plotting to HP DJ330???

[Skot]

Arrrrgh! I'm wearing pie right now! I convinced my boss to upgrade all our workstations, then upgrade to VW12, lots of money on the table! Not only can we not plot now, we can't even save VW dwgs to VW8 that can talk to our plotter! I'm so in the dog house right now. Any help is greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Skot

[ 02-03-2006, 03:19 PM: Message edited by: Skot ]

[Andrew Bell@NV]

Can you print to PDF and plot that? Just a thought for a temporary solution, you haven't really explained enough to indicate the specific problem. VW8 can plot, but VW12 can't? Is it because VW12 won't run on the machine that can talk to the plotter?

[Kevin]

Skot, we need more info in order to help. The question is whether this is a VW specific issue.

You say you upgraded your workstations. Upgraded to what? What OS? What is your connection to the plotter?

[Skot]

Andrew seems to have understood my dilemma. We are an all Mac office. We've been using VW8.5 for several years. Our plotter seems to be able only to use AppleTalk and I can't find HP drivers to talk to ethernet for it. So we bought all new iMacs and VW12, on my urgings, so that we could use the new features and be able to open a greater variety of files. So the first problem is that the plotter is AppleTalk, and the second problem is that Nemetschek, in their infinite wisdom, didn't make VW12 backwards compatible enough to export VW8 files that I could at least transfer my drawings from my iMac to my old classic workstation with OS9 and VW8.

Is that better?

Thanks,

Skot

[ 02-04-2006, 12:14 AM: Message edited by: Skot ]

[CipesDesign]

Skot, a couple ideas: I'll bet you can drive your HP with GIMP PRINT. Even though the 330 is not on the suppoerted list, it might just work using the 230 or 430 driver. Or, if you know someone who owns VW's 9 or 10, you could save back to one of those, and they could then svae back to 8 for you (I know, it's an ugly workaround). I was also going to echo Andrew's PDF idea.

Remember, upgrading is never as easy as it seems on the surface, so don't feel bad. We've ALL been there. Good luck :-)

[Kevin]

I understand your frustration. I have an HP455ca which I originally ran under OS9 by using the HP supplied drivers. HP does not provide OSX drivers for their older printers.

As Peter points out, you may be able to setup a new print driver in OSX. Give it a try it might work. Do a search on this forum and you will find lots of info on how to set up an older HP printer using OSX.

As long as you have a dedicated computer in the old configuration, you can print to the plotter. Make a PDF from VW12 and send it to the old computer, then print from there.

Just as computers and software have improved, so have plotters. You may want to bite the bullet and invest in a new printer that is fully supported in OSX. My 455 works but it lacks the image quality, speed, and convenience of a modern printer.

You can also buy a used plotter if money is an issue. My 455 is over seven years old. You could get one like that for a good price.

Just remember that your Boss would not be able to stay with OS9 and VW8 forever. The change/upgrade was inevitable.