# how does a plotter recognize paper size?? help PLEEZ!!!



## miktoxic (Feb 21, 2008)

just acquired an HP designjet 500 from my girl's job. hooked it up to my mac and printed some test prints.

IS THERE ANYWAY TO SET A CUSTOM PRINT SIZE TO A PLOTTER OR WIDE FORMAT PRINTER INSTEAD OF IT ONLY RECOGNIZING THE ANSCII DEFAULT SIZES???

here's my problem. i have a 36" roll paper fed into this 42" wide format inkjet printer. the paper itself is very expensive.

in illustrator i set the page to an e1 paper siZe 36 x 48 inches since it 's the same width as the roll paper. on the artboard in the illustrator file i did a couple of rows of different objects with different colors to test print. the objects were at the bottom edge of the page.

when it printed the printer fed half the length of the paper (48") printed the objects, then fed out the other half of the paper and cut. is there anyway to stop this? IT'S SUCH A WASTE OF PAPER.

what if i only wanted a page size of 36"w x 24" h. is this possible? i notice in the print page setup that custom is grayed out so it won't let me set a custom size. why? and is there a reason that it won't print as setup in my test print file (objects on bottom of page) then rest of page fed out.....that way i could turn of the cut function and reroll the excees paper back onto the spool.

I HOPE SOMEONE CAN HELP. THIS IS MY THIRD TRY ON THIS FORUM AND I'VE TRIED HP AND STILL NO RESPONSE TO THIS QUESTION. I'M SURE SOMEONE HAS RUN INTO THIS PROBLEM.


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## dlac (Apr 8, 2008)

You know I really do not have the answer but I used to work for a sign guy in Janesville Wi.. dean@Rocksignco.com.. we used to put little pieces in his cutter to use them up just because of what you are talking about.. I believe there were little sensors on the outter edges on both side that sensed the width and then I think we ran them through and backed em up to start the cut.. email him I am sure (pretty sure) he will answer you
dlac


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## miktoxic (Feb 21, 2008)

dlac said:


> You know I really do not have the answer but I used to work for a sign guy in Janesville Wi.. [email protected]Rocksignco.com.. we used to put little pieces in his cutter to use them up just because of what you are talking about.. I believe there were little sensors on the outter edges on both side that sensed the width and then I think we ran them through and backed em up to start the cut.. email him I am sure (pretty sure) he will answer you
> dlac



wow. thanks so much. do you mind if i drop your name?


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## dlac (Apr 8, 2008)

be my guest... I am doing something for free or close to about once a week for him.. taught him enough illustrator to be dangerous and left him there in Janesville.. He has some big girl (really) that helps him also occassionally, AI expert, college educated, ad agency type... so I fix her stuff too.l
dlac


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## miktoxic (Feb 21, 2008)

dlac said:


> AI expert, college educated, ad agency type... so I fix her stuff too.l
> dlac



man, i know exactly what you mean there.

thanks again!!


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## cica (Jul 19, 2011)

Wow, finally something that I'm knowledgeable about. Make sure you have the latest firmware release. Do a google search on "Designjet 500 firmware". There was a specific bug fixed:

*Problems fixed with A.02.14 system software release (firmware):*

The printer provided incorrect paper length information. Customers couldn't rely on the paper lenght. Paper length value when roll is loaded, is now reliable with A.02.14 version.
Just get the latest version of the firmware and report back because I have other ideas if this doesn't work. Now I just wish I knew as much about screen printing as I do about IT.

-Tom


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## mattkastner (Nov 19, 2010)

If you are talking about the Plotter it will read the size based on where you have the rollers aligned. So if your paper is 48" wide but your design is 36" align your rollers on your cutter so that the last roller on the left is with in the width that you want it to read. If its 36" wide your roller will fall a few inches further to the left of the edge of your design. Not sure if this is what you are talking about though? you are questioning the plotter but then talk about the printer. Also not sure why custom size would be grayed out.


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## miktoxic (Feb 21, 2008)

cica said:


> Wow, finally something that I'm knowledgeable about. Make sure you have the latest firmware release. Do a google search on "Designjet 500 firmware". There was a specific bug fixed:
> 
> *Problems fixed with A.02.14 system software release (firmware):*
> 
> ...



thanks tom, i'll try looking for that. i've been to the HP forums with no help at all. there are no drivers for this printer since the drivers came pre-installed on my OS. i use a G5 mac osx 10.5.8. i've searched high and low on the net for any information on this with no avail. HP no longer supports this printe because god forbid it's six years old. you guys are the first to reply in about 15 other threads i have posted. i really appreciate all your help. thanks!!


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## miktoxic (Feb 21, 2008)

mattkastner said:


> If you are talking about the Plotter it will read the size based on where you have the rollers aligned. So if your paper is 48" wide but your design is 36" align your rollers on your cutter so that the last roller on the left is with in the width that you want it to read. If its 36" wide your roller will fall a few inches further to the left of the edge of your design. Not sure if this is what you are talking about though? you are questioning the plotter but then talk about the printer. Also not sure why custom size would be grayed out.


matt: sorry about that. unfortunately there is no 'wide format printer' section here so i misspoke. this HP printer only allows you to align paper (roll, piece etc.) on the right margin. here's part of an email to david's friend to better explain the problem. sorry it is so long:


here's the deal:

i acquired a HP designjet 500 from my girlfriend's job. she works for a contractor and this was part of the job specs to have this printer. once the job was done her bosses decided to give it to me rather than sell it. (SWEET)!!!
BUT now that i have it there are some really basic questions that i can't find an answer for anywhere. (HP doesn't support the product anymore and have been on every site, forum etc. with not luck).

