FCC ID: GDI-Q10055 SP Series Info Central Welcome to Info Central for Datacard SP35 and SP55 card printers.
Answer questions you have about using the printer What is “SmartDriver”? The SmartDriver™ is the printer driver for several Datacard desktop printers, including SP35, SP55, Select™ and Magna™ Platinum™ Series, Select and Magna Class printers with Advanced Imaging Technology, and the ImageCard IV printer. Older printers, such as the Express Class, use a similar driver that supports only that type of printer. The SmartDriver provides bi-directional communication.
Learn how to use this online information The following descriptions can help you use the HTML Help Viewer window to find and read the information you want. About Info Central SP Series Info Central is an library on the PC that provides access to all user information for SP35 and SP55 printers. Info Central is made up of several compiled Microsoft HTML Help files which are linked together. It includes: • Toolbox and Message Help for the SP Series Printer is one of the files linked to Info Central.
• Position the cursor over the edge of the window and drag the edge to a new location. Left-hand pane: You can hide (close) or show (open) the left-hand side of the HTML help viewer. The lefthand side of the window provides navigation choices--ways for you to find topics of interest to you. The left-hand pane provides: • Contents: The Contents tab displays an expanding list of the information available through Info Central. Each line includes a symbol and text.
Learn more about tasks, such as installation, setup, or maintenance The middle part of the Contents list is organized by tasks. Make sure the left-hand pane is displayed and scroll through the list to see the tasks available. If needed, close or open books to help you find the information you want. You can also use the Index or Search tabs to find information about a task.
Solve problems with printing Is a message displayed on the PC? Is the quality of the printed card a problem? Is the problem with the printer? For example, is it making noise? Is a card stuck in the printer? Is there a problem with the magnetic stripe? Is the printer not responding when you send a card from the PC? SP Series Info Central
Access an online version of the Printer Guide Do one of the following: • The Printer Guides (one for SP35 and one for SP55) are included in the Contents list of Info Central, near the end of the list. Make sure the left-hand pane is displayed and scroll through the list to see the tasks available. If needed, close or open books to help you find the Printer Guide. • You can also type “Printer Guide” on the Index tab to locate and display the Printer Guides. • Click Printer Guide.
Open help for the Printer Toolbox and Messages Help for the Printer Toolbox and Messages is included in the Contents list of Info Central, near the bottom of the list. Or, click Help for Printer Toolbox and Messages.
Open help for Properties or Printing Preferences Help for the Properties or Printing Preferences uses the Microsoft Windows Help format (not HTML Help), so it is not included in the Contents list of Info Central.
SP Series Info Central
Safety and compliance (FCC) This section presents: • Regulatory compliance information • Safety information • Trademark acknowledgments Regulatory compliance Notice for USA (FCC notice) This equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy. If it is not installed and used in accordance with this instruction manual, it may interfere with radio communications.
Notice for Taiwan Notice for Japan This equipment is in the Class A category of information technology equipment based on the rules of the Voluntary Control Council for Interference by Information Technology Equipment (VCCI). When used in a residential area, radio interference may be caused. In this case, the user may be required to take appropriate corrective actions.
Safe environment • Connect equipment to a grounded facility power source. Do not defeat or bypass the ground lead. • Place the equipment on a stable surface (table) and ensure floors in the work area are dry and non-slip. Insulated rubber floor mats are preferred. • Know the location of equipment branch circuit interrupters or circuit breakers and how to turn them on and off in case of emergency. • Know the location of fire extinguishers and how to use them.
SP Series Info Central
Installation 1 Installation The printer is easy to install and use. It is also flexible; you can connect and use it in many different ways. Most often, one printer is connected to one PC. However, two or more PCs can connect to and use one printer, or more than one printer can be attached to a PC. The information in this section has two purposes: • If you are not familiar with installing a printer on a PC, this section provides detailed steps and information to help you.
2 Installation SP Series Info Central
3 Before you install This chapter presents the following: • Skills that installers need • Site requirements and guidelines • Requirements for the PC used with the Datacard® SP35 or SP55 printer • The preferred sequence for installing this printer as part of an identification system • Choices for installing the printer, including using a network Installation audience To perform the procedures in the installation section of this guide, you need the following skills: • Ability to read and understand writte
4 • Store all supplies in a clean, cool, dry location. See Supplies Storage for information about the storage environment for printer supplies. PC and software requirements The printer must be used with a PC that runs the printer driver. The PC also runs a card creation application that captures and organizes the data to appear on each card.
5 the printer driver after setting up the PC and before installing the card creation application and capture software and devices. Verify the success of each installation step before continuing. Installation choices Most users install one printer on a PC, using the CD-ROM shipped with the printer for installation.
6 • Using more than one printer installed to a PC as a printer pool, when the PC is running Windows 2000 or XP. The operating system manages sending jobs to the printers so the next available printer receives the card. See Printer pooling for information on setting up and using printer pooling.
7 Install the printer This section describes how to install the Datacard® SP35 or SP55 printer. It describes: • Unpacking the printer • Connecting the power cord • Connecting the data cable • Preparing for printer driver installation Unpacking the printer The printer is small and easy to unpack. 1 Open the shipping carton. 2 Remove the installation map. The top side shows the accessories shipped with the printer. If the printer includes optional items, the options are checked on the installation map.
8 The USB cable must be a type CM 30V cable, up to a maximum of 6.5 feet or 2 meters long. A longer cable might result in electrical interference. If the printer is connected over a network using a print server, see Direct network printing for information about connecting the printer. 1 Attach the flat end of the USB cable to the USB data port on the PC (or to a device attached to the PC through a USB port). 2 If you are installing the printer, Wait to connect the other end of the data cable.
