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Printing Procedures

From TTU College of Architecture

What follows are recommendations to make the printing process easier and more understandable.

The basic printing procedure is simple.

• Choose print from the menu
• Choose the desired printer
• Set the page size and orientation in the printer preferences
• Print the document

The methods of accomplishing these steps vary between printers. Each software package will support a variety of printing capabilities. The table of contents lists common software programs and specific steps for getting the best results from each of the printers.

Contents 1 General Printing Recommendations 2 Suggested Printer Settings 2.1 HP 4000 2.2 1055 Coated-Bond or 1055 Film 2.3 HP 5500 2.4 HP Z6100 2.5 OCE 2.6 Laser Printers 3 Software Settings 3.1 AutoCAD 2010 3.2 Illustrator 3.3 Photoshop 3.4 Adobe Acrobat Professional 3.5 Adobe PDF 3.6 Microsoft Publisher

General Printing Recommendations

• The paper in the plotters is 36 inches wide. Always set with width of the document to 36 inches, then choose the desired length (e.g. 36×11, 36×24, 36×60). The OCE and Z6100 cannot be configured to use custom sizes, there are preconfigured sizes available instead (usually listed on the bottom of the list of sizes if not go to more).

• Any file that is going to be printed should copied to the local hard drive or desktop. Make sure there is no USB drive plugged in while printing as this sometimes causes problems. If you have worked on a file in any program, save the file, close the program, and re-open it and then print.

• The printers are color-calibrated to match RGB images. Printing a document from CMYK colorspace will yield colors that don't match the screen.

• Send a maximum of 10 pages at a time to any laser printer (the small printers used for printing 8.5×11 and 11x 17). Due to the limitations in printer memory and processing, multiple small jobs will print faster than a single large job. Dividing the print job into batches is also a courtesy to others using the same printer.

• To change paper sizes, always go to the print driver using Page Setup. Assigning a document size in the preview page will not work.
• The plotters are configured to reject multi-page jobs. Multiple pages or copies must be sent separately.
• The following programs do not print properly to the print bureau equipment.
  • Windows Picture and Fax Viewer
  • Picture Viewer
  • Paint
  • Acrobat Reader

• The best-quality print is produced by the original program the work was created in. Create a PDF only if the document is longer than 50 inches.

• Never use the Place option when importing images into the document. Insert the images instead to ensure they are actually contained within the document.

Suggested Printer Settings

HP 4000

Use the custom option in the paper options section to choose a paper size.

1. click the margins/layout button and choose small margins.
2. If one the dimensions of the print will be smaller than 36 inches, check the auto-rotate checkbox and choose the 36 inch roll size.
3. In the print quality section, choose best, but don't check the maximum detail checkbox

1055 Coated-Bond or 1055 Film

• To choose a paper size, click the more sizes button and create a custom page size.

• In the orientation section, choose the appropriate orientation.

• click the advanced tab.
• The option should be selected to process the document in computer .
• Check the box to auto-rotate the document to save paper.

Since it is necessary to process the document in the computer, you must wait until all of the data has been sent to the printer before logging off or disconnecting from the network.

HP 5500

• To set a paper size, click the custom button in the printer properties.

• If any dimension is less than 36 inches, make sure auto-rotate is checked. Choose the 36 inch roll size.

• Click the Margins button and make sure that the margins are set to small

• Print Quality should be set to MaxQuality. Do not use MaxQuality-EnhancedIQ setting.

HP Z6100

• To set paper size go to the printer properties, and the paper/quality tab

• In document size drop-down box, choose more

• Near the bottom of the list, choose one of the custom pre-set sizes. Do this even for standard ARCH sizes (choose 36x24 or 36x48 instead of ARCH D and ARCH E respectively).

• If one dimension of the print is smaller than 36 inches, go to the features tab, under the roll options choose Rotate by 90 degrees.

• Do Not try to create a custom size on this Plotter.

OCE

• To choose a paper size, go to the basic tab

• click the box in the Page Size area

• Choose one of the preset sizes

• Auto rotate should already set in the printer

• Do not create a custom size

Laser Printers

• When printing multiple pages, do not send more than 10 pages at a time

• The printer's default page size is 8.5×11

• In order to print 11×17 go to the printer driver to choose 11×17 or Tabloid.

• Do not print images larger than 150dpi.

• The Phaser 7760 is the fastest color laser printer.

• The Phaser 850 is the best for pictures, but it only prints 8.5×11.

• Use the HP8150BW for grayscale prints of either 8.5×11 or 11×17.

Software Settings

AutoCAD 2010

• First choose the Printer

• Do not set paper size in the initial print dialog, go to properties instead

• Choose the Plot Area (Layout or Window)

• In Plot Scale set your scale size or use Fit to Paper

• Make sure to check the box next to Center the Plot

• Always make sure to check the preview, what you see in there is what you get

Use this to set Orientation

Illustrator

• On the main print page choose the printer, then click the setup button

• Click Preferences on the selected printer. Sizes are set here.

• On the main Print page Do Not change the setting in Media Size instead leave it set on defined by driver or the print will print 8 feet and charge for it.

• On the tabs above the preview click Advanced

• Check the box next to Print as Bitmap and Do Not change the settings in the box

Photoshop

• Make sure that under Image menu, and Image Size the resolution is not more than 150 pixels/inch and the number of inches reflects the size of the printed document (eg. a 24″×″36 inch document would have maxmimum dimensions of 24*150×36*150 pixels = 3600×5400 pixels).

• First, use the File menu and choose Print

• Choose the printer from the drop-down menu.

• Click page setup, then click the custom button to set the desired paper size

• What you see in the print preview box is what the printer will print. You may need to choose the other orientation or check the scale to fit media box.

Adobe Acrobat Professional

• First, use the File menu and choose Print

• Choose the printer from the drop-down menu.

• To choose a paper size click the properties button. Choose the paper size on the paper/quality tab.

• Return to the main print dialog. The dimensions in the preview area should match the paper size specified. The preview will reflect the fit of the document to the chosen paper size.

• Choose the appropriate page scaling. Choose none to print the exact dimensions of the document, fit to printable area to expand or shrink the document to the specified paper size.

• Do not uncheck the Auto-Rotate and Center checkbox.

• Do not use Choose paper Source by PDF page size checkbox, it will not print correctly.

Adobe PDF

When saving a PDF, use the preset to save the PDF as the Smallest File Size and uncheck Optimize for Fast Web View.

Microsoft Publisher

• Do not print from this program
• Go to the File menu and choose Save As and save the file as an Adobe PDF
• Print the file from Acrobat Professional.