CEC

Making Posters

  • Home

  • Making Posters

Making Posters in the G.R.I.D. Lab

 

Last revision August 27, 2014

Two wide-format printers are available to print posters and maps. Print jobs will only be accepted from the computers in the lab. Prints are charged one dollar per square foot - you must supply a university financial account to release your job to print. Releasing can only be done from the computers in the lab.

Which printer should I use?


Escher is a one year old HP DesignJet Z5200PS printer. It is optimized for photo and image printing with long-lasting pigment inks. It cannot produce lines as fine as ptolemy - it rasterizes them internally at 600 dpi resolution (although it can print images at 1200 dpi in "best/maximum detail" mode) and has mechanical accuracy of +/- 0.3 mm.

Ptolemy is a HP DesignJet T1120ps printer that is approximately six years old. It is a reliable printer that is optimized for CAD style drawings, maps, or other prints with a lot of fine line detail. It rasterizes lines internally at 1200 dpi resolution (and can print that fine in "best/maximum detail" mode) and has mechanical accuracy of +/- 0.1 mm.

We keep 42 inch wide heavyweight coated paper rolls in both printers. The printers can accept paper rolls and cut sheets up to a maximum 44 inches in width. You are welcome to follow the instructions for changing the paper roll to load your own paper. But be sure to put back the normal roll when done!

Workflow for printing posters

  • Check the Poster Design Tips page first for some design and setup ideas to use while creating your poster on the computer.

  • Follow the instructions on the Sending Prints page to correctly set the printer driver and program attributes and send your print job to the server queue.

  • Use the G.R.I.D. Printer Release Form to provide needed accounting information and release your print job from the server queue so it is actually sent to the printer.

  • See the Common Problems page in case your job does not print; or the printer runs out of paper or ink; or you need to cancel a job due to incorrect printing.

Why can't I send or release a print from my own computer?


The G.R.I.D. lab printers are configured to accept printing jobs only from the computers in the lab. Similarly, the release form can only be run from computers in the lab.

The printers are complicated and subject to problems. You need to use the correct printer drivers, which are installed and configured correctly on the lab computers. There can be problems during the printing, ranging from mis-sized or garbled prints to printer "freeze-up" to a malformed print causing the printer to spew out the entire roll of paper! This is a self-service lab - there is no attendant. Therefore, you must be present while printing to handle any problems. The "Cancel" button on the printer is your primary first-aid.

Other printing facilities


If the printers are busy or you don't want to deal with printing something yourself, there are poster printing services available from Academic Computing Services in the new Lathrop Library, and FedEx/Kinko's in Palo Alto. Of course, these will be more expensive. FedEx/Kinko's does offer a 20% discount for Stanford affiliates, even on personal projects.