printing A1 paper problems x7, x8, x9

[bernie]

CA support has asked me to post on here today.

initially acknowledging the problem, they are now saying the problem is unreproduceable.

(Yes, I will keep an open mind with the support dept... hmmm)

 

Do any of you suffer the following:

 

"..........

the last version of x7 had bugs in printing to certain size paper that were never fixed (it was acknowledged but never resolved)
-some page(s) were printed multiple times in infinite loop.
-intended items to print were cut off unexpectedly
-other erroneous items

the current version of x8:
-with metric template,
printing a page with a drawing sheet of ISO A1 (594 x 841mm )
with 'check plot' selected results in the top and bottom borders being cut off by about half an inch.

I never use imperial.
I never print to pdf first, and suggesting that is not a solution to the underlying problem that still needs to be addressed.

 

the current version of x9 beta:

same problem.

 

So, does anyone else suffer this printing problem?

support advised that I should print to a pdf first, then print the pdf to my printer.

Im not entirely happy with that answer, for various valid reasons I wont go into here.

 

printer is high end HP T2500 dual roll.

I proved it wasnt a printer problem - it is a software problem inside CA and how it talks to the printer driver.

 

cheers,

Bernie

NZ

 

[lbuttery]

Bernie:

 

I know you don't want to hear it

 

but just about everyone uses PDF first

 

why don't you want to do that ?

 

Lew

[DavidJPotter]

"I proved it wasn't a printer problem - it is a software problem inside CA and how it talks to the printer driver. "

 

No, actually you proved that your PC, Mac or printer has a problem.

 

Like Lew said there is no problem with Chief. Rather there is a problem with your procedure or steps you take to get a negative result, look again please.

 

I am along time user and forum member, in all this time it has always comes down to user error.

 

 

DJP

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Alaskan_Son]

Hate to sound insensitive to your plight but I can't for the life of me figure out why you're investing so much time and effort trying to fix a problem that is easily solved by simply printing to PDF first.  You say you have valid reasons, but I'm really curious what they are.  Almost nobody prints directly from their design software.  I mean if you take the file to a print shop they have to have a PDF or .PRN anyway.  It's totally standard practice. 

 

Also, how have you been able to prove it's a problem on Chief's end and not a problem with the printer driver?  I personally have never witnessed the problem you speak of either and have used Chief along with my own roll fed large format printer.

[lbuttery]

Like Lew said there is no problem with Chief

 

David:

 

Ummm, I never said that ...

 

Lew

[rlackore]

13 hours ago, DavidJPotter said:

"I proved it wasn't a printer problem - it is a software problem inside CA and how it talks to the printer driver. "

 

No, actually you proved that your PC, Mac or printer has a problem.

 

Like Lew said there is no problem with Chief. Rather there is a problem with your procedure or steps you take to get a negative result, look again please.

 

I am along time user and forum member, in all this time it has always comes down to user error.

 

 

DJP

 

 

 

David, the OP clearly mentioned that tech support had initially acknowledged there was a problem; so maybe you should give the OP the benefit of the doubt and assume that it's not necessarily a printer issue.

 

I think most people understand that first printing to PDF is the best way go, but it is not an unreasonable expectation to be able to print directly from the software without having issues.

[Kiwideziner]

Why do people say everyone prints to PDF first, I don't and don't personally know anybody that does. Everybody has their own methods and the extra step is lost time for me.

I only print to PDF when it gets issued as a record.

[Arcadian]

Same Graeme.

Only print to PDF for record or email

[Alaskan_Son]

2 hours ago, Kiwideziner said:

Why do people say everyone prints to PDF first, I don't and don't personally know anybody that does. Everybody has their own methods and the extra step is lost time for me.

I only print to PDF when it gets issued as a record.

 

14 minutes ago, Arcadian said:

Same Graeme.

