It's important to prepare your printer to print with Quicken. This lets you tell Quicken things such as what fonts you want to use, the margin sizes you prefer, and whether you want your items printed in landscape or portrait mode.

Of course, before you can prepare a printer to print, you must make sure you've installed the proper driver so your printer works as efficiently as possible.

What is a driver?

If your printer came with a driver, follow your printer manufacturer's instructions for installing it. Otherwise, use the following procedure.

1. On the Windows taskbar, click Start, and then choose Settings > Printers and Faxes.
2. In the Printers and Faxes dialog., double-click the Add Printer icon.
3. In the Add Printer Wizard dialog, click Next, and follow the on-screen instructions.

1. • What driver should I use?

     Whenever possible, select the driver that matches your printer model exactly. If your printer isn't listed, check with your printer manufacturer for the correct printer driver, or consult your printer manual for suggested emulations.

     Substitute drivers and emulation modes aren't optimal and may not work properly in all cases, so proceed with extreme caution. When in doubt, contact your printer manufacturer.

1. • What if I'm using an older printer?
     To maintain compatibility with the latest software, drivers are occasionally updated by Microsoft or by the device manufacturer. If you have an older monitor or printer and you're having problems, it's always a good idea to find out whether you have the latest version of your driver. The latest versions are generally obtainable directly from the manufacturer or from Microsoft.
2. When you're done installing the driver, prepare the printer to print checks or reports and graphs. If you've purchased Quicken Home & Business, you can also prepare the printer to print invoices.

Quicken provides separate dialogs to prepare a printer to print the following objects:

• Checks
• Reports and graphs
• Invoices and forms (only in Quicken Home, Business and Rental Property)

Once you've prepared a printer, Quicken uses the settings you specify unless you change or override them in the Print dialog that appears when you actually print an object.