AutoCAD 2013 LT Printing to HP M750

[Anonymous]

We recently got a new printer. An HP M750 dn. We purchased it specifically to print Arch B (12x18) prints.

It prints them flawlessly either from Adobe Reader or PhotoShop.

If we print directly from AutoCAD LT 2013 to the 750 the print preview looks correct, but then the printer asks for 12.28 x 13.34 sized paper. We have tried several different drivers and have reached out to HP. They swear its a software problem so its out of their hands. 

We can force it to print on Arch B, but it thinks its printing to 12.28 X 13.34 sized paper so part of the drawing is cut off.

I attached a screen shot of our plot settings in case I'm missing something.

Thanks for any guidance!

[pendean]

PREVIEW is what AutoCAD is sending to the driver: is there a device or driver override to the tray you are aiming to print from?

[Anonymous]

That's what I thought!

I don't believe there is a an override.  We are just using a driver from HP. It is on our network if that matters?

[pendean]

Double check the driver: open it's PRINTING PREFERENCES, find the PAPER tab, select the sheet size you wish to output to and see what the default is presented as (source is should say automatically selected, type is should say unspecified).

Or at least that's how our HP drivers (but not your HP model) does it here: the control panel on the printer actually sets the paper size to each tray and have the paper type as "plain".

[Anonymous]

Any other ideas? The settings are the way you desribed them.

Thanks!

[john.vellek]

Hi MSTEIGERWALD,

In your PC3 file that you select in AutoCAD LT to print, you can filter your paper sizes that you want to display in the plot window. I would suggest you go through this step so the next step is faster and easier. The next step I would recommend is to Modify Standard Paper Sizes. You can select each sheet and set the margins to '0'.

Once you do this try and plot/print again and let me know if you continue to see the problem.

Please hit the Accept as Solution button if my post fully solves your issue or answers your question.

[pendean]

What about the control panel on the actual printer? Is there an override set there?

What tray does the control panel on the printer assign for 18x12 paper?

Do you have any issues if the paper size was 11x17 or 8.5x11?

[john.vellek]

Hi MSTEIGERWALD,

I haven't seen an update on your post so I thought I would check back with you to see if you had resolved your print issue.

Please post your results in the thread so that other community users can benefit.

Please hit the Accept as Solution button if my post fully solves your issue or answers your question.

[Anonymous]

It shows the paper size as 12x18 and with 0 margin. Any other ideas? When I do the test print from this prompt  the printer asks for 12.28 x 18.34.  I can tell it to just print on 12.28x18.34 but the layout is cut off since the printer thinks it's printing on a larger sheet. 

[john.vellek]

Hi MSTEIGERWALD,

This might explain what is going on.  12x18 print sizes are used typically for overprinting 11x17 prints. This means that if you print an image that fills an entire 11x17 paper, and you print it on 12x18, then you can trim to the 11x17 and have no margin visible.

I suspect that what you are trying to plot fills the 12x18 paper and the hardclip limits wont allow you to do a full print at that size. So, you might have to add a small margin in your PC3 for that paper size. Let's see if that helps. Please post your results.

Please hit the Accept as Solution button if my post fully solves your issue or answers your question.

[Anonymous]

From the printer I can tell it just print but it adjusts the 12x18 to 12.28x18.34. It uses tray 1 this is the only tray that supports the 12x18 size. Tray 2 and 3 support up to 11x17. 

We are able to print 8.5x11 and I just realized that 11x17 isnt listed as an option. So thats yet another issue.... We have printed 11x17 from other programs 

I have tried letting the printer assign the tray and setting the tray and that doesn't seem to make a difference.

Thanks for any ideas!

[john.vellek]

Hey MSTEIGERWALD,

Let's put another twist on this. I assume that this printer is on a Windows network. How is it deployed at the desktop? Is it pushed from the server using Print Management? Or is it only installed locally to the network queue or tcp/ip?  We also need to make sure that the Network printer properties indicates exactly the same options and configuration that is on the physical control panel of the printer.

I have seen situations where Print Management can hurt or improve the printing scenario.

Also, what is your operating system? We have seen a bunch of issues arise with HP (mostly larger format) and Windows 10.

I am researching the HP manuals to see if there are other items we should be considering. I really appreciate your patience on this issue and I think we will get it resolved.

Please hit the Accept as Solution button if my post fully solves your issue or answers your question.

[pendean]

Open another application that can do 12x18 sheets with zero margins and print to this driver: does it work?

According to the user guide for your printer, you can indeed do 11x17 and 12x18 but I do not see any mention of "zero margins" as an option: it may be time you all contacted HP support for help if you bought this thinking it does zero margins at 12x18.

[Anonymous]

I tried printing with a variety of margins and it still asks for 12.28x18.34

We purchased the printer to print half size 24x36 drawings so they usually have a margin anyway.

The printer is shared on the server and desktops have it mapped.

I am able to print to all trays ((3) 8.5x11, (2) 11x17, and  (1) 12x18) from adobe reader and photoshop. I attached a screen shot of that printing set up. And we have tray 1 set to 12x18 from the printer control panel.

[john.vellek]

Thanks for the screenshot. It appears that you really are trying to print all the way to the edge of the paper which is likely throwing the error message.

Why don't you try the fit to paper option so we can physically measure the difference in printed drawing size?  I believe that even though the drawing might look like it has white edges on it, the printer is still trying to "print" this white area which exceeds the hardclip margins.

Please hit the Accept as Solution button if my post fully solves your issue or answers your question.

[pendean]

So the HP manual, see my last screenshot, defined ARCHB-size as 12x18.

But you wrote:
"We can force it to print on Arch B"
then
"but it thinks its printing to 12.28 X 13.34 sized paper so part of the drawing is cut off."

So now I'm not sure what you are seeking anymore 😞

[Anonymous]

From a PDF I did the Actual Size and Fit to Page

Actual Size Measures 17-9/16" X 11-1/4"

Fit to Page Measures 16-13/16" X 10-3/4"

Is that what you expected?

I've never really messed with the margins. So I'm a little confused!

[john.vellek]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

From a PDF I did the Actual Size and Fit to Page

Actual Size Measures 17-9/16" X 11-1/4"

So it appears that you print at 50% and will get the 17-9/16" by 11-1/4"

Let's try this - just use a drawing with a titleblock for now - set up your 24x36 sheet in autocad and verify that if you are plotting extents, that no drawing elements appear within 7/16" on each side (width) and 3/8" on the top and bottom. If you print that (and we might need to play with plot origin offsets a bit) It SHOULD fit the 12x18 paper.

Let me know what happens with that and we can then maybe find the optimum settings for your half size sets if we have some success.

Please hit the Accept as Solution button if my post fully solves your issue or answers your question.

[john.vellek]

Good morning MSTEIGERWALD,

I haven't played with the titleblock since the error likely will only show when it hits the hardware (that I don't have).

I installed the PCL6 driver instead of the Universal PCL5 that you are using. Please go ahead and install that version also so we can see if it makes a difference.

I then created a new PC3 and pmp file for you - see attachments.

Let's start there this morning and see if the problem exists with this configuration. I am able to print to a file using this setup and I receive no errors.

Please hit the Accept as Solution button if my post fully solves your issue or answers your question.

[john.vellek]

Good morning MSTEIGERWALD,

I have not seen an update on your post in several days and I am hoping that you have not abandoned the thread. Please let me know the status of your issue and if there is anything additional I can provide at this time.