VW is giving my HP plotter the cold shoulder. Why??

[ddseattle]

Hello everyone, I would love some advice on this issue. I am running Vectorworks 11.5.1 on a brand-new iMac G5, plotting to an HP Designjet 500ps 42" roll-feed plotter.

I also have two HP laser printers in the office. All three printers are connected via the Ethernet.

VW will print to both the HP laser printers with no problem, but will not print to the plotter! It also will not create a PDF or a print preview when the 'page setup' is set to 'format for: Plotter'.

All the other software applications on my computer will print to the plotter with no problem at all! This includes Safari, Firefox, Word, Excel, etc...they will print and create PDF's when set for the plotter.

Also, I should mention that other people in my office, with computers identical to mine, are able to use this plotter with no problem whatsoever.

So far, I have tried the following solutions, with no success:

-Restart the computer

-Uninstall/reinstall Vectorworks

-Search through all Vectorworks prefs

-Clear all printers and plotters and reinstall

-Update plotter driver to new one from HP website

-Roll back plotter driver to previous version

-"Repair permissions" in Mac OS X

Any suggestions?

[Kevin]

I seem to remember Katie saying something about a script or file to clear or reset print preferences. Do a search on the board, (upper right of page), and I think you will find the thread.

HTH.

[Kevin]

I think this is the thread I was thinking of:

http://techboard.nemetschek.net/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=22;t=000531

[ddseattle]

Thanks, I tried that but to no avail. The instructions in the Knowledge base say,

"unstuff the file...and drop the script on the VectorWorks icon in the Dock. A VectorScript Message window will appear, stating "Script Complete." to indicate success. You can also run the script by selecting the Organize/Scripts/Run VectorScript... menu, and choosing the script file."

When I dropped the script onto the Vectorworks icon in the Dock, Vectorworks opened a new file, "Untitled 1", and did not pop up a success message. Under my Organize pull-down menu there is no Scripts option, and I checked in the Workspace Editor--Scripts is not an option in my Vectorworks version, apparently.

After trying all this, I attempted to print a couple documents again, with no success.

[ddseattle]

OK, I got the script to run, and did get a message that said "Script Complete." However, this did not affect my printing problem in any way.

As I understand it, this script is document-specific. The problem I am having is pandemic, not restricted to any one document.

[Kevin]

Sorry to hear that. I am out of ideas. Hopefully someone else has an answer. Good luck.

[CipesDesign]

DD, I had the same problem a few months ago. Although this may not cure your problem, in my case there was a bad port in my ethernet hub. All I had to do was unlpug the ethernet cable and plug it back into to another (thankfully, spare) port and all was fine. Along those same lines, you might also check the actual cable by replacing it with one you are sure is working. Sometimes it's the simplest things...

[ddseattle]

Thanks Peter, but I know that's not the issue, because all my other software is able to print to this plotter flawlessly.

[ddseattle]

To clarify...when I send the job to print, the print box appears in VW and it looks like it's printing. But the job never spools.

I know the IP address is correct because all my other software prints to this plotter with ease.

[altoids]

If you can't generate previews, then the problem is likely within the iMac. As you can print using other software, the problem is likely to be within VW. But this seems strangely unlikely.

You said that you select the plotter from the page setup. I take it you also select it from the print dialog box.

Things to try:

1) Have you tried resetting the Mac's print system? You can do this from within the "Printer Setup Utility", select (Printer Setup Utility>Reset Printing System). You will have to add the printers to your printer list again, but this only takes a few minutes.

2) From your iMac, within VW select a working printer, print a document, but capture it to a PDF. Then open this newly minted PDF with Preview but send it to the plotter. Does it work?

3) Have a different computer (one that can plot normally) share the plotter. Select the shared plotter from your print dialog box, then print. Any better?

4) What protocol is used to connect the iMac to the plotter or how did you select the plotter from within the "Printer Setup Utility", using the default browser or via the "IP Printer" icon"?

Al

[Guest]

What operating system are you using?

[ddseattle]

At first I was using OS X 10.4.4, then did a total 'clean install' of 10.4.2, wiping out everything on the hard drive. After reinstalling Vectorworks and no other software, I experienced the exact same problem.

[alinengland]

Did anyone find a solution to this?

I am running VW 12.0.1 on a G5 Mac and OSX 10.4.

My designjet plotter is linked directly via USB and I can print to it from everything but VW....!

Sounds similar...help...

[alinengland]

My other G5 also running VW12.0.1 but with OSX 10.3.9 can print to this plotter even though it is using it as a shared printer through the first machine which can't print to it. Bizzare!

Is it therefore by elimination a problem with VW12.0.1 when used with OSX 10.4...?

Help...

[ddseattle]

FIGURED IT OUT!!!

After an exhaustive amount of trial and error, I finally found the problem! It's very strange and unexpected...

There is a font called "Universe" that was causing the plotting issue. Any drawing that contains this font will not plot from this computer. If I crop the print area to exclude the part of the drawing that uses that font, the rest of it will print fine! And of course, a drawing that doesn't contain the font will print fine.

There's something strange about that font file. I tried loading it onto another, newer iMac G5, and afterwards, that computer would 'hang' on restart until the OS was reloaded (or, as I later found out how to do, until I rebooted in 'safe mode' and cleared the cache). I have heard stories that certain fonts wouldn't work with OS 9 when it first came out, and possibly with earlier versions of OS X. This may be a case of that.

This still doesn't explain why other iMac G5s in my office have no problem printing that same font, but at least I have identified the problem.