5 minutes on: Printing – Plotter Printing at KTH Architecture School
From Alexander Sanning
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This is a very brief 5-minute video on the basic procedure of printing with the large-format plotters at KTH Architecture School.
Timestamps:
0:00 Introduction
0:33 Plotter printing a PDF document using Adobe Acrobat DC
4:17 Receiving your printed document from the plotter
The previous tutorial mentioned is "5 minutes on: Printing – Printing at KTH Architecture School", linked here:
https://youtu.be/sqix6Cv5tYg
Please note that the paper format that you choose does not necessarily need to be a custom one – if you are printing out a large A-format, use the relevant standard choice in the list view instead of a custom specification (timestamp 0:45). Even if you print with a standard paper size, just make sure that you correctly orient the paper format (timestamp 2:17) according to the orientation of your document (portrait/landscape).
It is important to note that the maximum width of a paper format is 1066.80 mm – this is the width of the paper roll. If you define a custom paper size in portrait mode (as is defined by the printer driver) and intend to print it in landscape mode, make sure that you account for the maximum width as the maximum length in the paper size (since the format in that case is rotated). Previously, the maximum width value of 1066.80 was defined in the printer driver, nowadays (6th of January, 2022) it is incorrectly stated as 1524 mm. Take advantage, mnemotechnically, of the Battle of Hastings [1066] to remember the correct paper roll width :)
The plotter will not print any ink closer than 5 mm to the edge of the printed document, and any content closer to the document edge than that will be left unprinted, so make sure to take into account/include a margin of 5 mm in your document to be printed (so as not to have content cut off where not intended). If you want to achieve a borderless print, you will have to position the content so that it fills the document up to the 5 mm margin (and, if absolutely necessary, adjust the paper format size to conform to the margin instead of the document edge, i.e. add 10 mm to width and height of the document size in both your publishing application and the plotter printer driver), and then after the plotter print you will have to manually cut along the margin (not along the crop line, which is along the document edge, beyond the 5 mm unprinted margin).
The two colour profiles which are natively supported by the plotter printer are sRGB and Adobe RGB (1998).
The cost of plotter printing is not an intuitively transparent matter (at least we cannot find an official statement of this matter), so instead of an official list, we have the ambition to gradually expand a list of experiences, starting with the cost of the print that we made for this tutorial. The list follows immediately below.
It seems as if the cost is calculated based on the equivalent number of "pages" (as stated in the plotter access GUI), where the printing-cost based size of a printed document is defined as X amount of these so called "pages" in the GUI. A paper format of 297x297 was defined as "1 page" while a format of 710x710 was defined as "8 pages" (please note that it still printed as one, even if it states multiple "pages") – and the cost of the first was SEK 6:25 while the cost of the second was eight times more, SEK 50:00. So we think that the cost is SEK 6:25 multiplied with the number of "pages" stated in the UI. But we have yet to clearly discern the dimensions of which (so the following list of examples is still deemed as relevant).
Cost examples:
[name] [(paper format width x height)] [rotated 90 degrees CCW or not (portrait/landscape)]: [price in SEK] {"pages"}
A0 (841x1189) unrotated (portrait): 100:00 {16}
A1 (594x841) rotated (landscape): 50:00 {8}
A2 (420x594) rotated (landscape): ?
Custom (710x710) unrotated (portrait): 50:00 {8}
Custom (297x297) unrotated (portrait): 6:25 {1}
Custom (140x420) rotated (landscape): 6:25 {1}
We would presume that a less environmentally-friendly plotter print in portrait mode (relatively more of the paper roll used for the print, although with the same amount of ink) would incur a larger printing cost than a landscape one, even if the paper format size is the same, but apparently it's not.
As of HT21, Adobe Acrobat DC is installed in the following: ARCPLAN, CADLAB, CADLAB-REMOTELAB, and DFL, among 14 other computer labs. (Check https://www.kth.se/en/student/studier/it/campus/computer-rooms/lista for current status.)
Disclaimer:
This tutorial aims to increase student awareness of the versatility of the digital tools available for use within the context of the architectural education offered by KTH. As such, it might not be generally applicable, but on the other hand, if even one student is helped by it with fulfilling deliverables requirements, the purpose of this tutorial is satisfactorily achieved. There might be inaccuracies in this tutorial video – if you identify any significant one, please tell us in the comments.
