How to Print to Plotter in MSEC 345
by Susan Delap

ANNOUNCEMENTS

October 22, 2007 -- Printing to the plotter is again available from individual computers if they were already configured to print to the plotter before the EES printing network went down in September 2007. See Staff Engineer for assistance.

September 2005 -- DON'T USE POWERPOINT. If you do, you are on your own to troubleshoot mysterious graphics dropouts, and you will have to pay for all wasted paper. Try converting to PDF first. If that fails, go to the Bureau and print your poster there. Use CorelDraw or Adobe Illustrator instead. If using Adobe Illustrator, don't place PDF files into your poster. See Problems section below.

1. Get Your File Ready

Check your poster width! The plotter can print on rolls of paper up to 3 feet wide. The maximum length depends on how long the roll of paper is and sometimes the program. (PowerPoint has a 56" limit.)

Check your margins! The plotter cannot print outside of these margins (as you are standing in front of the plotter):

• left and right edges of plotter: 0.2 inches
• top and bottom edges of plotter:  0.67 inches

The graphic below illustrates how these margins look on a typical poster that is printed in landscape mode on the plotter.

2. Send your File to the RIPhost Computer

When you send a job to the plotter, it actually goes to a "virtual plotter" which is a computer with RIP (Raster Image Processor) software. This computer is next to the plotter.

PC Users

Reboot your computer before sending the file to the RIPhost. This step may seem unnecessary, but sometimes the plotter will stop printing before the poster is finished, and you can usually avoid this problem by rebooting. If the problem still occurs, see the Problems section below.

Click Print.

• In the Print dialog window, select \\129.138.15.104\plotter as the printer. If you don't have this printer installed, see Staff Engineer for instructions.

• For CorelDraw and most other programs
• Click Properties.
• On the Layout tab, select Landscape.
• Click the ADVANCED button and set the following:
  • paper size - Select "Postscript Custom Page Size"
    • custom page size dimensions - width=36", height=length of your poster
    • paper feed direction - Long Edge First
  • Click OK
  • At very bottom, under Media, select your paper type:

Kind of Paper	Price per Linear Foot	Select this Paper Type in Print Dialog
Opaque Bond	$3.25	HP_Opaque_Bond
Lightweight Coated	$3.25	HP_Coated_Paper[C_Dye]
HP Heavyweight Coated	$3.50	HP_Heavyweight_Coated_Paper[C_Dye]
Oce Photo Dry Satin Photo paper (quick dry: 10 min)	$4.00	HP_Heavyweight_Coated_Paper[C_Dye]

• Click OK until you're back to the original print dialog window.
• Click PRINT. Your printer driver processes your poster and sends it to the RIP (Raster Image Processor) in MSEC 345.

 

• For Adobe Illustrator
  • Under Media, select Size=Custom. The width, height, and layout should change to your actual document settings. If not, put in the correct settings. The width will always be 36" and the height will be how long your poster is.
  • Under OPTIONS, undert Print Layers, select Visible Layers.
  • Select Do Not Scale
  • Click PRINT. Your printer driver processes your poster and sends it to the RIPhost computer (Raster Image Processor) in MSEC 345.

 

Mac Users

Go to Page Setup->Settings->Custom Page Size and enter in your poster dimensions before printing. We have had difficulty setting up the Macs to print to the RIPHost. Many of the Macs bypass it and print directly to the plotter. This can be a problem if your file is very large, as the plotter has a limited amount of memory. See Susan Delap if you are having trouble with this. She can print it for you if you convert your file to a high-resolution PDF first.

3. Prepare the Plotter

Contact Susan Delap and ask her to prepare the plotter and load the paper for you. If she isn't available, follow these steps.

• Check that all 4 ink cartridges have sufficient ink in them. Press "Access Cartridges" on the front panel of the plotter. If any are empty, see instructions above the plotter. Ink is stored in the cabinet above the plotter.
• Make a test print of all four cartridge colors. The ink cartridges, especially the cyan, start drying up and cause banding when they print. To test the ink, press "Enter" on the plotter front panel to bring up the menu. Select "Utilities" and then "Service Config" from the menu on the plotter which prints four big bands of color. When enough of the colors have printed, press cancel. Examine the colors, and if banding is present is any of the colors, clean that cartridge (next step).
• Clean the ink cartridges. Remove the offending cartridge and carefully clean the bottom with Q-tips moistened with deionized water -- found in the cabinet to the upper right of the plotter. Let the cartridges dry before reinserting them. The plotter will then run a calibration routine which uses about a foot of paper. Repeat the test in the previous step to verify that there is no more banding. If necessary, repeat the cleaning.
• Load desired paper. USE GLOVES to prevent getting fingerprints on the paper!! Paper rolls and remnants are stored next to the plotter. Get 11x17 sheets of paper (for sheet feed) from Susan in MSEC 258.
• What if the endcap on the paper spindle is stuck? Don't use something to pry it off because you will damage the roll of paper. Instead, turn the roll of paper upside down so the endcap is DOWN. While holding on to the paper (WITH GLOVES), bounce the end of the spindle up and down on the floor. This will eventually work the endcap off the spindle.
• Allow sufficient drying time for the paper you select:
• lightweight and heavyweight coated papers - dry time: few seconds
• The Oce brand Photo Dry Gloss paper dries in about 10 minutes. If heavy ink coverage, wait about 20 minutes and handle with gloves.

