Printing - Connecting and Using the Plotter

Faculty and staff can print posters and other large diagrams using the department’s HP Designjet 500PS plotter. You can find the plotter printing form here:http://helpdesk.cs.tamu.edu/downloads/plotter_printing_form

How to Connect to Plotter210 with Windows

1. Log into your CPSC Windows account. If you are not using your CPSC account, please see http://www.cs.tamu.edu/department/groups/csg/printing




2. Click Start and select Run



Fig 01


3. Type \\printers.cs.tamu.edu\plotter210 into the text box, and press enter




Fig 02


4. If asked, “Do you want Windows to set up the printer and continue this operation” , click Yes.




Fig 03


5. plotter210 on printers should now be in your printer list

Setting the Poster Size and Printing

1. Start to print from your Windows application. When the print dialog box appears, select plotter210 printer as your printer.
   Next, click the Properties button (Figure 4) or the Basic Setup tab (Figure 5), depending on your application.




Fig 04


Fig 05


2. The Optimize option provides two modes to enhance your printout:
   
• Images - select this mode when printing color images or mixed lines.


• Line Drawings/Text - use this mode if your printout contains only text and line drawings.



Fig 06


3. Depending on the Optimize option selected, the Quality option can increase the quality of your poster.
   • If you are using Drawings/Text mode, the Best and Normal settings will print the same resolution, so use Normal.
   
   
   • If you are using Images mode, the Best option will offer a higher quality image over Normal, but the print time will be longer.
   
   
   
   Fig 07
   
   
4. The Quick Sets drop-down box in the lower right corner indicates the current paper roll size on the plotter. If Portrait 36” and Landscape 36” are listed, that means the paper roll is 36” wide. In the figure to the right, 42 inch roll is listed in the upper left Paper Size field, but Quick Sets list the correct paper roll size as 36”. Select Portrait 36” from the Quick Sets. Notice your paper size has changed, if 36” by 48” is your poster size, you are done and can click OK, otherwise continue.




Fig 08


5. If you need to adjust the size,
   
   • Click on the down arrow for Size and scroll to the very bottom. Select Edit Paper List.
   
   
   
   
   Fig 09
   
   
   • Adjust the Custom Paper Sizes dialog boxes as need to the horizontal and vertical measurements needed. The horizontal measurement needs to be less than the paper roll width when printing in portrait mode, and the vertical measurement needs to be less than the paper roll width when printing in landscape mode.
   
   
   
   
   Fig 010
   
   
   • Click OK and continue printing as normal.


6. The Plotter Printing Status program will appear and give a graphic demonstration of the job status.

Poster Pickup

Posters will be available for pickup in room 210. To receive your poster, please fill out a Plotter Printing Form - you can get this from the Helpdesk in HRBB 210, or you can print out your own, fill it out, and bring it to the Helpdesk. You can find the plotter printing form here:
http://helpdesk.cs.tamu.edu/downloads/plotter_printing_form

• Name of the person picking up the poster


• Name of the sponsor (responsible faculty or staff)


• Account / Project number


• Usage of the poster (meeting, class work, presentation, etc.)


• Print date.
• The number of posters printed


• An approval signiture from the account owner

Poster Costs

The cost of printing a poster is $20 and is set to cover the estimated costs.

Copy Corner (Texas Ave. and George Bush Drive) and Kinko’s (University Ave) can laminate posters up to 3’ wide. A 3’ x 4’ poster will cost between $12 and $18 to laminate.

The CS department printing policies can be found at http://www.cs.tamu.edu/department/groups/csg/printing.

Last revised by Adrian Laney on 8.October.2004

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