How to print a file from the command line? Epson, Brother

[micky]

Is there a command line that would print one picture from my files using
an Epson printer?
a Brother printer?

I should have thought of this earlier, but I need something to keep the
ink jet printers from drying out while I'm gone. Isn't 11 weeks enough
time to do that?

I thought I'd make a bat file that would run once a month that would
print, I guess, the same photo each time, but it's only 2 copies.

TIA

[Paul]

The cartridges should cap themselves when in the parked position.
Something has to cover the orifices, or they'd clog even faster
than that.

I use mine less frequently than that, and don't have a problem.

If I print once a year, the cartridges might clog after
about four years or so.

Some printer brands, if you leave them powered (whether it's
USB power or a line cord), and the LED is on, the printer
will "purge" itself about once a day. By the time you get
back from your trip, the carts would be pumped dry. So
that's not exactly a "cheap" option. That's maintenance
to an impractical level.

Paul

[Bob Eager]

Easy enough to print a text file, perhaps if you set that up for a bit of
each colour?

use the PRINT command ...


However, leaving it on is going to use up the ink anyway, from auto
purging. I'd take the cartridges out, wrap them in cling film and see
what happens.

[Char Jackson]

On Tue, 07 Mar 2017 17:14:31 -0500, micky <NONONO...@bigfoot.com>
wrote:

I recently did this for a friend. I created a basic task in Task
Scheduler, set it to run every Monday morning at 10:00 AM, and entered
this command string:

rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /k /n "EPSON Stylus Photo R220 Series"

Where, obviously, her printer name is "EPSON Stylus Photo R220 Series"

You can test it by running it from a cmd prompt, inserting your printer
instead of her Epson.

In fact, just run "rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /?" from a cmd
prompt to get a pop-up window with all of the possible command line
switches. You'll see what /k and /n really mean.

The full command prints a standard printer test page rather than an
image or other document. As for the frequency of the print, that's what
she wanted. I think weekly might be too often. The standard test page
doesn't use a whole lot of ink, especially colored ink, so I thought it
would be a good choice. Plus, that 'document' is always available and
can't be deleted since it's built in, so there's some safety there.

[micky]

In alt.comp.os.windows-10, on Tue, 07 Mar 2017 17:14:31 -0500, micky

Well, I found something for brother that probably applies to Epson too!

Linux Informations
Print command (LPR)
Print Command :
lpr -P (printer name) (filename)

Configuration Command :
brprintconf_(model name) [Option]

Options:
http://support.brother.com/g/s/id/linux/pdf/options_lpr11.pdf
but I don't think I need any of these options.

However when I try this in a bat file, it says: Unknown command: LPR

I found something called LPR.exe in the side by side directory, but it
says it won't run on a 64-bit computer. I don't think this is the right
thing anyhow.

[micky]

In alt.comp.os.windows-10, on 7 Mar 2017 22:42:09 GMT, Bob Eager

Won't that allow the parts in the printer to dry out from the top?

[micky]

In alt.comp.os.windows-10, on Tue, 07 Mar 2017 16:48:41 -0600, Char

Jackson <no...@none.invalid> wrote:

>On Tue, 07 Mar 2017 17:14:31 -0500, micky <NONONO...@bigfoot.com>
>wrote:
>
>>Is there a command line that would print one picture from my files using
>>an Epson printer?
>>a Brother printer?
>>
>>I should have thought of this earlier, but I need something to keep the
>>ink jet printers from drying out while I'm gone. Isn't 11 weeks enough
>>time to do that?
>>
>>I thought I'd make a bat file that would run once a month that would
>>print, I guess, the same photo each time, but it's only 2 copies.
>>
>>TIA
>
>I recently did this for a friend. I created a basic task in Task
>Scheduler, set it to run every Monday morning at 10:00 AM, and entered
>this command string:

This is great. Thank you. But the test page that came out was all
black with a little blue. I'll look myself but I'm posting now because
I have to finish tonight.

IIUC black uses a little color, but is that true for both Epson and
Brother. Is it enough? I suppose so.

[micky]

Never mind. I found a spectrum image** on the web, copied it to a file,
cropped out the black parts, and unless there is no way to specify a
file to be printed, I can print it.

**Under color test page epson and t hat yielded
www.inkguides.com/page-print-test.asp

Thanks a lot.

