Important Information About Using Some Software Applications with Your HP Designjet 3500CP Printer!
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PLEASE READ: Important information about using some software applications with your HP DesignJet 3500CP Printer! This document contains information you need to set up your application software to use PostScript with the HP DesignJet 3500CP Printers. The information in this document explains how to get help, locate the driver software, answer configuration questions, use some additional features, and trou- bleshoot while configuring. If you can’t find your application in this document, refer to the User’s Guide that came with your printer for some helpful information. © Copyright Hewlett-Packard Company 1998 HP Part Number C4724-90021 Printed in Europe, February 1998 Software Application Notes 1 Contents Contents Introduction 3 Before You Begin 3 If You Need Help 4 Which Driver should I Use? 4 General Considerations for Drivers 5 What Affects the Overall Performance of My System? 6 How to Print Big! 9 Using the Adobe PostScript 8.5.1 Driver 13 Using the Adobe PostScript 8.5.1 Driver with Spoolers 14 Macintosh Applications 15 Oversize Margins 16 Adobe Persuasion 4.0 16 QuarkXPress® 17 Aldus Freehand and Macromedia Freehand 22 Adobe Illustrator 25 Adobe PageMaker® 26 Adobe PhotoShop 27 PC (Windows) Applications 31 CorelDRAW! 33 Driver Distribution 36 Note: Although some applications are marked as being either “Macintosh Appli- cations” or “PC (Windows) Applications”, these may not be exclusive operating environments. As a result, some of the considerations for, say, Macintosh may also apply to Windows and vice versa, though the details may be different. Software Application Notes 2 Introduction Introduction This document describes the most efficient way to successfully configure your software application to use the HP DesignJet 3500CP printers. Although your software application documentation contains general information about configuring devices, you’ll find this information to be helpful because it pertains specifically to the HP DesignJet 3500CP printers. Read all instructions and perform each step in this document in sequence. You’ll learn how to: • Configure your printer to work with your computer and your application software, • Answer questions asked by your application during printer configuration, and • Use your software application and the printer to configure additional features (optional). Before You Begin Here’s what you should do before using the instructions in this document: • Install your software application on your computer, and • Set up the HP DesignJet printer using the instructions in the User’s Guide that was packaged with the printer. The guide instructs you on loading media and print cartridges, and connecting the printer to your computer. Software Application Notes 3 If You Need Help If You Need Help If you have questions about the information or instructions presented in this doc- ument, contact your software application dealer for help. If you need further assistance with your printer, contact your HP Customer Support Center. In case of difficulty, check in the latest Hewlett-Packard Support Services document. You can also refer to the documents that came with your software application and the user’s manual that came with your printer for more information. Which Driver should I Use? HP DesignJet printers and plotters are supported by these drivers: PostScript Adobe PostScript 8.5.1 Driver Microsoft PostScript Driver • The supplied drivers are versions, customized by HP, of those provided by: - Adobe (for the Macintosh and for Windows 3.1 and Windows 95) - Microsoft (for Windows NT 3.51 and 4.0 on a PC). They convert vectors, text and raster images to PostScript, with additional functionality specifically for this printer. HP-GL/2 and HP DesignJet Printer Driver (HP-GL/2 and HP RTL) for Microsoft Windows 3.1 HP RTL and Windows 95 (v2.5) HP DesignJet Printer Driver (HP-GL/2 and HP RTL) for Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 (v2.00) • These drivers convert vectors, text and raster images to HP-GL/2 and HP RTL which are used by the printer. AutoCAD HP-GL/2 Driver for AutoCAD (v4.x) • This driver supports AutoCAD releases 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14. It converts vectors, text and raster images to HP-GL/2 and HP RTL which are used by the printer. Software Application Notes 4 Which Driver should I Use? General Considerations for Drivers If you are using AutoCAD, you should use the AutoCAD driver. This driver also supports various pen plotters and other printers, including HP LaserJet printers. Full details may be found in AutoCAD Drivers for HP Plotters and Printers. Otherwise, use the appropriate driver for your operating system. If you have a choice of how you produce images from your application, choose PostScript if it is available. Table 1: