Notes on Plotting from Photoshop (Windows PC)
(These instructions apply to version 7)
Preparing the Image in Photoshop
First make sure the printed size of your image will be correct:
From the Image menu, select Image Size and take note of the document
size. You can change the size if you want. You may need to zoom out to see the
entire image on the screen.
If the longer side of your image is under 35 inches, you will use the
smallest amount of paper if you print the image such that the long size is
the width of the image. If the longer side of your image is over 35 inches,
you will need to print such that the short side is the width of the
image. To switch the orientation of the image, use the Photoshop
Image menu to rotate the entire image by 90 degrees before printing.
Sending the Image to the Plotter
From the File menu, select Print with Preview...
the Print window will appear.
- In the pull-down menu under Show More Options, do the following:
- First select Output, then at the bottom of the window, for "Encoding"
select JPEG. If Photoshop uses JPEG when printing, the print jobs
will go much faster, be much smaller, and will be more likely to print successfully.
- Next select Color Management. The window will change: in the box
labelled "Profile:", select PostScript Color Management.
- Click button labelled Page Setup...; the Page Setup window will
open.
- Do not select landscape orientation; you should have taken care of any
needed rotation from within Photoshop.
- Click button labelled Printer...
- Select the name of the plotter (e.g., vcplt) from the pull-down menu.
(Note that the correct printer driver must
be installed.)
- Click on the Properties... button.
- Click on Advanced... and under "Paper Size" select a
reasonable paper size, for example, Arch E (36" X 48"), making sure it's
about 2 inches larger than the size of your image. Note the maximum width
of the plotters is 36in. (To choose a custom size, click on "Custom ..."
near the bottom of the window. Fill in 36 for the width and an appropriate
number for the length. )
- Click OK until you get back to the Page Setup window. The boxes should
display the size of the paper you chose and "roll feed".
- Click OK.
- In the Print window, click Print..., then in the next window, click
OK to send to the plotter.
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Please send comments and suggestions to consult@rpi.edu.