicom Matrix Printer LA36 FCC Compliance Statement Page Table of Contents Printing Maintenance Supplies and Options Resident Fonts Glossary GL-1 Index IN-1 Viii Preface About this ManualPrinter Models and Options LA36N/LA36W LA36N and LA36W Model Specifications Organization Maintenance Xii Features Introduction Options Paper Handling Parts of the Printer Front View Operations of the Control Panel Basic States of the Printer Control Panel Operations Enter Top-of-Form Adjustment mode Not printing Off Paper Specifications Paper Size Selecting PaperPrinter Acoustical Feed-Backs Paper Thickness and Number of Copies Overview of Paper Operations Ready state but not receiving or printing data Pause state Levers and Buttons Used for Paper Handling Adjusting for Paper Thickness Loading a Single Sheet of Paper Using Single SheetsPaper Thickness Lever Positions Setting Paper Select Lever and Left Paper Guide Ejecting Single Sheets Using Continuous Forms Positioning the Paper Stack Loading Continuous Forms Push Tractor and Rear Feed 12 mm Adjusting Paper Tension Loading Continuous Forms Pull Tractor and Bottom Feed Always manipulate the metallic parts of the tractor unit Removing the Tractor Unit Installing the Tractor Unit for Pull-tractor Feed Passing Continuous Forms Paper From Under the Printer Setting Continuous Forms Paper on the Tractors Tearing Off Continuous Forms Automatic-Tear-Off Advancing Unloading Continuous Forms Push-Feed ModeRecovering from an Unexpected Unloading Operation Manual Tear-Off Advancing Feeding and Positioning Paper Print Area Definition Abcdefghij ··· Top-of-Form Adjustment Line Feed/Form Feed Switching Paper Types FF/LOAD button Switching between Push-Feed and Pull-Feed Turn the printer off Tips on Paper Handling General TipsMultipart Forms Envelopes Selecting Print Features Printing Using Commercial Software Using the Control Panel Selecting Macro 1 or Macro Epson IBM Macro 1 and Macro 2 SettingsDEC DEC mode IBM&Epson modeIBM mode Epson mode XON/XOFF Installation SettingsAdjustments Settings Menu access All functions allowed Selecting a Resident Font Changing the Protocol DEC PPL2 protocol Starting or Stopping Printing Starting PrintingStopping and Viewing Printing Resuming Printing Removing Continuous Forms Removing Printed PagesRemoving Single Sheets Using Set-Up Mode What is Set-Up Mode? Entering the Set-Up Mode How Set-Up Works OFF on Initial Printout in the Set-Up Mode Overview of the Set-Up Mode Set-Up Mode Functions Options with Pre-determined Values Enter the Set-Up mode Example Changing the Vertical PitchSelect the Macro 2 function Print the menu of the vertical pitch option Options with Undetermined Values Example Changing the Left Margin Change the left margin from column 1 to column Options with Both Pre-determined and Undetermined ValuesPrint the menu of the left margin option Summary of the Set-Up Mode Printing the Printer Configuration Points to Remember Printout of Factory SettingsUsing the Print Function Deciding Which Options to Change Required Options Changing Macro 1 and Macro 2 Options Macro 1 and Macro 2 Options List Macro 1 and Macro 2 Options and Values Port Depnd IBM PPX24 LF=LFCR=CR Tractor Wrap Answerback US Ascii Suppl Ecma IBM SET Changing Install Options Install Options List Install Options and Values English Larger the input buffer selected, the smaller Download buffer becomes. Even with 64K bytesInput buffer, a minimal download buffer is Provided. If you need a larger capacity for Number of data bits Parity bit None AdjustingTop-of-Form Origin Adjust Options and Values Exiting and Saving Changing Menu Access OptionsMenu Access Option and Values Recalling Factory Settings Using the Diagnostic FunctionsPrinting Test Start the printing