9 Installing the driver The printer is shipped with a CD-ROM that contains the printer drivers for the supported Windows operating systems. The supported operating systems are: • Windows Millennium Edition (Me) (recommended) • Windows XP with Service Pack 1 (recommended) • Windows 2000, with Service Pack 3 • Windows 98 Second Edition (SE) See PC and software requirements for details on operating system support and limitations.
10 – If the PC has an existing SmartDriver installed, the program displays a message telling you to upgrade the printer driver. See Upgrading the driver. 6 If you are using files downloaded from the Web, extract the files to the PC’s hard drive. The SmartDriver installation program will start automatically when the files have been extracted.The first page provides a choice: – If the SmartDriver is installed on the PC, “Upgrade the existing driver” is the default.
11 – If you installed the driver from downloaded files, a message appears indicating that the SP Series Info Central (or e-Guide) isa not installed. You can locate the download file for SP Series Info Central and the e-Guide in the downloads area of the Datacard Web site at www.datacard.com. – Go to Printing sample cards to complete installation.
12 13 The installation program copies files to the PC and updates entries to enable the printer. 14 If you chose the Magna, Select, or ImageCard IV e-guides, the installation program detects whether the Adobe Acrobat Reader program is installed on the PC. If it is not, the installation program asks if you want to install Acrobat Reader. Follow instructions provided with the printer to install Acrobat Reader. 15 On Windows Me, click Finish to close the Add New Hardware Wizard.
13 – If the printer is a color printer and is using a monochrome (K) ribbon, the printed sample card will be mostly black, not full-color. 4 Compare the cards you printed with the cards shipped with the printer. 5 When you have printed the card, you can close the Printer Toolbox or leave it open. 6 Use the card the evaluate how well the printer is operating: – If you have just completed installation, use the comparison to complete the Installation Report and mail or fax the report to Datacard.
14 • For a user connected through a network using Printer Sharing, select Allow only for the Print permission. (Select Deny for Manage Printers and Manage Documents.) 8 Select Apply to save the change. Save changes for each name. 9 Repeat steps 5 through 8 to add other users or groups. 10 Select OK to close the Properties dialog box.
15 Upgrading the driver When a newer release of the SmartDriver becomes avialable, you might want to upgrade the printer driver to take advantage of new features. The Printer Toolbox displays the version of the printer driver, which can help you to decide whether to update the driver. See the SP35 Printer Guide or SP55 Printer Guide if you need instructions on opening the Printer Toolbox. The procedure to use depends on the operating system running on the PC.
16 – If you installed the driver from CD-ROM and SP Series Info Central was previously installed, the files are updated. – If you installed the driver from downloaded files, a message appears to inform you that that the SP Series Info Central (or e-Guide) is not available. 6 You must restart the PC before the driver can work with the printer. Click Finish to close the installation and restart the PC. 7 Follow instructions to update the printer firmware if prompted.
15 Reinstalling the driver If you have problems printing from a PC to the printer, you might need to remove the driver and install it again.
16 • If you have attempted to delete the printer and the icon remains, run the Cleanup utility as though the driver was deleted. 1 Begin with all SmartDriver printer drivers deleted from the PC. Make sure you have restarted Windows after deleting the drivers. 2 Start the Cleanup process: – If you downloaded the Cleanup Utility, double-click the Cleanup.exe file to extract and start the utility. – Insert the SmartDriVer CD-ROM in the PC’s drive.
21 Troubleshooting Installation Problems This section describes some problems users have reported when installing the printer and provides solutions to those problems. Troubleshooting any installation The following problems might occur when installing the printer using any type of connection. Address the possible causes in the order listed. Problem Cause Possible solution The light on the power supply does not come on within 30 seconds after plugging in the power supply.
22 Problem Cause Possible solution The printer is connected through more than 5 hubs (or devices) or through 2 or more unpowered hubs (or devices). Remove hubs until the printer is connected through 5 or fewer hubs (or devices) or directly to the PC. Make sure every other hub is powered. The printer is connected through a USB hub or device that is defective. Replace the USB hub or, if the printer is connected through another device, connect both devices through a USB hub.
23 Test LED does not light up on power up the print server. The power or network connection for the print server is not working. Make sure that the print server is connected to a power source and that the network connection is good. See the guide for the print server. The network port driver installation did not complete successfully. On Windows 2000 or XP, the DCNETn port does not appear in the Ports list when installing the printer. The network address or name of the printer has not been defined.
24 3 Select Start from the Windows task bar. 4 From the Windows Start menu, select Settings and then Control Panel. The Control Panel appears. 5 Double-click the System icon to open it. The System dialog box opens. 6 Open the Device Manager. – On Windows Me and Windows 98, click the Device Manager tab. – On Windows 2000 and Windows XP, click the Hardware tab, and then click the Device Manager button. 7 Make sure “View devices by type” is selected.
25 PC port settings This section describes how to configure ports on the PC attached to the printer. For a local connection, the PC uses a USB port. If the printer includes a smart card module, that module connects to a USB or serial port on the PC. (This section does not address any network setup issues.) Set up a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port on all operating systems These steps apply to the USB data port and to an optional smart card USB port.
26 If the Resources tab shows conflicts, select another configuration or change the settings for the port, following port instructions. 9 Click OK on the Properties dialog box and on the System Properties dialog box to save settings and close the dialog boxes. Serial port settings This section describes how to set serial port values A serial port might be used with a smart card module. For some smart card applications, you connect the PC to the serial port on the printer.
27 If the PC has more than one serial port, make sure you view the settings for the serial port to which the printer is attached. 4 5 Select the following settings: Setting Value Baud rate 9600 Data bits 8 Parity None Stop bits 1 Flow control None When the settings are correct, click OK to save settings and close the dialog box. Setting the serial port on Windows XP 1 From the Start menu, select Settings and then Control Panel. 2 From the Control Panel, select the System icon.