Only print to PDF for record or email

 

I take it you guys never send anything to a print shop then and that you rarely email plans to anyone?  And do you not save a PDF copy of your plans for archives?  To me, saving as a non program specific file type is just good practice.  And, if you are printing to PDF for anything at all be it email, record, or print shop, that means the print to PDF has to happen anyway.  It's not even an extra step. 

 

Having said that, if its a legitimate software issue it should of course be fixed but I still haven't seen or heard anything to lead me to the conclusion that it's a Chief problem and not a printer driver problem or simply user error.  I've printed directly from Chief using multiple printers and have never experienced the issues the OP is talking about. 

[lbuttery]

I never say "everyone"

 

I say "most" or "just about everyone"

 

there are always a few holdouts

 

Lew

[MoeGia]

I can't print directly to my HP110 from Chief, and haven't been able to for a few versions.  I have reported it thru Beta and it was acknowledged as an issue but they couldn't track it down.  I can print from PDF to the printer without issue, so I wouldn't say it's a print driver problem.  I can print from other apps to the printer, just not from Chief.  Call me lucky!

[OkcDesigner]

53 minutes ago, MoeGia said:

I can't print directly to my HP110 from Chief, and haven't been able to for a few versions.  I have reported it thru Beta and it was acknowledged as an issue but they couldn't track it down.  I can print from PDF to the printer without issue, so I wouldn't say it's a print driver problem.  I can print from other apps to the printer, just not from Chief.  Call me lucky!

I have same issue here with not being able to print to HP111........Chief reports my plotter as  "0" DPI.............????????

Did the workaround, print to PDF then to printer works but, would be nice to print straight to plot like my other Pro-CAD programs, can do.

 

[BrownTiger]

Chief uses Qt5 framework.

 

> the current version of x8:
>-with metric template,
>printing a page with a drawing sheet of ISO A1 (594 x 841mm )
>with 'check plot' selected results in the top and bottom borders being cut off by about half an inch.

 

That's sounds familiar.... https://bugreports.qt.io/browse/QTBUG-32987 also I would not use "unsafe" margins.

Cut couple millimeters off at the bottom.

 

Also do a quick test to see if imperial layout has the same issues.Set margins 1/2" and draw a rectangle.

 

 

 

[lbuttery]

Brown Tiger:

 

I use a 1/2" border on page 0

then everything is placed within that border to avoid cut-off at the print shop

 

I find it best not to go right to the edge

 

Lew

[DRAWZILLA]

For me printing to PDF has got a lot slower in each new version, but it does work.

[Arcadian]

18 hours ago, OkcDesigner said:

18 hours ago, MoeGia said:

I can't print directly to my HP110 from Chief, and haven't been able to for a few versions.  I have reported it thru Beta and it was acknowledged as an issue but they couldn't track it down.  I can print from PDF to the printer without issue, so I wouldn't say it's a print driver problem.  I can print from other apps to the printer, just not from Chief.  Call me lucky!

I have same issue here with not being able to print to HP111........Chief reports my plotter as  "0" DPI.............????????

Did the workaround, print to PDF then to printer works but, would be nice to print straight to plot like my other Pro-CAD programs, can do.

Seems strange... Have a HP110 myself and can print to A1 roll no problem from Chief. However... it took me a while to get the settings right on the 110 software printing defaults

[bernie]

I can print from pdf to printer fine

I can print A3,A2,A0 to printer fine. (directly from CA x7,x8,x9)

I CANNOT print A1 to printer directly from CA x7,x8, x9 without CA either:

a) going into an infinite loop and printing the same page over and over (say page 2 if I send 1-4 pages to print)

b). cutting off borders top and bottom

other weird behaviour.

for the above reasons, and tech support initially saying "yes there is a problem with the printer driver we are working on it"

I did the workaround, which was print to pdf, and then print the pdf.

