510489 FotoFUN! 7/29/98 3:26 PM Page i 970627-510489-(04) ™ UserÕs Manual © 1997 by FARGO Electronics, Incorporated
510489 FotoFUN! 7/29/98 3:26 PM Page ii Notices The information in this document is subject to change without notice. FARGO ELECTRONICS, INCORPORATED, MAKES NO WARRANTY OF ANY KIND WITH REGARD TO THIS MATERIAL, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. FARGO shall not be liable for errors contained herein or for incidental damages in connection with the furnishing, performance, or use of this material.
510489 FotoFUN! 7/29/98 3:26 PM Page iii Table of Contents Section 1: Getting Started A. Choosing a Good Location ..................................................................1 B. Unpacking and Inspection ...................................................................1 C. Identifying the Parts .............................................................................2 Section 2: Photo Ribbon and Paper A. About Photo Ribbon and Paper..........................................................
510489 FotoFUN! 7/29/98 3:26 PM Page 2 Section 1: Getting Started THANK YOU… Éfor choosing FARGOÕs FotoFUN! Digital Color Photo Printer. FotoFUN! is the perfect way for you to print all of your smaller digital photos and designs at just the right size. With its wide variety of printing accessories, FotoFUN! is also the perfect way to print custom photo labels, photo postcards, birth announcements, party invitations, or holiday photo greeting cards.
10489 FotoFUN! 7/29/98 3:26 PM Page 3 Save the carton and packing materials. They will come in handy when transporting the printer. C. IDENTIFYING THE PARTS This illustration shows the printerÕs Cover Release Button, the Paper Input/Output Slot, the on off and clear buttons, and their LED indicator lights. The on off button turns the printerÕs power on and off. This button also serves to cancel the current print job and to reset the printer for the next print job.
510489 FotoFUN! 7/29/98 3:26 PM Page 4 Section 2: Photo Ribbon and Paper A. ABOUT PHOTO RIBBON AND PAPER For full-color printing, FotoFUN! has a 3-color ribbon available. This ribbon consists of a series of three consecutive colored panels along with a fourth clear overlay panel. The three colored panels, yellow, magenta and cyan, combine to offer an almost infinite number of printable colors.
510489 FotoFUN! 7/29/98 3:26 PM Page 5 Supply Take-up 3. Place the supply end of the ribbon in between the two black ribbon drive hubs located towards the rear of the printerÕs interior. Insert the supply end so that the ribbon is fed from underneath the ribbon roll. Hint: the ribbon drive hub on the right-hand side of the printer is spring-loaded. Use the end of the ribbon core to push in this ribbon drive hub as ribbon is inserted. Ribbon drive hubs 4.
510489 FotoFUN! 7/29/98 3:26 PM Page 6 C. INSERTING PHOTO PAPER, POSTCARDS, OR LABEL PAPER FotoFUN! paper is inserted one sheet at a time and only when the printer prompts you to do so. 1. With ribbon installed and the printer cover closed, send a print job to FotoFUN! 2. When you hear the printerÕs feed rollers begin to turn, insert the paper into the printer with the glossy print side facing down. Note that once the rollers begin to turn, you have about 20 seconds to insert the paper.
510489 FotoFUN! 7/29/98 3:26 PM Page 7 Section 3: Powering Up FotoFUN! A. APPLYING POWER The power supply included with FotoFUN! should be properly configured for the power used in your country. Remove the power supply from the box and double-check that it is correct. CAUTION! If you have any doubts about the plug configuration or the voltage, DO NOT ATTEMPT TO USE THE PRINTER. Contact the printer reseller or FARGO for information on the correct power supply configuration. 1.
510489 FotoFUN! 7/29/98 3:26 PM Page 8 Power is automatically applied to the printer when it is plugged in. Press the on off button if you wish to turn the printer off. NOTE: Optional external power supply must be a listed Class 2 device with an output rating of 20 volts and 4 amps DC (direct current). B. PRINTING A SELF TEST Now that ribbon is installed and power is connected, a self test should be performed to check for proper operation of the printer. A sample of the self test print is shown below.