28 5 Select the Port Settings tab. If the PC has more than one serial port, make sure you view the settings for the serial port to which the printer is attached. 6 7 Select the following settings: Setting Value Baud rate 9600 Data bits 8 Parity None Stop bits 1 Flow control None When the settings are correct, click OK to save settings and close the dialog box. Setting a serial port for Windows Me & 98 1 From the Start menu, select Settings and then Control Panel.
29 4 Click the Plus sign + next to Ports (COM & LPT) to display a list of ports. 5 From the Ports list, select the port, such as COM1 or COM2. 6 Select the Properties button to display the port settings. If the PC has more than one serial port, make sure you view the settings for the serial port to which the printer is attached. 7 Select the Port Settings tab.
30 8 9 Select the following settings: Setting Value Bits per second 9600 Data bits 8 Parity None Stop bits 1 Flow control None When the settings are correct, click OK to save settings and close the dialog box.
31 Connecting more than one printer or more than one PC You have several choices for having more than one printer connected to a user or for having more than one user connected to a printer. Choices include: • Installing two printers to one PC using USB ports See Install more than one printer using a USB connection for details. • Installing a printer on a client PC when the printer is connected to a host PC and both PCs are connected to a network (using Windows printer sharing).
32 If the operating system does not detect the printer and display the Add/Detect New Hardware wizard within a few minutes, check the Printers window to see if the icon for the new printer is displayed. At times, the Wizard runs quickly and you might not notice it. If the Wizard does not appear and the icon is not present, see Troubleshooting Installation Problems for more information.
33 • Use the Datacard method for setting up printer pooling, not the Enable Printer Pooling check box on the Properties dialog box for the printer. Windows permits checking this box but does not permit displaying a message if the printer does not support it. • Special features that require interactive mode, including reading magnetic stripe and programming smart cards, do not work with printer pooling.
34 • If you do not want one or more printers to print cards as part of the pool, power off that printer. The printer pool will identify a printer as available even when the printer status is Suspended or Not Responding if the printer is powered on. If you need to use a printer separately from the printer pool, install it on another PC or contact your service provider for assistance. • Some applications track card completion status, and this data is available for cards sent to the printer pool.
35 Direct network printing A directly networked printer is connected to a print server which is then connected to the network. A PC can connect to several directly networked printers at a time. All users receive status and message information from the printer.
36 Print servers that have been tested are: The HP jetdirect 175x printer server uses a USB cable to connect to the printer and an RJ45 cable to connect to an available network port. It can be used with the SP35 or SP55 printer. The HP jetdirect 380x print server uses a USB cable to connect to the printer and the 802.11b wireless (WiFi) protocol to connect to a wireless access point (WAP) on the network. It can be used with the SP35 or SP55 printer.
37 Choose one of the following procedures, depending on whether you will use a wired or wireless connection. Installing a wired network connection 1 Connect the HP jetdirect 175x print server to the printer, using the USB cable shipped with the print server. 2 Connect the print server to the network. See the setup information provided with the print server. 3 Connect the print server to a power source. 4 Plug in the printer power cord to power on the printer.
38 2 Change setting in the utility for the wireless network adapter (if needed) to match the default settings for the HP jetdirect 380x print server. The settings are located in the information provided with the print server. 3 Power on the HP jet direct 380x wireless print server. Do not connect the print server to the printer at this time (this sequence might be different from the one the print server recommends). The power light on the print server will be on.
39 – The Printhead tab in the Advanced Setup area of the Printer Toolbox. Any user can use the Color Settings tab, which affects processing on the PC. Printing • To send print jobs from a PC on the network to the printer, make sure the printer is set up, the driver is installed on the PC, and the Windows test page has printed successfully. • Open the Properties (Windows Me or 98) or Printing Preferences (Windows 2000 or XP) dialog box. Select card design settings, such as rotation and topcoat pattern.
40 • Actions you take while performing administrative functions can cause messages to be issued. At times, the messages will not be displayed on the Admin PC but can be displayed on other PCs if the Printer Toolbox is active. Printer sharing This section describes how you can print to a printer over a network using Microsoft File and Printer Sharing. A shared printer is connected to a PC with the printer driver installed (host PC).
41 Host PC: The host PC has the printer attached to it. The host PC must be connected to the network. For Windows 2000 and Windows XP, you need to set up users and access. Port connection: The printer is connected to a USB port on the host PC, in the same way as though you were using it just from the host PC. Client PC: The client PC is connected to the host PC over the network. Setting up printing sharing To set up printer sharing, do the following: 1 Install the printer driver on the host PC.
42 • If you use more than one connection method on a PC, install the locally and/or directly-network connected printer(s), and then follow the steps in this section to install the shared printer last. The shared printer must have a different name from the other printers. • If you upgrade the SmartDriver on the host PC, you need to remove the driver from the client PC. See “Upgrading the printer driver on Windows Me and 98 SE” on page 5-15 to remove the existing driver.
43 Perform management tasks at the host PC The user at the host PC has more control over the printer and more information about the printer. This section describes some tasks performed at the host PC. For Windows 2000 and XP, the user must be logged in as a user with Full Control permission. • Manage all jobs in the print queue. You can use Print Manager to view all jobs in the print queue and to pause or delete any jobs in the print queue, no matter who submitted the job.
44 • Do not use the Restore Defaults feature on any operating system. The Restore Defaults function attempts to query the printer to verify its features and cannot access the printer over the network. • Pause or delete print jobs you submitted from Print Manager at the client PC. The card job remains in the print queue until it is sent to the printer. See Windows help for information on using Print Manager. • View status of the client PC.
43 On the CD-ROM The printer is shipped with a CD-ROM that contains the printer driver (SmartDriver), user information, and other utilities and files that you might want. The following table lists the contents of the CD-ROM, the path, and the purpose of the program, file, or utility: Path Purpose Datacard SmartDriver CD-ROM D:\SETUP.EXE# User-friendly access to all of the applications on the CD-ROM Printer driver for Windows 2000 and XP D:\DsPnp.