Drivers, HP DesignJets and Operating Systems Devices→ Original 200, 220, 330, 455CA 650C 700, 2500CP, DesignJet 430, 450C, 350C 750C, 3500CP 600, 750C+, 2000CP, 755CM Drivers↓ 3000CP Windows 3.1 3.1 WIN 3.1 3.1 WIN 95 95 95 95 AutoCAD DOS, WIN PostScript Mac Mac (PS) Mac (PS) NT level 2 3.1, 95 (PS) WIN (PS) PostScript 3 Mac 3.1, 95 Key to Table 1 3.1 Runs under Windows 3.1 95 Runs under Windows 95 DOS Runs under MS-DOS Mac Runs under Apple Macintosh O.S. NT Runs under Windows NT (PS) Runs on printers upgraded to support PostScript (650C/PS, 700/PS, 750C/PS, 750C+/PS, 755CM) WIN Runs under Windows 3.1, Windows 95 and Windows NT. Software Application Notes 5 What Affects the Overall Performance of My System? What Affects the Overall Performance of My System? There are two significant components to performance: 1. The processing time (also known as the “click-to-start” time): the time between initiating a request for printing (clicking the Print button, for exam- ple) and when the printer actually starts printing. 2. The mechanical printing time: the time taken for the printer to print. Processing Time The following factors affect the processing time: • The processing speed of your computer. The higher the processing speed, the faster your printing will start. • On your Apple Macintosh, whether you request the print driver to perform foreground or background spooling. Depending on the speed of your computer and the driver you are using, background processing can take considerably longer than foreground processing. One-pass foreground printing is available with the Adobe PostScript driver version 8.5.1 (PostScript 3). This feature gives much better performance than previous PostScript level 2 drivers when you use foreground printing. • Whether you have requested Queue=On or Off (in the Queueing & Nest- ing menu). If you have just one print, it is beneficial (in terms of performance) to set Queue=Off. This is because any print for which queueing is requested is stored in a queue area in the internal hard disk of the printer. This storing of data takes time. However, complex prints that are printed with Queue=Off may experience a degradation in print quality. This is because the printer may stop during printing while further processing of the data takes place. Specifying Queue=On overcomes this problem because the entire print is stored in the printer’s memory. If you have a succession of prints, or if your printer is on a network and serves several users, the total print time for the series of prints will be Software Application Notes 6 What Affects the Overall Performance of My System? improved by requesting Queue=On, as the printer is able to overlap one user’s print time and the next user’s processing time. If you are nesting plots, you must also enable queueing. Enabling queueing allows the requesting of additional prints without incur- ring any extra processing time. • Whether you are using Ink Emulation. If you use ink emulation (Options → Color Management → SWOP, Euroscale or TOYO), there is an overhead in the processing time (see page 33 for information specific to CorelDRAW!). Specifying No Color Adjustment or Enhanced native gives better performance. Both No Color Adjustment and Enhanced native give a wider color gamut, but color consistency across different media is not guaranteed. No Color Adjustment processing may produce less glossy prints and may cause cockle and banding in solid area fills. Enhanced native processing may also produce banding in solid dark area fills. However, ink emulation (SWOP, Euroscale or TOYO) causes the printed colors to emulate the system selected, and ensures color consistency across HP media. Ink emulation is slower because the color model needs to be con- verted. * Note that the setting in the driver overrides any setting on the printer’s front panel. • Whether you have requested ASCII or Binary file encoding when you print from the application. ASCII files are about twice the size of binary ones, so they incur a penalty in performance. However, ASCII files can be printed on any platform, includ- ing Windows NT. Binary files may incur compatibility problems, and may not be used on Windows NT. On Windows 95, use binary encoding with a driver setting of tagged binary for best performance. JPEG encoding is preferred, if it is available. Software Application Notes 7 What Affects the Overall Performance of My System? Printing Time The following factors affect the printing time: • The size of the image on the page. An A0-size print takes longer than an A1-size. • The media type. Printing on non-glossy media is faster than on glossy media, where the dry- ing time for the ink is longer, and the printer may need to pause between passes of the print head to allow time for the ink to dry. Printing on paper is generally faster than on vinyl or film. • The print quality you have selected. Photo gives the best quality, but is slower.