PDF User Manual

1

English

Lexmark™ Forms Printer 2400 
Series Setup / Quick Reference 

Printer ship group 

Printer setup/
quick reference 

User’s 
guide

Registration 
card

Ribbon 
cartridge

Power 
cord

2

Printer setup 

1

a

b

c

2

a

b

c

d

3

3

a

SNAP

c

b

4

4

a

b

5

a

b

5

6

6

Front view of printer

Rear view of printer

Forms 
thickness 
lever

Ribbon 
access 
cover

Power 
switch

Paper 
select 
lever

Manual 
feed 
door

Paper 
guides

Front 
cover

Operator 
panel

Latch

Acoustic 
flap

Latch

Optional Serial 
interface 
knockout 

Parallel 
connector

USB 
connector

Tractor 2 
connector 
(behind plastic 
knockout cover)

Power cord 
connector

Tear Off 
bar

7

Setting the forms thickness lever 

Forms thickness for 2480/2481

Paper type

Paper 
thickness

Paper weight

Forms thickness 
lever setting

Single forms 

Thin

56 g/m²  (15 lb) continuous 
forms

65 g/m² (16 lb) cut form

1

Single forms 

Normal

68 g/m² (18 lb)

75 g/m²  (20 lb)

1 or 2

Thick 90 

g/m² 

(24 

lb)

2 

Multiple-part forms 

2-part form 

2 or 3 

3-part form 

3 or 4

4-part form

4 or 5

5-part form

5 or 6

6-part form

5, 6, or 7 

Envelopes

4, 5, or 6

Note:

• Print quality depends on the multiple-paper quality and the operating 

environment. Printing at low temperature may cause poor print quality, 
depending on the paper used.

• When the setting is 4 or higher, printing speed becomes slower.

8

Forms thickness for 2490/2491

Paper type

Paper 
thickness

Paper weight

Forms thickness 
lever setting

Single forms

Thin

56 g/m²  (15 lb) continuous 
forms

65 g/m² (16 lb) cut form

1

Single forms

Normal

68 g/m² (18 lb)

75 g/m²  (20 lb)

1 or 2

Thick 

90 g/m²  (24 lb)

2 

Multiple-part forms 

2-part form 

2 or 3 

3-part form 

3 or 4

4-part form

4, 5, 6 or 7

Envelopes

4, 5, or 6

Note: Print quality depends on the multiple-paper quality and the operating 
environment. Printing at low temperature may cause poor print quality, depending 
on the paper used.

9

Loading paper

Loading continuous forms using the push tractor 

1

Press FormFeed to clear the paper path. 

2

Set the forms thickness lever. 

For help, see “Setting the forms thickness lever” on page 7.

3

Move the paper select lever down to continuous forms

.

4

Pull out the front cover to release it and swing the cover up out of the way.

Paper select 
lever

Front cover

Front cover

Push 
tractor

10

5

Pull up the left and right tractor locking levers to unlock the tractors. 

6

Open the left and right tractor doors.

7

Place the paper pinfeed holes over the second or third pins of the tractor 
unit. 

If necessary, adjust the left or right tractor to fit the paper width. 

8

Close the left and right tractor doors.

9

Set the left margin. 

Move the tractor to align the left margin on your paper with the [A symbol 
printed on the rear plate. 

Keeping the left tractor positioned to the left of the rubber tractor stop 
keeps your paper within the paper sensor area while in push tractor 
position. 

10

Push down the left tractor locking lever.

11

Adjust the right tractor to remove slack in the paper and lock the right 
lever.

12

Close the front cover.

13

Press Load/Unload to load paper to the current Top-Of-Form.

14

Press Start/Stop to put the printer online. 

Locking 
lever

Locking 
lever

Left 
tractor 
door

Left 
tractor 
door

11

Loading a cut form or envelope manually

1

Clear the paper path.

2

If continuous forms are currently loaded, tear off any used forms and 
press Load/Unload to park the continuous forms. 

