When I send a print job to my printer, partial pages are printed or there's incomplete text or image. What can I do?

RELATES TO:


  • Only part of the page or document is printed.
  • Only part of the image is printed.
  • Epson Stylus printers and All-In-One products.
  • Windows 95, 98, ME, 2000, XP, XP x64, Vista, Vista x64,  7 and 7 x64.
  • Mac OS X 10.2, 10.3, 10.4 (Tiger), 10.5 (Leopard), 10.6 (Snow Leopard)


EXPLANATION:


Where partial pages are produced, this may be caused by a communication-related issue. Possible causes are:

  • Settings in the printer driver.
  • The size of the data being sent to the printer (e.g. a large file such as a photo).
  • System Resources - free hard drive space, virtual memory, installed RAM.
  • Hardware.
  • In Windows, the Windows spooling system.
  • In Mac OS X, the correct printer driver may not be in use.

This article provides a guide to identifying the source of the problem and troubleshooting it.



SOLUTION:


Notes Icon Note:

Before you follow the steps below, please note the following information:

Large photo files may not print completely due to insufficient resources of the host computer system. The Epson Stylus range is host-based - this means that a print job is processed by the computer. Factors such as system resources and the application settings can affect the successful print of a file. This is more common if a larger print job is sent to the printer such as a multi-page document, photo, or banner / panoramic print.

  • If smaller files print but large files do not print properly, try reducing the size of the data sent to the printer. If you continue to experience problems, follow the steps outlined in this article.

  • If the issue occurs with most or all small and large print jobs, this issue could be caused by several factors.
    (Examples include driver settings, system resources, a communication-related issue, application error, application settings, the Windows spooling system.)


Follow the steps below to identify and troubleshoot the issue:


  1. Perform a printer operation check to help determine whether the problem is related to the printer or to the computer. See How to perform a Printer Operation Check for instructions.

    Printing is normal:




  2. Check the paper edge guide is positioned correctly.

  3. Check that the data cable is less than 1.8 metres and connected directly to the computer.

    • Check that the data cable (Parallel, USB or FireWire cable) is firmly secured at both ends, at the printer and at the port on the computer.
    • The printer is designed to be connected directly to the computer and any other configuration can render further tests invalid.
    • Epson recommend using a cable no longer than 1.8 metres and connecting the Epson device to a port which is native to the motherboard.

      Notes Icon Note:

      Epson do not support the use of 'Serial to USB', 'Parallel to USB' adaptor cables, or USB extension cables to connect your device. Such cables lack the consistency of a standard connection.


  4. Check the settings you have made in the printer driver. Setting the printer or printer driver settings incorrectly can cause problems. See one of the following articles for help:

  5. For Windows, create a new High Speed Copies spool folder on the hard drive and name it 'espool'. If you are using a Macintosh, move to the next step.

      Notes Icon Note:

      This step is not possible for the following products:

      • Stylus Photo P50 and other "P" range products
      • Stylus S20, S21 and other "S" range products
      • Stylus Office B range
      • Stylus Office BX range
      • Stylus PX range
      • Stylus SX range

      For these products, move to the section titled High Speed Copies and check if High Speed Copies is enabled in Speed & Progress. If not enabled, then enable it. If it isn't enabled, try disabling it. You could also try emptying your local 'Temp' folder using Windows' Disk Cleanup. Guidance is available from the Microsoft website. Click here for Windows XP, here for Windows 2000, or click here for Windows 7 and Vista.


  6. For Mac OS X: Check that the correct Epson printer driver is listed in the printer list.

  7. Load some sheets of A4 plain paper into the printer. Print a Test Page to check if the issue is resolved.

    If the Test Page does print correctly, try printing a different document. If another document does not print properly, try reducing the size of the data sent to the printer sending a standard text document or smaller photo file.

    • Windows: Print a Test Page from the General tab of the printer Properties. See the following Related Article if you require assistance: How to Print a Test Page in Windows.

    • Mac OS X:

      • 10.6, 10.5, 10.4: Open System Preferences > Print & Fax then double-click on the Epson printer icon in the list of printers. In the printer information/queue window, select Print Test Page from the Printer menu.

      • 10.3, 10.2: Open Text Edit from Applications, enter some text and attempt to print it, making sure you select A4 as the paper size.

  8. What to do if the issue is still present:

    If partial pages continue to be printed after following the checks above, see one of the following Related Articles for assistance. Please follow the guidance from the beginning of the article:

    Mac OS X:


    Windows:


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