Monday, April 30, 2001 Let photos dry longer Some printers allow extended drying time for any printing mode.

If you don't want multiple photo images to smudge or stick together, you may be able to extend the printer's "dry time" setting. Some of the newest high-end photo printers (such as the HP PhotoSmart 1215 and 1218 series printers) allow you to extend the dry time through the printer's properties dialog. For some printers, you can extend drying time for any printing mode. For other printers, you may only be able to extend drying time when using an optional double-sided printing module. For the HP 1215/1218, you would simply choose Print from the application's File menu, then click Properties and select the Advanced tab. In the Extra Dry Time area, just drag the slider to the right to increase dry time and click OK to close the dialog. Be sure to check the documentation with your particular printer for specific instructions.

Formerly part of Computer Currents, Stephen J. Bigelow's Computer Advisor column has been resurrected on computeruser.com as a daily tech tip column. Find Stephen at www.dlspubs.com.