44 Path Purpose D:\e-Guide\ Select Class with AIT\ DS-e-Guide.pdf# and other files with names in the S_xxx.pdf format Select e-Guide files, which contains error recovery procedures linked to help. D:\e-Guide\ ImageCard IV\ D4-e-Guide.pdf# and other files with names in the 4_xxx.pdf format ImageCard IV e-Guide, which contains error recovery procedures linked to help. Adobe Acrobat Reader installation D:\Adobe\ AcroReader51_CHS.EXE, \AcroReader51_CHT.EXE \AcroReader51_DEU.EXE, \AcroReader51_ENU.EXE, \A
45 part number changes with each release. The e-Guides are also updated from time to time and can be downloaded from the Datacard Web site at www.datacard.com.
Setting up for your card design 1 Setting up for your card design The driver provides settings that you can use to make sure that your cards print as you intend. These settings provide users of the printer with great flexibility in printing, encoding a magnetic stripe, or personalizing a smart card. This flexibility makes it very difficult to provide you with a step-by-step process for getting your cards to print as you intend.
2 Setting up for your card design What do I use to set up the printer? • Properties dialog box: On Windows 98 and Me, the Properties dialog box includes typical printer settings, such as landscape or portrait orientation, and settings for card printers, such magnetic stripe settings. It also includes port and communication settings. On Window 2000 and XP, the Properties dialog box includes port and communication settings and permissions.
3 Card design checklist Use this checklist to guide your selection of set up tasks to perform. Before you print the design: • Does the card include a smartcard or magnetic stripe on the printed side of the card? If yes, set topcoat blocking to prevent application of topcoat over that feature. • Does the card include a magnetic stripe? If yes, see Magnetic Stripe Setup for more information. • Does the card include a smart card? If yes, see Smart card setup for more information.
4 • Change the print intensify to optimize printing of features such as barcodes or small text. See Changing the print intensity for details.
5 Working with Properties and Printing Preferences Printer driver settings and data are organized in a set of dialog boxes or pages where settings for the printer are displayed and can be changed. The dialog boxes are organized differently for Windows Me and 98, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows NT. Use the section that applies to the operating system you use. The default printer name when the driver is installed is SmartDriver. References in this guide to the printer driver refer to the SmartDriver.
6 – If you have the Printer Toolbox open, you can click the Properties button on the Status page to open the Properties dialog box. The General, Details, Color Management, and Sharing tabs are not displayed when you open Properties from the Printer Toolbox. 5 Select the tab with the information to view or change.
7 • Printer type • Port to which the printer is attached • Permissions for other users of the PC The Printing Preferences dialog box includes the following settings or data: • Card design settings, such as landscape or portrait orientation and print blocking pattern • Print ribbon type • Magnetic stripe encoding formats and coercivity • Data about the printer, including the printer type Use the Properties dialog box Make sure the printer power is on and the printer is connected to the PC.
8 – Ports: Shows the port to which the printer is connected, and includes the Port Settings button for setting up a directly networked printer. – Advanced: Contains the “Update Driver” button. Use the Datacard installation, not this button, to install a more recent printer driver – Color Management: Allows you to load a color profile (the printer does not include a color profile). – Security: Contains setting you use to grant or deny permissions to the printer for users of the PC.
9 – When you click a selection, a list of choices appears next to the selection. Click the arrow on the box to see the selections available. – If the selections you want to use are not available (are grayed out), make sure the feature is available in the printer. Also make sure that the printer is powered on and connected to the PC, and then resume communication using the Printer Toolbox.
10 Changing the type of print ribbon You can easily use a different type of print ribbon in the printer. (For example, you can change a color printer from YMCKT to monochrome (K) ribbon.) To use a different type of ribbon, do the following: 1 Make sure all cards from PCs attached to the printer have finished printing. 2 With the printer power on and the printer communicating with the PC, open the printer cover. 3 Remove the ribbon cartridge and remove the existing ribbon from the cartridge.
11 Set up for monochrome (K) printing If you print with only one color, decide whether to perform the following setup tasks: • Adapt your card design to use the ribbon saver feature • Change the print intensity to optimize printing of features such as barcodes or small text. Using Ribbon Saver If you use a Datacard Black (K) monochrome ribbon, or a Datacard monochrome ribbon of another color, such as red, you can use the Ribbon Save feature.
12 example, your card might include a barcode and you might want to change print intensity to produce the most readable barcodes. Consider changing the print intensity in the following situations: • You use infrared barcode readers. Barcodes often are most readable when printed with lower intensity. • You print using a small font size. Small characters often print better when printed with higher intensity. • The settings were changed previously and you want to return settings to the default.
13 Color settings Use the Color Settings page to fine-tune the printed appearance of your cards. Color settings affect how the printer driver prepares card data to send to the printer, so the changes to color settings affect only the cards sent from the PC on which you make the changes. Changing the color settings Settings that you can change include brightness, contrast, sharpness, and the balance of red, green and blue.
14 The page displays the current settings. For all settings, a value of 0 (zero) is equal to no change. The Color image preview pop-up also appears. What should I do before changing color settings? 1 Set up your card design, using your card creation application. Make sure that you use all the data you plan to print in the design, such as a logo, a photo, text, and a barcode. You can use one sample card or a set (batch) of sample cards.
15 How do I choose the correct order for changing color settings? 1 First, decide whether you want to use the printer’s color profile. The printer’s color profile assumes colors on the cards are adjusted from the input device to the Windows default profile, and adjusts from the Windows profile to the printer’s color profile. To use the printer’s color profile, check Match Monitor. (Most monitors do not use a color profile.) 2 Change the Brightness setting, if needed.
