PRINTING FAQ This is REQUIRED READING.  Please do not skip it.

Dot matrix printers are the only choice for printing multi-part forms.  CharterHouse expects the printer to be in IBM Proprinter mode.  RTFM.

Laser and inkjet printers work with CharterHouse; they are essentially identical.  Inkjet printers are far more expensive per page because the ink is expensive, especially with color printers.

In general, we discourage multipurpose printers (scanner + FAX + Etc.) because we believe that the printer should be available now, not whenever the FAX finishes arriving.  Do you want a FAX on your invoice form?!

Printers that do not work:
A printer that requires Windows will not work with CharterHouse.  These printers do not have a CPU and depend on a bidirectional connection to a computer that provides a substitute for the necessary intelligence.  Some known printers falling into this category:
Inkjets:  HP 600, 710, 720C, 820CSE, 1000C
             Epson 400, 440
             NEC Silentwriter 660
Hint: Check our Knowledge Base to see if your printer is listed there.  That information may be more current than the above.
Laser and inkjet gotchas (Things to watch out for):
How does the paper feed through the printer?  Some printers feed paper from the bottom of the tray.  Some feed the trailing edge first.  You must determine how to load a form such that it prints right-side-up and on the face.
The printer must be HP-compatible.  CharterHouse uses PCL ("Printer Control Language") 5.
The printer must not require Windows.
Recommended laser or inkjet printers:
CharterHouse does not endorse or recommend any hardware.  If the printer is PCL 5, has a CPU and is on an LPT port number from 1 through 3, it will work.
Matrix gotchas (Things to watch out for):
Examine the tractor.  It must allow the paper to load low enough that it does not jam when the first page advances.  Make sure the printer can be easily set to print a thickness of one through six parts and that the tractor feed and platen can handle six-parts (and any carbons between, if appropriate).
You don't want to have to mess with babysitting the forms through the printer!

Make sure it is easy to set Top Of Form.

Make sure the printer can emulate an IBM Proprinter.  This means that when you send the decimal value 018 (eighteen) that the printer is set to Pica (10 CPI) and when you send 015 (fifteen) that the printer is set to Compress mode (17 CPI).  It is not necessary that the printer respond to 012 (twelve), the Form-Feed character, because CharterHouse never sends a Form-Feed.   The "standard" width of most carriages is 80 Pica characters, but printing forms pushes that limit.  The printer must print at least 82 characters before the paper auto-advances!

Recommended matrix printers:
There aren't many matrix printers around anymore, so Oki / Okidata seems to be the best choice at this time.  However, we do not endorse or recommend any hardware.
Multiple printers:
Printer selector switches are error-prone and expensive.  If you want more than one printer, then we strongly advise adding another parallel port to the computer and attaching additional printer(s) to that port such that the second printer is LPT2 (and the third, if it exists, is LPT3).  The cost of an additional parallel port is far less than any switch.  CharterHouse cannot use any printer on a port higher than LPT3.
Windows demands a DEFAULT PRINTER be set and switches do not change this default.  If the print driver is different for the two printers, you'll likely get garbage when the wrong printer for the default driver is selected.
Return to the Home Page    Return to Help