Printing Using Custom Paper Sizes

Overview

When doing CAD or other projects, there may be times when you will need to print on paper larger than 8.5 × 11 inches.  This document provides the basic procedures needed to set a custom paper size for both regular printers and plotters.

NOTE: Adobe Illustrator is the preferred program for plotting in color. This program is available in the Adobe creative cloud suite or on computers in the VCC Lobby. Your document can be saved as a PDF and printed through Illustrator. 

Procedures

First make sure that you set the page size correctly in SolidWorks or whatever program you are using.  Then you must choose a printer that can load the paper size you want and select the appropriate settings in the printer driver properties.

Note: The printers vcsoutb (black & white) and vcc9000cb and vcc9000cbg (color) can print on B-size paper (11″ × 17″), a size commonly required for CAD projects.  The plotters (vcplot, vcplotg, and vcplotcf) use roll feed paper 36″ wide up to 120″ long.

If you are in a public lab, the correct drivers for these printers are already installed.  If you are using your own computer, you must first install the correct printer driver before proceeding with the instructions below.  Please refer to the “Installing Printer Drivers” section of this website for information on how to install print drivers for various operating systems.

Printers: Choosing a Custom Paper Size:

The following steps show how to choose B-size paper on the printer vcblw.  While this printer is no longer available, the instructions are the same for other B-size printers.

1. Once you have finalized the document in your application, select Print from the File menu.  In the Name field, select vcblw from the drop-down list of printers, and then click the Properties button.
   
   [Print screen showing the name of the printer selected]
2. In the document properties dialog box, select the Landscape option if appropriate.  Then click the Advanced button.
   
   [vcblw printer properties screen showing orientation as landscape]
3. Now you need to select the paper size, in this case B-size.  In the Paper Size field, click the down-arrow to display the drop-down menu and select 11×17 inches.  Click OK.
   
   [HP Laser Jet 5000 series advanced print options screen showing paper size selections]
4. Click the OK button until you return to the main print window.  After you click OK in that window, your job will be placed in the print queue.

Plotters: Choosing/Creating a Custom Paper Size:

The following steps show how to create a custom paper size on the plotter vcplot.

1. Once you have finalized the document in your application, select Print from the File menu.  In the Name field, select vcplot from the drop-down list of printers, and then click the Printer Properties button.
   
   [Print menu with box around Printer Properties under the Printer name]
2. In the Paper Options section you can either click on the drop down bar to select an already made custom paper size, or click on the Custom... button to create a custom paper size.
   
   [Printer properties - Paper Quality tab with the Custom document size "D" selected]
3. Now you will need to create the paper size.  First, make sure you have Inches selected.  Second, manually input the desired custom width and length of the paper size.  Here are a few things to remember:
   
   • The maximum width of the plotters is 36 inches.  With that said, it is strongly recommended that you only go up to 34 inches wide to prevent possible unwanted cropping to your job.
   • The width of your job cannot be bigger than the job’s length.  The plotters will not let you create a custom paper size if you try this.  With that said, you can change the orientation of the job to work with this plotting restriction.
4. After you have entered the desired dimensions for your job, give it a Name, click the Save button, and then click OK.
   
   [Custom paper size dialog box with width as 22.00 and length as 34.00]
5. Once you click OK, you will then return to the previous setup screen.  Click on the OK button near the bottom right of setup screen.
6. After you return back to the File menu, click on the Print button.
7. After you click on the Print button in the file menu, your job will be placed in the plotter queue.

Last Reviewed: 6-Jan-2024