Installation Guide

33
SP Series Style Guide
To enable magnetic stripe escapes, do the following:
1 Make sure the printer power is on and the printer is connected to the PC. Also make sure that the driver is
installed on the PC and communicates with the printer.
2 Select Start from the Windows task bar.
3 From the Windows Start menu, select Settings and then Printers. The Printers (or Printers and Faxes) window
appears.
4 Click once on the Smart Driver icon.
5 Select File from the Printers menu bar, and then do the following (if you need help, see "Working with
Properties and Printing Preferences"):
— For Windows Me and 98, select Properties. The Smart Driver Properties dialog box appears.
— For Windows XP and 2000, select Printing Preferences. On the Printing Preferences dialog box, click
Advanced to display Advanced settings.
— For Windows NT, select Default Document Properties. On the Document Defaults dialog box, click
Advanced to display Advanced settings.
— If you have the Printer Toolbox open, you can click the Properties (9x), Printing Preferences (2000 and XP)
or Document Defaults (NT) button on the Status page to open the Properties, Printing Preferences
Advanced, or Document Default Properties dialog box.
6 Locate the Mag Stripe Escape Compatibility setting.
— On Windows 98 and Me, choose the Mag Stripe tab.
— On Windows XP, 2000 and NT, scroll through the settings list to locate the Mag Stripe Escape Compatibility
setting.
7 Choose Enabled for the setting.
8 Locate the Mag Stripe Encoding Format setting.
— If you will encode IAT (ISO) format, choose IAT for the format.
— If you will encode a variation to IAT (ISO) format, choose "Use printer settings" for the format and set using
the Printer Diagnostics utility.
9 Click Apply or OK to save the settings and close the dialog box.
You do not need to specify which syntax or manufacturer’s escape sequence you will use. When you enable
Mag Stripe Escape Compatibility, the Smart Driver will recognize any of the escape character sequences listed
in this section.
Using magnetic stripe escapes
To use magnetic stripe escapes, do the following:
• Use an application in which you can enter and save text, and then edit it after saving.
• Before the magnetic stripe data, provide the escape sequence, such as ~1 or ~1% . The rest of the line of text
will be encoded, up to an End Sentinel (if the syntax uses one).
• Use a Return or Enter keystroke to end a line.
• Do not allow text to wrap to two lines. The text on the second line will print on the card.
• You might be able to send two lines of text to one track. Each line of text must begin with the escape sequence.
Test cards made with this method to see whether the lines are encoded in the order in 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.