HP Color LaserJet 2700 User Manual

							6Color
This chapter describes how to produce the best possible color printing:
●
Using color
●
Managing color
●
Matching colors
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							Using color
The printer provides automatic color features that generate excellent color results. Carefully designed
and tested color tables provide smooth, accurate color rendition of all printable colors.
The printers also provide sophisticated tools for the experienced professional.
HP ImageREt
HP ImageREt is a technology that provides the best color print quality without having to change printer
driver settings or make trade-offs between print quality, performance, and memory. ImageREt produces
photorealistic images.
Media selection
For the best color and image quality, select the appropriate media type from the software printer menu
or from the printer control panel. See 
Selecting print media.
Color options
Color options automatically provide optimal color output. These options use object tagging, which
provides optimal color and halftone settings for different objects (text, graphics, and photos) on a page.
The printer driver determines which objects appear on a page and uses halftone and color settings that
provide the best print quality for each object.
In the Windows environment, the Automatic and Manual color options are on the Color tab in the printer
driver.
Standard red-green-blue (sRGB)
Standard red-green-blue (sRGB) is a worldwide color standard that HP and Microsoft developed as a
common color language for monitors, input devices (scanners and digital cameras), and output devices
(printers and plotters). It is the default color space used for HP products, Microsoft operating systems,
the World Wide Web, and most office software. The sRGB standard represents the typical Windows
monitor and is the convergence standard for high-definition television.
NOTEFactors such as the type of monitor you use and the room lighting can affect the
appearance of colors on your screen. For more information, see 
Matching colors.
The latest versions of Adobe PhotoShop®, CorelDRAW®, Microsoft Office, and many other programs
use sRGB to communicate color. Because it is the default color space in Microsoft operating systems,
sRGB has been adopted broadly. When programs and devices use sRGB to exchange color information,
typical users experience greatly improved color matching.
The sRGB standard improves your ability to match colors between the printer, the computer monitor,
and other input devices automatically, and eliminates the need to become a color expert.
Printing in four colors (CMYK)
Cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (CMYK) are the inks that a printing press uses in four-color printing.
Graphic arts (printing and publishing) environments typically use CMYK data files to provide rich,
saturated colors for text and graphics. The printer uses the PS printer driver to accept CMYK colors.
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							Managing color
Setting color options to Automatic typically produces the best possible print quality for color documents.
However, you sometimes might want to print a color document in grayscale (black and white) or change
one of the printer color options.
●In Windows, use the settings on the Color tab in the printer driver to print in grayscale or change
the color options.
●When using a Macintosh computer, use the Color Matching pop-up menu in the Print dialog box
to print in grayscale or change the color options.
Print in Grayscale
Select the Print in Grayscale option from the printer driver to print a color document in black and white.
This option is useful for printing color documents that will be photocopied or faxed.
When Print in Grayscale is selected, the printer uses the monochrome mode, which reduces wear on
the color cartridges.
Automatic or manual color adjustment
The Automatic color adjustment option optimizes the neutral-gray color treatment, halftones, and edge
enhancements for each element in a document. For more information, see your printer driver online
Help.
NOTEAutomatic is the default setting and is recommended for printing all color documents.
Use the Manual color adjustment option to adjust the neutral-gray color treatment, halftones, and edge
enhancements for text, graphics, and photographs. To gain access to the manual color options, from
the Color tab, select Manual, and then select Settings.
Manual color options
Use manual color adjustment to adjust the Color (or Color Map) and Halftoning options individually
for text, graphics, and photographs.
NOTEIn programs that convert text or graphics to raster images, the Photographs settings
also control text and graphics.
Table 6-1  Manual color options
Setting descriptionSetting options
Halftone
Halftone options affect the color output resolution
and clarity.●Smooth provides better results for large, solid-filled print areas
and enhances photographs by smoothing color gradations. Select
this option when uniform and smooth area fills are the top priority.
●Detail is useful for text and graphics that require sharp distinctions
among lines or colors, or images that contain a pattern or a high
level of detail. Select this option when sharp edges and details are
the top priority.
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							Setting descriptionSetting options
Neutral Grays
The Neutral Grays setting determines the method for
creating gray colors used in text, graphics, and
photographs.●Black Only generates neutral colors (grays and black) by using
only black toner. This guarantees neutral colors without a color
cast.
●4-Color generates neutral colors (grays and black) by combining
all four toner colors. This method produces smoother gradients
and transitions to other colors, and it produces the darkest black.
Edge Control
The Edge Control setting determines how edges are
rendered. Edge control has two components:
adaptive halftoning and trapping. Adaptive halftoning
increases edge sharpness. Trapping reduces the
effect of color-plane misregistration by overlapping
the edges of adjacent objects slightly.●Maximum is the most aggressive trapping setting. Adaptive
halftoning is on.
●Normal is the default trapping setting. Trapping is at a medium
level and adaptive halftoning is on.
●Light sets trapping at a minimal level, and adaptive halftoning is
on.
●Off turns off both trapping and adaptive halftoning. 