Timestamps:
0:00 Introduction
0:33 Plotter printing a PDF document using Adobe Acrobat DC
4:17 Receiving your printed document from the plotter
The previous tutorial mentioned is "5 minutes on: Printing – Printing at KTH Architecture School", linked here:
https://youtu.be/sqix6Cv5tYg
Please note that the paper format that you choose does not necessarily need to be a custom one – if you are printing out a large A-format, use the relevant standard choice in the list view instead of a custom specification (timestamp 0:45). Even if you print with a standard paper size, just make sure that you correctly orient the paper format (timestamp 2:17) according to the orientation of your document (portrait/landscape).
It is important to note that the maximum width of a paper format is 1066.80 mm – this is the width of the paper roll. If you define a custom paper size in portrait mode (as is defined by the printer driver) and intend to print it in landscape mode, make sure that you account for the maximum width as the maximum length in the paper size (since the format in that case is rotated). Previously, the maximum width value of 1066.80 was defined in the printer driver, nowadays (6th of January, 2022) it is incorrectly stated as 1524 mm. Take advantage, mnemotechnically, of the Battle of Hastings [1066] to remember the correct paper roll width :)
The plotter will not print any ink closer than 5 mm to the edge of the printed document, and any content closer to the document edge than that will be left unprinted, so make sure to take into account/include a margin of 5 mm in your document to be printed (so as not to have content cut off where not intended). If you want to achieve a borderless print, you will have to position the content so that it fills the document up to the 5 mm margin (and, if absolutely necessary, adjust the paper format size to conform to the margin instead of the document edge, i.e. add 10 mm to width and height of the document size in both your publishing application and the plotter printer driver), and then after the plotter print you will have to manually cut along the margin (not along the crop line, which is along the document edge, beyond the 5 mm unprinted margin).
The two colour profiles which are natively supported by the plotter printer are sRGB and Adobe RGB (1998).
The cost of plotter printing is not an intuitively transparent matter (at least we cannot find an official statement of this matter), so instead of an official list, we have the ambition to gradually expand a list of experiences, starting with the cost of the print that we made for this tutorial. The list follows immediately below.
It seems as if the cost is calculated based on the equivalent number of "pages" (as stated in the plotter access GUI), where the printing-cost based size of a printed document is defined as X amount of these so called "pages" in the GUI. A paper format of 297x297 was defined as "1 page" while a format of 710x710 was defined as "8 pages" (please note that it still printed as one, even if it states multiple "pages") – and the cost of the first was SEK 6:25 while the cost of the second was eight times more, SEK 50:00. So we think that the cost is SEK 6:25 multiplied with the number of "pages" stated in the UI. But we have yet to clearly discern the dimensions of which (so the following list of examples is still deemed as relevant).
Cost examples:
[name] [(paper format width x height)] [rotated 90 degrees CCW or not (portrait/landscape)]: [price in SEK] {"pages"}
A0 (841x1189) unrotated (portrait): 100:00 {16}
A1 (594x841) rotated (landscape): 50:00 {8}
A2 (420x594) rotated (landscape): ?
Custom (710x710) unrotated (portrait): 50:00 {8}
Custom (297x297) unrotated (portrait): 6:25 {1}
Custom (140x420) rotated (landscape): 6:25 {1}
We would presume that a less environmentally-friendly plotter print in portrait mode (relatively more of the paper roll used for the print, although with the same amount of ink) would incur a larger printing cost than a landscape one, even if the paper format size is the same, but apparently it's not.
As of HT21, Adobe Acrobat DC is installed in the following: ARCPLAN, CADLAB, CADLAB-REMOTELAB, and DFL, among 14 other computer labs. (Check https://www.kth.se/en/student/studier/it/campus/computer-rooms/lista for current status.)
Disclaimer:
This tutorial aims to increase student awareness of the versatility of the digital tools available for use within the context of the architectural education offered by KTH. As such, it might not be generally applicable, but on the other hand, if even one student is helped by it with fulfilling deliverables requirements, the purpose of this tutorial is satisfactorily achieved. There might be inaccuracies in this tutorial video – if you identify any significant one, please tell us in the comments.
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