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3 Driver and Software

Printer driver

A printer driver is software that translates data from the format used by a computer to the format that a particular printer needs. Typically, this format is page description language (PDL).
The printer drivers for the supported versions of Windows® and Macintosh® are on the CD-ROM we have supplied or on the Brother Solutions Center at http://solutions.brother.com. Install the drivers by following the Quick Setup Guide. The latest printer driver can be downloaded from the Brother Solutions Center at http://solutions.brother.com.
(If you want to uninstall the printer driver, see Uninstalling the printer driver.)
For Windows®
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Windows® printer driver (HL-2150N / HL-2170W only)
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GDI printer driver for Windows® (HL-2140 only)
For Macintosh®
• 
Macintosh® printer driver
For Linux12
• 
LPR printer driver
• 
CUPS printer driver
1
Download the printer driver for Linux from http://solutions.brother.com or a link on the supplied CD-ROM.
2
Depending on Linux distributions, the driver may not be available.
Note Note
• 
For more information about Linux printer driver, visit us at http://solutions.brother.com.
• 
The printer driver for Linux may be released after the initial release of this product.
 
Windows® printer driver (HL-2150N/
HL-2170W Only)
GDI printer driver for Windows® (HL-2140 Only)
Macintosh® printer driver
LPR / CUPS printer driver1
Windows® 2000 Professional
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Windows® XP Home Edition
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Windows® XP Professional
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Windows Vista™
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Windows Server® 2003
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Windows® XP Professional x64 Edition
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Windows Server® 2003 x64 Edition
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Mac OS® X 10.2.4 or greater
 
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Linux (Mandrake, Red Hat, SuSE Linux, Debian)1
 
 
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1
Download the printer driver from http://solutions.brother.com or a link on the supplied CD-ROM.
If you download from a link on CD-ROM, click Install Other Drivers or Utilities, then click For Linux users on the screen menu. Access to internet is required.
You can change the following printer settings when you print from your computer.
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Paper Size
• 
Multiple Page
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Orientation
• 
Copies
• 
Media Type
• 
Paper Source
• 
Resolution
• 
Toner Save Mode
• 
Print Setting
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Manual Duplex printing1
• 
Watermark2
• 
Scaling
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Job Spooling2
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Quick Print Setup2
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Sleep Time
• 
Macro23
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Header-Footer Print2
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Density adjustment2
• 
Error Message Printout2
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Improve Print Output
1
These settings are not available with the Mac OS® 10.2.4.
2
These settings are not available with the Macintosh® printer driver.
3
These settings are not available with the HL-2140.

Features in the printer driver (for Windows®)

(For more information, see the Help text in the printer driver.)
Note Note
• 
The screens in this section are from Windows® XP. The screens on your computer will vary depending on your operating system.
• 
If you are using Windows® 2000, XP, Windows Vista™ or Windows Server® 2003, you can access the Printing Preferences dialog box by clicking Printing Preferences... in the General tab of the Printer Properties dialog box.

Basic tab

You can also change settings by clicking the illustration on the left side of the Basic tab.
Screen
1
Choose the Paper Size, Multiple Page, Orientation, Copies and Media Type (1).
2
Choose the Paper Source (2).
3
Click OK to apply your chosen settings.
To return to the default settings, click Default, then OK.
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Paper Size

From the drop-down box choose the Paper Size you are using.
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Multiple Page

The Multiple Page selection can reduce the image size of a page allowing multiple pages to be printed on one sheet of paper or can enlarge the image size for printing one page on multiple sheets of paper.
Graphic
Graphic
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Page Order

When N in 1 option is selected, the page order can be selected from the drop-down list.
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Border Line

When printing multiple pages on one sheet with the Multiple Page feature you can choose to have a solid border, dash border or no border around each page on the sheet.
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Orientation

Orientation selects the position of how your document will be printed (Portrait or Landscape).
Graphic
Graphic
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Copies

The copies selection sets the number of copies that will be printed.
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Collate

