There are two kinds of Test Pages. The first is the operating system test page. In Windows, it is called the Windows Printer Test Page. You can access this from the Printer area of the Control Panel. This basically gives you information on the printer drivers.

But there is a better, more interesting Test Page, as well. This is the test page that is provided by the printer manufacturer. Accessing this page is different for each manufacturer and can even differ for different models.

If your printer has a Menu button you can often look through the menus until you find the Test Page option. In my Kodak printer, this is under the Maintenance menu. In my Lexmark printer, it is under the Ink menu.

If your printer doesn't have a menu option or you can't find the Test Page option, you will have to look at the online documentation that came with the printer to find out how to print this test page. It is usually done by pressing certain buttons on the printer itself.

Each manufacturer includes different information on their Test Page, but you can usually find the serial number of the printer, the firmware version, an event history of errors, and other pertinent information. Even more interesting, many manufacturers include the number of pages that were printed, scanned, or copied. Some even provide the number of drops used by each ink cartridge.