4. Send Print Job from RIPHost to Plotter

After preparing the plotter, go to the computer screen on the table to the right of the plotter. This is the RIPHost. The RIPCenter program should already be running. It may be minimized, so check for the tab at the bottom of the screen. If it isn't running, double click on the RIPCenter icon on the desktop to start the program. Follow the instructions on the paper taped to the table to the right of the screen.

5. Check the Output

• Periodically check your output to make sure a color hasn't dropped out. This can happen even with a full ink cartridge, as the ink heads sometimes get clogged. If you see this, Cancel your job on the Riphost computer and then the plotter, and ask Susan to clean the ink heads. You will have to reprint your poster from the beginning.
• If using gloss paper and your poster has heavy ink coverage, don't allow the poster to drop into the output bin; the metal rails tend to smear the wet ink. Arrange to drape it over chairs.
• When the file has completed printing, you will have to press FORM FEED AND CUT for the plotter to cut your paper and spit out your poster.

6. Record your Usage

• Don't forget to record how much paper you used in the black notebook by the plotter.
• Be sure to include all scrap and test prints (except for paper used testing and cleaning the ink cartridges).

Problems

Q. How do I cancel a job that is printing to the plotter?

A. First you have to stop the Riphost computer from sending data to the plotter. See the instructions next to the Riphost monitor to cancel your job. Then go back to the plotter and do the following:

• Press CANCEL button on plotter front panel.
• Press FORM FEED AND CUT button on plotter front panel (You may not have to do this.)

Q. The plotter started printing my poster just fine, but before it was finished, it stopped printing. The plotter front panel says "receiving" but it is not printing.

A. REBOOTING YOUR COMPUTER immediately prior to sending your job is good insurance that this won't happen. Sometimes rebooting the RIP computer helps. But in December 2004/January 2005, even when people rebooted before printing, the plotter stopped printing at a slightly different point on the poster each time, but always within about a foot of completion. Buddy deleted all the old jobs from the RIP computer, ran CHKDSK and DEFRAG, uninstalled and reinstalled the RIP software, and then everything worked fine.

How to clear the plotter when this happens:

• Cancel your job on the RIP computer. (See intsructions next to the RIP computer monitor.)
• Press CANCEL button on plotter front panel.
• Press FORM FEED AND CUT button on plotter front panel
• Power down the plotter, wait 10 seconds, and power it back on.
• Record the problem in the error log in the front of the black notebook. Include details, like if you rebooted before sending the job, and if you did anything between rebooting and printing. Note what program you were using. Also record how much paper was wasted so you won't be billed for it.

Q. My job never shows up in the RIP queue, or it disappears from the RIP queue while my computer is sending it my file, or the RIP computer stops processing the file with a "RIP Failure" error message.

A. This has been observed while printing an Adobe Illustrator file that had a PDF file that was "placed" in it. AI will let you place this file and all looks well, but the RIP computer fails to process it. Open your PDF file in Adobe Acrobat (full version), extract the image as a TIFF, and place the TIFF file in your AI file. If the resulting TIFF doesn't have all the stuff that the original PDF had, try opening the PDF in Adobe Illustrator and saving it as an AI or EPS file, and then place that file in your poster. If Adobe Illustrator won't open the PDF file, open the PDF file with Adobe Acrobat and save it as an EPS. Then open the EPS file with Adobe Illustrator, and save it as a TIFF. Worse case: try doing a screen capture (Press PRINT SCREEN button to copy image to the clipboard), open in a bitmap editing program such as Corel PhotoPaint or Adobe Photoshop, crop the image, and save as TIFF.

This problem was also observed when a Mac user tried printing to the plotter. It somehow bypassed the RIP and printed directly to the plotter. The plotter status window said "Printing" instead of "Printing (Special)". The poster stopped printing before it was finished, presumably because the plotter ran out of memory. See Staff Engineer to fix this problem.

Q. Some of my graphics or text didn't print. They print fine on a smaller version of the poster.

A. This is a known problem when using PowerPoint, but the fix is unknown. It happens on the Bureau plotters as well and is independent of RIP software. Your advice is to not use PowerPoint. Or convert your PowerPoint file to a PDF file and print that. If the PDF file causes a RIP failure, take your file to the Bureau for printing.

Q. How do I get my poster printed at the Bureau?

A. See Mark Mansell or Lewis Gillard at the Bureau of Geology in Room B94, phone 5562

Mark has the following tips for successful printing at the Bureau:

• Allow 3 days lead time to print a poster.
• Keep your poster length to no more than ~4 feet.
• There is a $15 setup fee on all jobs.
• Convert your PowerPoint file to PDF first to avoid an additional $15 processing charge.
• Email your file with instructions and account number to mark at gis.nmt.edu.
• If your file is too large to email, take it to him on a memory stick and be prepared to pay the additional $15 setup fee (or more if he has to spend more than 15 minutes converting your file).
• Prices are roughly double the EES prices, but the Bureau does all the work, and you don't have to pay for wasted paper.

Bureau Prices as of November 28, 2006 (add minimum $15 setup fee to all jobs):

Paper Type	Width	Price/Linear Foot
Bond	36"	$7
Bond	50"	$10
Satin Photo	36"	$10
Satin Photo	50"	$20