With the Collate check box selected, one complete copy of your document will be printed and then will be repeated for the number of copies you selected. If the Collate check box is not selected, then each page will be printed for all the copies selected before the next page of the document is printed.
Graphic
Graphic
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Media Type

You can use the following types of media in your printer. For the best print quality, select the type of media that you wish to use.
Plain Paper
Thin Paper
Thick Paper
Thicker Paper
Bond Paper
Transparencies
Envelopes
Env. Thick
Env. Thin
Recycled Paper
  
Note Note
• 
When using ordinary plain paper (72.5 g/m2 to 95 g/m2 / 19 to 25 lb) choose Plain Paper. When using heavier weight paper or rough paper choose Thick Paper or Thicker Paper. For bond paper, choose Bond Paper.
• 
When you use envelopes, choose Envelopes. If the toner is not fixed to the envelope correctly when Envelopes has been selected, choose Env. Thick. If the envelope is crumpled when Envelopes has been selected, choose Env.Thin.
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Paper Source

You can choose Auto Select, Tray1, Manual and specify separate trays for printing the first page and for printing from the second page onwards.
Note Note
 
The printer automatically turns on the Manual Feed mode when you put paper in the manual feed slot.
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Advanced tab

Screen
Change the tab settings by clicking one of the following icons:
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Print Quality (1)
• 
Duplex (2)
• 
Watermark (3)
• 
Page Setting (4)
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Device Options (5)
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Print Quality

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Resolution
You can change the resolution as follows:
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HQ 1200
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600 dpi
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300 dpi
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Toner Save Mode
You can save running costs by turning on the Toner Save Mode, which reduces the print density (print appears lighter).
Note Note
• 
We do not recommend Toner Save Mode for printing Photo or Gray Scale images.
• 
Toner Save Mode is not available for HQ 1200 resolution.
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Print Setting
You can manually change the print setting.
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General
This is a printing mode for general printing of documents.
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Graphics
This is the best mode for printing documents that contain graphics.
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Office Document
This is the best mode for printing office documents.
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Manual
You can change the settings manually by choosing Manual and clicking the Setting... button. You can set brightness, contrast and other settings.
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Duplex Printing

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Manual Duplex
Check the Duplex box and choose Manual Duplex. In this mode, the printer prints all the even numbered pages first. Then the printer driver will stop and show the instructions required to re-install the paper. When you click OK the odd numbered pages will be printed. There are six types of manual duplex binding directions available for each orientation.
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Booklet Printing
When you want to print a booklet, use this function. To make the Booklet, fold the printed pages down the middle, when using the booklet printing function.
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Binding Offset
If you check the Binding Offset option, you can also specify the offset for binding in inches or millimeters.
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Watermark

You can put a logo or text into your documents as a watermark.
You can choose one of the preset watermarks, or you can use a bitmap file or text file that you have created.
When you use a bitmap file as a watermark, you can change the size of the watermark and put it anywhere you like on the page.
When you use text as a watermark, you can change the font, darkness and angle settings.
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Page Setting

You can change the print image scaling and choose Mirror/Reverse print options.
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Device Options

Screen
You can set the following in Printer Function:
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Job Spooling
• 
Quick Print Setup
• 
Sleep Time
• 
Macro (HL-2150N / HL-2170W only)
• 
Header-Footer Print
• 
Density adjustment
• 
Error Message Printout
• 
Improve Print Output
• 
Job Spooling
The printer keeps the last print job sent to it in memory.
To reprint the last document, press the Go button and hold it down for about 4 seconds until all the LEDs light up in order (Toner, Drum, Error, Ready), and then release the Go button. Within 2 seconds press the Go button the number of times you want to reprint. If you don’t press the Go button within 2 seconds, a single copy will be printed.
Note Note
 
