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3.117. Printing issues in EstiMate?

I am trying to print a report in EstiMate but it doesn't print correctly. How do I get my report to print right?

There are numerous factors that can cause EstiMate to print incorrectly. Below are listed some of the more common issues.

Issue: The text on the report is doubling up, is garbled out of alignment or illegible.

Solution: Uninstall your printer drivers and download new ones from the manufacturer website.

Issue: The address info prints fine for both shop and customer but all estimate details below that are missing and the remainder of the form is blank.

Solution: The first thing to examine is whether you are seeing a blank cover letter on the preview. The EstiMate itself may be on the next page so look at the top of the preview and click the arrow to the right and see if there is another page there. If so, then try to print again and on the windows print dialog make sure that the "all" option is dotted and not a page range of 1 to 1.

If you confirm that you see the estimate itself on the preview screen and that the remainder of the report is not printing then uninstall your printer drivers and download new ones from the manufacturer website.

Issue: EstiMate is printing blocks instead of letters.

Solution: A Font management solution is needed as too many fonts are installed in the windows/fonts folder and these are bogging down the system. An excellent reference article is located at http://graphicssoft.about.com/library/weekly/aa072099.htm

Issue: Parts of the report that are in black ink do not print but color logo prints.

Solution: Check the black printer cartridge (physically inspect it) as it may be out of ink or toner. Note: This may be the case, even if the printer readout shows ink present.

Issue: The Report prints out as a big black block when printing it to winfax.

Solution: Update your software to the latest version.

Issue: The proof will not print along with the rest of the estimate.

Solution: Make the proof smaller: 8.5 X 11 inches or below, in one of the accepted formats: jpeg, WMF, BMP.

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Exceptions:

In some circumstances, the above solutions may not be appropriate. Other things to try when the above fails are:

* Try printing to a different printer.
* Try loading EstiMate on a different machine.
* Clean the contacts on the cartridge.
* Replace the ink bottle or cartridge.
* Clean printer components.

In some cases there may be corruption in Windows itself and the operating system will need to be re-installed. Since this is a step that also requires data backup and reinstall of your software packages, it should only be done if other methods have failed.

Q & A:

Q: Do I really need to go thru all the trouble of installing new printer drivers if the text on the report is doubling up, is garbled out of alignment or illegible.? After all, I can print from other programs.

A: If the driver is working correctly you should be able to print from * all * programs. One program printing incorrectly is symtomatic of printer driver failure.