Overview
This document contains the basic instructions for successfully printing/plotting from Adobe Illustrator.
Adobe Illustrator is the preferred program for plotting in color. This program is available in the Adobe creative cloud suite or on the VCC Lobby computers.
NOTE: If you do not have an adobe.com account, you will need to create one first:
Logging in to Adobe software on comptuers in the VCC lobby
Procedures:
Please note: Make sure the file you are using to plot is in .PDF format
1. Open Adobe Illustrator.
2. Click File → New.
3. In the “New Document” dialog box that appears, change Units to Inches. Enter the document width and height in inches. Standard is 36 w x 48 h. The plot has a maximum of 36 inch width with a maximum of 120 inch length (height).
Note: If printing to a plotter, remember that the maximum width of the paper is 36 inches.
4. Click File → Place. A dialog box will appear allowing you to browse to your pdf file to import into Illustrator for printing.
5. To fit the new dimensions, your file layout may be slightly revised. Review layout and make adjustments as needed. If need landscape click on Object - Transform - Rotate - 90 degrees - OK.
6. Please Note: While this is optional, in order to be considered for a potential print refund, a color bar will need to be included on the plot if requesting a refund due to color discrepancies. Please see the instructions at the below link for Adding the Color Bar to your plot.
https://itssc.rpi.edu/hc/en-us/articles/29438029841421-Adding-the-Color-Bar-using-Adobe-Illustrator
7. Click File → Print. A dialog box will appear with a series of printer-related options.
8. Use the Printer drop-down menu to choose the printer/plotter that you wish to print to.
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VCPLOT (Regular)
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VCPLOTG (Glossy)
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VCPLOTCF(Clear Film)
9. In the bottom-left corner, click on the Setup button to access the printer properties. If necessary, click on the Continue button.
10. A Windows printer-selection dialog box will appear. Select the printer that you wish to print to. Make sure to use the same printer that you chose a few steps earlier.
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- Note: If the Windows printer-selection dialog box disappears, this is a sign that your computer may need to be rebooted, especially if this is one of the computers in the VCC lobby.
11. In the printer-selection dialog box, click on either More settings or Preferences, whichever is available. This will open the printer's advanced properties.
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- Note that you may need to scroll down a bit to find “More settings”
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12. In the “Printing Preferences”, choose the Paper/Quality tab. Then, click on the Custom... button.
13. When prompted, enter the width and length of the plot.
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- Note: The maximum width of the paper on a plotter is 36 inches. In addition, plan on leaving a margin of one-half inch on all sides.
14. Name - change Custom to Custom1 (it just have to have a different name from the default). Click Save.
15. Click on the OK button to exit the custom-size window, and then click OK again to exit the printer preferences window.
16. Click the Print button to close the Windows printer dialog box and return to Illustrator.
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- Note: This does not cause the document to be printed; it only returns you to Illustrator.
17. On the left-hand side of Illustrator's “Print” dialog box, choose Color Management.
(A screenshot of the “Print” window, with the color management options highlighted.)
18. Now, in the middle of the “Print” window, click on the Color Handling drop-down menu and set it to Let PostScript printer determine colors. It is IMPERATIVE that this is selected to make sure the plot colors match your document
19. Once you are satisfied with how the print looks in preferences click on the Print button.
References
https://itssc.rpi.edu/hc/en-us/articles/29438029841421-Adding-the-Color-Bar-using-Adobe-Illustrator
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