Printing problem...

I'm running AutoCAD LT 2004 SP1a on a Windows XP Professional installation
with 512mb RAM. The printer is a Xerox 8825 digital network printer. My PC
is part of a peer to peer network of about 10 PC's.

After the printer was installed in early December 2003 all has gone well and
we're pleased with the output.

However...

In the last couple of days several PC's are having problems printing
drawings that previously printed successfully. The problem is that
linewidths no longer correspond to the widths specified in the file! For
instance, thin lines will print thick and thick lines will print thin with
some lines printing correctly. The problem isn't always present and the
changes in line widths vary from print session to print session.

During trying to track down the problem we noticed :

1. Lines in paperspace print correctly, only modelspace lines vary in width

2. The problem applies to more than one PC

3. A problem with one PC isn't a problem on another PC

4. Multiple printing of the same drawing on the same PC will result in
different printouts each time, the lines that vary in width being different
each time.

5. Some drawings will ALWAYS print correctly

6. Deleting viewports and recreating them afresh will sometimes solve the
problem (odd!)

Does anyone have any suggestions?

I might try reinstalling AutoCAD though I'd rather not reinstall the OS.

Mike

 

Many thanks for your thoughtful comments, I'll go check out your
suggestions.

Mike

 

Two things come to mind.
1.Linewdths can be affected by copy quality, you might want to have
your printer serviced to make sure that the quality is up to snuff.
2.The embedded AccXES controller does not handle data from peer to
peer networks very good, as a data dropoff may be at issue.

Ed