If you want to prevent other people from printing your data using the reprint function, uncheck the Use Reprint check box in the job spooling settings.
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Quick Print Setup
This feature allows you to quickly choose driver settings by clicking a tasktray icon.
You can turn the quick print setting on or off. By placing a check in the selection boxes for the following functions you can choose which will be available in the quick print setting.
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Multiple Page
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Manual Duplex
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Toner Save Mode
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Paper Source
• 
Media Type
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Sleep Time
When the printer does not receive data for a certain period of time, it enters sleep mode. In sleep mode, the printer acts as though it were turned off. When you choose Printer Default the timeout setting will be 5 minutes. Intelligent Sleep Mode automatically adjusts to the most suitable timeout setting depending on the frequency of your printer use.
While the printer is in sleep mode, the Ready LED lights up slightly, but the printer can still receive data. Receiving a print file or document or pressing the Go button will automatically wake up the printer to start printing.
To turn sleep mode off, from the Advanced tab, click the Device Options icon and choose Sleep Time. Double-click the word Sleep Time, and the Sleep Time Off function will appear. Click Off to stop the printer going into sleep mode. The Sleep Time Off function can be hidden by double-clicking the word Sleep Time again. We recommend that you keep sleep mode on for power saving.
• 
Macro (HL-2150N / HL-2170W only)
You can save a page of a document as a macro to the printer's memory. You can also execute the saved macro (you can use the saved macro as an overlay on any document). This will save time and increase printing speed for often used information such as forms, company logos, letterhead formats or invoices.
• 
Header-Footer Print
When this feature is enabled, it will print the date and time on your document from your computer’s system clock and the PC login user name or the text you entered. By clicking Setting, you can customize the information.
• 
ID Print
If you select Login User Name, your PC login user name will print. If you select Custom and enter the text in the Custom edit box, the text you entered will print.
• 
Density adjustment
Increase or decrease the print density.
Note Note
 
The Density adjustment is not available when you set the resolution to HQ 1200.
• 
Error Message Printout
You can choose whether the printer reports problems by printing an error page. For details, see Error message printout.
Selections are Printer Default (ON), ON and OFF.
• 
Improve Print Output
This feature allows you to improve a print quality problem.
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Reduce Paper Curl
If you choose this setting, the paper curl may be reduced.
If you are printing only a few pages, you do not need to choose this setting. We recommend that you change the printer driver setting in Media Type to a thin setting.
• 
Improve Toner Fixing
If you choose this setting, the toner fixing on paper may be improved. If this selection does not improve the situation enough, select Thicker paper in Media type settings.
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Tray Settings tab

You can define the paper size for each paper tray and auto detect the serial number in the Tray Settings tab as follows.
Screen
• 
Paper Source Setting (1)
This feature identifies the paper size defined for each paper tray.
• 
Paper Size
This setting allows you to define which paper size is used for the tray and manual feed slot. Highlight the paper source you want to define and then choose the paper size from the pull-down menu. Click Update to apply the setting to the paper source.
• 
Default Source
This setting allows you to choose the default paper source that your document will be printed from. Choose the Default Source from the pull-down menu and click Update to save your setting. The Auto Select setting will automatically pull paper from any paper source (tray or manual feed slot) that has a defined paper size that matches your document.
• 
Serial No. (2)
By clicking Auto Detect, the printer driver will probe the printer and display its serial number. If it fails to receive the information, the screen will display "---------".
Note Note
 
The Auto Detect function is not available under the following printer conditions:
• 
The printer power switch is off.
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The printer is in an error state.
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The printer is in a network shared environment.
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The cable is not connected to the printer correctly.
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Support tab

Screen
• 
Visit the Genuine Supplies website (1)
You can visit our website for original/genuine Brother supplies by clicking this button.
• 
Brother Solutions Center (2)
The Brother Solutions Center (http://solutions.brother.com) is a website offering information about your Brother product including FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions), User’s Guides, driver updates and tips for using your printer.
• 
Print Settings (3)
This will print the pages that show how the internal settings of the printer have been configured.
• 
Print Fonts (4) (HL-2150N / HL-2170W only)
This will print the pages that show all the internal fonts of the printer.
• 
Check Setting... (5)
You can check the current driver settings.
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