i am a graphic artist by trade and use adobe software on a mac. i know about cutting vinyl. i have a roland gx-24 and cut through adobe illustrator using the cutstudio plugin. so i am used to setting up jobs so that i don't waste material. this is where this 42" inkjet HP printer has me stumped. i got it home hooked it up to my mac and voila it recognized it and i'm happy as anything. i go into illustrator and set up a file to do some test prints. meanwhile i have loaded the 36" wide roll paper into the printer successfully. being as the paper is 36" wide i set up the illy file for 36"w x 12" h so i wouldn't waste this expensive paper.

i placed two rows of objects with different colors at the bottom of the art board in illy. then went to print. the print dialogue box showed the objects at the bottom of the page like i had placed them. but realized i had to set the page to something the printer would recognize, an ANSCI (?) paper size. i found that an ARCH E was a paper size (36" w x 48" h) with the same width as the roll paper. i look at the little preview window and it showed the objects at the bottom of the paper as i had placed (again) and printed. the printed fed out half the page of paper printed the objects and then fed out the rest of the 48".

so now i'm troubleshooting the problem. the only thing i've found out about paper and the handling of paper through HP is that you should nest your jobs as to not waste it.

i did another test print. this time with an object at the bottom of the page, one in the middle of the page and one at the top all setup on the ARCH E paper size. it printed fine. just as i had set it up.

does this mean i can't print something 36" wide by 8" inches high without wasting half of a 48" piece of paper? why does the printer center objects on the page when i have set it to print on the bottom margins? i also wonder why i can't set a custom print size in the illy print dialogue box. the custom setting is grayed out and says defined by driver and only lets me set it to an ASCII paper size.

WHAT GIVES? i don't get this at all. it goes against everything i've known for 30+ years of doing graphics. the people who gave this to me were gracious enough to give me a box of this paper plus ink cartridges but no documentation. i've posted questions on the HP community forums. no one has answered. i posted on signs101 forum. no one has answered. after pleading on the tshirt forum david was nice enough to give me your email. can you help me?

thanks in advance!!

there it is in a nutshell. i really don't get it.


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## miktoxic (Feb 21, 2008)

this is the size i WANT to print. 36"w x 8"h. the artboard in illy:








this is how it's shown in the print dialogue box:










obviously it centers it on the page which i don't want. so i change the document setup (artboard) to the 36"w x 48" ARCH E size:









this is how it's shown in the print dialogue box:










and it still centers it on the 36"w x 48"h size. printer cuts it at 48" so at least it recognizes the size, BUT I'M NOT ABLE TO SET A CUSTOM SIZE so i'm wasting paper out the azz.

i've downloaded and installed the latest firmware as tom suggested but the printer is doing the same thing. i'm at wits end.

i wish i could find someone that actually has this printer.


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## miktoxic (Feb 21, 2008)

UPDATE:

ok. i've now finally found out how to set a custom paper size.

BUT NOW the document setup will not save the custom page sizes in portrait mode (not landscape). so the printer is recognizing the 36"w x 8"h paper size to print on BUT the printer only prints 8" of the objects shown in the test print file i posted above.

i go to document setup type in 36" width 8" height and click on portrait mode and hit 'ok' and before the window shuts it switches back to landscape mode.

wow, this is flipping me out!!!


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## cica (Jul 19, 2011)

Try saving your document as a pdf and printing through Adobe Acrobat. Let me know if that works any better. I've had the same problem with the HP T1100 and had to resort to that.

-Tom


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## miktoxic (Feb 21, 2008)

cica said:


> Try saving your document as a pdf and printing through Adobe Acrobat. Let me know if that works any better. I've had the same problem with the HP T1100 and had to resort to that.
> 
> -Tom



thanks tom. tried that this morning and it did the same thing. someone on another forum mentioned that i should print this in landscape since illustrator is forcing me to. so i hand-cut a sheet 36 x 8 and sheet fed it into the printer as a long strip. it started printing and was like ok i finally realize how this has to work. then it stopped printing 9" into my 36" row of objects and fed the paper out as if it had completed the job correctly.

i'm getting the feeling that this printer will only recognize the paper sizes it's driver lists, which i could work around if i only knew the answer to this question..........why does the printer auto center my image on the page??

i could print out what i wanted (at the bottom of the page) and disable the cutter, cut it myself and manually roll the paper back onto the spindle if i could figure this out.

thanks for your reply.


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## miktoxic (Feb 21, 2008)

UPDATE v0.2:

ok so i found out a way to trick the printer. first off i've realized that the preview window in illy shows you opposite of how the printer will print on the page i.e. what's on the bottom of the art board will print after what's on the top of your art board.

so i had to choose the flip vertical option in the print dialogue box. then i realized (or have just given up) that the printer and illy are always going to fight over these custom page sizes so i went back to what i knew worked....the ARCH E size page 36 x 48.

i manually cut a piece of paper to size, sheet fed it into the printer and it printed fine. the printer just stopped feeding paper after it realized there was no more to feed. no paper waste!!! 

(unless you count the roll of paper i've wasted trying to figure this out!!!)

you've had no idea how frustrating this has been. it's like when i first started operating computers way back when and you figured out something that was only a mouse click away but had been bugging you for months.

man + 1

machine - 0

now if anyone knows the real way of doing pleez feel free to knock me off my high horse!

thanks for everyone's help!!


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## cica (Jul 19, 2011)

The problem, at least in the case of the T1100 is HP doesn't update their driver to provide full functionality for a legacy printer. In my case, I had to put a 24" roll in a 42" printer to print 24x36 because it wouldn't rotate the image for me. The fact that you were even able toget it to do what you want is a win.

-Tom


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