View source for HP Designjet-T1100ps printer-leebcs writeup

I used my Ubuntu 18.04 Linux laptop and the wider (old looking) HP Designet-T1100ps printer.  I can't vouch for any other combination, but some of this will still apply.

The printer is/was in the middle of the whiteboard wall in the large room in 4931.

There is/was a roll of 42 inch "regular" paper on it.  There is/was a roll of photo paper in a box under/behind that printer if you really need glossy.

Be aware that some of the colors may be flakey and not "true".

I should probably mention that 42 inches is BIG!Recent discussions in the member meetings have talked about getting rid of this printer and adopting one of the other 2 that are next to it..  So the HP Designet-T1100ps might disappear at some point.There is a long USB cable connected to the printer.   All I had to do was plug the usb into my laptop and it just found the driver and was ready to go.

I recommend sitting on the far side of the table and running the USB across so that there is room to pull the printer out from the wall, and so that you can more easily watch (glance up at) it while it is printing.

You will need room to walk behind and in front of the printer.Any of these cause the printer to go through a several minute long cleaning and testing process:  Power on; start a print; finish a print;  load paper; unload paper; paper jam; yell at the printer; breath too heavily on the printer.    It's not that it's sensitive, it just takes a long time, be patient and plan to spend 90 minutes messing with each print.  The printing itself seemed surprisingly fast, everything else is slow.  Avoid doing the things mentioned.The HP Designet-T1100ps printer has a built in cutter and will cut your print job off when it is finished (with it's post print cleaning).

There is a "basket-thing" between the legs that folds to the front that will catch completed print jobs.  Multiple  consecutative print jobs do not require the printer to clean itself before cutting and releasing your job.  This is probably so it is not turned off after a print but before it can finish self-cleaning.Ink:  The policy was "Ink on this printer is expensive.  Please donate $X per linear foot of your print job."

However, recent discussion have talked about getting rid of this printer.  If we keep the printer and buy more ink, I'm willing to contribute $, but if we're getting rid of it, I am just helping to use up the last of the ink.
Please act as you see fit.

There is a control panel on the top front of the printer.  Features like load/unload paper are available there.    It also tells you that the paper jammed and to reload it.
NOTE:  After you load paper, the control panel wants you to specify the type of paper:  photo/heavy/regular/etc.
The new paper is rolled on tubes.  There are blue "plugs" that go into the tubes and allow the machine to hold the paper on it's spindle.    Make sure the paper is rolled snugly on the tube.

There is a lever on the left top side (looking from the front) of the machine that needs to be operated during loading/unloading.   The control panel will tell you this.
Don't drop the photo paper on the floor.If you get a crinkled/torn paper jam or are loading paper, you will probably need to cut the end off first.

I recommend:
* Unload the paper.  
* Close the printer lid.  
* Pull the paper up over the top of the printer.  There are slots that go across the top of the printer that are perpendicular to the paper.   
* Use a razorblade riding in these clots to cut the paper straight, all the way across.   
* The printer WILL complain if the corners of the paper are messed up.  I tried with scissors but my corners weren't square enough, so I used my utility knife.  The cut doesn't need to be completely straight, '''but it does need to be square'''
* Loading the paper wasn't hard, but I kept holding my breath, not sure if it worked.  Because it took a while and that cleaning cycle.

* The control panel menu has an option to cut the paper.  So if you load a ragged, jagged edge, use this option to cut a clean one.


Once I got the driver installed and the paper loaded, I went into the printer properties:
You probably don't want to scale or resize anything.  Minimal margins.

= Printer options: =
* Set a custom media size.  The paper on the machine is 42 inches wide, and i set the length to...something stupid like 100 inches.
* Paper source is Roll.
* I'm not sure about any color settings.
* I removed top/bottom blank areas, thought you might need it depending on how your image is setup.
Job options:
* probably don't scale to fit (edited) 


Software:
I use the GIMP (Gnu Image Manipulation Program.  It is an open-source alternative to Photoshop.  You would probably do similar things in photoshop.

= Existing document: =
Open your existing large image file in Gimp.

* Image menu --> properties:  Verify the size, both in pixels and print size.  One of the dimensions will need to be 42 inches or less.  Either the height or the width can ultimately be 42 inches.   We can rotate it.  (see  below)

When scaling or resizing, there is a padlock icon.  :lock:/:unlock:  When this is on/locked it will preserve the width to height ratio.   For these operations, you probably want it ON/locked/:lock:Check the edges of the image.  There may be undesired whitespace (or non white space) near the edges that you don't want to print.

You can use the rectangle selection tool to select the portion of the large image that you want to print.

* Image menu --> crop to selection:  will crop the entire image to just the portion you have selected

* Image menu --> canvas size:  To change the size of your canvas
* Image menu --> print size:  set the size the image will print as.  One of your dimensions has a max length of your paper width.
* Image menu --> Mode:  Lets you change the image to grayscale if you don't want color
* Image menu --> Scale image : Lets you rescale the image to a larger or smaller size.   Click "scale" to perform this operation.   If the size is wrong, Ctrl-Z/undo will undo it.  Remember to lock the aspect ratio :lock: when scaling.
Remember:  Either the width or the height can be the paper width.

Use the above tools to resize it so that either the width or the height is the paper width (42 inches)If the image is wider than it is tall, use

* Image menu --> Transform --> Rotate 90' clockwise/counter-clockwise:  rotate the image 1/4 turn.   It doesn't matter with direction you choose.

Test print your layout:  Test the layout by printing only 1 or 2 inches tall of this image.   For this test print go to

* Image menu --> canvas size:  unlock the aspect ratio :unlock: and change the height to either 1 or 2 inches tall.   Keep the width at 42 inches.
* Image menu --> Print size:  Verify it will only print 1-2 inch in height
* File menu --> Print:  make sure the HP-Designjet-T1100ps is selected

Page setup:  Make sure the paper size shown is 42 inches wide and some large number tall.  if not, you may need to create a custom paper size.
Job:   No cover page!!
Print or Print Preview.

The job will take a couple minutes to transfer to the printer.
The printer will then take a few minutes to pre-clean itself.
The job will take a comparably short time to print, probably 1-2 minutes.
The printer will take a few minutes to post-clean.
The printer will cut your job and your thin strip of paper will fall down.Verify that your job looks like it will be correct.
Check that the width is the desired width and not, say 50% or 25% of the desired width.
Check that the color is kinda acceptable.

Now in Gimp, pressing Ctrl-Z/undo should undo the last operation, restoring your document size to the full height.

* Image menu --> canvas size:  verify it is the full height
* Image menu --> Print size:  verify it is the full height

=Print it!=

* File menu --> Print:  make sure the HP-Designjet-T1100ps is selected

Page setup:  Make sure the paper size shown is 42 inches wide and some large number tall.  
If not, you may need to create a custom paper size.
Job:   No cover page!!
Print or Print Preview.

Check that the "catch basket" at the front of the printer is open to catch your job.The job will take a couple minutes to transfer to the printer.   The printer will then take a few minutes to pre-clean itself.  The job will take a slightly longer time to print, probably 4-10 minutes.  The printer will take a few minutes to post-clean.  The printer will cut your job and job will fall down. (edited) 

=New document:=
Create a new document that is 42 inches (the paper width) wide, and however long you need.   You may get a warning about it being a large document and using a lot of memory.Draw your image.  Or open something.  You can open multiple images and copy-paste parts into your final product.  This is left as an exercise for the user.See notes above about resizing.
Perform a test print as above.
Final print as above.