TSC tag printers

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Setting Up

  1. Make sure that the customer has calibrated the Tag Printer before beginning.
    1. The printer's instruction booklet should tell the customer how to do this (it usually involves a series of button presses).
  2. Download the latest TSC Tag Printer Driver from here.
  3. Run through the installer
    1. If you can not find the exact model of printer in the list then you can go to 'Have Disk' and browse to 'C:/Seagull' and select the model from the new list.
  4. Once the printer is created, open up the properties of the printer
    1. On the General tab, click Printing Preferences...
    2. On the Page Setup tab click the Edit... button
    3. Change the Label Size: Width to 4.00 and Height to 5.50
    4. Click OK
    5. Select the radio next to Portrait 180°
    6. Click the Stock tab
    7. Select Labels With Marks from the Type: drop down
    8. Change Mark Height: to 0.12in
    9. Click OK
    10. In the Tag Printer properties dialog, click the Advanced tab
    11. Click the Printing Defaults... button
    12. Repeat steps 4.2 through 4.9
  5. In ITrack, go to Edit > Options
  6. On the Printers tab, select Tag from the Printer Type dropdown
  7. Select the Tag printer that was just setup, from the Printer Name dropdown
  8. Open a part on the Part screen and print a tag
  9. Confirm that everything is fine and dandy

Problems/Solutions

Tags print too light to be read

A problem that has been experienced before is that tags are printing out too light and the information on the tag can't be read.

To fix this issue:

  1. Open up the tag printer's properties
  2. Go to the General tab and hit the Printing Preferences button
  3. The Printing Preferences dialog appears, go to the Options tab
  4. Change the print speed to 2.00in/sec and the darkness to 15
  5. Click Ok
  6. Make the same changes in the Printing Defaults on the Advanced tab
  7. There is sometimes an issue where the print speed won't save
  8. Reopen the Printing Preferences (General tab) and Printing Defaults (Advanced tab) dialog
  9. Check the Options tab to make sure that the Print Speed is 2.00in/sec
  10. If it has gone back to 4.00in/sec, see the section below titled Removing and reinstalling TSC tag printer drivers

Removing and reinstalling TSC tag printer drivers

  1. Take note of the printer model and port that the tag printer is using Properties > Ports (tab)
  2. Delete the printer
  3. In the Printers windows go to File > Server Properties > Drivers (tab) > find the tag printer in the list, select it and hit Remove...
  4. If you get an error about not being able to remove the driver, hit the properties button and take note of the driver path.
  5. Delete the directory you took note of in the previous step.
  6. Repeat the steps in the Setting Up section above.
  7. Go to the [printers] section in Host.ini and delete the line that begins with 'tag', then go into Edit >> Options and set the 'Tag' option back to the tag printer.
    1. If this is not done then ITrack will not recognize the new driver automatically and it will print to the Windows Default Printer.
    2. Another way fix this problem is to select a new printer in Edit >> Options and select a different printer then reselect the tag printer. This will cause ITrack to recognize the new driver and print to it instead of the Windows Default Printer.
  8. Tell everyone how awesome you are.

Setting up the tag printer over the network

The normal way that we network a tag printer so that multiple computers can connect to it is by hooking the tag printer to another computer through USB and then marking it as shared. After that, on another computer you can use Windows Explorer to navigate to the computer that the tag printer is hooked up to, and then connect it from there.

On certain models of tag printers (like the ME240) there is a built-in modem so that it can be connected straight into the network instead of being installed on a computer first. To accomplish this:

  1. Connect the tag printer through a CAT5 cable into an ethernet port.
  2. On the tag printer, use the menu system/LED to find the IP Address of the tag printer. It will probably be something like "Menu >> Network >> Status."
  3. Once you have the IP Address, install a printer driver of the tag printer on the computer and point the port to the IP Address that you found earlier.
  4. If all went as planned, you should now be able to print a test page from the tag printer.

The tag printer is not spitting the tag out to the black line or going past it

  1. Add the printer as local (if the tag printer is physically connected to another computer then create a new port that includes the IP address of the computer it is hooked up to)
  2. Change the Feed Offset to .5 inches (make sure to change it in both the Printing Preferences and Advanced Settings)
  3. In the Printer Properties > General tab > Preferences > Stock tab make sure that Post-Print Action is set to Tear Off. Then check the same setting in Properties > Advanced tab > Printing Defaults > Stock

The tag printer is hooked up to a computer that doesn't have the version of the driver required for the OS version you're trying to add it on

  1. Install the tag printer as a local printer, as if it where physically connected to the computer you are trying to network it to
  2. Add a new port - make it a local port - and give it the port name "\\<name_of_computer_sharing_printer>\<printer_share_name>"

Windows does not recognize the Tag Printer

Things to try:

  1. Power Cycle the printer: Turn off power and unplug the machine for 30 seconds to a minute, then turn it back on and try to print again.
  2. Plug the tag printer into another USB port and try to print.
  3. Plug the tag printer into a different computer and test it.

Windows 8.1 and Printer Installing Issues

  1. Windows 8.0 and 8.1 can present some new and frustrating quirks to the process.
  2. If you install a tag printer in Windows 8/8.1 and the printer does not appear in "Devices and Printers", please see the following Fogbugz case for information on how to work around the problem. Fogbugz Case 15251

TSC TTP 246M User Manual

The tag printer user manual can be found at: \\file\ITRACK\Tech Support\Drivers\TTP_246M_344M.pdf

TSC Diagnostic Tool

The wonderful folks over at TSC have created a diagnostic tool for their printers. This tool can read the printer status and tell you error the LED codes are describing, what version of printer it is, firmware version, driver version, allow you to do printer configuration and initialization without requiring the user to hold down buttons and interpret codes, set the printer settings described above without having to use the properties dialog, and other magical things. You can find it at \\file\ITRACK\Tech Support\Drivers\DiagTool_133.zip. Just transfer the tool over to the client machine and launch it from anywhere. Note the tool may not work with older versions of firmware, on older tag printers. At the very least it works with a TTP TSC 247. Instructions for using the tool can be found in the user manual (TTP_245p_247_343p_345_user_manual_eng.pdf), which you can find in the same directory on //File/ as the tool.

TSC Tag Printer Warranties and Refunds

If a customer is unhappy with their tag printer, they can receive a full refund from Bluestar Inc, the people we buy the printers from, if the purchase was 30 days ago or less.

If the customer believes their tag printer is broken, all tag printers have a 24 month warranty repair policy offered directly by TSC. If the customer stands by their printer being broken, in order to get a warranty repair started, they must call TSC Tech Support and their technicians will work with them to identify what is broken and instruct them where to ship it for a warranty repair. None of that is ISoft's responsibility other than getting the customer contact information they'd need.

TSC Technical Support

Phone Number: 1-657-220-7995. Dave is most likely the one you'll be speaking to. Old Number: 1-657-258-0808. Email: service@tscprinters.com

Another Printer's Driver is Overriding the TSC's Settings

Sometimes another printer's driver is highly aggressive and does not play nice with other drivers on the system. The solution to this is to uninstall the offending driver that is throwing off the TSC driver, however, you will not be able to print to the offending printer on that computer.

List of drivers that override TSC drivers:

  • HP Laserjet 200 color M251
  • Pretty much any Canon printer
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