Plotters

[McEngr]

I'm looking for a lazer jet printer that can also plot 11x17's - not just the legal size. Does anyone have an affordable, reliable plotter for this?

My second step would be to purchase a 24" plotter so that I can skip going to the local printing shop. I've used an HP T610 where I work. Also, I've used the HP5200 for 11x17.

I'm trying to keep the 11x17 plotter less than $300 and the 24" plotter less than $1200 (if possible).

Thanks, in advance, for any feedback that you have!

 

[Dexman1349]

Unfortunately my only recommendations are WAY over that budget. We have a corporate policy to overspend as much as possible on office equipment. We have an HP5550 which is a color printer with duplex capabilities and we also have a Cannon 8k series color copier/scanner/printer with a seperator system as well as a HP 36" color plotter. All this to support an office of 12 people.

 

[Fluvial]

I'm using an inkjet so I don't think that meets your specifications there.

But, it suits my purposes just fine. I print breach maps and simple AutoCAD drawings on it. I bought it used off Ebay for $180. It's an HP Deskjet 9800. It will print up to 13" x 19".

 

[McEngr]

Well, thanks for trying. I've used some of the nicer HP plotters, and they are very easy to use. My only complaint is that sometimes the hatch will go outside the boundary when it clearly isn't showing on the pdf file. I typically plot to pdf and then plot the pdf in order to save paper.

I found that amazon has good prices. Starting a side business is expensive. I've already spent $2000 on computer hardware/software for structural engineering.

 

[Dexman1349]

Well, thanks for trying. I've used some of the nicer HP plotters, and they are very easy to use. My only complaint is that sometimes the hatch will go outside the boundary when it clearly isn't showing on the pdf file. I typically plot to pdf and then plot the pdf in order to save paper.

2 things to remember:

1- Make sure you're not printing "fit to page" because it will jack with your scale (if you need it to scale). We hired a guy about a year ago that didn't believe me that the autoscaling from Adobe jacks with it, until I printed one page from adobe and one straight from autocad.

2- To help eliminate the hatch issue, there's a option buried in the print options for Adobe that says something like "print as image." This *usually* helps with hatch issues.

 

[Fluvial]

Hmm. I use hatching all the time (for flood mapping) and never had a problem with the hatch alignment. I also submit these drawings to FEMA as pdf's all the time. Like Dex says, make sure you don't have the Auto Scale feature turned on in Adobe.

I could email you one of my pdf's and you could see if it works for on your inkjet, without misalignment of the hatching, if you like.