|
WINDOWS PRINTING
By
Sharon Bond
When you print a
document, Windows coordinates the software resources needed for the
job---including the printer driver, the font selections, and the contents of the
document itself. All this takes place automatically, without distracting you
from your other activities on the desktop. A printer icon shows up at the right
side of the Taskbar whenever you choose an application’s Print command.
Windows allows you to place multiple documents in line for printing—creating a
print queue—and to continue your work while the printing takes place in the
background.
You may sometimes want to take more direct
control over printing operations. One way to do so is to place a shortcut icon
on the desktop to represent your printer. You can then form a print queue (a
series of documents waiting to print) by dragging documents directly to the
printer icon. To view the print queue, you simply double-click on the printer
icon; in the resulting window you can issue commands to pause, resume, or cancel
any print job.
What types of printers can I use to print my
files?
Windows works with many
types of printers. There are two common types of printers.
1,
Ink-jet:
An ink-jet printer produces documents that are suitable for routine business and
personal use.
2, Laser:
A laser printer is faster and produces higher-quality documents than an ink-jet
printer, but is more expensive.
HOW TO PRINT A DOCUMENT
You typically print a
document directly from the application in which the file was originally
created. Whether you are printing a letter from WordPad, a drawing from Paint,
or a table of financial data from your favorite spreadsheet program, the steps
are always the same. Start the application, open the file, edit it if
necessary, and then choose print from the File Menu or press the Ctrl P keys to
send the document to the printer. But suppose you want a quick way to print
several documents from a variety of source applications. To simplify this kind
of printing operation, you can create a shortcut icon to represent your printer
on the desktop. You then use a simple drag-and-drop action to print a file.
Try this:
1.
To open the Printer folder, click the Start
button, choose Settings, and then choose Printers.
2.
Tje The
printers folder displays icons for the
printers you have installed on your system. Select the printer for which you
want to create a shortcut on the desktop
Holding down the right (or secondary) mouse
button, drag the selected printer icon from the Printers folder to the desktop.
Release the mouse button and then choose Create Shoftcut(s) Here from the
resulting menu. A new printer icon appears on the desktop, where it will remain until you delete it. You can now close the Printers folder.
Open a folder
containing a file you would like to print.
 5.
Drag
any document
from the
open folder to the
printer shortcut icon.
Release the mouse button when
the document icon is directly in front of the printer icon and the name of
the printer is highlighted. In response, Windows starts the application in which
the file was created, opens the document, prints it, and then closes the
application.
If Windows displays an error message, the
document you have selected is not associated with an application. Click OK to
close the message box.
Sharon’s Tip Corner:
a. You can drag multiple document files to the
printer icon in one operation. To select two or more files, hold down the Ctrl
key while you click the file names in the source folder window. Then drag the
entire selection to the printer shortcut icon.
b. To view the current print queue, double-click
the printer icon on the desktop. When you open the printer window, you can
manage the queue in a variety of useful ways.
c, If Windows cannot automatically determine the
application from which to print a document you select, the simplest solution is
to start an appropriate application yourself, open the document, and choose the
print command from the application’s File menu. A more technical alternative is
to associate an application with a particular file type. To do so, open the My
Computer window or the Explorer, pull down the View menu, and choose Options.
Click the File Types tab to register a new file type.
HOW TO MANAGE THE PRINT
QUEUE
The
print queue is the list of documents waiting to be printed. You can open a
window that displays this queue by double-clicking the printer shortcut icon you
have created on the desktop. This allows you to pause the current print
operation, either for the entire queue or for individual documents in the queue.
You can also cancel any job.
1.
Click the printer
shortcut icon with the right (or secondary) mouse button, and choose Pause
Printing from the resulting menu. When you have several documents to send to
the print queue, the Pause status gives you the opportunity to form the entire
queue before the printing begins.
2. Send any number of documents to the printer,
using the drag-and-drop operation.
3. To view the print queue, double-click the
printer shortcut icon on the desktop. The queue shows the name of each document
that is waiting to be printed
4. To change the status of any document in the
list, click the document name with the right (or secondary) mouse button. Then
choose the Pause Printing option to toggle the document into the Pause mode.
5.
To
resume printing any documents that are not in the
Pause mode,
pull down the
Printer menu and choose the
Pause Printing option.
(The check mark next to this option means that the entire queue is in the Pause
mode. When you choose the command, the check mark is removed and printing
resumes.
To Top
|
