Large format (A1 and A2) printing

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This article explains how to print your large format documents (A1 and A2). There are 3 HP DesignJet Z6 printers available, which print up to A1 and A2 on paper. You can find them at:

Boldrewood, Building 176L, Room 1101 (School of Engineering, Design & Computing Studio)
Highfield, Building 25, Room 1015 (open access Common Learning Space Computer Room)
NOC, Room 23415

If you need help in finding the rooms, you can use the Campus Maps.

You can only print the documents from one of the three locations listed above. Other university-owned computers or your own devices cannot be used for this format printing. This happens because only these computers have the printer queues automatically configured.

If you cannot see the plotter printer configured when you select the printer machine, please move to another Common Learning Space (CLS) computer in the room. You can contact ServiceLine to report the issue.

Important notes before starting

If you want to print in other formats, please see the following two articles:

There are some important notes you need to know before you start:

Your work will be released immediately to the local large format printer. It might take some time for the machine to finish your job
Students will be charged for prints which are processed by the printer. For staff, your department will be charged £5 for each print you make
You can only use the CLS computers in the three listed rooms above to print your documents. For example, you cannot send the job from room 1101 in Building 25 on the Highfield campus and collect it from the Boldrewood campus

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How to prepare an A1 or A2 for printing

Microsoft PowerPoint, Adobe Acrobat and Microsoft Publisher are recommended for the use of plotter printing. If you do not have a template to use to prepare your document, follow the steps below to set up a new Microsoft PowerPoint document:

1. Create a new presentation by selecting:

File
New
Blank Presentation

2. Select the Design tab

3. Go to the button Slide size and select Custom Slide Size

4. Enter the paper dimensions, then select OK:

A1 papers (portrait): width of 59.4 cm and height of 84.1 cm
A1 papers (landscape): width of 84.1 cm and height of 59.4 cm
A2 papers (portrait): width of 42 cm and height of 59.4 cm
A2 papers (landscape): width of 59.4 cm and height of 42 cm

We suggest you treat 12 mm from the edge of the sheet as a "safety margin". We suggest this because:

Everything present in that space could not be printed
Any border around the edge of your document may not be printed. A white margin all around the sheet, up to 12 mm wide, could appear

By adding the safety margins, you prevent texts and/or graphic elements from being cut off or from being too close to the edge.

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How to print your file

Microsoft PowerPoint, Adobe Acrobat and Microsoft Publisher are recommended for the use of plotter printing. Here we use Microsoft PowerPoint as an example to demonstrate how to print your file. Step-by-step instructions:

1. Once your document is ready to print, you must go to one of the printing rooms listed above

2. Log into one of the CLS computers by signing in with your university username (for example, ab1c25) and password

3. Ensure the printer is switched on and the main screen display is visible. Please bear in mind that it might take a while for the plotter to become operational if it has been powered off

4. Select File from the Microsoft PowerPoint menu: