Ricoh RW470 agony!

I use AutoCAD 2000 primarily on Windows XP and Windows NT workstations. We are used to using an HP DesignJet plotter. We recently purchased a Ricoh RW470 wide format copier/printer using a Plotbase server. This thing prints drawings faster than you can blink! The only problem is that setting up the drawings to print has been a nightmare. The software and hardware all installed easily. But we are getting problems with drawings getting cut off and not sized properly. Many of our drawings are very old and were produced using older versions of AutoCAD. I guess my question is: What is the best way to print drawings using a new plotter or using two plotters at once. We are still using an HP DesignJet plotter when we have time on our hands. Any suggestions? Thanks!

 

We also have a Ricoh 470W, but have problems not related to plotting in AutoCAD. Because of our University-wide IT system, we cannot always successfully 'see' our 470W, especially in the building where the plotter is located.

However, we have had great success with plots from several AutoCAD 2002 workstations located in our sister building. The plots are accurate and the sheeets are cut at the proper length for 24x36 sheets. Are you using the PlotClient Win drivers or using the Web to send PLT files?

Because of our situation, we've pretty much regulated normal plotting to our HP750C and the Ricoh is primarily used for scans and copies. As soon as out IT people can fix the glitch in our network system, the Ricoh should be back in business for AutoCAD plots.

Keep posting so we can know how you're making out with your issues.

David LaComb

 

We had a similar problem at the beginning, especially when using both metric and imperial sheet sizes. We needed a firmware update so we could have both running. By default the original firmware let you setup for one or the other for all the rolls. When the next user sent a metric sheet it was rotated or cut off because the size didn't correspond to the imperial setup and vice versa. You should be able to access both imperial and metric sheet sizes from your option window.

We have also found that PLT files we originally had from our HP1055 plotter get stretched 5-10mm over 900mm when sent to the Ricoh. By creating plot files from the Ricoh driver it appears to work good. Plotting directly always seems to work fine.

If you have the PDF option, sending PDF's seems to be the best most consistent method. this is especially true if you're sending off sheet sizes. The Ricoh 470 doesn't like non standard sheet sizes. By sending an odd size PDF and setting Plotclient to recognize original it seems to work.