Troubleshooting Printing to Plotter
Problem/Symptom
The printer is printing strange characters or blank or partial pages.
Things to check (try printing after each step)
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Try printing one page at a time
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Turn the printer on and off
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Turn off the printer and reboot the PC
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Close all other running applications and try to print again (free up memory)
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Try printing from different software
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Check that the printer cable is connected firmly to the printer and the computer
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Print a test page to see if your printer is mechanically sound
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Set your plotter as the Windows Default printer
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Try to print a test page from the properties menu of the printer
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Check your free disk space, You need approximately 32 megabytes (MB) of free disk space to print a simple text-only document, much more for printing plan images
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If the printer is connected to a scanner or other device, disconnect the printer from the device and plug printer in directly to PC
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Reinstall the printer driver
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Test with a different printer cable
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Test from a different computer that has the same printer drivers installed
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Have a technician reinstall the printer port
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Contact the Manufacturer's technical Support
Problem/Symptom
The plotter works when a print is sent from other applications but not from or On-Screen Takeoff.
Things to check
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Download and install the latest printer driver from the manufacturer's web site
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Check the paper size settings when printing in On-Screen Takeoff - They must be large enough to account for the hard code margins in the final printout when compared to the actual dimensions on screen
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Check the Advanced options on Spooling and Memory - Spooling should print after last page is spooled and Computer Memory should be used when printing
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Try printing one page at a time