My printer refuses to print 11x17!

[Anonymous]

I am running Vista Ultimate 64bit with Inventor 2009. I just got my IT guy to set my up with our HP Laserjet 5000N printer. However, it REFUSES to print anything but LETTER, no matter what I do. I can print from Inventor, AutoCAD or even a PDF and they all come out on LETTER regardless of what I have set. I know that this is not really an Inventor issue, but I was hoping that someone here had come across this and found a fix. Any ideas? Because of my operating system, we're limited on which printers I can access. Is it simply a driver issue with HP? Or can I somehow figure something else out to get it to plot to 11x17??? Thanks!!!

Scott

[JDMather]

Have you printed on a previous printer at 11x17?
Are you aware of how to change the printer properties (Inventor will not automatically set the printer even if your sheet is 11x17.)

[Anonymous]

Go into your printer settings through windows and see if there is an option checked that says "Print On" and will have a little box below it with paper sizes.

If it is checked, uncheck it. See attached picture, it may look a little different through because I'm using Windows XP.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the repsonse, JD.

I haven't yet been set up on any other printer before this, so, no, I haven't printed anything yet on 11x17 anywhere.

I have been in the printer properties, and for this one there is a tab for "Paper/Quality" where I can set "11x17". However, the next tab is called "Effects" and has a resizing section where it automatically picks "Letter" each time, and there is no "11x17" option in the list. There is also no option for disabling this resizing, so I'm not sure how to change it. However, even if I change teh resizing to A4 or something, it still comes out on Letter.

Again, like I said, I know this is proving to be an HP issue, but I was just hoping for someone with previous experience or "know-how" to help out while I try and get a hold of HP support.

[Anonymous]

Here is a screenshot of the options I have with this printer. I have the Paper Options set to 11x17, but under the "Effects" tab it defaults to "Letter" with no 11x17 option. However, even if I do change this resizing option to anything in the list, it still prints on Letter.

[Anonymous]

Have you tried selecting Actual Size option?

[Anonymous]

Setting to "Actual Size" actually then set the size to "Letter" under the "Paper/Quality>Paper Options>Size is:" section... Turning that back to 11x17 then goes and turns the "Effects>Resizing Options" back to Letter... and so the cycle of insanity rolls on...ARRGGG!!!

[Anonymous]

i assume when you initally open the "file-print setup" dialog, you set that paper size to 11 x 17 also? i never have to go into my printer properties and screw with paper sizes

[Anonymous]

Yeah, that was the first thing I set for 11x17. Like you said, I've never really had to go into the printer properties before, but because it wasn't working, that was where I went to try and determine the issue. I have posted this on HP's forums as well, but I highly doubt that I will get such prompt responses as I do here...

[JDMather]

I have an HP 5100 set up on a network.
Attached is the only setting I have to change.
I always do a print preview when changing sizes.

(the CAL 196 is the network location - College Avenue Lab room 196)

[mcgyvr]

What driver? Should be version 4.5 (April 1st 2008)
Is this a networked printer? Message was edited by: mcgyvr

[dan_inv09]

It doesn't seem to believe it can print on 11x17. Which tray has 11x17 in it? Is that tray configured properly? What happens if you change the "Source" to force it to use that tray?

[Anonymous]

Actually, that's another thing. The 11x17 paper is in Tray 4, but the options to change source are only Tray 1 and Tray 2!

[dan_inv09]

Does the tray say 11x17 or tabloid on it?

[Anonymous]

Yes, its a networked printer. I'm not sure of the driver number? However, when I go to the properties of the printer, it said "Driver: HP Laserjet 5000 Series PCL6". When I changed this to instead use "HP Laserjet 5000 Series PS" it worked and it printed 11x17!!!!

THANK YOU EVERYBODY!!!!!!!

[Anonymous]

See my post above, but the driver setting has FIXED THE ISSUE! Not only can I print to 11x17 finally, all the necessary trays show up for selection if I needed to as well.

Thanks so much to everybody for helping me with this issue, I'm in your debt!