510489 FotoFUN! 7/29/98 3:26 PM Page 9 Section 4: Using FotoFUN! for Windows A. CONNECTING FotoFUN! TO YOUR COMPUTER FotoFUN! is designed to be used with nearly any IBM-PC¨ or compatible running Windows 3.1x or Windows 95. For best performance, a minimum of a 486/66 computer with 8Mb of RAM or higher is recommended. The printer is equipped with a standard 8-bit Centronics-type parallel port. This port is the means through which FotoFUN! receives data from your computer.
510489 FotoFUN! 7/29/98 3:26 PM 2. Page 10 Connect the other side to the back of your computer at LPT1, LPT2, or the PARALLEL connector. The printer must have its clear light illuminated to receive data. If the light is not on, press the clear button. When connected properly, both the illuminated on off and clear lights will remain solid. B. INSTALLING THE FotoFUN! PRINTER DRIVER FotoFUN! can be used with virtually any Windows 3.1x/95 application program.
510489 FotoFUN! 7/29/98 3:26 PM Page 11 2. Click the Start button, point to Settings, and select Printers. 3. Double-click on the Add Printer icon. 4. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete installation. When prompted, do not have Windows print a test print since you most likely performed a printer self test in Section 3. When driver installation is complete, the ÒFARGO FotoFUN!Ó printer icon will appear in the Printers folder. 5.
510489 FotoFUN! 7/29/98 3:26 PM Page 12 mouse button and select the Properties option. Select the Details tab, then select the Spool Settings button. Select the Print directly to the printer option and click on OK. Again from the Details tab, select the Port Settings button. Deselect the Check port state before printing option and click on OK. See section C for information on printer driver settings and options.
510489 FotoFUN! 7/29/98 3:26 PM Page 13 10. Finally, select the Connect button. Check that the box called Fast Printing Direct to Port is selected. Although this option is not necessary, it helps optimize printer driver speed and performance. Select OK to exit the Connect window. Select Close to exit the Printers window. See section C for information on printer driver settings and options. C.
510489 FotoFUN! 3. 7/29/98 3:26 PM Page 14 The FARGO FotoFUN! Printer screen appears. Change the options as follows: Paper Size The size of FARGOÕs special photo paper is exactly 4Ó x 7.7Ó (102 x 196mm). The maximum printable area of this paper is 4Ó x 6Ó (102 x 152mm), leaving a non-printable margin of about .5Ó (13mm) at the top of the sheet and 1.2Ó (30mm) at the bottom. When printing in landscape orientation, this nonprintable margin shifts to .5Ó on the left-hand side of the sheet and 1.
510489 FotoFUN! 7/29/98 3:26 PM Page 15 Ribbon Type Indicates that you are printing with Color ribbon. Color Matching Click on the Color Matching down arrow and choose the color matching option thatÕs right for you. Select None if you are more interested in print speed rather than print color, if you have already color corrected your image for printing, or if you are using some other third party color matching software.
510489 FotoFUN! 7/29/98 3:26 PM Page 16 imageÓ format when printed, the Overlay option will automatically become inactive, and the Intensity will automatically increase to the recommended setting of 85%. When deselected, all options will return to their default settings. Select this option only when printing images for mug transfers. Write Direct to Port Selecting this option allows the FotoFUN! printer driver to bypass the Windows 3.
510489 FotoFUN! 7/29/98 3:26 PM Page 17 2. Open the image file you wish to print. For best results, use only 24-bit color, 203 dpi (or higher) images and print at an image size of approximately 100%. Over-enlarging an image or printing lower dpi images will cause your photos to appear jaggy or pixelized when printed. Likewise, printing file formats with less than 16.7 million colors (such as 256 color GIF files) will cause your photos to appear rough or grainy when printed. 3.
510489 FotoFUN! 7/29/98 3:26 PM Page 18 Section 5: Using FotoFUN! for Macintosh A. CONNECTING FotoFUN! TO YOUR COMPUTER FotoFUN! is designed to be used with any Apple Macintosh supporting Color QuickDrawª and running system software 7.0 or higher. For best performance, a Macintosh with a 68040 processor and 8Mb of RAM (or higher) or a PowerMac with 8Mb of RAM (or higher) is recommended. The FotoFUN! printer driver is accelerated for use with a PowerMac.