In alt.comp.os.windows-10, on Tue, 07 Mar 2017 16:48:41 -0600, Char
Jackson <no...@none.invalid> wrote:

[Boris]

Char Jackson <no...@none.invalid> wrote in
news:fpdubcdrom4sl9tpr...@4ax.com:

> On Tue, 07 Mar 2017 17:14:31 -0500, micky <NONONO...@bigfoot.com>
> wrote:
>
>>Is there a command line that would print one picture from my files
>>using an Epson printer?
>>a Brother printer?
>>
>>I should have thought of this earlier, but I need something to keep
>>the ink jet printers from drying out while I'm gone. Isn't 11 weeks
>>enough time to do that?
>>
>>I thought I'd make a bat file that would run once a month that would
>>print, I guess, the same photo each time, but it's only 2 copies.
>>
>>TIA
>
> I recently did this for a friend. I created a basic task in Task
> Scheduler, set it to run every Monday morning at 10:00 AM, and entered
> this command string:
>
> rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /k /n "EPSON Stylus Photo R220
> Series"
>
> Where, obviously, her printer name is "EPSON Stylus Photo R220 Series"
>
> You can test it by running it from a cmd prompt, inserting your
> printer instead of her Epson.

Worked great on my "Brother HL-2270DW series" printer. Printed a test
page from this XP machine over my home network to the wireless Brother
in another room.

>
> In fact, just run "rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /?" from a cmd
> prompt to get a pop-up window with all of the possible command line
> switches. You'll see what /k and /n really mean.

Cool.

[Char Jackson]

On Wed, 8 Mar 2017 03:12:41 -0000 (UTC), Boris <nos...@nospam.invalid>
wrote:

Excellent! Thanks for reporting your results. My friend is happy with
her weekly prints, as well. It looks like micky found another solution,
so all is well.

[Paul]

LPR originated on Unix. You would expect a port to Linux.
I don't know what you'd expect on the Windows side. Windows
made an attempt at adding non-Windows support, but efforts
like this would take all day to research.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_Printer_Daemon_protocol

On Win10, the closest you might get to that kind of (Linux)
executable is if you have the Bash shell installed. and you
never know with Bash, how many subsystems are actually wired
up to work. Linux users talk more about CUPS than about lpr today.

This is one of those "it's too late to be writing this script"
situations. The older you get, the more you respect the time
margins required.

It's like designing a house alarm system, 20 minutes before
you hop on the cruise liner. Not gonna happen :-) I would
prefer to remember to take out the trash, than fool with
techie stuff before a departure.

Paul

[micky]

In alt.comp.os.windows-10, on Tue, 07 Mar 2017 17:23:49 -0500, Paul

<nos...@needed.invalid> wrote:

>micky wrote:
>> Is there a command line that would print one picture from my files using
>> an Epson printer?
>> a Brother printer?
>>
>> I should have thought of this earlier, but I need something to keep the
>> ink jet printers from drying out while I'm gone. Isn't 11 weeks enough
>> time to do that?
>>
>> I thought I'd make a bat file that would run once a month that would
>> print, I guess, the same photo each time, but it's only 2 copies.
>>
>> TIA

I remember now, printing in black does use some color, right (even if no
grey scale is involved) so the test pages are good enough.

>The cartridges should cap themselves when in the parked position.
>Something has to cover the orifices, or they'd clog even faster
>than that.
>
>I use mine less frequently than that, and don't have a problem.
>
>If I print once a year, the cartridges might clog after
>about four years or so.

That's amazing. Clogging was a major proglem with the first inkjet
printer I had, 20 years ago maybe.

And again a month ago, different printer, only yellow was coming out, so
I got to be extra careful.

[micky]

In alt.comp.os.windows-10, on Tue, 07 Mar 2017 21:56:50 -0600, Char

No, I went with yours, and it tested fine until I tested starting
Windows and I remembered that I had it perfect, but something messed it
up so I get that spotlight picture, and even though i have no password,
I have to press enter to complete startup.

I've found more than one method in google, adding NolockScreen to the
registry, using netplwiz and unchecking a box, but it looks like if I
let it start up while Im' gone, it will get so far and stay there
forever.

I don't have a password, have never had one, but I still have to press
enter.

[micky]

In alt.comp.os.windows-10, on Tue, 07 Mar 2017 23:54:17 -0500, Paul

I missed the trash too. Last pickup was Monday and I didn't have it
out. It will be interesting to see what happens in the garbage can.

[Char Jackson]

On Wed, 08 Mar 2017 03:13:03 -0500, micky <NONONO...@bigfoot.com>
wrote:

Put a hunk of meat in there. Fish, if you have it. That should bring out
the critters and make things interesting.

[Andrew Rossmann]

In article <ivbubc1blm0ehqesq...@4ax.com>, NONONOmisc07
@bigfoot.com says...

A properly parked printer shouldn't really dry out much if it all. If
you will not be printing for a few weeks, turn the printer off with it's
own power button. That should guarantee it's fully parked and sealed. If
the computer or network it's connected to is left on, you may even want
to then unplug it from power to guarantee nothing wakes it up. If you
unplug at the outlet (not just unplug an external supply), you also
guarantee using 0W of power.

