Plot Dialog Box Slow to Display and Plot Execution Slow

[petestrycharske]

All,

Good evening!  I've run into a problem with a client and could use some ideas on how to resolve the issue.  There are two computers, one that I worked on and another computer that performs in a similar fashion.  In LT 2019, the print dialog box takes between 1 - 2 minutes to come up and then to execute the plot takes another 2 - 3 minutes.  I experimented in 2018 and things came up just fine and plotted right away, so I'm thinking there is something within the LT 2019 that is causing a problem.

I investigated the system and it has all the minimum requirements for 2019 and I even tried a trick where I created a separate plotter path, which had no PC3 files in it, as I've read that bad PC3 files can cause this issue.  However, as I'm typing this, I realize I didn't update the system printer drivers.  Could that be an issue?  Also, I explained that we may have to update the graphics card drivers, but LT 2019 performs just fine, apart from the plotting, so I'm not sure that's an issue.

Please let me know if there's anything else that I should try or something that I haven't thought of.  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.  Thanks in advance for any thoughts, hope all is well and have a most blessed night!

Peace,

Pete

[rkmcswain]

Good step isolating the PC3/PMP folders. It could be a misbehaving system printer too. 

Use Process Monitor to watch file/registry activity, that might help you find the bottleneck.

Here is an overview of how to do that: Tracking down why that application is slow

[j.ches]

I have users here and we've all experienced the same problem.  For us, it came down to the wrong port being chosen by Windows 10 for printing, not just on our plotters, but all of our printers.  Here's a few solutions.

1st - I would recommended the Autodesk way of checking things, which you may have already tried.  Although this didn't solve the problem for us, we keep only plotters setup this way as plotters for AutoCAD.  (https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/autocad/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/Delay-...)

2nd - Go into Windows, find your printer under devices, get into printer properties for that printer, choose a different port.  You might need to google the make of your plotter and then choose the port that is recommended for windows 7 or 8.  For some reason the ones chosen by 10 make plotting take FOREVER.

3rd - Try the Bonjour printer setup wizard.  This has a high chance of choosing the correct port you.  (https://support.apple.com/kb/DL999?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US)  Follow the wizard and when it gets to the end, don't click finish, click back and then it should show all the drivers available for use.  Or you can choose a driver from the installation software of the plotter.  This makes setup a breeze.

Good luck.