Problems getting PM to plot with my new printer

[Anonymous]

I just purchased an HP Designjet 110 with a paper roll to do my own plotting. That’s the good news. The bad news is that when I hit Plot, I get the following error message:

"TCP/IP network plotter has not been selected"

Apparently, in the Plot Setup menu, you have to choose a connection. The only choice I have is TCP/IP (Modem Port, Printer Port and AppleTalk are greyed out). Very strange. Is this the only way PM connects to a plotter? I tried switching to the other HP plotters listed, and the result is the same. BTW, the DesignJet 110nr is not listed, so I chose DesignJet at the top of the HP list

Maybe one of you guys can help me with this? I'm able to print straight out of AC, but I’d much rather use PM.
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[Mark Wallace]

Southpaw.....
You have to set the 'Location' under the Apple Pop-down menu for your HP plotter. This is done by opening 'Network Preferences' and setting up the proper address for your HP plotter. You probably have a location for your IP, automatic as well as any in-office servers.

Print out a test/spec plot from your plotter so that you can input the proper address. You'll be using the TCP/IP version. I'm assuming your plotter is connected directly to the computer. If not, then you'll need to configure the port on your router/hub.

When you plot from PM, you'll need to physically switch locations so your computer can electronically 'shake-hands' with the plotter and know were to send the data.

HTH

Mark

AC7.
Mac G5 2.3 GHz, 1.5 Gb Ram
HP 455CA
-------------------------------------------
Mark Wallace Architect
P.O. Box 26537
Collegeville PA 19426-0537

[Anonymous]

I work out my home/office, so I don't use a server. The printer is connected directly to the computer, via USB. In Network Preferences (Mac), my location is Automatic. In Plotmaker, I entered the IP address listed in my Network preferences. Plotmaker didn't seem to be able to connect with the compuer. Then I entered the router number instead. Still didn't work. I would print a test/spec from my plotter, but I can't even get it to print at all from Plotmaker.

Which one is correct? Also, what would be my port number?

[Mark Wallace]

southpaw wrote:
The printer is connected directly to the computer, via USB. In Network Preferences (Mac), my location is Automatic. In Plotmaker, I entered the IP address listed in my Network preferences. Plotmaker didn't seem to be able to connect with the compuer. Then I entered the router number instead. Still didn't work.

Ah....USB, well that's a horse of another color & different than TCP/IP, location and network preferences. The message you were getting in your original message has to do with driver configuration in Plotmaker. Setting up a plotter in USB should be similar to printing.

I have Plotmaker 2.3 for OSX and I don't see a driver for a HP 110 deskjet. Later versions of Plotmaker should have a driver but if yours doesn't, try a HPGL or HPGL2 driver and see if you can connect. But this only works if you are 'Plotting.'

southpaw wrote:
I would print a test/spec from my plotter, but I can't even get it to print at all from Plotmaker.

The specs are printed out directly from the HP plotter by pressing a button sequence on the plotter itself. Check with instructions on how to print out a spec sheet. HP's been doin it this way for decades. The address should look something like 192.0.0.192 or similar. However, in using USB, the HP110 may show up differently.

Another thought is to try 'Printing' with your plotter by seeing if it shows up under 'Print Setup' in Plotmaker. Plotmaker hands the print file to your Mac's printing system/drivers and so forth and gets the data to your printer that way.

southpaw wrote:
Which one is correct? Also, what would be my port number?

Normally the port number on a direct connection to a Mac is 9100. However, since you're working thru USB, you may really be printing. I just checked Printer Setup in OSX-System Preferences and I didn't see a driver for the HP 110 listed so you may have to go to the HP site and download an up-to-date driver.

Sorry I can't be of more help. There may be some other hands lurking out there who has gear similar to yours.

Good Luck.

Mark

AC7, Plotmaker 2.3 OSX
Mac Dual 2.3 Ghz PwrPC G5
1.5 Gb RAM, 233 Gb HD
OSX-Tiger.1
HP 455C, Epson R1800
----------------------------------
Mark Wallace Architect
P.O. Box 26537
Collegeville PA 19426-0537

[Anonymous]

If all else fails, which I found true when trying to "Plot" directly from PM to any HP plotter, you can try using Plotflow instead.
Setup is pretty easy:
Open up Plotflow, found in your AC folder and select Configure under File.
You have several options for selecting the printer/plotter port; USB, TCP/IP or Printer. (If you have setup your HP as a printer through the Printer Setup Utility, you should be able to select the plotter in the printer port).
You can make a spoolfolder anywhere you like and then point to Plot Flow to it under "Get Files automatically from:".
Then in Plot Setup in PM just select the same spoolfolder you just created and when you plot select "Spool folder" as the destination.
The only downside is Plotflow must be running to send .plt files to the specified plotter. Not a biggie but confused me more than once. In a multiple station office I've set up an old workstation as a Plotflow server.
A bonus is that if you enable logging you get a nice listing of plot files for you to use in billing clients for in-house plotting.
It works like a charm and saved me from loosing my mind trying PM to see a plotter over TCP/IP. It just never worked correctly.
Hope this helps.

[Stephen Dolbee]

Can you "print" instead of "plot"? Printing always seems to be easier for us. We are on a PC, so don't know if that matters.

Steve

[Anonymous]

Andrew, I did everything you suggested, and it should work fine. The only hitch is that when I go into the plot menu, under destination, Spool Folder is grayed out as a choice. A couple of things: First, I have the student version, and I noticed that I didn't have PlotFlow in my AC 9 folder. I did, however, download the latest version of Plotflow from the Graphisoft site. Despite this, I still have this problem.

[Anonymous]

Interesting that you couldn't select a spool folder. Perhaps that feature is turned off in the Student Version....I don't know.
Can you Save to File in the Plot menu? This would create a plt file but saves it to a location of your choosing. Then you could drag it into the spool folder and it should be sent by Plotflow to your plotter.
This is basically turning the whole thing into a nice manual task.

[Stress Co_]

Southpaw:

Did you get it to work?

I have the same Printer and have not had any problems Printing. I've never tried to plot and am interested to learn how that works ( I always thought it was a "large format printer"... not a "plotter").

Also, be sure to check HP's website to see if you have the current drivers. What I got out of the box wasn't.

Marc

PS
You say you have the roll feed... is this a DesignJet 110+ NR (Network Ready)? If so, you should be able to connect via ethernet cable instead of USB. I think it's a bit quicker for data transfer.

[Anonymous]

I can print from ArchiCAD with no problem, I just would like to be able to use PM to arrange my drawings. I contacted Graphisoft about the problem, and received this response:

The "File-> Plot " command and "PlotFlow" (program) are for printer/plotter's that have the HPGL/2 hardware feature (like HP DesignJet 500 / 800 or HP DesignJet 1055CM). Your HP DesignJet 110+NR is a printer without HPGL/2 (according to my experience with printers similar).


NOTE: You can still "File-> Print" from PlotMaker.


So there you have it. My question to you, Marc, is this: How do you get PM to print a drawing without tiling it on several pages? Do you have to limit the number of drawings per page? Granted, my latest project had 2 floor plans for a loft that was very long and narrow, so maybe that's why it tiled on 4 different pages. Just curious about how you arrange your drawings so that you can print each layout page on a single sheet of roll paper?

Also, how do you set the printer up for printing using the ethernet cable? I work out of my home, so I'm not on a multi-computer network with a server. I would just be connecting from my printer's Ethernet cable.

BTW, good call on checking the HP site for the latest driver. I'll do that ASAP