Knowledge Base - Document - Standard procedures in case of printing problems.

MapInfo Products KnowledgeBase

Product: MapInfo
Version: 6.x\7.x
Platform: Not Platform Related
Category: Printing-General Output

Summary:
Standard procedures in case of printing problems.

Question:
Printing raster files from MapInfo Professional can generate large spool files. These files may actually be too large for the printer to handle correctly. Or, the creation of the spool files goes on and on until the system runs out of disk space. Or, some parts of the raster are printed in black.

If one of these cases occurs, try the following recommendations:

There is an option with some printers which allows the use of the computer memory while printing rather than the printer memory. Check the print setup dialog to see if this is an option. Switch the spool setting to SPOOL FIRST THEN PRINT not SPOOL & PRINT AT SAME TIME.
Check that the printer driver is the most current. A more recent printer driver may correct the problem. If not, download one from the printer manufacturers website.

If using transparent rasters, try turning them off just to see if the printer works.

Try changing the options under Options>Preferences>Output Settings>Printing.

Change the Internal Handling options one at a time and try printing between each change.

Try changing the advanced printer output settings (Options>Preferences>Output Settings) for Output Method to "Print Using Enhanced Metafile (EMF)" .

Consider using a raster RIP software to process these files using the machine's CPU then send a compressed raster file to the plotter so that the plotter does not have to do this processing.

Superprint from Zenographics, Aladdin Ghostscript for Postscript, etc., might be one source of suggestions, there are hundreds of companies who make this type of product. One such product, called Hyperplot from Pinebush technologies, can take a 70 MB (Compressed) Postscript file, rasterize it and send it out to an HP650C plotter with only 4 MB on board and do it in about a half-hour from start to finish.

Other less expensive RIPS will give markedly better performance than simply spooling it out via the printer driver.
If using a postscript printer, try to use MAPublisher from Avenza, a plugin for Adobe Illustrator. A trial version of MAPublisher can be downloaded for free from http://www.avenza.com, a trial version of Illustrator can be downloaded from http://www.adobe.com.

Answer:
These recommendations work for most users.

Last Modified:
Document URL: http://testdrive.mapinfo.com/techsupp/miprod.nsf/kbase_by_product/01A1777AA90C41F1C1256BD1002E1321

Standard procedures in case of printing problems.^01A1777AA90C41F1C1256BD1002E1321^Y