RGB Color
●Default (sRGB) instructs the printer to interpret RGB color as
sRGB. The sRGB standard is the accepted standard of Microsoft
and the World Wide Web Consortium (
http://www.w3.org).
●Vivid instructs the printer to increase the color saturation in the
midtones. Less colorful objects are rendered more colorfully. This
setting is recommended for printing business graphics.
●Device sets the printer to print RGB data in raw device mode. To
render photographs correctly when this option is selected, you
must manage color in the program in which you are working or in
the operating system.
●AdobeRGB (1998) is for documents that use the AdobeRGB color
space rather than sRGB. For example, some digital cameras
capture images in AdobeRGB, and documents that are produced
with Adobe PhotoShop use the AdobeRGB color space. When
printing from a professional software program that uses
AdobeRGB, it is important that you turn off the color management
in the software program and allow the printer to manage the color
space.
●Photo Image interprets RGB color as if it were printed as a
photograph using a digital mini-lab. It renders deeper, more
saturated colors differently than Default mode. Use this setting for
printing photos.
Restricting color printing
The printer includes a Restrict color setting. Administrators can use the setting to restrict user access
to the color printing features in order to conserve color toner. If you are unable to print in color, see your
network administrator.
1.Press OK to open the menus.
2.Press < or > to highlight System setup, and then press OK.
3.Press < or > to highlight Print quality, and then press OK.
4.Press < or > to highlight Restrict color, and then press OK.
Table 6-1  Manual color options (continued)
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							5.Press < or > to select on of the following options
●Enable color
●Disable color
6.Press OK to save the setting.
The network administrator can monitor color usage for a specific HP Color LaserJet 2700 printer by
printing a color usage job log. See 
Using printer information pages.
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							Matching colors
The process of matching printer output color to your computer screen is complex, because printers and
computer monitors use different methods of producing color. Monitors display colors by using light pixels
that use an RGB (red, green, blue) color process, but printers print colors by using a CMYK (cyan,
magenta, yellow, and black) process.
Several factors can influence your ability to match printed colors to those on your monitor:
●Print media
●Printer colorants (inks or toners, for example)
●Printing process (inkjet, press, or laser technology, for example)
●Overhead lighting
●Personal differences in perception of color
●Software programs
●Printer drivers
●Computer operating systems
●Monitors
●Video cards and drivers
●Operating environment (humidity, for example)
Keep these factors in mind when colors on your screen do not perfectly match your printed colors.
For most users, the best method for matching colors is to print sRGB colors.
Using the HP ToolboxFX to print the Microsoft Office Basic Colors
palette
You can use HP ToolboxFX to print a palette of the Microsoft Office Basic Colors. Use this palette to
select the colors that you want to use in printed documents. It shows the actual colors that print when
you select these basic colors in a Microsoft Office program.
1.In HP ToolboxFX, select the Help folder.
2.In the Print Quality Troubleshooting section, select Print Basic Colors.
Sample book color matching
The process for matching printer output to preprinted sample books and standard color references is
complex. In general, you can obtain a reasonably good match to a sample book if cyan, magenta, yellow,
and black inks are used in the sample book. These are usually referred to as process-color sample
books.
Some sample books are created from spot colors, which are specially created colorants. Many of these
spot colors are outside the printer gamut (color range). Most spot color sample books have companion
process sample books that provide CMYK approximations.
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							Most process sample books have a note about what process standards were used to print the sample
book: SWOP, EURO, or DIC. In most cases, for optimal color matching, select the corresponding ink
emulation from the printer menu. If you cannot identify the process standard, use SWOP ink emulation.
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							7 Maintenance
This chapter describes ways to maintain your printer. The following topics are covered:
●
Managing supplies
●
Replacing supplies and parts
●
Cleaning the printer
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							Managing supplies
Using, storing, and monitoring print cartridges can help ensure quality printer output.
Supplies life
The life of the print cartridge depends on usage patterns and the amount  of toner that print jobs require.
For example, when printing text at 5% coverage, a black HP print cartridge lasts an average of 5,000
pages. (A typical business le tter is about 5% coverage.)
Cartridge life expectancy is reduced by  frequently printing many 1- or 2-page jobs or jobs with heavy
coverage. At any time, you can verify the life expe ctancy by checking the print-cartridge life. See
Checking the print-cartridge life for more information.
Approximate print-cartridge replacement intervals
The following table lists the estimated replacement intervals for print cartridges.
Page countApproximate time period1
6,500 pages2 (black)6 months
3,500 pages (color)
1Approximate life is based on 1,500 pages per month.2Approximate average A4-/letter-size page count based  on approximately 5% coverage of individual colors.
To order supplies online, go to www.hp.com/support/clj2700.
Checking the print-cartridge life
You can check the print-cartridge life using the prin ter control panel, the embedded Web server, printer
software, the HP ToolboxFX, or HP Web Jetadmin  software. Check the supplies gauge on the printer
control panel for approximate supply levels.
Figure 7-1   Printer display
1Message/Prompt area
2Supplies gauge
3Print cartridge colors from left to right: black, yellow, cyan, and magenta
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