16 6 Use a permanent marker to mark the back of the card with a 2 (or the next number if repeating these steps). – If you printed the sample card from the Color Settings tab, the current settings are printed on the card. – If you printed the sample card from the card creation application, record the new Contrast setting on the card. 7 Evaluate the appearance of the sample card(s). 8 Repeat these steps until the sample cards meet your requirements.
17 – If you printed the sample card from the card creation application, record the new Sharpness setting on the card. 7 Evaluate the appearance of the sample card(s). 8 Repeat these steps until the sample cards meet your requirements. How do I improve the color of my logo? 1 Evaluate the problem, such as “The logo has a yellow cast” or “The logo is reddish.
18 – If you printed the sample card from the Color Settings tab, the current settings are printed on the card. – If you printed the sample card from the card creation application, record the new Sharpness setting on the card. 7 Evaluate the appearance of the sample card(s). 8 Repeat these steps until the sample cards meet your requirements. How do I undo color changes? 1 If you want to remove all color changes and set all controls to 0, click the Restore Defaults button.
19 Changing settings in the printer This section describes the settings in the printer that you might want to change. These settings can be used to customize the performance of the printer to meet the demands of your card design. Tips for success • You must use a PC to which the printer is directly connected to change operational settings (locally attached or directly networked). You cannot change operational settings from a client PC using shared printing.
20 3 Make a test card (or sample card) and record the current values for the setting to change. Also record the date and sequence number (beginning with 1). Use the same test or sample card at each step. 4 Change the setting and apply the change. 5 Make another test or sample card. Record the new setting and sequence number. 6 Evaluate the result on the card. – If the result meets the goal, you have completed the process. – If the result does not meet the goal, return to step 4.
21 • The “Changes saved to printer” message appears when the values have been saved to the printer. 7 Select the Printer Test Card button. 8 Mark the card on the back with a 2 (or the next number if repeating these steps) and the new settings (such as K -20 for K intensity). 9 Evaluate the result as shown on the printed card. – If the new setting has solved the problem, you can select another value to change or quit Advanced Setup.
22 6 Select the Apply Changes button to make the values take effect in the printer, OR select the Cancel Changes button to return to the values displayed before you used the slider. – The “Changes saved to printer” message appears when the values have been saved to the printer. 7 Select the Print Sample Card button. 8 Mark the card on the back with a 2 (or the next number if repeating these steps) and the new settings (such as 18/50/-1). 9 Evaluate the result as shown on the printed card.
25 Magnetic Stripe Setup Do the following to set up the printer and driver to encode magnetic stripes on cards: • Use cards with magnetic stripes when making a printer test card. • Identify the encoding format and how it will be formatted (by the application, using magnetic stripe fonts, or using escape codes). • Determine whether to send coercivity and encoding format data with each card or whether to set values in the printer.
26 Format Printer Module Proprietary Three-Track (IAT) ID Works Custom Data formatted by Driver format Use setting Diagnostics? Printer Use printer settings Yes Magnetic Stripe Fonts Driver Use printer settings Yes Custom Application Application Use printer settings Yes Three-Track (IAT) Custom Application Single Track (NTT) Application Binary or Use printer settings Optional -- Binary or Use printer settings Optional ID Works Binary No Application Binary No Magnetic Stripe F
27 Enabling magnetic stripe escapes The SmartDriver includes a setting to enable magnetic stripe escapes. Enable magnetic stripe escapes on each PC that will use magnetic stripe escapes to send data to a printer. Also, enable magnetic stripe escapes for each printer attached to a PC if you will send magnetic stripe data to the printer. To enable magnetic stripe escapes, do the following: 1 Make sure the printer power is on and the printer is connected to the PC.
28 which the lines appear on the page. Some applications do not support this method or produce unpredictable results. • Text to print can be on the same line as data to encode, but must be located before the escape sequence. • Only one track can be encoded per line of text. • Magnetic stripe data will be converted to uppercase (capital) letters if necessary. • If you include not-allowed characters within the magnetic stripe data, the printer will beep and a message will be displayed on the PC.
29 ABA (American Bankers Association) The maximum field length for ABA format is 37 characters. ABA allows numeric characters and the following special characters: :;<=> TTS (Thrift Third Standard) The maximum field length for TTS format is 104 characters. TTS allows numeric characters and the following special characters: :;<=> NTT character set The maximum field length for NTT (Nippon Telephone & Telegraph) format is 69 characters.
30 Magnetic Stripe settings used by the printer The following table presents technical details that apply to encoding magnetic stripe data.
31 Smart card setup This section presents information about how to set up a system if you are personalizing smart cards. Smart card processing is different from other types of personalization, because the “smart card” step of personalization is controlled by an application (or application module) that is different from the rest of card personalization. The data for smart card personalization is sent from the smart card application using a separate smart card cable.
32 If the printer contains a smart card module, the printer label will include “SC” and three numbers. Each digit in the number represents a different part of the code. The following table lists the codes used on the printer label.
33 • If the coupler type is HID, Casi, or Indala, the files to support the reader are installed by Windows. For Windows 2000, Me, and 98SE, use the Windows installation CD-ROM to install the files. (Windows XP includes the files on the PC.) Use the RF IDeas CD-ROM provided with the smart card module which contains the configuration utility to complete setup. • If a contact station is installed, obtain driver files from the supplier or manufacturer.
34 – The smart card serial cable must be a shielded DB9 serial cable, up to a maximum of 9.8 feet or 3 meters long. – For a 680 coupler, double-click the downloaded file to view the files available. Follow the instructions in the downloaded file to install a reader on the PC. You do not need to install the complete API. • If the printer includes both a smart card USB port and a smart card serial port, the printer includes both a contact coupler and a 680 reader.
