Plotter problem (amongst others ) :O( 2

[FabnFix]

Hi All,

You may remember me from a while ago (this being my 2nd post)...I am the noob with lots of boring starter questions for you hehe.

I have almost got to grips with creating my templates and formats etc.. my problem now is that I seem to have a problem when plotting. Nomatter what settings I use (or which printer I send to) the plot is almost "trimmed" at the sides.

Has anybody else experienced this ? I have tried upgrading all drivers etc, but nothing seems to work. Help ?

 

[FabnFix]

Sorry, forgot to tell you that I am using a old plotter :

HP Designjet 430

Black & White only to A0 size

Rgds
fabnfix

 

[Tofflemire]

Hi Fabnfix,

Have you set ISO vs ANSI and page size on the printer?

I think there is also a calibration on the plotter that may need to be done.

Tofflemire

 

[FabnFix]

Hi Tofflemire,

Yes the ISO settings and page sizes etc are all set, drivers installed ok, everything prints nicely in terms of line thicknesses etc. The problem is that whatever print size or setting I do, it does not print some edges of the border. Basically it cuts off approx 10 - 20mm off an edge or two.

I have just started messing about with page setup`s in pro-e, defining grid-outlines with pick boxes etc, still not brilliant.

Think I may try to convince my company to purchase a nice new plotter.

Fab&Fix

 

[Tofflemire]

Hi Fabnfix,

I will start off by stating that I have a 450C designjet and I work with ANSI formats not ISO.
There maybe something else you can try. Is this only cutting off one side or from opposite sides. The reason why I ask, you can set you template format location by moving the whole thing x and y distances. Be careful about doing this, because once you done this and start making drawings, you will have to live with this position. I would check that your template is at 0x0 for x and y start.

Can you print to a laser printer without issues, check that nothing is getting cut off going to the laser printer? If it is then moving you start location may be the fix.

Check all sizes to print down to 8.5"X11" and to 11"X17" paper.

Let me know the results... If you get a new printer you may/will have to deal with the same location issues.

P.S. Let me warn you, your template, template locations and printing issues have to been fixed before you create any drawings, or you will spend a lot of time moving you text, any tables you created in the template. I speak from past experiences.

Tofflemire

 

[Heckler]

I want to second Tofflemire's PS

P.S. Let me warn you, your template, template locations and printing issues have to been fixed before you create any drawings, or you will spend a lot of time moving you text, any tables you created in the template. I speak from past experiences.

But I want to offer you a work around that I used before getting everything set up. One more thing I'm using Pro/e 2001 not WildFire. Maybe PTC has fixed these output issues with WF. What I would do is instead of printing directly to our HP DesignJet. I would creat a postscript file and then use PDF995 or Adobe distiller to creat a PDF drawing. For me this worked great since I could crop any offsets.

One more thing FaBnfix - we and I think I can safely speak for most contributors on this forum enjoy answering questions and helping Pro/e users. I only ask if you have a question please do your part and search the forum for past questions and look through the FAQ for tips/tricks. And the most important thing if someone gives you good data then reward them with a

Best Regards,

Heckler
Sr. Mechanical Engineer
SW2005 SP 5.0 & Pro/E 2001
Dell Precision 370
P4 3.6 GHz, 1GB RAM
XP Pro SP2.0
NIVIDA Quadro FX 1400
o
_`\(,_
(_)/ (_)

Just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean that they aren't out to get me.

- Woody Allen

 

[FabnFix]

Tofflemire, thanks very much for your info. I will have another go at this tomorrow ( Im on UK Time :O) ). I sort of got around my problem yesterday as I was only trying to print some A4 drawings, the only way I could get them to print properly was to set the print setting to A3 and then offset the x & y.

I will let you know more tomorrow.

Heckler, I understand that creating .pdf files is a good way to resolve any plotting issues, I use .pdf files quite often from Illustrator files etc, but this is not the answer for me as I need to communicate with overseas suppliers etc using drawing formats rather than a pdf variant. I think it would be easy for me if I didnt have to think of others first

As for the Stars, yes you both get one

Thanks for your help.

Fab&Fix