 

this is a 2 step process.

now, I have forgotten about the 2 step required (and gone back to printing A3 not A1)

HOWEVER, now that x9 is out in beta, and I need to print A1 again, I thought I would try it in x9.

bingo.

same problem.

so to me, it proves it is a CA problem. not a driver or printer problem.

all my other cad software prints fine to the same printer thru the same driver.

 

I would just like someone to test for me to see if they get the same result.

if you print say 3-4 pages to your A1 printer directly from CA, (preferably an HP as use same driver?)

tell me what happens.

 

cheers,

Bernie

 

[MoeGia]

Could you post a screen capture?  I would love to see your settings.  What OS?  I'm on Windows 10.

[Alaskan_Son]

45 minutes ago, bernie said:

I can print from pdf to printer fine

I can print A3,A2,A0 to printer fine. (directly from CA x7,x8,x9)

I CANNOT print A1 to printer directly from CA x7,x8, x9 without CA either:

a) going into an infinite loop and printing the same page over and over (say page 2 if I send 1-4 pages to print)

b). cutting off borders top and bottom

other weird behaviour.

for the above reasons, and tech support initially saying "yes there is a problem with the printer driver we are working on it"

I did the workaround, which was print to pdf, and then print the pdf.

 

this is a 2 step process.

now, I have forgotten about the 2 step required (and gone back to printing A3 not A1)

HOWEVER, now that x9 is out in beta, and I need to print A1 again, I thought I would try it in x9.

bingo.

same problem.

so to me, it proves it is a CA problem. not a driver or printer problem.

all my other cad software prints fine to the same printer thru the same driver.

 

I would just like someone to test for me to see if they get the same result.

if you print say 3-4 pages to your A1 printer directly from CA, (preferably an HP as use same driver?)

tell me what happens.

 

cheers,

Bernie

 

 

Hey Bernie,

 

I wish I could test for you but I got rid of my large format printer.  Just realized I didn't use it enough to justify the space it was taking up and that it made more sense just to have the local print shop just do my printing when I need it. 

 

Not sure if this makes any difference or not but I'm curious...

 

Is your printer hooked directly to your machine or are you using a print server?  I was using an HP JetDirect print server with mine.  I wonder if that would make any difference or not in your case.  It's not my area of expertise but I think those print servers actually kinda have their own driver independent of the printer......Chief tells the JetDirect card what to do, the JetDirect card takes that fully structured print job, puts it into queue and then tells the printer what to do.   At least in my case it seemed to make for more stable communication and the print server seemed to have a more versatile and universal driver that worked across various operating systems regardless of the actual printer drivers. 

[Dan_Park]

 

Bernie,

 

Under File>print>drawing sheet setup are you set to A1, If so can you click customize and then edit in that dialog and verify the size in mm is exactly right? (594.0 x 841.0)

 

Then when you print don't select check plot select to scale. Check plot would downsize the plot area by 1/2 etc. depending on what you choose. Typically you don't want to use that unless you want to print an A1 to an A2 for testing purposes.

 

Also make sure you are printing the Drawing Sheet and that it also shows you are using an A1 size. Don't select current view.

 

Does that print to an A1?

 

Finally, make sure you leave enough margin space on your drawing to accommodate the printer. Don't draw outside the printable area of the printer for that paper size. I don't know what the T2500 allows for margins on an A1 or if it's full bleed. That is also dependent on if you use roll or sheets.

 

 

[bernie]

Dan,

thanks for spending time. A1, yes 594x841. Yes, I select "to scale". Im printing direct from a .layout file.

x6 works. x7,x8,x9 dont.

I will try again tonight on x9 to double confirm my end it still broken...

Bernie

 

[BrownTiger]

Bernie,

 

Try printing just a single large rectangle in A1. I wrote countless printing code and specific PCL instructions. Sometimes printer memory can not handle complex layout.Printer will reset and spooler will resubmit the job. Causing loop. 

 

Test with the simple layout page with the simple rectangle say 560x800. It should not loop and should print correctly.