Card production and system maintenance 1 Card production and system maintenance After the printer, driver, card creation application, and capture system are set up, you are ready to produce cards. To assure that you produce cards that meet requirements, be familiar with how to make cards. In addition, invest small amount of time to care for the equipment you use to print cards.
2 Card production and system maintenance SP Series Info Central: Production e-Guide
3 Card Production To use a card creation application, such as Datacard’s ID Works™ or Preface™: 1 Follow instructions for the card creation application to capture, format, and save the card data. 2 In the card creation application, send cards to the printer (usually, use the Print button). The printer driver receives and processes card data, places cards in a queue, and sends the next card to the printer.
4 SP Series Info Central: Production e-Guide
5 Responding to messages The printer and driver generate a message on the PC when a card cannot be processed. Usually, the message is displayed on the PC. 1 When a message is displayed on the PC, follow the suggested action. Click the Help button to see likely causes and possible solutions. 2 When the printer status light blinks amber, it is safe to open the printer to fix any problems. 3 Fix the problem, then close the printer cover and press to latch it.
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7 Cleaning the Printer See “Common-sense site requirements” in Before you install for guidelines for a good printer environment, which can reduce the amount of cleaning required to produce high-quality cards. Cleaning tips • Run a cleaning card as the first step when cleaning the printer. The cleaning card can remove most contaminants from the printer. See Cleaning the printer for steps to follow. • If you use StickICards™, clean the card tracks after every 100 cards.
8 3 4 d Click the Clean Printer button in the Printer Toolbox. Click OK on the prompt that appears. Do not insert a cleaning card! The driver sends a command to the printer to run the printer cleaning card. The printer moves rollers when it attempts to pick the card. e Slowly move the pen on the pick roller. f Lightly wipe any dirt from the end of the cleaning pen onto a clean cloth or paper. Move the cleaning pen to another area of the roller.
9 5 a Make sure the print ribbon cartridge and cleaning rollers have been removed. Make sure cards are removed from the input hopper. b Place the cleaning pen on top of the first transport roller (location 2 in the illustration). Do not place the pen next to the black transport base. The pen can get pinched between the roller and the transport base. c Do one of the following to turn the rollers in the printer. • Click the Clean Printer button in the Printer Toolbox.
10 • Click the Clean Printer button in the Printer Toolbox. Click OK on the prompt that appears. Do not insert a cleaning card! The driver sends a command to the printer to run the printer cleaning card. The printer moves rollers when it attempts to pick the card. • Turn the card advance knob to move rollers by hand. d Move the pen on the roller. e Lightly wipe any dirt from the end of the cleaning pen onto a clean cloth or paper. Move the cleaning pen to another area of the roller.
11 Cleaning the printhead The printhead can have contamination stuck to it. You might notice it as unprinted lines on printed cards. Clean the printhead only when needed, such as: • The printhead has been accidently touched, such as when changing supplies or clearing a card jam. • You have replaced the printhead cartridge. • Your observe problems with card appearance, as described in Troubleshooting card appearance.
12 5 Close the printer cover. Push firmly on the blue edge to latch the cover. 6 Connect the power cable to the power receptacle to power on the printer. 7 Print a card to verify the quality of printing. You can print a sample card or a card from your application.
13 Replacing the printhead cartridge The printer uses an operator-replaceable printhead cartridge. For more information about printhead cartridges, see the Supplies e-Guide. Remove the printhead cartridge Do not touch the printing edge of the printhead cartridge. If you do, clean it using the cleaning pen, as described in Cleaning the printhead. Do not bump the printing edge of the printhead cartridge with any sharp objects. Sharp objects can permanently damage the printhead. 1 Power off the printer.
14 Replace the printhead cartridge 1 Position the printhead cartridge with the silver label toward you and on top. Place the printhead cable behind the cartridge so the plug is visible through the opening in the printhead cartridge. 2 Carefully align the plug with the receptacle on the printhead. Push the plug all the way onto the receptacle (see the following illustration). 3 Align the printhead cartridge pins with the printhead cartridge slots on the cover arm (see the following illustration).
15 4 Press in the printhead latch (step 1 in the illustration above) and push up on the printhead cartridge to seat it in the cradle. (step 2 in the illustration above). Release the printhead latch when the printhead cartridge is in place. 5 Clean the printhead. Move the cleaning pen back and forth along the length of the printhead edge. Be sure to completely clean the rounded edge of the printhead. 6 Close the printer cover, pressing down on the blue edge to latch it.
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17 Maintain the PC Good PC operation contributes to good operation of the printer and driver. Problems on the PC can prevent efficient operation of the system that includes the PC and printer.
18 7 d Select OK. ScanDisk can require 5 minutes or more for a standard scan. e When ScanDisk is complete, follow any instructions and close the program. Free up additional disk space: a From the Windows task bar, select Start, Programs and then Windows Explorer. b Open the C:\Temp, C:\Windows\Temp, C:\Winnt\Temp, or C:\Win2K\Temp folder. Delete any files not being used. c Open the C:\Windows\Temporary Internet Files, C:\Winnt\Temporary Internet Files folder. Delete any files not being used.
SP Series Supplies and Parts 3 SP Series Supplies and Parts The printer uses supplies, similar to a paper printer. The following describes how the supplies are similar and different. • Where a paper printer uses paper that you can purchase at an office supply store, the SP Series printer uses cards that you purchase from a dealer. • Similar to paper, there are different types of cards. For cards, you can use magnetic stripe cards, cards with a signature panel, or cards with a smart card feature.
4 SP Series Supplies and Parts SP Series Info Central:Supplies e-Guide
5 Supplies and cards This appendix describes specifications, part numbers, and handling for supplies used with the Datacard® SP35 or SP55 printer. It includes: • Print ribbons • Cards to print • Cleaning supplies, including cleaning cards, replaceable cleaning roller sleeve, and cleaning pen Print ribbon is used to personalize cards. This section describes Datacard®-recommended personalization supplies for the Datacard® SP35 or SP55 printer and how to store them.