--
If there is a no_junk in my address, please REMOVE it before replying!
All junk mail senders will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the
law!!
http://home.comcast.net/~andyross

[Mayayana]

"Paul" <nos...@needed.invalid> wrote

| The cartridges should cap themselves when in the parked position.
| Something has to cover the orifices, or they'd clog even faster
| than that.
|

That's news to me. I have an HP Envy 5660 that I mostly
only use for business contracts and the like, leaving
it turned off otherwise. I probably use it about once per
month. Sometimes every two months. Recently it began
fading, worse with each print, until there was very little
printed on the page. But the cartridges are both full and
not very old. The self-cleaning routines had no effect. I
found advice online to soak the jets in warm water and
dab them on a paper towel. That worked. Though the
color print quality is still not perfect.

It may be that the unusually dry Winter weather has
caused the problem, but I wouldn't trust the printer itself
to keep the cartridges functioning by "parking" them.

I wonder if maybe removing and wrapping in plastic
wrap, perhaps in the fridge, would be a good method.

[Paul]

The white tray underneath the carts, seen on the right
here, may have something to do with it. I have a different
model, and the white tray underneath seems to be pressed
up against the cartridge. At some point in the travel of
the carts, there is supposed to be a sponge somewhere.
But you'll notice the white tray seems to move around
a bit, and I can't tell what that action is for. I
can't see the printing face of the cart, when it's parked.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WreQA6rKSJo

Paul

[Mayayana]

"Paul" <nos...@needed.invalid> wrote

| > | The cartridges should cap themselves when in the parked position.
| > | Something has to cover the orifices, or they'd clog even faster
| > | than that.
| > |
| >
| > That's news to me.

| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WreQA6rKSJo
|

I really don't care how it's allegedly supposed to
work. They dry out. My current printer is only
1 or 2 years old. I don't remember exactly, but it's
a recent model.

[Unknown]

The white part is in fact the mechanism that caps the print heads and assists
with preventing them from drying out.
That is not foolproof, print heads dry out with disuse anyway eventually but
the capping machanism helps considerably.
The sponge will be somewhere else on the carriage bed and is used to dump ink
when the heads are being cleaned by the printer.
Tony

[Neil]

Why not get a laser printer rather than go through all of that? I
learned long ago that infrequently used inkjet printers fail. Those with
heads separate from the cartridge are the worst. I'm currently
experimenting with a new HP inkjet that I print to a couple times a week
at most, and so far it still prints decent color. But, if it fails, at
least I don't have a lot invested in it.

--
best regards,

Neil

[Mayayana]

"Neil" <ne...@myplaceofwork.com> wrote

| Why not get a laser printer rather
| than go through all of that?

I'm not familiar with laser. My impression has
been that they're more expensive and mainly
used for large volumes of b/w printing. I
sometimes use color, do very little printing in
general, and sometimes use the scanner. So
a cheap all-in-one works well for me.

I just printed out about 20 business receipts
recently. I use 2, with a sheet of carbon paper,
for each job in my contracting business. It's
probably an average of 3-4 months to do 10 jobs.
I might need to print out a few contracts in that
time. Maybe some address labels. That's about it.
(Ironically, I bought a package of carbon paper
many years ago -- probably at least 15 years --
and I'm still using it. :)


I'm surprised that no company has managed
to come out with a greatly improved product.
The print quality keeps improving. The speed
keeps improving. But given the undependability
and the cost per print, especially for high
quality images, I don't find printers to be very
useful. The cost of ink is beyond absurd. It's
almost high enough to justify buying a new
printer when the intro cartridges run out. If
printers came with full cartridges then it actually
would be cheaper to just replace the printer
when the ink ran low.

[Jonathan N. Little]

Mayayana wrote:
> "Neil" <ne...@myplaceofwork.com> wrote
>
> | Why not get a laser printer rather
> | than go through all of that?
>
> I'm not familiar with laser. My impression has
> been that they're more expensive and mainly
> used for large volumes of b/w printing. I
> sometimes use color, do very little printing in
> general, and sometimes use the scanner. So
> a cheap all-in-one works well for me.
>
> I just printed out about 20 business receipts
> recently. I use 2, with a sheet of carbon paper,
> for each job in my contracting business. It's
> probably an average of 3-4 months to do 10 jobs.
> I might need to print out a few contracts in that
> time. Maybe some address labels. That's about it.
> (Ironically, I bought a package of carbon paper
> many years ago -- probably at least 15 years --
> and I'm still using it. :)

If you get a monochrome laser they can be very inexpensive. Can get them
for under 100 USD. But better to get one for about 150 USD. If you don't
have much volume they will be an even better value than inkjet because
they do not "dry-out-and-clog" when you don't use them for an extended
period of time. The toner cartridge will properly last you for years and
even the replacement for monochrome toner will be about 30 USD.