The Paper Out light is blinking. 

3

Set the forms thickness lever. 

For help, see “Setting the forms thickness lever” on page 7.

4

Move the paper select lever up to cut forms

.

5

Open the manual feed door.

6

Set the left margin. 

Move the left paper guide so that the print start position you want aligns 
with the [A symbol printed on the margin guide. 

7

Place a cut form or envelope against the left paper guide. 

8

Move the right paper guide against the right edge of the paper.

9

Insert paper into the printer until the Paper Out light stops blinking.

a

If Auto Cut Sheet Load is set to On, the paper feeds automatically to 
the Top-Of-Form.

b

If Auto Cut Sheet Load is set to Off, press FormFeed. 

10

Printer is online (Ready light On solid). 

If it is not, press Start/Stop until the Ready light is On solid. 

12

Using the operator panel

Layer 1

Press this button:

When you want to …

Start/Stop

Alternate the printer between online (Ready light is On) 
and offline (Ready light is Off).

LineFeed

Advance the paper one line.

If you press and hold LineFeed, the paper advances 5 
micro movements and then goes into continuous mode.

FormFeed

Advance the paper to the next Top-Of-Form.

Tear Off

Alternate paper between Tear Off and Top-Of-Form.

Load/Unload

Load paper to the current Top-Of-Form or unload paper 
to parked position.

Tractor

Alternate between Tractor 1 and Tractor 2 if the optional 
Tractor 2 is installed.

Font

Note:

• Repeatedly 

pressing the Font 
button rotates 
through the printer 
font selections. If 
you continue 
pressing Font 
through a second 
pass, the font 
selections are 
locked.

• This setting will be 

lost when the 
printer is powered 
Off and back On. 

Select one of the resident font 
styles:

2480/2481 

• FastDft
• Draft
• Gothic
• Courier

2490/2491 

• Courier
• Prestige
• Gothic
• Presentor

• Orator
• Script
• Draft
• FastDft

Note: Some functions may not work when data is being processed and the 
printer is online (Ready light is On).

13

Layer 2 

Press this button:

When you want to…

 Set TOF

Set Top-Of-Form. Top-Of-Form is the position of the 
first print line on the page.

LineFeed

Advance the paper one line.

If you press and hold LineFeed, the paper advances 
5 micro movements and then goes into continuous 
feed.

Macro

Select between four document formats. For more 
information, refer to “Using Setup mode” in the 
User’s Guide.

Micro 

↑

Feed the paper upward in:

• 1/72-inch increments (2480/2481 models)
• 1/90-inch increments (2490/2491 models)

If you press and hold Micro 

↑

, the paper 

advances in micro movements and then goes into 
continuous feed.

Use Micro 

↑

 to adjust the Top-Of-Form.

Power

Set TOF

LineFeed

Macro

Micro 

↑

Micro 

↓

Setup

Pitch

Lock

10

12

15

17

20

PS

2

4

Macro

3

1

1

Power

LineFeed

Macro

Micro 

↑

Micro 

↓

Setup

Pitch

Lock

12

15

17

20

24

1

2

3

4

Macro

10

PS

Set TOF

14

Micro 

↓

Feed the paper downward in:

• 1/72-inch increments (2480/2481 models)
• 1/90-inch increments (2490/2491 models)

If you press and hold Micro 

↓

, the paper 

advances in micro movements and then goes into 
continuous feed.

Use Micro 

↓

 to adjust the Top-Of-Form.

Setup

Enter Setup mode. You can change the default 
values and modes for printer operation.

Pitch 

Note:

• Repeatedly pressing 

Pitch rotates through 
the printer pitch 
selections. If you 
continue pressing 
Pitch through a 
second pass, the pitch 
selections are locked.

• This setting will be lost 

when the printer is 
powered Off and back 
On. 

Set the character pitch to: 10 cpi, 12 cpi, 15 cpi, 
17 cpi, 20 cpi, or Proportional Spacing.