510489 FotoFUN! 7/29/98 3:26 PM Page 19 The printer must have its clear light illuminated to receive data. If the light is not on, press the clear button. When connected properly, both the illuminated on off and clear lights will remain solid. B. INSTALLING THE FotoFUN! PRINTER DRIVER FotoFUN! can be used with virtually any Macintosh application program. This is accomplished by installing what is called a Òprinter driver.
510489 FotoFUN! 7/29/98 3:26 PM Page 20 5. When the Installer window appears, select the options you would like the installer program to install. In most instances, the default selections will suffice. For a description of each of these options, refer to the notes found in the box directly above these options (use the up and down arrows to scroll through the notes). Once the desired options are selected, click on Install. The appropriate files will automatically install onto your computer.
510489 FotoFUN! 7/29/98 3:26 PM Page 21 3. Select either the Modem or Printer Port to indicate to which port the serial interface cable was connected. If the Printer port is selected, AppleTalk should remain inactive while printing with FotoFUN! unless you are using AppleTalk through your Ethernet port. AppleTalk does not apply when printing with the Modem port selected. 4.
510489 FotoFUN! 7/29/98 3:26 PM Page 22 D. SETTING UP THE FotoFUN! PRINTER DRIVER Once the printer driver has been successfully installed, you will need to set the driver up with the appropriate print options. To change or verify your printer driver options, select Page Setup from the File menu and change the options as follows: Paper Size The size of FARGOÕs special photo paper is exactly 4Ó x 7.7Ó (102 x 196mm).
510489 FotoFUN! 7/29/98 3:26 PM Page 23 Color Matching Click on the Color Matching box and choose the color matching option thatÕs right for you. Select None if you are more interested in print speed rather than print color, if you have already color corrected your image for printing, or if you are using some other third party color matching software. Select Algebraic if you would like the printer driver to make very simple, yet fast, color balance adjustments.
510489 FotoFUN! 7/29/98 3:26 PM Page 24 Orientation Select the appropriate icon according to the orientation of your particular image. Enlarge/reduce This option alters the size of the printed image between the integers of 25% and 400%. A setting of 100% indicates the document will be printed at actual size. Please note that significantly enlarging or reducing the image may cause the image to appear pixelated or ÒjaggyÓ when printed.
510489 FotoFUN! 7/29/98 3:26 PM Page 25 printing file formats with less than 16.7 million colors (such as 256 color GIF files) will cause your photos to appear rough or grainy when printed. 3. If you intend to print a borderless print, you must also make sure that your image size is just a bit larger than 4Ó x 6Ó. This will assure that your image will bleed off the sides of the printed sheet. Use the programÕs cropping and resizing options to properly size your images.
510489 FotoFUN! 7/29/98 3:26 PM Page 26 Section 6: Using the Print Backgrounder for Macintosh The FotoFUN! printer driver for Macintosh provides a background print utility called the Print Backgrounder. This print utility is turned on or off through the Chooser. When the Backgrounder is turned on, it allows you to conveniently continue working in the foreground of your application while printing in the background.
510489 FotoFUN! 7/29/98 3:26 PM Page 27 your print jobs. Backgrounder processes all print jobs in the order in which they were sent to the printer. C. THE BACKGROUNDER STATUS WINDOW Status of currently processing print job List of queued print jobs “On hold” print job Print job in which a print error has occurred The Backgrounder status window gives you detailed information about the status of the print job currently processing and about each print job waiting in the queue.
510489 FotoFUN! 7/29/98 3:26 PM Page 28 D. BACKGROUNDER MENUS File menu Open Status Window and Close Status Window: Opens and closes the Backgrounder status window. The Backgrounder continues to work if the status window is closed. Log Files: The Backgrounder has the ability to create and maintain a sequential history file, or Log file, of Backgrounder print jobs.
