MapInfo Products KnowledgeBase

Product: MapInfo Professional
Version: 8.0
Platform: All Windows Platforms
Category: Documentation

Summary:
General printing tips and tricks.

Question:
General printing tips and tricks.

Answer:

Good first steps in troubleshooting a printing problem are to make sure the latest patch for MapInfo Professional has been downloaded and installed and are using the latest printer driver for the printer/operating system. Exceptions are noted in this document.

Embedding MapInfo Professional Graphics Tip. When embedding a MapInfo map or graph in another application (such as Word or PowerPoint), click outside the map/graph before using the print or print preview commands. This allows the container application to take over previewing or printing properly. This is particularly true if changes were made to the map or graph being printed.

HP 755 Driver Suggestion. If having difficulties printing using this plotter model, try the plotter driver for the HP 650C (C2859B) instead. In many cases, if having difficulty with a printer or plotter model and a similar model exists, substitute the similar model's driver for the current one and get good results. For example, use the printer driver for the HP 8500 DN Color LaserJet with the HP8550 color LaserJet driver).

Need for Speed When Using Fill Patterns? Note that fill patterns on the first row of the region style dialog box (see next figure) are Windows standard and tend to print faster. The other patterns are bitmaps MapInfo has created. Consider this when selecting fill patterns.


Use the fill patterns from the first row for fast printing results.

Speed Still an Issue? To improve printer speed, and the printer being used has fast, normal, and best print quality options, it is suggested to select fast. This will also lower the output resolution and may resolve the 28,000 pixel limitation.

Note: To support customers with older operating systems, MapInfo Professional must enforce an internal pixel printing limitation of 28,000 pixels. This pixel limitation can be calculated by multiplying the DPI setting of printer driver by the width in inches of the output page.

If the image is large and printing at a resolution of 600 DPI or greater, the image may exceed this limitation. To print the image, reduce the resolution of the printout or shrink the size of the image.

Translucent Raster Maps? It is not possible to print a translucent raster map or grid on Windows 9X platforms or export them to EMF or WMF file formats. It is necessary to use a non-metafile (i.e. .BMP or .TIF) format to export raster images on Windows 9X.

Old Driver Works, New Driver Doesn’t. When in doubt, if an older driver worked and the new one does not, go back to the older driver. For instructions on reinstalling older versions of printer drivers, see Hatch Patterns Printing as Black Polygons on page 16.

Disk Space an Issue? Make sure there is plenty of temporary disk space, particularly if using the Print using the Enhanced Metafile option. The system is trying to create a layered bitmap locally on disk.

Print Workspace Path with Map? In some cases, it may be desired to print the path to a particular workspace with the output. Here is a quick way to do this:
1. Choose Options>Show MapBasic Window to display the MapBasic window.
2. Open the workspace to print. The path and workspace name display in the MapBasic window.
3. Use CTRL C or Edit>Copy to copy the path and workspace name from the MapBasic window.
4. Choose Window>New Layout Window to create a new layout window.
5. Make the new Layout window active and use CTRL V to paste the path into the Layout window.
The path may paste in the gray area of the Layout window and may be difficult to see.
6. Select and drag the path to the desired printable location.

Print Globally? Spool Locally! Try spooling print jobs locally rather than at the plotter. This allows the computer to rasterize the output rather than the printer, which can be more efficient.
1. To set up local print job spooling, choose Start>Settings>Control Panel>Printers.
2. Right-click the printer and choose Properties in the menu to display the printer’s properties.
3. Click the Advanced Tab to display the advanced property options.


  Click the Spool print documents... and Start printing..... options.

Note: If not logged in as a user with administrative rights on the computer, the spooling option may not be available.
4. Click OK to save the changes.

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Document URL: http://testdrive.mapinfo.com/techsupp/miprod.nsf/kbase_by_product/40FC86CB98B27ED085257150005B5916

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