6 Available colors include: Color Part number Printers supported Black 552954-501 SP35 and SP55 Black HQ 552954-601 SP55 Dark Blue 552954-502 SP35 and SP55 White 552954-503 SP35 and SP55 Red 552954-504 SP35 and SP55 Green 552954-506 SP55 Silver 552954-507 SP35 and SP55 Gold 552954-508 SP55 Scratch-off 552954-513 SP35 and SP55 When you use most monochrome-only print ribbons, use a printhead cartridge designed for monochrome printing for optimum results.
7 Card size Use CR-80 size cards with the following nominal dimensions: Length 3.37 inches 85.60 mm Width 2.125 inches 53.98 mm Thickness with smart card chip 0.027 to 0.040 inches 0.685 to 1.016 mm Thickness (all other cards) 0.020 to 0.050 inches 0.508 to 1.27 mm Actual card thickness can vary by up to ten percent from the sizes listed. Smart card chips can be raised slightly from the printing surface. Card bow must be less than the thickness of the card.
8 Pre-punched cards Datacard recommends that you punch cards after printing them. However, you can use pre-punched cards with the SP Series printer as long as the hole is free of raised areas or burrs. In the following illustration, the gray area shows where punched areas are allowed. • The cards can only have a punched area within 1.0 in (25.4 mm) of the left-hand edge, as the cards are loaded in the card cartridge. (This dimension includes tolerance.
9 • Do not use a rubber band to bind blank cards together. • If you drop a card on the floor, do not insert it into the printer. Card storage These guidelines apply to both printed and unprinted cards. • Cards must be stacked so that they will not shift and rub against each other. • When storing cards, make sure that no two cards contain images or blocks of color that will come in contact with each other.
10 • A cleaning pen, part number is 557492-001, which can be used eight times, to clean the printhead or other internal parts of the printer SP Series Info Central:Supplies e-Guide
11 Printer components The printer has a replaceable printhead cartridge. You can also order additional or replacement parts. This section describes the printer parts you can order. Printhead cartridge The printer has a replaceable printhead cartridge. The printhead is subject to wear or damage and has a direct impact on print quality. The silver label on the printhead shows the printhead type. The following printheads are available.
12 USB data cable The SP printers use a data cable to connect the printer to the PC. The USB cable must be a Type CM 30V, up to a maximum of 2 meters long. The part number is 807614-002. Power supply The printer uses a power supply rated at 100-240 VAC, 50-60 Hz, 1.0 amp. The power supply is part number 808403-001. Power cable The printer uses one of the following power cords: • U.S.
13 Smart card cable If the printer has one or more smart card modules, it uses a smart card cable to connect the smart card port and the PC. Use a cable that matches the port installed in the printer. The following cables are available: USB: 807614-002 Serial: 805815-001 Serial cable The smart card serial cable must be a shielded DB9 serial cable, up to 3 meters long maximum. The smart card serial cable is part number 805815-001. USB cable See USB data cable for USB cable details.
14 – This sheet provides a streamlined installation process for typical one-printer-to-a-PC installation. It also shows supplies and equipment shipped with the printer. • SP Series Info Central, Part Number 539289-001 – The online e-Guide provides advanced information, such as how to connect two printers to one PC. Info Central collects all the online information under one desktop icon. It can be download from www.datacard.com or installed from the User Information area of the driver CD-ROM.
3 Troubleshooting Troubleshooting This e-Guide helps you to understand problems you might have when using an SP Series printer and how to address those problems. Is it really trouble? The following table provides a quick guide to help you get started troubleshooting. Pick the problem that is most like yours (or use the Contents to locate the section you are interested in). Problem Is it trouble? Why? What do I do? A message appears. No.
4 Troubleshooting • Keep notes on the problem, including the message text or message number and the solutions you attempt. • Communication method used to connect the printer and PC • Obtain information about the supplies used, including: – Card stock and type (such as composite or PVC, three-track magnetic stripe, manufacturer, and so on). This information is located on the packaging for cards. – Type of ribbon (such as YMCKT) and the lot number used for personalizing cards.
5 Locating the problem When you think the printer is not working correctly, use the following procedure to locate the source of the problem. The printer, printer driver, and card creation application work together to produce cards. If the system is not working as you expect and does not display messages, follow these steps to isolate the source of the problem before contacting your service provider. 1 Make a printer test card, following the steps in Making Test Cards.
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7 Making Test Cards You can make the following types of test cards. • Printer test cards verify the function of the printer. You print them using controls on the printer. The personalization of the card is determined by the printer, the print ribbon, and modules (such as magnetic stripe) installed in the printer. • The Windows test page, which you can print on a card, verifies that the PC and printer work together. You print them using the printer Properties dialog box on the PC.
8 5 After it is printed, remove the card from the output hopper. A printer test card is shown in Printer test card. Tips for success • The Ready button must be pressed firmly. You might need to hold the printer in place as you keep the Ready button pressed. • Allow 30 to 60 seconds for the printer to begin printing the test card. • If the status light flashes amber and the printer beeps, the printer is paused. Press the Ready button once to unpause the printer.
9 Windows test page Follow these steps to print a Windows test page on all supported operating systems.This card will print across a network and can confirm that the driver and printer are communicating correctly. The printer must be connected to the PC with the driver installed, and both printer and PC must be running. 1 Select Start from the Windows taskbar. 2 Select Settings and then Printers (Printers and Faxes on Windows XP) from the Windows Start menu. The Printers (and Faxes) window appears.
10 • The Windows test page is generated by Microsoft Windows. The small size of the card, compared to printer paper, means that some of the text is not printed on the card.