test select the PRINT-Toption Hex Dump Mode Start the Hex Dump mode select the HEX-DUMPoptionExit the Hex Dump mode Examine the test Sample Hex Dump Set-Up Mode Quick Reference Setup Mode MACRO1 MACRO2 Print Install Adjust Tests RCALL-FACT MENU-ACCES SAVE&EXIT Cleaning and Vacuuming the Printer MaintenanceCleaning Cleaning the Platen and Paper Bail Rollers Cleaning the Print Head Replacing the Ribbon Cartridge Remove the new ribbon cartridge from its package and install Replacing the Print Head Print Quality Problems and Solutions Trouble-ShootingSolving problems Problem Solution Problem Solution Paper Handling Problems and Solutions Operating Problems and Solutions Diagnostic Functions Printer Failures Start the vertical alignment test Adjust the vertical print alignment at Letter quality speedChecking Vertical Alignment Vertical Alignment Adjustment Exit the vertical alignment function Supplies and Options SuppliesLA30R-KA LA30R-KC Installing Options Installing the Color Kit Printer and Paper Specifications Physical Specifications Functional Specifications Barcode Character setsFonts Performance Specifications Paper Specifications Print Area Print Area for Continuous Forms Paper Thickness Do not use in high humidity environments Command Sets DEC PPL2 Quick Reference Guide Control string ConventionsEscape 1/11, introduces an escape sequence Positioning Controls C0 Control CodeC1 Control Code CSI Pn ... Pn u Sheet Size and Margins Type Size and Spacing, Managing Implicit Cursor Motion Font Management and Attribute Selection Tabs CSI Pn . . . Pn uCSI Pn . . . Pn TBC Selecting Character Sets SCS Final Characters Ascii Reports DCS Ps Pn2 Pn3 EncodedmessageString ST CSI Ps n Miscellaneous Barcode Printing DecbarDecsbca CSI Ps1 Pn2 Sixel Graphics Device Control String Envelope Decsbca CSI 0’q Sixel Graphics Protocol Selector Ps1 Sixel Graphics Grid Size defined by Pn3 Pc Pu Px Py Pz Sixel Graphics Control CodesPn1 Pn2 Pn3 Pn4 Standard 8-bit Code Table Left Half Standard 8-bit Code Table Right Half Designating and Invoking Character Sets Ascii National Replacement Character Sets ISO JIS Ascii Print Mode Control IBM Proprinter X24E and XL24E Quick Reference Guide Horizontal Control ESCVertical Control Tabulation Character Set Control FormattingColor Selection Downloading Bit Image Graphics Cut Sheet Feeder Control ESC EMESC EM E ESC EM R Epson ESC/P2 Quick Reference Guide ESC M ESC P Set line spacing to n/360 inch 0 ≤ 255 ESC + n D2 ≤ Character codes DEL ESC =ESC # Font Selection and Downloading ESC @ Command Sets Interface Information Parallel Interface Centronics Compatible Signals Ieee 1284-B Nibble Mode signals To printer HostClk High in reverse data transfer phase Serial Interface Buffer Control Cable WiringSerial Options XON/XOFF DC1/DC3 DTR Character Sets DEC PPL2 Protocol Character Sets Character Sets Character Sets Character Sets Character Sets Character Sets Character Sets Character Sets Character Sets Character Sets Character Sets Character Sets Character Sets Character Sets Character Sets Character Sets Character Sets Default Sets Code Code Turkish Ecma ISO Latin Hungarian Slovenian Polish Mazowian Kamenicky Cyrillic Elot Latin Polish Lithuanian IBM Set IBM Proprinter X24E and XL24E ProtocolIBM Set 1/2 Common Characters Epson ESC/P2 ProtocolNational Character Sets National Characters Character Sets Resident Fonts Timeless outline Nimbus Sans outline Glossary Command Set Carriage Return CRCentronics Interface Column Defaults Dot MatrixDownloading Dpi Normal Mode Line Feed LFLine Spacing Lpi Set-Up Mode PitchPlaten Proportional Spacing Single Sheets Soft FontsSoftware Tear Bar Index Answer ENQAuto Ansbk BIT&PARITY Bottom MRG Language Left Margn Form LenghHorz Pitch IN-3 Vert Pitch