DECcolorwriter 120ic Printer

This document is a comprehensive user guide for the DECcolorwriter 120ic thermal ink jet printer, published in August 1994. It covers everything from initial setup and operation to maintenance, troubleshooting, and detailed technical specifications.

The guide introduces the printer's features, highlighting its high-quality color and monochrome printing (up to 300x300 dpi), support for various media types (paper, transparencies, envelopes), low cost of ownership due to rechargeable monochrome ink cartridges and an economy mode, and ease of use. It details the physical components and controls, including print heads, paper loading levers, selector switches, and the operator panel.

Setup instructions walk users through unpacking, positioning the printer, inserting paper input/output trays, connecting to a computer (parallel or optional serial interface) and power, installing print heads, running self-tests, and installing Windows printer drivers for Windows 3.1x environments.

The operation section covers media characteristics, printing sides for automatic and manual insertion, and how to print using Windows applications, including selecting drivers and configuring settings like resolution, paper size, paper source, orientation, memory, font cartridges, dithering, and print quality (Draft, Standard, Presentation, Economy). It also explains how to achieve monochrome printing with the color driver.

Maintenance procedures include changing, cleaning, and priming print heads, replacing monochrome ink cartridges, and preparing the printer for transport or storage. A troubleshooting section provides solutions for common installation, paper, and printing problems, along with contact information for Digital Services Centers.

Appendices offer in-depth information on available accessories and options (e.g., emulation cards, font cards, RAM, serial interface), resident and optional fonts, printer controlling in DOS environments (communication protocols, printing methods, selector switch programming, hexadecimal print-out), emulation concepts, and extensive character set tables and command codes for the resident HP DeskJet Plus emulation, concluding with detailed technical and interface characteristics.