printing from a Mac to DesignJet 450C

[Leko]

Hi All,

Does anyone have any experience printing from a Mac to an HP DesignJet 450C? I've searched HP's web site, as well as this one, and keep running into dead ends.

There don't seem to be any drivers for this line of printers from the Mac platform. I'm willing to cludge work-arounds, such as going to a PDF first, but I don't know how to send it to the printer after that.Ideally, I would like to stay in OS X, but could drop into OS 9 if needed.

Also, the printer only has a parallel port. I would like to enable others on the network to use it, so if I buy an HP print server, would that work with my Mac?

Thanks in advance,

Josh

[Steven Kenzer]

Josh, you should check out the Microspot web site. They offer a mac compatible driver for HP DesignJet Plotters. Not cheap but really no other options as far as I know. I'm running an older HP330 DesignJet, working on a G4 and using Microspot's "GraphikPac". It's worked flawlessly for me. Here are a couple of websites to check out:

http://www.macroenter.net/

http://www.microspot.co.uk/

Good luck, Steven

[CipesDesign]

Yes, I second that. But I would add that OSX support for older HP's is probably not gonna happen. You can run in classic mode, or have a dedicated older machine networked and used as a print generator.PLC

[Kurt Magness]

I have the 455ca version of that plotter. I am told the only thing different is mine came with the hp jet direct print server and the Hp RIP program to run the plotter. You need the postscript RIP for the Mac. I think if you got the jet direct, which plugs into the parallel port then got the RIP from the HP web site ( free) it should work in OS 9 . Then if you want to work in OS X you have to have a OS 9 computer on the network that is running the rip. Everything is connected to the eternet network so you would need a hub,switch or router.

So here's the deal, buy the jet direct (+/_ $250.00) from somebody that you can return it, if it does not work . Get a ethernet switch ,if you are only hooking up for printer, you can use a 10base switch which is about $20.00 instead of a 10/100base or 1gigbase kind. A printer cannot accept the higher speeds anyway. then down load the RIP and give it a try, otherwise you got to wait for Microspot's OSX drivers (+/- $350.00) to work for the 400 series HP plotters. They only support the 500, 800, 1000 series now . Also the $350.00 is not for a network solution, thats more like $900 depending on how large your network is.

[nightvision]

i bought a jetdirect for my 455CA on ebay for $25 - there are boatloads of them - make sure you are getting the right one for your printer and that it comes with a power supply

the 455 and the 450 should be essentially the same machine (same manual for both) I bought my 455 on ebay with no software

So go to the HP site and download the 450 RIP software and the laserwriter 8 software and the adobe PS printer driver

I print to a pdf then in the chooser I get the adobe ps driver and print the pdf as a PS file then I use the RIP software to send it to the printer

On this forum others have said (I think Kurt) that I don't have to go thru all those steps - that I can use the laserwriter driver and print to a PS file - but the laserwriter driver doesn't give me optiions for a D size page

[nightvision]

oh yeah - it says in the jetdirect manual to use a turnaround ethernet cable if attaching your mac directly to the jetdirect - but it's better to have an ethernet router between the mac and the jetdirect Make sure you get a jetdirect compatible with your machine and appletalk - the list is at this linkhttp://www.hp.com/cposupport/printers/support_doc/bpm06401.html

and I downloaded all the manuals and drivers directly from the HP site

[Kurt Magness]

Keven:

Are you using one machine with a crossover ethernet cable or are you on a network? I too had problems when I had the one machine setup. It would work sometimes but not always. Then I got more machines and networked them together and it works so much better. The reason you can't print directly might be because you have corrupt fonts, or use fill patterns instead of hatches, etc. If you are one machine, I would highly suggest getting a old G3 and use it as the print server with the RIP in it. The time you save by being able to work without the RIP taking all the processing power is so much nicer. Plus then you have the other machine for overflow, web browsing, email, etc.

[Kevin]

nightvision;The laserwriter driver has a limited number of default page sizes. However, the HP Rip comes with "PPD" files that have the larger page sizes you need.

It has been a while since I have set this up, but my recolection is that from the chooser you can select laserwriter and then click the setup button.

The HP tech support guys can walk you through it if you like. The support is free for the price of a phone call.

That is the setup I use, however I cannot get the RIP to print directly to the plotter. I must first save the file to disk and then I open the file in the RIP. It works fine

[nightvision]

Hello Kevin

The way you described the PPD setup with the laserwriter driver worked like a charm - thanks for the help

So there are several ways to do it - 'cause I was printing it to a pdf and then printing it as a postscript "file" - it meant lots of running to the chooser and back

Considering that over 30 years ago we sent a man to the moon and back safely, one would think that we could print a D or E size drawing without all of us searching the discussion groups for assistance

[Kevin]

Kurt;Thank you for taking an interest in this matter. I have heard that there are utilities that can check for corrupted fonts. If you have advice on this I would appreciate it. I am posting a new topic in General Discussion to that very topic of font integrity and management.

I have a Mac G4 that I use for Vectorworks. I also have a G3 that I use for less demanding programs. They are hooked up, along with the HP 455CA on an ethernet switch.

What I do now is to print from a VW file to the G4 hard drive. I launch the RIP in the G3. In the RIP I choose the files that are on the G4 drive. Then I click the green button that begins the processing and printing.

I can also launch the RIP on the G4, but that ties up the G4 while it prints. What I cannot do is use the "Print" button in the rip. It results in a "-8993" error code. I can only use the "File" button, thus saving to disk.

From what you describe, it sounds like you are able to print directly to your second computer without saving to disk. Is this correct, and if so how exactly do you do it?

Thanks again for your help.

[Kevin]

Kurt;As a follow-up. I read a post of yours in a different topic where you explained how you set up your two computers. I followed those instructions, but still got the -8993 error code. I think I need to check for font corruption before I can try this set up again.

In your set up, how does the laserwriter on Computer #2 know where the RIP on Computer #1 is, since they are on separate computers. Is this automatic or do you need to identify this some how?

[Kurt Magness]

It finds the rip automatically, they should show up in the rip window and print if the green button is pushed. Try removing all fonts except the ones that came with the computer. You just have to put them on the desktop in a folder then restart. (no need to trash them until you find the bad ones. Or try plotting the drawing one layer at a time to isolate the problem layer. Once you get the bad layer look for fonts and or fill patterns to remove and try again.