[Alaskan_Son]

4 hours ago, BrownTiger said:

... Sometimes printer memory can not handle complex layout.Printer will reset and spooler will resubmit the job. Causing loop. 

 

Interesting.  This seems to reinforce my suspicion that a good print server might make the difference.  It introduces an entirely new driver and memory bank into the mix. 

 

What do you think BT?   Could a print server be the difference and perhaps the answer?  If so, that would point again to the printer/printer driver being the limiting factors and not necessarily Chief.  I mean Chief might be the only program that causes seem people issue but that still doesn't necessarily mean it's a Chief problem.  Chief just may be a bit more demanding than some of the other software and that demand may have increased further with X7 and onward.  

 

I don't know...just some ideas.

[Dan_Park]

Bernie,

 

I installed the driver for your printer to see what options are available.

 

Can you verify in File>Print>drawing sheet setup  what the drawing margins are? Make sure they match what the printer settings are. In the driver I installed it was either 5mm or 3/16". In this printer when I populate the margins from the printer at A1 it shows 50mm it should be 5mm.( I don't know if that's a bug in our end or a bug in the driver.)

 

At print i see an option for 300, 600, 1200 DPI - as noted earlier the higher dpi might run the printer out of memory on a large sheet. Test with a simple plan, low dpi.

 

In the Print view there is a little section at the bottom that has a yellow background with informational messages. If you get everything set properly you should see that yellow message area go away. This is right above the print button.

 

You probably already tried all of these but I'm just hoping we can figure out what's happening.

 

I wish I had one of these internally I could test. I find it odd that we can't print to one particular page size.

 

I see in the printer preferences for the driver I installed an option on the layout tab discussing margins. There is a Borderless option with a choice 'automatically by printer', or 'manually in application'. Out of curiosity mostly, can you try the option manually in application? Also make sure your resizing is actual size we don't want the printer messing with that.

 

If you have not tried this, which tech probably did first thing, choose file>print>clear printer info, prior to printing. Especially if the layout came from pre X6. Sometimes bad information was stored in the older versions. If that makes a difference you will need to update your default layout template by doing the same thing and saving it so future layouts don't get the bad info.

 

[BrownTiger]

6 hours ago, Alaskan_Son said:

 

Interesting.  This seems to reinforce my suspicion that a good print server might make the difference.  It introduces an entirely new driver and memory bank into the mix. 

 

What do you think BT?   Could a print server be the difference and perhaps the answer?  If so, that would point again to the printer/printer driver being the limiting factors and not necessarily Chief.  I mean Chief might be the only program that causes seem people issue but that still doesn't necessarily mean it's a Chief problem.  Chief just may be a bit more demanding than some of the other software and that demand may have increased further with X7 and onward.  

 

I don't know...just some ideas.

 

 

No, internal printer memory and internal rendering engine are the most critical. I misspoke it should say"printer memory/engine" as  T25x0 series have 320Gb hard drive and software can use 128Gb for rendering. The printer OP is using from my old X-employer and I know for a fact it is dated and flawed. My x-employer may be p* off if I comment on their hardware. 

 

In general Spoolers [print servers] do very little. They hold job file and transmit to a printer, supply headers in-between jobs, notify clients when you have an issue.

Provide ability to restrict who can and can not print to this print queue. Excluding nasty winprinters (that rely on Windows host rendering), most printers rely on internal rendering engine. [PCL/Postscript/PDF]. Qt5 that CA rely on removed Postscript support. Postscript is redundant to pdf printing IMHO. So if a printer includes PDF rendering engine and the driver supports, PDF file will be sent to this printer. Sometimes PDF rendering  engine does not produce exactly the same result as PCL5/PCL6. 

 

HP Pdf direct printing also has some issues... as it does not permit tray / paper calls. These have to be set in PJL.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

Bottom line OP should try to print a simple rectangle and see if it cuts and resets.