Note:

• On 2490/2491 models you can also select 24 cpi.
• Fast Draft supports only 10, 12, and 15 pitch.

Note: Some functions may not work when data is being processed and the 
printer is online (Ready light is On). 

Press this button:

When you want to…

15

Top-Of-Form

Setting Top-Of-Form for continuous form paper 
in push mode 

Top-Of-Form can range from minus 1 inch to plus 14 inches from the top of 
continuous form paper. 

Note:

Use this method to also set Top-Of-Form for continuous 
forms loaded in the optional Tractor 2 Feeder.

1

Clear the paper path. 

If the Paper Out light is Off, tear off excess forms and press Load/Unload. 

Press FormFeed to clear a cut sheet. 

2

Move the paper select lever to continuous forms

.

3

Load continuous form paper on the push tractor feed pins (or Tractor 2 
feed pins if you are using the optional Tractor 2 Feeder).

4

Remove the ribbon access cover. 

5

Press Load/Unload. The Paper Out light goes Off. 

16

6

Open the operator panel cover to layer 2. 

7

Press any paper movement button (LineFeed, Micro 

↑

, Micro 

↓

) to align 

the Top-Of-Form you want with the horizontal lines (located on the platen). 

This illustration shows the position of the horizontal lines on either side of 
the metal platen bar. Use these lines as your reference point when lining 
up your Top-Of-Form. The bottom of a printed character will be even with 
the horizontal lines. 

8

Press Set TOF to set and save Top-Of-Form. 

9

Close the operator panel cover.

10

To verify the new Top-Of-Form, press Load/Unload to unload the 
continuous forms and press Load/Unload again to reload the forms. 

The continuous forms load to the current Top-Of-Form setting. 

11

Reinstall the ribbon access cover.

12

Press Start/Stop to set printer online. 

Align paper with the 
horizontal lines on 
metal platen bar 

Ribbon 
cartridge

Front 
cover

Top view of printer 

Horizontal 
line

Paper

Platen

Operator 
panel

17

Setting Top-Of-Form for a cut form or envelope 

Top-Of-Form can range from minus 1 to plus 22 inches from the top of cut 
sheet paper. 

1

Press FormFeed to clear paper path. 

If the Paper Out light is Off, tear off excess forms and press Load/Unload. 

2

Move paper select lever to the cut forms. 

3

Load a cut sheet of paper or envelope through the manual feed door. 

4

The printer moves the paper or envelope to the current Top-Of-Form, if 
Auto Cut Sheet is set to On. 

If not, press FormFeed when the Paper Out light goes Off. 

5

Open the operator panel to layer 2.

6

Press any paper movement button (LineFeed, Micro 

↑

, Micro 

↓

) to align 

the Top-Of-Form you want with the horizontal lines (located on the platen). 

7

Press Set TOF to set and save Top-Of-Form. 

8

Close the operator panel cover.

9

Press Start/Stop to put the printer online. 

Changing from continuous forms to a cut 
sheet or envelope

Load/Unload parks (unloads) continuous forms so you can insert a cut 
form or envelope into the manual feed door to print or load paper to the 
current Top-Of-Form. 

1

Make sure the tractor unit is in the push position. 

2

Tear off the continuous form at the perforation. 

3

Move the paper select lever down to continuous forms. 

4

Press Load/Unload. 

The continuous form paper moves out of the paper path. The Paper Out 
light blinks and the paper out alarm sounds. 

5

Move the paper select lever up to cut forms. 

18

Printing a demonstration sample

1

Turn the printer On. 

2

Load paper in the printer.

3

Adjust the left and right paper guides to fit the paper.

4

Turn the printer Off.

5

Press and hold the Font button while turning the printer On until the 
operator panel lights blink. 

6

Release Font. 

The demonstration page prints.

© Copyright 1993, 2000 Lexmark International, Inc. 
Lexmark is a trademark of Lexmark International, Inc., registered in the United 
States and/or other countries. 
P/N 12T0273
EC 4T0001
Printed in Singapore
6/00