11 Card appearance problems Problems with card appearance can be the result of the following: • Image capture tools, such as the camera • The card creation application, which displays the image • Limitations in technology, such as differences between how an image looks on the PC monitor and how it looks after it is printed • Printer maintenance or settings This section describes possible problems you might observe with the quality of cards you produce with the SP Series printer.
12 What you see Possible causes Solutions No image is printed on the card or the printing is very light. The ribbon is loaded incorrectly. Remove and replace the ribbon. The printhead cable might be loose. Power off the printer. Make sure the printhead cable is securely connected. Two cards were picked. Fan cards before loading them. The printhead cable or printhead cartridge might be damaged. Replace the printhead. The driver or printer settings might not be correct.
13 What you see Possible causes Solutions Printed images (photos) look faded. The image capture system needs adjustment. See the information for the image capture system. Color settings might not be optimal for the card design. Change color settings. Print ribbon may have been stored improperly or damaged. Change the print ribbon and then print a sample card. Color settings might not be optimal for the card design. Change color settings. The cards may not meet specifications.
14 What you see Possible causes Solutions The bottom of the card is partly printed. The Trailing Edge setting is too far from the edge of the card. Change the Trailing Edge setting. If the problem persists, contact your service provider. The top of the card is partly printed. The Leading Edge setting is too far from the edge of the card. Change the Leading Edge setting. If the problem persists, contact your service provider. Printed images (photos) are blurry.
15 What you see Possible causes Solutions Part of the printed image is discolored. Cards might have fingerprints or other dirt on them. Handle cards without touching the surface to be printed. Wear gloves when handling unprinted cards. The cards might be contaminated or otherwise not meet specifications. Obtain and use a different supply of cards. The rollers might be dirty. Run a cleaning card and then change the cleaning roller. Clean the printer rollers.
16 What you see Possible causes Solutions A pattern is visible on the printed card when printing a smart card. You are printing on an RF (contactless) card and the card surface is uneven where the antenna and chip are located. (This problem can also occur on the back side of a contacted smart card chip.) Change the card design to avoid placing a photo or other important feature over smart card components. See the card manufacturer's web site for details.
17 What you see Possible causes Solutions All card data is positioned unevenly on the card. The Long Edges setting might be incorrect. Change the Long Edges setting on the Edge to Edge tab of the Printer Toolbox. If the problem persists, contact your service provider. One front-side margin (on a long edge) is larger than the other. This might appear as one edge of the card being unprinted. The print ribbon spools are not pushed completely onto the cartridge spindles. Printed cards are too dark.
18 What you see Possible causes Solutions The printed image on one or a few cards has high contrast. The card had topcoat printed on it and then an image was printed. Do not re-use cards ejected from the printer. The cards do not meet specifications. Obtain and use a different supply of cards. The topcoat panel of print ribbon is wrinkling because the intensity setting is too high. Lower the printhead intensity setting for topcoat. The printhead might not be aligned correctly.
19 What you see Possible causes Solutions A color panel is missing from the printed card. You have printed a card when the ribbon was moved after powering off the printer. The next card will print correctly. If you move the ribbon often with the power off, change the Ribbon Initialization setting to on. You are using a YMCKT-KT ribbon and did not apply topcoat on the back of the card. The next card will print correctly.
20 What you see Possible causes Solutions Text printed on the card has broken (partly printed) characters. The intensity setting is balanced to print both bar codes and fine text. If the card does not include a bar code, increase the intensity for K printing. If the card includes a bar code, do one or more of the following to change the text: -Increase the font size -Make the text bold -Remove italic formatting -Change the font (Arial usually prints well) Printing with monochrome ribbon has voids.
19 Communication problems Communication between the printer and PC can be disrupted for many reasons. This section describes causes and possible solutions. For locally attached printers: Problem Solution The data cable is loose. Reconnect the data cable to the ports on the PC and the printer. Restart the printer. If the PC and printer still do not communicate, restart Windows. The data cable is damaged or frayed. Power off the printer. Replace the cable if you have a spare.
20 For local or network-connected printers: Problem Solution Other applications on the PC might interfere with data communications. Many applications that might run on a PC can interfere with communications, often by using all (or most) PC resources. For example, network-connected mail applications can poll a server to send or retrieve items. Depending on the application, network setup, and PC resources, polling can use all PC resources and prevent data transmission either locally or over the network.
21 Cards sent from a client PC are not printing. The host PC used for shared printing can be disconnected or powered off. An authorized used must be logged on to the host PC for cards to print. Messages might be displayed on the host PC and need to be cleared before printing can resume. Suggestions: Implement procedures to permit all users who need to print to do so. Consider attaching the printer to the network using a print server to enable direct network printing.
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23 Magnetic stripe problems This section helps you to troubleshoot magnetic stripe problems. Magnetic stripe test card If the printer includes a magnetic stripe module, you can print a magnetic stripe test card. The card uses the magnetic stripe settings in the Properties or Printing Preferences dialog box. Use this card to verify that the printer encodes a card correctly. Tips for success • If the printer is set to print a custom magnetic stripe format, it will not print this test card successfully.
24 Problem Solution The magnetic stripe on the card is low coercivity material and the High Coercivity setting is selected. To use the cards you have, select low coercivity encoding. To encode with high coercivity, obtain cards manufactured for high coercivity encoding. The magnetic stripe on the card is high coercivity material and the Low Coercivity setting is selected. To use the cards you have, select high coercivity encoding.
25 Obtaining service For repair assistance, contact your service provider. Place the service call from a telephone close to the printer so that you can access the printer and the PC running the driver while talking to the customer support representative. Your service provider should record information about how to contact them on the back cover of the Printer Guide shipped with the printer.
26 12 Place the accessories tray in the shipping carton, on the top. 13 Close the shipping carton. 14 Secure the carton with shipping tape. Be sure to wrap around the shipping carton several times to secure it. 15 Put a shipping label on the carton. If you are returning the printer for service, use the address provided by service.
