Using the Print Dialog Box

Most print options in Solar Fire will display the "Print" dialog box, which allows the user to add the print job to the batch print queue, to alter printer settings, or to print immediately.

If you wish to exit from this dialog box without taking any action, then the Cancel button may be used.

>> To select a Color/Greyscale/Black options

Choose one of the two options provided...

•Color/Greyscale - if you have a color printer (on which the color printing ability is enabled), then the output will be printed using the colors selected in your current color scheme for printers. If your printer is not a color printer (or is a color printer, but on which the color printing ability is disabled), then it will appear in greyscale equivalents to the colors selected in your current color scheme for printers.

or...

•Black Only - this converts all color output to black. This produces the clearest output on most monochrome printers.

>> To send output to the printer immediately

1.Optionally select a Color/Greyscale/Black option.

2.Optionally enter a number of Copies to print.

3.Select the Print button - This will start the print job, and messages will appear on the screen to indicate the status of printing. Generally the printer will not actually start printing until the "Print" dialog box disappears. It is not possible to cancel printing once it has started, although it is possible to delete an item from the Windows print queue if it has not already been sent to the printer in its entirety. See your Windows manual for information on the Windows print queue.

If the printer is switched off, not connected to the computer, or has other problems, then Windows will issue a message asking whether you wish to cancel or retry. You may then attempt to remedy the problem and select the Retry button, or select the Cancel button if you wish to continue working without fixing the problem now. If the Cancel button is selected then the output will not be sent to the printer, but it will remain on the Windows print queue (not to be confused with the Solar Fire batch print queue). Please refer to your Windows manual for instructions on using the Windows Printer object to deal with the Windows print queue.

>> To add this output to the print batch queue

1.Optionally enter a number of Copies to queue for printing.

2.Select the Queue button

This will display a dialog box asking you to confirm whether or not you wish to add this print job to the Solar Fire print batch queue. If you select the OK button, then it will be added to the queue, and it will not be printed at this time. It is possible, at any later time, to start printing all the jobs which are on the batch print queue by selecting the Start Print Queue option from the View menu of the Main Screen.

Note: If you have specified more than one copy, then the print queue will have the specified number of copies added to it instead of just one.

>> To alter printer setup options

•Select the Setup button

See Altering Printer Settings for information on altering printer settings.

Note: The number of copies you set in the printer settings is ignored by Solar Fire. To print multiple copies, you must set the number of copies required in this dialog instead.

Note: The number of copies you select in this dialog is always automatically reset to one when it is next opened. This is done deliberately to prevent you accidentally printing multiple copies when you have simply forgotten to reset it from last time you printed.