510489 FotoFUN! 7/29/98 3:26 PM Page 29 You cannot quit from Backgrounder while it is processing a job. Stop Processing must first be selected to cancel the processing job and stop Backgrounder. When Backgrounder stops, the menu changes to Continue Processing. When this option is selected, the server starts processing the top job in the queue. Preferences: Presents a dialog box containing options for finetuning the Backgrounder.
510489 FotoFUN! 7/29/98 3:26 PM Page 30 E. PROBLEMS DURING A BACKGROUND PRINT Errors that are detected during a background print must be reported. The Backgrounder, however, cannot simply present a dialog box as soon as the error occurs, since the dialog could obscure work that is being done in the foreground. Error dialogs appear immediately, however, if the Backgrounder is in the foreground when the error is detected.
510489 FotoFUN! 7/29/98 3:26 PM Page 31 Section 7: Interpreting the FotoFUN! Indicator Lights The on off and clear LED indicator lights located on the front of FotoFUN! can tell you a lot about what is happening inside the printer. To accurately interpret what it means when these lights are on, off, or flashing, please refer to the following: A. THE on off LED INDICATOR LIGHT The on off light function is very simple. When the light is illuminated, the printer power is on.
510489 FotoFUN! 7/29/98 3:26 PM Page 32 Once you have determined and corrected the problem, simply press the clear button and resume your print job or completely cancel and restart your print job. 3. When the clear light is FLASHING SLOWLY, it is indicating a software or data transmission error. This will occur if: ¥ FotoFUN! is not securely connected to its interface cable. ¥ The interface cable is too long (should be approximately 6 feet in length).
510489 FotoFUN! 7/29/98 3:26 PM Page 33 Section 8: Maintaining FotoFUN! FotoFUN! is designed to require very little maintenance. Nevertheless, there are a few procedures you can perform on a regular basis or as needed to ensure your printerÕs best performance. Printhead Assembly Printhead Drive Roller A. CLEANING THE PRINTHEAD This procedure is done only if you notice a streak running the length of the print where ink was not transferred. Refer to the following steps to clean the printhead: 1.
510489 FotoFUN! 7/29/98 3:26 PM Page 34 B. CLEANING THE OUTSIDE AND INSIDE OF THE PRINTER Occasionally, you may wish to clean dust or other accumulated particles from the inside or outside of your printer. Always disconnect your printer’s power before cleaning. To clean your printer, use a soft, lint-free cloth slightly moistened with isopropyl alcohol to wipe off dusty areas of your printer. If cleaning the inside of the printer, you must first remove the ribbon.
510489 FotoFUN! 7/29/98 3:26 PM Page 35 E. CLEARING A RIBBON JAM If the ribbon becomes jammed inside the printer (visible when you open the printerÕs cover), refer to the following steps to remove it: 1. Leave the power on and open the printerÕs cover by pressing the Cover Release Button. 2. Remove the ribbon take-up core (the core with the used ribbon on it). 3. Grasping the ribbon take-up core, gently pull the ribbon upward as you press and hold the clear button.
510489 FotoFUN! 7/29/98 3:26 PM Page 36 Section 9: Technical Specifications Thermal Dye-sublimation 203 dots per inch Approximately 2.5 minutes/print 16.7 million Windows 3.1 (or higher), Macintosh Standard 8-Bit Centronics-type Parallel (IBM-PC), Serial (Macintosh) Media Size: 4Ó x 7.7Ó (102 x 196mm) Printing Area: Up to 4Ó x 6Ó (102 x 152mm) Ink Ribbon: 3-color; Yellow, Magenta, Cyan, Overlay; 36 prints/roll Paper Feed Method: Friction feed Dimensions: 9.5ÓW x 4.25ÓH x 7.
510489 FotoFUN! 7/29/98 3:26 PM Page 37 Index Chooser................................................................................................19 clear Button..........................................................................................2 clear LED Indicator Light ...............................................................30 Drive Roller........................................................................................33 Enlarge/reduce ...........................................
510489 FotoFUN! 7/29/98 3:26 PM FARGO Electronics, Incorporated Eden Prairie, Minnesota, U.S.A.
