SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

Frequently Asked Questions

• Where are the Printers and Plotters?
  In Giles Hall, Room 101 at the southeast end of 2nd-year, near the vending machines.
• How do I setup the CAAD printers and plotters...
  You don't have to. When your computer is joined to the CAAD domain and you logon to the domain with your ethernet cord plugged in, the server will automatically give you all of the drives and printers to which you are entitled. If you need to join your computer to the CAAD domain, please make an appointment with the helpdesk.
• What Printers/Plotters are available for student access?
• What is the Plotter Room Schedule?
• How much do prints and plots cost?
• What if I want to plot on Mylar, glossy photo, or other special paper?
  See the Plot Costs page for the available paper types. Then make an appointment with the lab so that they can load the type of paper that you need. Then send your job to the plotter that is named for the kind of paper you want.
• How do I Print or Plot if I have a Mac?
  Do not try to print directly from a Mac. Save your files to a network drive, and then come down to the lab and send them from one of the lab PCs.
• I am trying to plot from AutoCAD 2000 or AutoCAD R14, but I can't get it to plot right. What's wrong?
  We do not support versions of AutoCAD prior to 2002. Versions of AutoCAD prior to 2002 do not support Windows system printers, and plotting is extremely difficult to setup. The computers in the plotter lab have Architectural Desktop 2007. You can save your drawing to the network and then plot it from one of the lab computers.
• I get my colors all set in my drawing, but then when i print, they are all messed up. What happened?
  Printed copy is never going to look the same as what you see on your monitor. First of all, every monitor is different, and every printer is different. So your results will vary from monitor to monitor, and from printer to printer.
  Also, monitors represent color in RGB (Red, Green, Blue) format and most printers represent color in CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black) format. The best solution is to print test plots with several different color options using the printer and paper that you intend to use for your final output, and then choose your colors from the printed test and not from the monitor.
  Some software supports Pantone color, which is the industry standard for color output. Pantone 127 will look the same no matter which printer you use.