Color lasers are another story.


--
Take care,

Jonathan
-------------------
LITTLE WORKS STUDIO
http://www.LittleWorksStudio.com

[Rodney Pont]

I'd just take the cartridges out and pop them in a plastic bag. If you
are really worried you can get cleaning cartridges, pop a set of them
in before you go away.


--
Faster, cheaper, quieter than HS2
and built in 5 years;
UKUltraspeed <http://www.500kmh.com/>

[Bob Eager]

On Wed, 08 Mar 2017 22:04:04 -0500, Mayayana wrote:

> I'm surprised that no company has managed
> to come out with a greatly improved product.

They have. It's called a laser printer. Colour lasers are now quite
cheap. The consumables often aren't, but I only use mine for *colour*
printing. Otherwise I use a 25 year old Laserjet 4M+.

And the cost of consumables is not so bad when you think of all the dried
up ink cartridges you had to throw away.

[Paul]

Mayayana wrote:

> I'm surprised that no company has managed
> to come out with a greatly improved product.
> The print quality keeps improving. The speed
> keeps improving. But given the undependability
> and the cost per print, especially for high
> quality images, I don't find printers to be very
> useful. The cost of ink is beyond absurd. It's
> almost high enough to justify buying a new
> printer when the intro cartridges run out. If
> printers came with full cartridges then it actually
> would be cheaper to just replace the printer
> when the ink ran low.

That's one of the reasons the teaser cart capacity had
to drop. At one time, the carts were generous enough, it
did indeed make sense to buy new printers rather than
buy replacement carts. So the number of prints in a
teaser had to drop. Even modern lasers, the teaser
toner cartridge has to be tweaked in the downward direction,
to make the pricing model work.

For the ink cartridge size, you can fit about three different
"quantity" SKUs into that footprint. You cannot fill the
inkjet cartridge absolutely full, because of the
pressure compensation mechanism - the cart has to be
sealed as well as possible to avoid dry-out, but at the
same time, you cannot have a large pressure differential
between inside and outside, or the "2 picoliter pumps"
cannot work against the pressure.

That's why there are patents on the "sponge material" inside
the cart. It's one mechanism used for managing the pressure.

*******

And the "thing" that started the chain reaction, was
Tektronix and the wax printer. The printer cost around
10K or so (our vice president who used to sit 300 feet from
my desk, had one). The business model changed to "rental
consumables" - you could pay some price per month, and
not only was the printer provided for free, you would
get a certain quantity of wax. So after you'd owned it
for a number of years, the printer was paid for, and every
month after that would mean a big profit for whatever company
was running the scheme at the time. I don't know if we kept
ours through that interval. I think I was allowed to print
a single page on that thing once :-) What a privilege :-)
I had to ask the VP secretary for permission.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid_ink

So when the makers of other printers saw that model,
they didn't wait to see the P&L statement of the
company managing the operation. They went nuts.
And were only too eager to offer printers at
material cost, and inks "more expensive than gold".
Praying for idiots to come along, who could not
do sums or figure out their monthly expenditure on
carts etc., to fork out huge wodges of cash.

Even the products my company made, our pricing
people had to mull those two choices for pricing
models. And in many cases, it was staring at the
competitor pricing sheet that made the decision,
rather than a "coin flip". So when a pricing model
takes hold, it can be infectious.

Paul

[Neil]

On 3/8/2017 10:04 PM, Mayayana wrote:
> "Neil" <ne...@myplaceofwork.com> wrote
>
> | Why not get a laser printer rather
> | than go through all of that?
>
> I'm not familiar with laser. My impression has
> been that they're more expensive and mainly
> used for large volumes of b/w printing.
>

I include the time that I spend maintaining my equipment in the "cost"
column for my business. The time you spend soaking your cartridges and
getting the printer to print a reliable page again would pay for a much
more expensive printer unless your time is worth almost nothing. The
time spent maintaining a laser printer in that manner is zero, even if
you only printed one page per year.

> I'm surprised that no company has managed
> to come out with a greatly improved product.
> The print quality keeps improving. The speed
> keeps improving. But given the undependability
> and the cost per print, especially for high
> quality images, I don't find printers to be very
> useful. The cost of ink is beyond absurd. It's
> almost high enough to justify buying a new
> printer when the intro cartridges run out. If
> printers came with full cartridges then it actually
> would be cheaper to just replace the printer
> when the ink ran low.
>

These are very subjective assessments. I don't print "high quality
images" on either my lasers or inkjet printers; I use those printers for
editing and proofing and use appropriate high-end devices (which I
neither own nor have to maintain) for final output.

--
best regards,

Neil